The Journey So Far

I am applying to the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University for their 2016 Full Time -MBA program.

Their essay prompt was very unique and interesting and read, "You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please create the table of contents for the book."

This is my creative submission for this essay.

The 2-year update

Well, I am back and hopefully more consistent than usual.
So here are a few updates since I last posted (the engagement):
1. Joined Facebook and suprised half my friend list.
2. Realised what a pain long distance relationships really are - not even half as glamorous as bollywood potrays them!
3. Became voluntarily umemployed!
4. Got married!!! :D
5. Had our first fight as a married couple (Yes even before we left for US).
6. Relocated to US.
7. Made some new friends.
8. Some heavy family and personal stuff (details later).
9. Jasmin entered our lives!! (The Dog as she will be referred to hereon after).
10. Jasmin got a boyfriend - Henry (she is quick!) and we got The Coles! (Well we dont own them but we sure love them!)
11.  People showed their bitchy colours. (again details later)
12. Started my Masters in Bioinformatics (how smart do I sound!).
13. Mom n Dad visited my Home!!!
14. Back to blogging!!

Wow thats a long list and I sure have missed quite a few updates.. But hopefully its the last time!

Will post soon on some of the past news, updates and gossip!!

Heera Hai Sada Ke Liye

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I guess the above picture should be able to convey 3 simple words - I AM ENGAGED!!!!!

Its just amazing how things turn around in 24 hrs, how a person whom you didn't know for 25 years of your life suddenly becomes the most important person in your life. How suddenly you start planning your hopes, dreams, your entire life around this person.

And well my guy (I love how that sounds :)) - Siddharth is the most special person there is. He is smart, handsome, funny, caring and the best guy there could for me. After meeting him I am convinced in destiny. Convinced that Someone somewhere is made for you.

The most common question that my friends asked me is "Aren't you scared? You knew him for barely a day!!"  And its true.. We met on a Thursday, decided on a Friday and got engaged on a Saturday. But I was never scared. I sure was worried before the engagement, but I was worried about how everything will get completed, I was never worried about the guy I was getting engaged to. I just knew... I know it sounds totally cliched and filmy and personally if I would have read this on someone else's blog I would have definitely rolled my eyes, but yeah thats how it is. When I was sitting in that CCD talking to him, I knew he was THE ONE for me.

Everything feels so different now. To put it in my Jiju's words: Now, there is Karan Johar movie music playing in the background 24*7 (yes, even when we are fighting). I get butterflies in my stomach everytime someone says Siddharth, I love smiling without reason (and crying too sometimes). I remember wondering in my earlier post - The MAGIC of all that is LOVE whether Love really is all that is hyped to be.. Now I am happy to know - yes it is.. The MAGIC of all that is LOVE has finally touched me and I couldn't be happier that Siddharth came into my life, (as soon as he could) and is gonna stay for FOREVER.

Damsel in Distress

I want to be rescued.
All heroes can apply.

I always loved fairy tales as a small girl like all other small girls. Because it gave hope and belief that when things will get tough and unbearable a Prince will come who will fight all evil and rescue the princess. So I always believed that when I will be sad or lonely or in a bad state my Prince will come and whisk me away. (Of course Bollywood films and Jane Austen novels too helped.. Mr. Darcy for a long time has been my image of the perfect hero.)
But do these fairy tales promote the correct hope?? Here I don't even want to get into the argument of whether such stories are chauvinist because the guy always rescues the gal. I believe its a mutual rescue. Because if it weren't for Elizabeth who would have taught Mr. Darcy humility?
No my question is for the basic hope it gives to young minds - when you are in trouble you will be rescued.
Is it always like that?? Are we always rescued?? Or should we be taught that sometimes help is not on the way and we should just survive the situation.. That for some Cinderellas there wont be a fairy godmother and there wont be silver slippers or even worse they might have silver slippers and they might even lose them but the Prince will not come searching, he will just go back to the ball and dance with someone else. I know its probably a depressing and negative sentiment but isn't it also practical? We need to be taught when is the time to realize that the Prince is not coming. Of course that doesn't mean he is never going to come. He will probably come the next time you are in trouble.
What we need to realize is that most of the times we are our own heroes. That we need to rescue ourselves. If our Prince doesn't come to take us out of the tower we need to let our hair out ourselves and climb down.

This reminds me of an excellent prayer that I had come across:

Dear God,

Give me the strength to accept what I cannot change

The ability to change what I cannot accept

And the prudence to distinguish between the two

And I think that's what our fairy tales should teach us, the prudence to understand when to wait for help and when to help ourselves.
The prudence of when to lose our glass slippers and when to leave before midnight.

Ask Me Why...

IM SUPERSTITIOUS!!

P.s.: yes yes i know it is inspired from a certain webcomic.
Ok more like copied.. But I really liked the abtruse goose idea!

Choices

They say we are defined by the choices we make. That our choices in life is what truly tells about the kind of person we are. So that got me to thinking what exactly do we do when we choose something? What exactly defines the thought process that results in that all important choice??

Do we choose a path because it seems right at the time? Or do we choose it because its the "correct" option? Because its the morally and socially acceptable thing to do? But then what about the people who go against the norm?? Everyone good or bad who made choices that went against the general rule of society? Which brings us to the fundamental question "What is correct?" Is something right just because majority of the human race accepts it to be (or at least the majority we know) ?? Or is something right because we want it? Because we know that our happiness lies in choosing that option?

Then what do we do when we have to choose between two right options? When both the options will make us happy eventually? When you know that no matter what you choose you are always going to regret having to let go of the other choice? When even the "correct" choice is going to seem wrong soon after it is made? When all we want is both the choices but all we can get is one of them? What do we do then?

I read a quote that said,

Choice is never between right and wrong. Its between right and convenient.

Is that what we do then? Choose the convenient option? But then wont it make it the wrong choice? Isnt there a way to make the right choice always? A formula to guarantee that we will never regret the decision we take?

I believe we should always choose the option that resonates with our conscience. This is specially true when we have to choose between two rights.. Choose the one which your conscience allows you to choose. Because at the end of the day there is only one person with whom you have to spend your entire life and that is - YOU. You can lie to the whole world but you cant lie to yourself. So you will not want to live with a choice that your conscience doesn't allow you to make.

Will it guarantee that you always choose the right option? May be not. But it will guarantee that you don't have regrets. And what if you still choose the wrong option?? Well then that's a choice you have to live with.

Love You Bangalore

Today, as I boarded the flight to Pune I felt different. Usually this is a very happy moment for me. I will be mentally making lists of the things I will ask my mom to cook for me (matki chi usal, misal, ragda pattice, kali amti etc..), the places I would go to (Vaishali, Cad B near Karishma, Durga, Ganesh Bhel and Laxmi Road always figure in this list) and trying to figure out how to accommodate visit to all friends and relatives in 3-4 days.

But this time it was different. This time I was thinking of all the things I will miss when I am away - coffee breaks at office, the movie I was gonna watch with my flatmates and the meeting with MM friends. I wanted to go to UB City and Orion this weekend and probably even squeeze in Wonderla.

Thats when I realised somewhere in the last 2 years I had got used to Bangalore and my life here and do I dare to say it - started loving it. I was so busy missing Pune during the last 2 years that I failed to notice that somewhere in that time Bangalore has crept in quietly and made a place of its own in my heart, a place even Pune wont be able to take.

Ok - I think I need to make a disclaimer here for all my shocked friends (I am expecting a few heart attacks as well considering that I am the staunchest Punekar I know) - Pune always was, still is and will forever be my first love and my favorite city. I will still rather have pani puri with ragda than potato, still rather shop at Tulshi Baug than 4th block and still rather hang out at FC Road than Brigade Road.

But what I have discovered is this - that pani puri with potato is not that bad, you get good stuff for reasonable prices even at the 4th block market and Brigade Road is a cool place to hang out at.

If I would have been a guy I would have said - Pune is my wife and Bangalore is my girlfriend. (That doesn't mean I am gonna say Pune is my husband and Bangalore is my boyfriend).

This is not the first time I am looking forward to coming back to Bangalore and my routine after a holiday at home but yes this is definitely the first time I am looking forward to coming back even before I have started holiday.

So yeah this time the holiday is different - bcoz instead of planning a break from routine I am planning my return to it.

Miss you Bangalore..

ई-म्हणी १

आपल्या मराठीत भरपूर छान छान म्हणी आहेत. काही म्हणींच "modernization" करायचा हा प्रयत्न...


Original म्हण :
उचली जीभ लावली टाळ्याला


ई-म्हण:
उचला हाथ लावला Keyboard ला

Can't Understand Anything :-(

Can someone please for the love of God tell me what the hell are they singing in the GOINDIGO AIRLINES AD????!!!!!

If anyone from their PR or marketing happens to read this blog then pls pls let me know as Im sure no layman would have understood the ad.

The MAGIC of all that is LOVE.

I don’t know what inspired me to write this post. And I know a lot of people reading this post will think I am writing it because I am in love. Well neither have I been that lucky yet nor is the reason for writing this post that interesting.

The reason is boringly simple: I had called up a friend and then heard his caller tune: “I don’t know who you are, where you’re from and what you do as long as you love me.”

That got me thinking, is Love really that overpowering, that nothing else matters, and if things do matter while pursuing your love is it still Love? So I put on the most romantic songs on my cell, took a steaming mug of coffee and sat down to explore something which I am hoping will happen to me someday.. (the sooner the better Mr. Cupid).

The first question that I want to ask everyone in love is what exactly is it that you are feeling when you tell someone “I Love You”?? Are you saying you like that person the most? Or that that person matters the most?? Or is it that the presence of that person in your life is the most important and amazing thing in your life?? Or is it option D – all of the above….

Anyone who has read the book Twilight will know the description of imprinting that Jacob gives Bella – 

“It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like...gravity moves. When you see her, suddenly it's not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her...You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother”. 

That’s how I always imagined Love to be. To like someone without limits – where even the thought of not being with that person is like a thousand knives stabbing you at the same time, when all that gets you through the tough times is the thought of the person waiting at the other end to hold you and tell you that everything is going to be fine and the worst is over, when any romantic song reminds you of that person, when even the simplest squabble brings tears to your eyes, when you can’t sleep after a fight, when you wake up with the biggest smile after dreaming about that person, when the thing holding you onto Earth is no longer gravity – it’s the other person.

I believe that loving someone means being with that person is worth everything, that the person is worth everything, so even if you are at each other’s throat every other day or the smallest squabble turns into World War 3, even if you drive each other crazy (both in the good and bad sense) – it’s OK because the person is worth all the hassle…

So what happens when people separate – has their love ended?? Will you still call it love if it ends?? And more importantly does love end?? What about times when the situation doesn’t allow you to be with the one you love?? How do you watch the most important person in your life walk out of it?? Or does the same love give you the strength to do it?? When you love someone can you really watch that person love someone else? Watch him or her belong to someone else?? Watch someone else get all the love and attention that is actually yours?? Don’t you want to scream at every moment “Pick me, Choose Me, Be Mine!!!”?? Why don’t all real love stories get a happy ending?? 

Or maybe they do, it’s just that we fail to recognize that what we have is the true one, that all the past ones are just that – Past. They happened to enrich your life at those moments but they were not meant to be in your future, because your future has something so much more amazing.. Maybe the Magic of all that is LOVE hasn’t touched me as yet, and hopefully when it does I will know it and it will last forever…

Can't Let Go

This is a poem I found in a video of the song Jiyen Kyun of Dum Maro Dum on youtube.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYfFySrui2c
Really liked it...

"I cant completely let go of you
Let go of us....
All I can say is I love you
I know you dont want to hear it
But it makes no sense to pretend that I dont
I miss you with all of me
Things get easier
But will never with you
I'll cry less
But the pain will still be there
The love we shared and gave each other
Will always remain in my heart forever....."

Happy Palindrome Day

Hey everyone,

Today is Palindrome Day. Today's date (01 02 2010) is a palindrome.

(For those who don't know what that is it is any sequence that reads the same forward and backward.

Actually it will work only if u write the date in Indian format, i.e. dd-mm-yyyy.)

Anyways,

Happy Palindrome Day :)

Finally.........

Hi everyone,
Well we can safely say I'm not exactly the most punctual person in the world.
The last time I blogged was when I was leaving for the US of A, and said I would blog from here. Well its been almost 3 months and I havent posted even once. I wont say I didnt have time because I have wasted some major time here. But it is also true that I really didnt have time to sit and blog.
Anyways the entire point of this post is to acknowledge the fact that I have started to blog again, and well there are going to be quite a few posts now about my stay here so be prepared (well except one which is going to be about me becoming an Engineer!!!!! :) yipppeee ).
So talk to you guys soon.
-- Madhura

Saat Samundar Paar

Hey all,

I am leaving for U.S. in half an hour!!!!!

Though I cant wait to get there, at the same time I cant wait to come back and be with everyone again.

Going "saat samundar paar" (I really dont know which saat samundar we are going to cross:) )

My next blog will be from my sis's place. See everyone then :)

Madhura

The Leaf left because of Wind's pursuit or maybe because the Tree didnt ask her to stay....

Disclaimer: The image is freely available on net. The story is not my own creation but I heard it from a friend, Priyanka, who in turn had read it in a mail.

"The Leaf left because of Wind's pursuit or maybe because the Tree didnt ask her to stay...."

Once upon time there was a Tree and a Leaf. Both had been the best of friends. The Leaf harboured special feelings for the Tree though the Tree did not know this. He was very popular and considered the Leaf to be his BFF (Best Friend Forever), nothing more. The Leaf was a very simple girl who always hoped that one day she and the Tree would be together.

Then one day the Tree found a girlfriend. The Leaf was heartbroken though she supported the Tree in his pursuit of love. But as the Tree's relationship with his girlfriend blossomed the Tree and the Leaf grew apart.

Enter our hero, The Wind. Now, the Wind was a very nice guy who had fallen in love with the Leaf. Very soon he found out that the Leaf loved the Tree, but he did not give up on the Leaf. He pursued the Leaf to come with him and start a new life.

Meanwhile the Tree broke up with his girlfriend. The Leaf supported him throughout this difficult time, but still the Tree did not say the thing that the Leaf wanted to hear.

By the time the Tree realised that he loved the Leaf she had decided to go with the Wind. So the Tree heartbroken did not say anything. And the Leaf left with the Wind.

The Leaf left because of Wind's pursuit or maybe because the Tree didnt ask her to stay....

Harry Potter and ME

Disclaimer: This is an original post about my views on the Harry Potter series. The image is freely available on internet as a wallpaper.

The first time I had heard about the Harry Potter series was when I was in the eight standard. Though I cannot give a specific reason my first impression the series was not at all good. I practically hated the series. I think it irritated me to think that grown ups got hooked on a book which was about magic!!! This 'hatred' lasted through all these years till recent times.

Come August 2008, having been nagged and pestered on by a friend of mine called Nidhi (thank you Nidhi) I started reading the Harry Potter series. It took me just one book to start liking the series another two to start loving it and just one more book to become an ever-lasting fan. 

Now you can hear even me saying things like "I wish I could just "Accio" the remote" or imitating the famous drawl with which Snape (Alan Rickman, who is incidentally my favourite character) says "obviously".

The most captivating part of the books is the narration ,well story too "obviously", but quite a few good stories have been destroyed because of bad narration. The ease with which J.K. Rowling guides the reader through the story is just too good. So when the young Harry is scared at Voldemort's rebirth you can smell his fear or when Snape kills Dumbeldore you wish you could just jump in the book and strangle him. You jump with joy every time Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup and cry profusely when Sirius dies. And the Harry-Ron-Hermoine friendship is very real with all its fights and jealousy and of course love. That is the MAGIC of Rowling's narration.

The storyline is just too awesome. References to earlier events makes you flip back not only the pages of the book you are reading but also the previous books. Things that go unexplained are explained later in the book or as is the case most of the times in later books, not one tiny morsel of information goes unexplained.

One of the things that impressed me most about the series is the detailing of the "other" life. The spells have been well thought of and are meaningful. There is not a single spell called "Abada Cabadra". Every single detail from the food they eat and clothes they wear to the Ministry Of Magic to the dangerous beasts (trolls, hags, dragons though my favourite remain the blast-ended skrewts) have been worked out.

Well the moral of the story (in this case blog) is that I WAS WRONG. Harry Potter series is an excellent read. Worth every nail biting moment you spend reading and re-reading and re-reading it. Like every Harry Potter fan now even I wish that the wizarding world is real and some day I get to be a part of it. 

 

Vikrant is back!!!!

The title of this blog is bound to confuse a lot of my friends as they know I have no friend by the name Vikrant. Only the people who watch or more precisely religiously follow the marathi serial Asambhav, will know who I am talking about and am sure are as delighted as I am.

It might seem weird for others that return of a character in a serial is worth a blog post, that's a regular event in the "K-serials", but the return of Vikrant (Satish Rajwade) is different. Everyone who is a fan of this serial will agree with me that the moment of Vikrant's return was as eagerly awaited as the Diwali. And I am not exaggerating.

The scene in which Vikrant walks in again was a moment of pure euphoria. Hearing the dialogue in which he says "Priya you are not the first person to walk over my face but yes you are the first person whom I have loved with all my heart" has the same effect after all these days. It still makes your eyes sting with tears. All the same questions that the viewers had in mind for Vikrant were accurately guessed by him and even we are waiting for some answers as eagerly as Priya.

The return of Inspector Vikrant Bhosale and Satish Rajwade the director is sure to spring back life into the serial which for some time was losing its pace and its uniqueness.

Mr. Satish Rajwade, if you ever end up reading this blog please be assured that we are v.v.v.v happy you are back. Now we have just one request no matter how the serial ends please make sure that Vikrant and Priya end up together. Thank you so much and best of luck :)