Serials that hooked me..part 1

Ever wondered how ekta kapoor made a fortune producing the serials based on mindless stories... i did... and watched her serials with an open mouth...then wondered how could a some of the plots took shape...i was in my first year of college when i got introduced to Ekta kapoors world through the serial KSBKBT - Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi...yes i admit, that my dinner was incomplete without the tadka of this serial...i timed my schedule likewise...maa had strict instructions to serve dinner at 10:30 pm......the title track of the serial was like an alarm...like a contagious addiction, the tune of the serial's opening song getting featured in my neighbour's tv screen, was enough to drag me to the living room... like a hypnotized soul i closed my books and rushed to switch the TV on...everything about the serial enchanted me...or rather awed me...things that happened in the serial were so dramatic and impossible.... it was like a modern world arabian night series... despite knowing the fact that evrything about the serial is so damn far from truth and bourne out of ekta's crazy imagination....it still took viewers like me hooked to the tv...the 200+ year old Baa, who was probably healthier, n fitter than my 70 year old grandmother...how i dont know tulsi managed to love her husband (who had 3/4 casual flings post their marriage) till the world and generation and the solar system ceased to exist....how come all the 3 generations in the serial tulsi, nandini and their daughter bhoomi were almost of the same age (between 20 to 30)...the way the actors groomed themselves..i would probably be less dressed for my sister's marriage when compared to any of the bahu's in their cooking/dusting/ sleeping attire....and in the serial, whenever they had to step out of the house, the man used to tell his wife, "aap taiyar ho jaiye, hume ghumne jaa na hai"..and i used to wonder that already the lady is so decked up...aur kya taiyar ho sakte hai? ...then there was another lady, the granddaughter of tulsi, named bhoomi in the serial...she used to go around with a loafer type guy, some aamir baap ka bigda beta... no one in the house objected to this fact...but the day Bhoomi declareed that she wants to marry the same guy...all the chachhis, and buwas and bhabis and didis, tulsi and off course the baa get the supreme shock of their lives....the chachis stood up in utter dismay, carefully displaying the heavily embroidered pallus of their sarees in the process, to express their emotions....the camera man zoomed in 3 times...close..closer..closest...(accompanied by a similar beat of background music ...dhaa...dhaaa...dhaaaaa, the intensity of the beats being directly proportional the degree of zoom)to focus on chaachis kundan earrings dangling in slow motion, her thick make up and a partially gaped lipstick rimmed mouth...the next 15 minutes of the serial went in portraying the expressions of each family member to its minutest details...

i was such a hypocrit those days....i used to watch the serial with unbatted eyelids in an almost breathless state, only to discuss with Ritwajit the next day how useless the story was... however and whatever we comment on Ekta's work, there is no denying the fact that she established a whole new cult in the domain of tele serials...the grand set ups,costumes, bright lightings, and somehow the stories which were weaved such that audience eventually got connected to them...somehow the serial generated a sense of aspiration among its viewers...it did talk of family values (donno how much people absorbed that and implemented the same in their lives) which served as a reminder for the generation...

my attachment with the serial got ruptered when i moved to bangalore after my graduation... later i got to know that after getting aired in star plus for a lengthy period of 8 years, the serial had to shut itself down to follow orders from the Supreme court...today, i dont mind confessing that i also cried somedays as i submerged myself in the story of Kyunki Saas bhi Kabhie Bahu thi....and i will watch it again if Kyunki part 2 gets featured :)

tit bits of life

Some day in my life i want to face a situation where me and my team would be immersed with work so much so that we all have to stay bak in office and have a night out.... i am yet to realize this dream...but the night before our April Townhall was somewhat similar to living that dream... we were editing a bit of the video we shot for our Townhall next day...and it took abnormally long time..we 3 of out team stayed back in office...working and chatting...and I realised that once we cross a threshold ( may be the time limit we had set for ourselves to complete a task) nothing seems to bother or nudge us to roll up our sleeves to finish the task in hand as soon as possible.. we go in our own pace, taking tea coffee juice sandwich breaks....order pizza...chat on useless things...but all in all, its quite exciting...that moment at 10 o click in night, where 3 of us sit in cafeteria appreciating the double cheese burst pizza and garlic bread, when we are only half way through the video, which is supposed to be the primary show stealer for the next days event.... when we have cancelled the cab request not knowing what time we can retire for the day....and we sit and pull each others leg....coz of which we finally produce the video an hour before the event commenced...

.....this is some sort of a guilty pleasure..when we deliberately delay....we let things work on thier own pace....we stop looking at the watch.,....and enjoy the pizza and the companionship and chatter all night long...pizza is one more item to provoke the same sentiment 'guilty pleasure'....like giving into the creamy delight of the cheese melting in your mouth...you need to shut off the police in your brain which reminds you of the calories you consume....a feeling that can be compared to watching the tele serial in Star Plus "pratigya"...getting awed by the biharis in the serial on the way the saas treats the bahu and vice versa ...and then think how impractical the story board was....and thereafter tell myself why do i watch it in the first place and then again sit in front of the television the next day the soap is aired....its like crying in the cinema hall while wathing the useless movie "kites" and then feel embarrased when the realization dawns that the film actually had no story....but talking about guilty pleasure, my personal favourite was reading my roomies diary in hostel...well i dont want her to figure this out...so here i stop....

...would get back sometime later if i can think of some story of my 'paap' which i enjoyed commiting...

just in case anyone is reading the blog..let me know - kya hai kahani tere paap ki?

my devotion which will last me forever

Few years back i had posted a blog here about a crazy nutty fellow who used various innovative means to drag other people to his amway business... recently i recieved a mail from someone who kind of thanked me for posting this fact in my blog, as he escaped this amway psycho after finding this piece of info from my blog...

...so i was wondering, if this blog can help someone this way, i probably can make some more recommendations which can help people for bigger and better things in life... so here i am all geared up to write about an unexplained phenomenon in my life....Sai Baba....you an classify this blog post of mine under the category "religion"... this is my faith, my motivation, my religion which will last forever.... i come from the eastern part of the country and since childhood, i had been an avid follower of Maa kali...people in that side of India worship the Shakti form of mother God....till date, the first thing i do after i wake up in the morning is chant the Aadya stotra, which is kind of remembering the different forms and blessings of mother God Kali/Durga .....a couple of years back, my radar caught another frequency that continued to play in my heart and mind parallel to Ma Kali, and that is Sai Baba...

i will rewind a bit...in December 2008, i got married...my husband was in hyderabad and myself in Bangalore...the next year, the biggest recession of modern times hit the world...I was in pursuit of that suitable job for me which would land me in Hyderabad to my family... but as the months rolled on , the prospect of finding a decent job in my area of interest seemed more and more bleak...i tried several means, naukri, shine, monster all the portals were updated with my resume... referrals dint work, the placement cell at my campus surrendered...i was utterly hopeless...i was tired of the weekend trips i made from Bangalore to Hyderabad...and the incessant application of my resume, which eventually reaped no results....then one fine day, Bonnie ( my friend cum sister-in-law) introduced me to Sai Baba of Shirdi... she herself happens to be his devotee...she told me about the 9 thursday Vrat of Sai Baba....I gave it a try....i prayed before the print out of his image and conveyed my wish....and on the 9th Thursday i had the offer letter from Wells Fargo in my hand! since then, i have surrendered myself completely to him.. he is an awesome force...absolutely superb and he will give you exactly "THE" thing you want...not a bit more nor a bit less...i dont know how he does...all he wants from you is undivided faith...just leave it to him and he will do it on your behalf...it is like once you have given yourself up to him, its his responsibility to take care of you... i will blindly recommend/refer Sai to anyone who feels lost at any stage of his/her life...i have tried him and experienced results which i myself never expected...i completely endorse him..in the sense i am his unappointed spokesperson...i am sure that he will respond to anyone who reverts to him..i have several small examples to share...but i ll write about 2 more incidences which strengthened my devotion for him.... i was on the lookout of a flat for my parents close to my house here in hyderabad...myself and my husband searched all over the place but couldnot find one that was well within our neighbourhood and within our budget....i dont know how we missed a flat 1 km away from our house...thanks to my dear god, i finally booked one apartment there...and it matched not only our budget, it matched our requirement in terms of sq ft area, fulfilled my mothers desire of having a small plot where she can plant lemon and jackfruit saplings, a big enough car parking which can accomodate a big car which my father dreams to buy once they shift here...and 'open to sky' space on 3 sides of the apartment which my husband preferred.....Sai baba is very considerate, unlike most hindu gods...he does not believe in complete fasting...there had been occasions when i had to attend events on thursdays....and i could not resist the palak paneers and dal makhnis...and told sai baba to excuse me for that day..i feasted on the yummies and compensated that by eating simple stuff the following day....in Bangalore, i used to have bananas, chocolates and milk on thursdays....now-a-days, i dont completely follow the Vrat rules, eat idlis for breakfast, rice for lunch and cornflakes for dinner... when i came to Hyderabad, i didnot have friends here.. so once i casually asked Sai baba for giving me at least one good friend here... without any fast or anything...that was a 'just like that' request.....and I met Amrita...she was less of my colleague but more my friend...and very soon she became my best friend here.....thereafter i axed my own feet...i referred Sai Baba to amrita to encounter, or rather support her in her set of problems....and i even prayed to Sai to get her married to the person she wants, even at my cost...i meant, even if it meant her to relocate from hyderabad.. i dont mind staying 'best friend less' here, but her happiness was more important.... also, once Amrita accepted Sai baba, miraculous things happened...just like me, she got results she herself didnot expect....we realized that our prayers were answered better if we prayed for each other...so there was a time when i used to pray for Amrita and she used to pray for me...but there is one policy/deal, or you can say a rule that me and Sai baba have signed in my mind....and i follow that stringently...i entrust Sai baba with something i desire, and once thats fulfilled, i pay a visit to Shirdi...thankfully Shirdi is only 1 night journey from Hyderabad... and till the time i visit Shirdi and officially close my previous account, i never open a new account ( ie my new demands from him), however badly i want it....but he should not be taken as a wish fulfilling machine...i never forget to thank him for every small and big good things that happen to me...there had been occasions when he did not listen to me.... at the same time, he made me realize why i was not given what i wanted....and i never felt like complaining/blaming him...if he does not grant your wishes, he will tell you why he didnot give you, and probably he would reduce the hankering you have towards that wish....well, thats how it worked for me....just remember him/utter his name once ina day, and your day is made....

i have read the book Sai Satcharitra..its full of stories of Sai baba..his leelas primarily when he was living in Shirdi... in that book he claimed that even after his death his bones and flesh would continue to answer prayers of his devotees...and that is so damn true....I am sure that we will get enough and more stuff to concretize this statement...i dont know if there is a forum where people can go and post their experiences with Sai....anyone reading this post is welcome to comment on this...

Bow to Shirdi Sai Baba...Peace be to all

the toppled raft

How i wished to be a part of Commanders team for rafting....i would have loved to go into the water under a toppled raft.....

...well, to bring everyone to the same page, i am talking about our recent offsite to Dandeli, a small wild life sanctuary in the Goa Karnataka border....this was the second time i went to Dandeli with my office colleagues...the first one being an excursion in the second year of my college...and Dandeli awed me every time i went there....the trips secured special corner in my heart on both the occasions, and for entirely different set of reasons....as u all would know...college was 'college'...we had a tremendous time living in tents...going out for night safaris...trying to scare our fellow tent mates...imaginary ghostly encounters....unbelievable ghost stories wrapped with carefully trimmed words during campfire....getting bonded in a wonderful relation with the entire batch including teachers, and attendants which we cherish till date, the local dog which we named 'dhol', and the lunch with 'parshe maach aar bhaat', which we nomenclated as'bon parshe'.....and most importantly, the hobby and a love that i coined for myself- bird watching; which i continue to propagate till date...my husband is my latest disciple in this matter....the list goes on....

..... but our office trip was no less different in terms of the fun we had....there had been differences off course...different age groups, different backgrounds, different stage of life, different socio economic scenario....i realized the difference time made to me from 2005 to 2010....i cut the philosophical thread short....we stayed in a wonderful resort near Kali river....Kali is a small seasonal river controlled by a Dam....in recent times, to attract tourists, an adventure sporting camp got set up....they mostly conduct rafting ( level 2 and 3)...kayaking, fishing, boating, swimming, natural jaccuzi, coracle ride etc etc....i was interested in rafting....this was the first time for me....and i was super excited....we actually had to sign bonds before we took on the sport that we were doing it voluntarily and the camp would not be responsible for any accidents..blah blah blooh blooh...i entered my husbands number in the register to contact him incase of unforseen events...heart of hearts, i was pretty confident that nothing is gonna happen to me....we were all in life jackets and helmets, i knew swimming...even if i get into the water, i would probably float with the current and eventually land in some far away place....people in south India are good and well mannered.....they respect women...i was probably drawing the probability wire too long...except the fear that one of the 3 crocodiles might come and accept me as their lunch, there was really nothing that i could prepare myself with...8 of us got in a raft, myself and Baisakhi were at the end and closest to the guide...6 other fellows from HR took the front seats...guess the seats are allocated based on the weight of a person....the guide confirmed that rivers in Karnataka are mostly infested with crocodiles and Kali was no exception...as i told u earlier, the river had 3 crocs....1 big, measuring 10 feet and 2 small ones, around 5/6 fts...but he assured that they were happy with their piscivorous diet and have never come close to humans with an intention to attack till date...this information was quite relaxing....we pulled the raft to the mid river...it was demo time....what to do if a raft topples? how to stay together...to pull teams back to the raft...how to keep oneself afloat etc etc safety protocols to follow....after the theoritical lecture..it was time for practicals.... i was the braveheart who volunteered to give a live demo.....i plunged into the dark black waters of Kali....Prashanth followed me and dived in....as the name says it all, Kali had real 'kali' water....the black lap of the river was enough to make him jittery....seeing him afraid, i also got scared for some time, and immediately swam away from him to get back my senses...one by one most of our fellow raftmates tasted the scare and fun of being in water... we all swam in groups encircling our raft....i am not capable enough to frame the experience in words...so i leave it to my memory and your imagination....we got back to our raft in our positions...and it was time for THE adventure.....

the entire stretch of rafting was of 9 kms with 8 rapids, the first being of grade 3 and the rest of grade 2 in terms of impact or the plunge in height and depth of the water flow...we cut through the water towards the first rapid...we were in "on your toes" position...the sheet of water below our raft encapsulated a big chunk of a steep rock and took a deep dive, dragging the raft with it in a -45 degree trajectory.... in an equal and opposite reaction to our plunge, another wave leaped on us from the front leaving us wet and dripping....we had crossed the first rapid, the most exciting one in the entire stretch....we all cheered for ourselves for accomplishing this...it was like winning against force, not with force but with strategy...i again say, the experience is to be felt and i feel handicapped that i cannot describe the same...since there was no one to capture it in camera, i fall back on my memory....

...the water flowed on a rough rocky terrain....the guide told us that in past, it was a mine area for digging Zinc and Magnesium ores...the area underwent numerous blasts leaving the river bed daggered...now the water flows on it and is laden with minerals and not only it was potable, but also very good for health...probably that is what we mean by mineral water....the water was very clear and nad no signs of stagnation anywhere...as a result, we could not spot any patch of slippery algae reducing its transparency....we could see through it till the river bed...the journey was dotted with mini rapids followed by stretch of leisurly water circulation....which was very relaxing after bouts of adrenalin bursts at the rapids...we spotted several birds, hornbills, cuckoo and serpent eagles....and proceeded towards the end of the trip.

this was the story of my raft....not that i did not enjoy it, but i guess the experience would have been more peppered if i had gone with Commander....to introduce to all, Commander is the Head of Facility at Wells Fargo India....we all call him Commander coz he is an ex serviceman retiring from the Indian Navy...this is my personal blog and i take the liberty to express my frank opinion...there is a thing about these defence force folks which i really like...i come from a civil background..i got to know the other side of life only after my marriage...my father-in-law is from the Indian Airforce...and when i say that, i say it with a lot of pride...they have lived life in a different way altogether...and i have a lot of respect for all those folks serving the nation in defence...and i instantly gel with them the moment i get to know...and somehow, probably they spend their life away from home, the fellow defence mates are like their relatives..they welcome them with open hearts....my relation with Commander was no different....though our roads hardly cross in terms of work, and we hardly interact in office, i like commander a lot...he and my father-in-law would have loved each others company...but that friendship cant be established now...anyways, coming back to the beds of Kali, i got to know that Commander's raft toppled....they were crossing some rapid when the accident happened....all the 8 raftmates including the guide was in water....they later got together back in the raft...the fact ends in these 2 lines...but try and read between the lines....i close my eyes to imagine, to feel how it would have been if i were there....i would love to meet with an accident like this :)

a lazy saturday afternoon

what do u do when u have nothing to do ??
watch TV??
...hmm... not interested currently...something else please??

....read a book...yaa i can ....but last night only i was reading ...so dont wanna go back...

...go to sleep....a very good option but a hair pack on my head..dont wanna spoil my pillow cover... i can however put a news paper and sleep on it..but i woke up at 12 and i dont wanna sleep now

...then what? chat with husband? he is having exam don wanna disturb....

....call up mom?.. she is over excited about durga puja and my present energy levels wont match with hers...

.... shall i do packing? lot of time left...

...Call Sanchari/Ipsita? soumita to fix up the Ashtami Plan?....just an hour ago i called Sanchari,cudnt talk coz the signal got disrupted, and Ipsita had gone for a bath so luck there also..and may be they are all taking rest now

...then what.... cook something? experiment with a dish? no yaa...need to concentrate to cook...

...some gardening?? all the plants are watered in the morning itself, to dig up the soil needs energy which i dont wanna spend now...

....blog?? not getting any good idea to write about ...

...some beauty treatment? face pack?? ...already henna on my head...

dhoooshhhh......

GM diet:: Follow up

promises are meant to be broken ...and my GM diet plan was no exception.... well i did promise to myself that i will have fruits and only fruits..irrespective of the amount of acid it builds up in my body.... the citrus fruits did manufacture quite a bitof HCl, a dissection of my intestine might have yielded 2/3 bottles of acid useful for cleaning toilets....anyways, Amrita did finally persuade me to break my diet plan ( not that i was totally against it...the headache was getting unbearable, and was signalling a nauseating feeling)..so i munched a muffin, chew some pink chalks with water (gelusil) and gulped a saridon.....it was 45 more minutes to go before my office could get over... sharp at the ending minute of my work schedule i was in my bus, seat reclined and all set for my doze.... i think my kolkata friends had solidified the Ashtami day plan...i recieved a message from Ipsita and a call from Sanchari...but was in no state to answer either... as the wheels rolled out of the office campus, i was unconcious with sleep....now and then i opened my eyes, only to see the bus stuck in traffic...my cab mates were having a feast with chips, samosas and bhajjis....i later got to know that the traffic was so heavy that one of my fellow passengers got down and bought all these ...one of them offered me... i politely refused...not that i dint like it, but i couldnot have afforded the risk of consuming another acid bomb ....2 hours down, i was alive and awake... i was grateful to gelusil and saridon, i was feeling much better,....got another good news from Akash...he finally got his much awaited job .... ...the silly driver again dropped me at Deewan Dhaba instead of my house...though i had taken approvals from my transport manager for dropping me at my home... seeing the late hour of the evening, i empathized with the next drop of my cab, and probably not being in a mood to fight i got down and started walking homewards... ...As i watched the teleserial Subarnalata, i happily ate 4/5 servings of rice with tita korola bhaja, begun chorchori and my favourite machher jhol... ..I promised that I would never attempt a GM diet again, or even if i do, i ll modify it to my fancy, keeping a little space for my cravings.... and hopefully i will stick to this one

Day 1 of GM Diet

my head is throbbing like hell ...but i ll have to pretend that i m working...its 10 more days to go for Durga puja...and yesterday night while going off to sleep this amazing idea hit me... why not try the GM 7 day diet ...once more with total dedication...i had developed a small paunch post marriage which is now in its teens.... the last time, and the first time in my life when i attempted this was before my trip tp Goa...and it did work out...i cant tell in exact figures how much weight i lost, but i was satisfied coz i could enter into my frock with very little trouble...
...since moring, i devoured 3 glasses of mausambi juice and 3 bowls of fruit...papaya and watermelon....ate 1 'Chola' from amrita's tiffin....exectly 2 spoons of maggie (courtesyAmrita)...2 biscuits...but post lunch i realized that my throbbing did not restrict itself in my head but started spreading its territory towards my jaws, cheek...neck...back... my eyelids are seeming heavy...may be with sleep..but probably GM diet is not to be blamed for that ...i am a sleeping Queen with or without that ....all my cab mates have made me famous for this in the whole office ...anyways, i slipped from my diet plans once more, when i comsumed some carbs in form of 'sukha bhel' but promised myself that now onwards, even if i die out of headache, i wont touch anything but a fruit....however, it is not that severe a headache..i have witnessed and survived headaches worse than this...but the problem is that when u know that you can cure it, but intentionally u wont, u have no other option but to stick to u r self imposed misery...
...how much i feel like grabbing a cheese sandwich..or a chocolate muffin.... but now i m sipping coffee as i compose this post...i hope and pray that i ll be able to continue with my self torture for the next 7 days...