The love, fights, growing up........the wonder years :)

This Rakhi….some scattered thoughts over the years as I recollect my best moments spent with my bro @ Harshit Shah

- Remember the day we got you home ...all wrapped and curious !

- Tied a purple teddy bear rakhi on your wrist on one of your early birthdays J

- Your first birthday celebration and I loved the football masi gave you !

- Me and mom taking you for a ride…by talking in languages you wouldn’t understand when you were a toddler…fooling you and going for a movie ;)

- You and me going for a studio pic and doing the weirdest actions ever !

- Your early days at school..when I used to come across you sometimes in the recess…and you will run to say hi J

- Me and you checking our hands if thorns indeed grew ..after our parents told us that “if you hit each other, thorns will grow on your hands”….waiting for a orange tree to grow from our throat, after being told that a tree will grow if we swallowed seeds ( We did that deliberately to wait for the tree to grow)

- All the toys and all the plays....sticking “lotus” and “shandar” stickers all over the furniture, playing with the beach set in the building under constructions around us!

- Me taking logic and Maths lessons from you when u were in 1^st and I was in 5^th standard JJ

- Definitely tagging along at each other’s friends’ birthday parties ….If not allowed, we would throw all tantrums until mom gave in :D

- Me giving my 10^th standard exams..Not understanding the essay asked in the paper and you telling me when I came home how simple it was!

- Me coming to your class and telling you my std X score..and you were all happy !

- You outpacing me and scoring a super duper score at the same IQ test taken by us …when I was 17 and you were 13 !

- Fighting over small and big things over the years….TV remotes, TV games, computer to “my place” etc etc

- And last but not the least…my wonderful California trip last year J

Miss you this rakhi J Hope it did reach you ….muaaaah!

Do it right or time it right?

I have been wondering whether it is important to get things done right or get them done at the right time. While the first option may sound the best, I think I am kind of agreeing with the second one…Quite often, in the quest for getting things done right, the time passes and then, the whole purpose of the event happening or not is lost. So, is it better to get things done a bit wrong or not that right but at the right time or right at the wrong time…maybe? Confused? I am.

DISCLAIMER: The views herein are expressed on a Monday morning after a 2-week holiday and a sleepless night…

Woh kaaghaz ki kashti .......

We’re close to halfway through April…and my mind drives down memory lane to my childhood...
Each year, this time would be the end of final exams at school. I guess days before the actual vacation started , along with studies, most of us daydreamed the activities to do ( or not to do) in the holidays :)
Here are some random thoughts or scenes I remember at the onset of the summer holidays in those days....!
1> Me & my bro Harshit would pile up all Tinkle comics !

2> Read through and mark the list from the local cablewalla for movies in the week and also check the TV time for special summer programs .

3> Dad and Mom making up a plan for a summer holiday immediately after exams and their year end at business (March 31), which was most likely Mahabaleshwar or Matheran .

4> Make birthday plans (Reminder: My B’day is approaching, First, remember the date, then, block it on your calendar and MOST IMP..buy THE gift ;) )

5> Join hobby classes at nearby Kalavithi. The pathetic case that I was at drawing and craft, I surely made a bad student there.

6> Have cousins come down to stay or go over to their’s or may do both! We were (are) a whole bunch ….

7> Most imp....mangoes….mangoes :D

8> Wait for the report card ….and yes hurray !!!! I don’t think I ever disappointed my parents in those days, but yes, you somehow always “fell short” by 1-2 ranks .!Never mind…the celebrations which were ideally some mango ice-cream or nice cozy dinner were always there :)

9> Mom always got our school books on the day of results (don’t know why). The most interesting part was that Harshit & I actually read through those books like the most interesting story books on this planet!

10> The summer holidays come to an end. And, unlike the Monday blues we hate today, school was actually looked forward to at the end of holidays :)

11> Shopping time, a new school dress ( didn’t matter it looked the same each year, same style, colour…but yes, it was new…and that mattered!).

12> Gearing up for rains …the raincoat …the shoes….

13> Then , its 13 th June (I remember this was usually the date schools re-opened )
Back to school with the rains pouring in.…and loads of tales to share with friends :) (One of my best memories)

Sigh….need those days back!!!

Woh kaaghaz ki kashti .......
Yeh doulat bhi le lo
Yeh shohrat bhi le lo
Bhale cheen lo...... mujh se meri Jawaani
Magar mujh ko lauta do , Bachpan ka saawan,
Woh Kaaghaz Ki kashti, woh Baarish ka Paani!

One bad feeling!

To see off a near & dear one at the airport and come home to some emptiness :(

Three beautiful feelings!

1> Having a hearty South-Indian meal over the weekend at MahaBhoj, Matunga (Fellow-foodies, you gotta check it out !)
2> A toddler sleeping peacefully in my arms :)
3> The feeling before Friday!

Holiday next!

I need a break.....Yes I do.....and its soooo desperately needed!
Just yesterday, a friend told me he was off for a 21-day holiday to his home town and a jealous (actually) feeling ran through!
So…what should be my destination next…any suggestions??

Three beautiful sights I saw yesterday :)

1> The smile on my cute (I could not find a better adjective) niece’s face as she dropped in with her family to give us a surprise :)
2> Mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes (I ACTUALLY miss them a lot once they go away! :D )
3> The best(est) view of Bombay, as viewed from Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower’s Rooftop Rendezvous

To blog or not to blog...

Do I or don't I? The dilemma as to what can be shared about your life or rather what can be spilled over in your blog prevails.
I have read quite a few blogs which probably reveal a little too much about a person's life and I don't think it's always a good idea.
Even when we start to write fiction, we sometimes tend to jot down our views or taint the story with happenings around us. Or in a way the story gets "inspired" from events around us...something that has caught our attention.
Just last week, I wrote a blog…something that came straight from my heart, and then I wasn't too sure if I was willing to share it with the world at large.
I ended up sharing the blog with a few select friends, though I think it's a topic worth discussing with the world. But in the process, it would also impact my privacy.
So...I often wind up thinking do I spill the beans or do I keep them to myself. Do you?

Fridays...........

Not too sure what I want to jot down here…..but as the tag of this blog goes…its my random thoughts!
Every week, by the time its Thursday, I await Friday! And once it is Friday, it sounds like weekend chores await me!
As I sit to jot down my to-do list for the weekend, I actually am thinking…was I REALLY waiting for it?
Thanks to the procrastinator in me, this time it seems to be all packed with lot many chores to attend to and not much time to hang out with friends, go the (usual) random shopping! :(
And by the time, I will have time for my own self, its going to be Sunday eve.. And isn’t that when the Monday blues just set in?? Ouch Ouch….

Impossible….Nah… I M Possible!

This blog is long overdue…Last month, I was at a concert where the emerging child star singer Diwakar was performing.
For those who aren’t aware about him, a small briefing: Diwakar is a finalist at Zee TV’s ‘ Sa Re Ga Ma pa Lil Champs’, and was also a finalist at ‘Bournivta Quiz Contest’ Makes him special ?? Well, there's more to it. He is visually challenged.
My mom and I met up with him and his parents at the concert. FYI, My mom is a Diwakar fan, ever since his performance at BQC early this year.
His mom is a doc by profession but left practicing ever since Diwakar was born.
Here, a lady in the audience happened to probe more. She asked his mom more on their family and learnt that they had a second son after Diwakar and she immediately went “ Aap ka woh beta normal hai ?”
And prompt came the reply from Diwakar’s mom, ”Mera yeh beta bhi normal hai!” and I was all smiles in support to her!
There’s overflowing confidence and understanding towards life that this kid displays.
It really makes me feel that many of us are actually ‘challenged’ and its him who’s actually ‘blessed’!
This also reminds me of a close friend’s dad who too, is visually challenged but has never let it hinder his progress in life. He in fact , has achieved amazing heights in his profession.
And this friend told me once ”I can never tell my dad ..I CANT do this, coz he’s never thought something is impossible!”
This leads me to a thought. Many a times, when we’re unwell or just feeling low, we come up with stupid excuses that “I CAN’T”, “NOT POSSIBLE”
But is it really Impossible?? Nah….its I M possible!

Coincidence magnified!!

Ever met your namesake??……Well, I came across one too…….but this one’s surely unmatched!
A few days ago….a girl scribbled in my scrapbook at orkut telling me that we shared the same name –Ami Shah and also the birthday!
I was pretty amused then but thought hota hai..coz shah’s a very common surname and Ami is the sweetest (well….ahem) name! :D
Yesterday, suddenly she messaged me asking me as to when was I at IES—my MBA school.
Here, I started sensing more….asked her as to what was she doing etc….
And here’s the list of similarities that we share…
1> We were born on the same day, same year.
2> We were born in the same town--Bombay.
3> The timings of our birth were also somewhere around late evening.
4> We are currently based in Bombay.
5> Both of us are MBAs and we kick started it in 2003.
6> She teaches in the MBA college that I graduated from.
7> Both of us are single.
8> Both of us work in similar areas…she’s into PR, I am into journalism!
9> Both of us have only one sibling, younger to us--who’s based in US.
10>Both of us are independent and decently placed in terms of profession.
Riot!!!!!
This is a list compiled after just one chat…I am sure there’s much more! Truly coincidence magnified!!!!!!!!

Tip Tip Barish shuru ho gayi!

Yes…finally it is raining! & finally I am writing my first blog……..
This comes almost a year after I decided to blog regularly …lekin once writing is your profession ……I guess you can’t come home & do anything with the Gates’ MS Word.
It is raining right now like it probably will never rain again. I did not realize the gravity of the issue until I was in office.
I left office and my mom called in a totally scared tone asking where I was and that I l should not probably travel all the way home from work and instead stay midway at my uncles’.
I laughed then; coz town was so so dry until the thunders in the sky broke my myth.
As I am writing this, the lightning flashes are on ekdum filmi ishtyle !
Thankfully & surprisingly, trains worked absolutely fine. Though as is usual, cellphone networks gave way.
I reached Mulund absolutely fine though my parents were really really worried.
Got down from the train and yes, it was raining & the feeling was too good !
I don’t know why but rains make me unusually happy.
This reminds me, the scene outside the window at my office (on the 12th floor, just near the sea) is simply scenic and its just so so romantic!
This year yes….I am going to just run down and be drenched in rains by the sea!
With this feeling running deep inside me, I walked halfway through the rain until my hair dripped and I realized that I had to join my folks for dinner at a restaurant.
The day ended with piping hot pav-bhaji !

Wrote the blog, but can’t upload it coz the networks are down due to rains :)