Friends

I will be there for you, cos you have been there for me too...

Friends has been my favoirite teli-series so far. I started watching Friends when I think I was in my class 8th. I had started it only because it was the favorite of Shaun Pollock, my favorite sportsperson then.And now I so know why !And till now I have not seen all the seasons, and yet seen some episodes more than 5-6 times. This has been because I have watched Friends only on TV, so I used to miss out on some episodes, and then see certain again when the series used to be retelecasted. And this is the only thing so far which despite watching so many times, I enjoy even more with every time I watch it. At times I know what the next joke or punch line is going to be, still I laugh out louder than before, finding it funnier and wittier. Even today, when I go back home on weekends, I try my best to see the repition of the episodes telecasted during the week.

I think Friends has been the most popular and largest watched sitcom ever. Its not just about how good the humour is, but how easily it goes down with all generations. It started in 1994 and is still being watched by many even today. Its popularity has only grown by the years. Nearly all of my friends have Friends in their laptop and are big fans. And those who were not, have become after 2 years of hostel life in IIT, where everything, whether it be movies, series or documentaries is watched in group, with just one laptop sitting in the front, guffawing hard even on even the tiniest of jokes. So, in the end fever is bound to ingulf you !! But Friends desrves the reputation it has gained.

Each character that it portrays is unique and as good as others. Each has shared as well as stollen the limelight from others in some or the other season. But I cant help being biased and favoritising Joey. His dumbness, ignorence, kiddish innocence, and despite all this juggling girls around, being all possesive for his food (Joey doesnt share food!!) and grabbing food from others plate, his doctor's role, his beloved Rosetta and Stevy TV, domesticating ducks and chickens, and of course the good looks enhanced by his smile!!

Then comes Ross!!His high self esteemed behavior, trying to be perfect in everything, being the ideal son and hence and otherwise too an irritating brother , carefully choosing his vocabulary and articulating each word distinctly , with stressing at places in order to make or prove his point, and denying doing this all along, having kid with a lesbian wife and cribbing about it indefintely for days in a highly dramatic manner of bowed down head, drooping shoulders, pretending as if the world has come to a halt, and on the top of it thinking himself to be at the centre of the world and so others should also feel as gloomy as he does !!Being in love with Rachel all the time, and saying her name out at the altar while marrying some other girl, running to the airport to stop her from leaving even if he has to risk his life to Phoebe's driving for it. One heck of a character!!

Then Phoebe. Her guitaring and the all time favorite smelly cats, her being blunt on the face while sporting a look of obviousness, blurting out really weird and bizzare things to anyone, known or unkonown with a matter of fact tone, her natural good looks and funny hairstyles, her symapthetic self, her twin sister, and the way she handles her boyfriends !!

Rachel. Good looks, fickle minded, undecisive and confused, rich dad's pampered child, weighs fashion and things like work on the same scale, a sale of 25% on boots is enough to make her whole week and then of course the numerous men in her life, each being as cute and sexy as other, and she being as seriously involved with each one of them!!

The next would be the witty and hilarious Chandler, well not as much as he himself thinks. His playing around with words, lightening the moods with his silly jokes, boasting about his physical relations with girls in highschool, starting from dozens to 4 to 1 to 0 in the end, but the best being Janice. Ohh myy gooddd !!!

In the end Monica. The clean freak of the house, orgainising everything around, the same ones many times over, bossing and fussing around, an awesome chef, her love for being appreciated for her cooking, being all crazy and adamant about having a flashy wedding that she dreamt of and wanted the most since early childhood, and yet agreeing to a simple wedding under the snow for Chandler !!She would definitely be considered as the man of the family when seen infront of Ross !!

Each one of them despite being so different and apart, are a unit together, so inseparable. Each one is fun to watch, but its their being together that really gets the thing started. Pieces of jigsaw puzzle coming together and completing the scenario !! Enjoying together, laughing together, crying together, sticking to each other no matter what!!In short, living to their promise of 'I'll be there for you ..'. And I almost forgot the Central Perk, which has been the stage for many climaxes, a lot of leg pulling, first job for Rachel and loads of girls for Joey !!

Each character seems so handpicked(I so wanna add 'by god' to this) and perfectly made, accompanied by a perfect synchronisation. The story line, the jokes, the punches(literal ones by Joey to Ross too), everything just makes Friends perfect!!
Kudos to David Chrane and Marta Kauffman !!

Sweet Home Alabama...

My day started at 8 in the morning with coding and debugging, pretty much like the last two. After three hours of working in which I could hardly move a thing, I was more than releived to find Peter knocking at my door asking to accompany him to the free Brunch by BDE. BDE is the students' association of this college, And it is nothing like the associations we have back there in India. They organise frequent treats like free food and booze, parties etc. The campaigning for BDE elections itself quiet resembles the royal indulgences and luxuries enjoyed by the nawabs of India of yesteryears known for slavery and hierarchy. Serving hot breakfast of your choise in bed is one example. Imagine waking up to a cold winter morning, curled up in the bed underneath the layers of cosy blankets, crippled by the winter cold, and the next moment you feel aroma of melting cheese and steaming coffee tickling your nose. And then digging into a baguette freshly made in a boulangerie, soft inside and crispy outside. The very thought has left my mouth watering. Too bad I wont be here to experience these french royalities.

Coming back from brunch, full and content, I again hid behind the laptop trying to get my code working. Then Peter suggested some possiblity based on differnence in character handling of a file by Linux environment than in Windows, hence suggested me to try my code on Windows. No clue what that meant, rather found it contradicting, as I was coding in Java, which is supposed to platform independent, but having tried everything else, I gave it a try, and the code really worked!!! I was too happy to care about platform independence of Java or the peculiar character handling by Linux. The code I had been endlessly working on had finally worked !! Who cares about Java !!

Then I came back to my room, swelling with self admiration and pride, and wanted to call papa and tell him all about it. What exactly my code did, how silly I had been to have made certain errors(which earlier seemed to be obvious errors, meant to be committed) and how intelligently I cracked all problem and go on, till he too starts seeing the whole thing the way I was. I messaged him to come online and sat infront of the skype screen waiting for him to come, and meanwhile framing sentences and contexts in my mind to give him  precise details and overview, and in the manner that would make him feel as if he himself had lived the whole experience, that he would understand and appreciate the hard work and would make him feel proud of myself more than I was feeling. But then time trickled by and papa didn't come, and so did my excitement. And after a while, being sure of some glitch in the internet at home, I went back to work. All the excitement faded away . All that I wanted was to run back home, back to my family. Its been 3 months now that I am in France, but never before I had a craving this bad to be just able to hear their voices. I have enjoyed all along in France, making friends, discovering a new culture, enjoying the newly found independence, but in the end I want to go back home, to that feeling of belongingness, to the warmth as well as scoldings of mumma, to a strict as well as freindly papa, to a brother who irritates and yet cares for me, to people whom I love.

And then about an hour later, papa came online, and my happiness knew no bounds.At first, I pretended to be angry for their being so late, but being to overwelmed soon gave up and started the long babbers on my program. It was only after talking for about an hour that I was sattisfied and ready to put down the phone.

In that wait of just an hour I realised how incomplete I am without my family. All that we achieve holds importance as long as we have someone to share it with. When we know there is someone there who would relish and celebrate our achivements as if his own. When we have someone to go back to at the end of the day, whether or not our efforts of the day have borne fruit.

To finish with, I would quote what papa said today. We should prioritise our life as first, then comes money, followed by bussiness(or work). Money can suboordinate work, but neither money nor work should suboordinate life. You should work to live, not live to work. And defining life, he said it consists of you at the centre, closely surrounded by the circle of your family, and a very distant circle of society.


Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again
And I think its a sin, yes

Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Here I come Alabama

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you

Sweet home Alabama
Oh sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue
And the governor's true
Sweet Home Alabama
Lordy
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Yea, yea Montgomery's got the answer

The Muddle head from Petushkee

Thanks to Papa, back to good, old school days!!
"Parding your beggon, Kister monductor" and "A slice of tea and a cup of bread" are my favorites!!
Voila!


I knew a man from Petushkee
As muddleheaded as could be.

He always got mixed up with clothes;
He wore his mittens on his toes,
Forgot his collar in his haste,
And tied his tie around his waist.

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

They told him as he went about:
“You’ve got u’r coat on inside out!”
And when they saw his hat, they said:
“You’ve put a saucepan on your head!”

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

At lunch he scratched a piece of bread,
And spread some butter on his head.
He put his walking stick to bed,
And he stood in the rack instead.

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

He walked upto a tram one day
And climbed in very sprightly;
Conductor thought that he would pay,
Instead he said politely:

“Parding your beggon,
Kister Monductor,
I’m off for a week’s vacation;
I stop you to beg your cramway tar
As soon as we reach the station.”
Conductor got a fright
And didn’t sleep that nite.

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

He rushed into the first café:
“A railway ticket please, One way.”
And at the ticket office said:
“A slice of tea and a cup of bread.”

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

He passed the man collecting the fares,
And entered a carriage awaiting repairs,
That stood on a siding, all by itself.
Half of his luggage, he put on a shelf,
The rest on the floor, his coat on his lap
And settled himself for a bit of a nap.

All at once he raised his head,
“I must have been asleep”- he said.
“Hey, what stop is this?” he cried
“Petushkee,” a voice replied.

Once again he closed his eyes
And dreamt he was in Paradise.
When he woke, he looked about,
Raised the window and leaned out.

“I’ve seen this place before, I believe,
Is it Kharkov or is it Kiev?
Tell me where I am,” he cried.
“In Petushkee”, a voice replied.

And so again he settled down
And dreamt the world was upside down
When he woke, he looked about,
Raised the window and looked out.

“I seem to know this station too,
Is it Nalchik or Baku?
Tell me what its called,” he cried.
“Petushkee’ a voice replied.

Up he jumped: “It’s a crime!
I’ve been riding all this time,
And here I am where I began!
That’s no way to treat a man!’

What a muddle head was he,
That man who lived in Petushkee!

Quantums of Happiness

Pissed of with Delhi heat, a sulky mood and a smug on my face! This was the sight of me walking from home towards the metro station. A broad grin, a light heart,full of delight and respect, gratified, thankful to God, a firm determination: me coming out of my society gate. This stark transition was a result of a Quantum of love, a Quantum of care, a Quantum of affection, a Quantum of friendship, resulting into a Quantum of happiness.

Walking towards the gate, occupied in the thoughts of the busy day that lay ahead, I was hardly noticing my surroundings. Until, I noticed an old man standing in my way greeting me with a warm smile. Lean, in his 70s, a puckered face youthful with a pleasant smile reaching his twinkling eyes. This man is my society guard. I answered back with a namaste and the best smile I could put up. He came to me and said," Beta itne dinon se aapse baat hi nahin hui. Mai aapko roz apne papa k saath car me jaate hue dekhta tha, aaj paidal ata dekha to soch lia tha ki aaj aapse baat kar lunga". I merely smiled back. He went on,"Pehle to aap aate jaate dikh jaate the, mahine me do baar to kam se kam. Pichle 3 mahinon se to bilkul hi nahin dikhe?" I told him about my summer vacations and to avoid getting into details just mentioned that I was taking some classes explaining my daily pilgrimage with papa. He seemed content, but yet a little worried and asked,"Beta aap to hostel me rehte ho na?" I nodded in affirmation. "Mushkil hota hoga na ghar se door rehna, hostel me, aur bus se aana jaana." I tried to convince him that it is not that bad and hostel is actually fun, but he still didn't seem sattisfied and went on, "Beta aap mehnat karte rehna aise hi. Hume pakka yakeen hai ki aap safal hoge aur bahut bade aadmi banoge. Humara naam roshan karna. Humara aashirwaad humesha aapke saath hai. Hum to bas aashirwaad hi de sakte hain". And with this he kept his hand on my head, blessing me and wishing me all the best.

I have known him since my class 10, the year when I moved to this society. On my way back home from school, we used to ackowledge each other with a bow of namaste, and at times he used to ask me about my studies and well being. Then I went to college and started staying in hostel. This communion became modest after the school, but continued. Most of the times I used to return home on Friday nights, when he was not on duty. But, the few times i used to come on Saturdays, and he used to be there on the gate, he always used to come up offering a hand for the luggage and asking about my well being. But these encounters held momentary importance to me. I never thought of this uncle like other people who held importance in my life. But, it ran deeper for him. He worried himself when he did not see me around. He noticed me going daily with papa. Seeing me coming from a distance, decided to talk to me, worried about my stay and comforts in hostel, and prayed for my future. It was this Quantum of affection that touched me deep within and triggered a series of thoughts and emotions.

But why my obsession with the term Quantum. Recalling my class XI chemistry, a quantum is the smallest, discreet packet of energy that takes part in interaction. But, the sense I derived from this term in this context is that of a unit which is the smallest and the basic, the simplest, and yet the principal, intrinsic to every higher unit, and yet so powerful. Something that is pure and intangible, untarnished by dirt and malice. There are many things in this encounter of five minutes that touched me. Firstly, it was for these just five minutes that the rest of the day was a pleasure. I was passionate and full of life. There was no bounds to my happiness. The same chores of the day became more meaningful, easier and most importantly not a burden or liability, but something fun. I could not help but smile the whole day and spread this happiness to others as I went about. So, these five minutes made so many faces smile, so many hearts delighted, bringing in hours of joy. This is the power of the Quantum I am talking about. It is so easy to bring smile to somebody, to lift someone's mood up, to illuminate his world. All it takes is a little love and care, consideration and regard. Just a Quantum of each.

And, we keep fretting over small things in life, over our busy schedule, over how God has been particularly unfair to us, instead of cherishing what we have, being happy with those who care for us, being happy in caring for others. With the optimism I had that day, the tough busy day that lay ahead turned out be fun, full of passion, excitement and determination. Life is full of such small moments of joy, and people around us who care for us the way that uncle did for me, but we so easily tend to overlook these for those who have hurt us, and cling to the moments of despair from past, or hung up in the worries of future. Embrace life as it comes, cherish each one of these moments , love back each one of those people. And if you feel demoralised or heart broken at any point, and don't have the strength to stand up for yourself, derive your strength from these people and stand up for them. Think of the pain your despondence will bring to them. Smile for the smile your happiness will bring to their face. Doing this will only make you happier and stronger, and the world around a beautiful place to live.

My "To Do" list:

My day dreaming

1. Make my parents proud, and the happiest in the world.:D

2. Read, read and read...

2. Meet Tom Cruise

(equal priority as reading) ;)

3. Love myself, forever.;)

4. Remember what all I do or speak in my sleep.

(like knowing I had talked to someone on phone without checking the call logs, and all the convincing lies I say whenever someone tries to wake me up)

5. To be able to wake up without people screaming at me, and to exercise daily..

(hahahaha...n shut up Daanu:P)

6. Stop sulking.

7. Keep smiling and make everyone around me smile.

8. Never disappoint the people who love me so much, and to be able to love them as much as they do.

(especially Shanku)

9. Gain fame, but yet lead a simple and peaceful life hidden from the world whenever I want to.:D

(don't really know how would that be, given such a possibility exists)

10. Have a pet dog..

(wanted it since my childhood, but my mom is a cleanliness-freak..;) )

11. Buy a Porsche..;)

12. Learn Rajasthani..

(a shame not to already know, being a Rajasthani )

13. Have an awesome English.

14. Learn a musical instrument.

15. Learn all dance forms, especially hip hop..:)

16. Start painting again.

17. Learn to swim.

(the last two efforts failing dreadfully for some reason or the other x-( )

18. Learn to play football, n basketball.

19. Try all adventurous sports.

20. Tour the whole "Incredible India", and know more about the Indian culture, history.

21. Tour the world..:D specially visit the 7 wonders of the world

22 Free the animals from all the bad that is inflicted on them.

23. Do my share to protect the environment, and to never feel it as a liability.

24. Do a thing that is so crazy, that even I could not think for putting in this list.:-/

25. Know for once, what I want to do..:P