My REEL n REAL life Stars ;)

Well though after reading this post it may seem that I am inspired by almost everyone and anyone around but then that's what I have always believed in life that no matter how un-special a person may be he/she has atleast one such quality which makes him/her a real-life star atleast for someone. But then it depends on us how we harness that quality. Here's to a random list people in my mind, both from reel n real life, who have left a lasting impression on my heart n mind:

1. There was a serial aired on DD-1 named 'Udaan'....the female lead inspired me to become an IAS...though all I could become in life was just another Engineer.Well that has inpired me to make a soap on budding engineers...hope watching that someday some gal would become an IAS :P :D
2.  PT Usha was my greatest source of inspiration for a long time and believe me  I wanted to be an athelete like her at one point in my life but thanks to papa ka tamaccha India would never know about the greatest "runner" ever born :P
3. Kalpana Chawla inspired me to fall in love with stars. I still look at the star studded night each day and imagine if I could reach there just for once. 
4. Rabri Devi inspired me to select the best husband who could even make an uneducated lady into a Chief Minister ;)
5. Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras who made me fall in 'LOVE" with tennis. Roger Federer just sealed the bond further.
6. Shahrukh Khan....I just hope he inspires my future husband whoever he is...kyuki no one other than him can so gracefully accept the fact that vo "juru ka ghulam" hai :P :P .On a serious note, SRK has the most amazing sense of humor for he knows to laugh at himself which not only requires courage but also wit ;)
7. Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling have instilled in me the required confidence with which I have started writing this blog and will hopefully write a book someday for I now know that people do believe in fantasies.
8. 'Monica' of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fame, for I believe I  am like her in more ways than one and in my solitary hours in hostel she alongwith Ross, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey and Rachael have been like my next door neighbours too for quite a long time.
9.  Character of Kareena in JAb WE Met....that gal is an inspiration for a lot of the gals m sure...she has just made me fall in love with myself :P Also special mention to Ekta Kapoor...for I didnt know of what the females were capable of in 'REAL' life but sure enough the world knows now... :P
10. Hrithik Roshan,....sorry people I have no specific reason for inspiration from him but he was my 1st love...1st crush ever ;) so just had to mention him

...n now for some REAL stars...

1. My LKG teachers, Ms. Molly and Ms. Judy, inspired me to learn dancing(how n why that's a secret known to others who were in same class as me) :P :P . They taught me my 1st letters and I would be nothing without them.
2. A servant named "Pappu" who had served us for a long time. Well he helped me a lot with my unfinished meals and thus saving me from mummy ki maar. 
3. "Raanu" for just being the best friend, the best critic, n the best 'Wall' I have ever known.
4. "Vicco"...I know she would kill me if I didnt mention her name in this list. n yea U definitely are the bestest friend sweetheart not just best so don't get jealous if I gave away the best friend title to some1 else :P .We have been friends for like a  lifetime and I think she hasn't changed one bit...kudos to the consistency gal...aaj bhi "Mummy daantegi"(hope u remember that ;) )
5. "Nikki"...she taught me selfless service. I havent ever met a girl who's so willing to help others and then forget all about it. Sweetheart U Rock...God bless U!
6. "Rathuuuu" aka Shweta Rathi...well I can just say you made me meet myself after a long interval of time. You inspired me to be self-obsessed and "dance" away the worries of life. I am a big fan of you darling....and since we 2 are the best...just wanna ask u one simple thing...."Will U marry me?"..coz there's no btr match for the best than the best ;)
7. My maasi who inspired me to learn to cook...she makes some of the most amazing dishes. Maasi U make me miss those old summer vacations all over again.
8. My bro ..who inspired me to be sincere in life....he still drives me crazy when he scores 92 in chemistry and is favourite student of MR. B.N. Jha, a teacher who never associated even 'S' of 'Sincerity' with me ;)
9. My dad inspired me to always remember that I am just 'Preeti'...and that all I could do was borrow his surname but then one day I had to make a name of my own in this world! Luv U Dad!!
10. And last but not the least...my ma....c inspired me to b someone I could face everyday in the mirror...thanks ma! I might not say often but I owe you everything I am!

Ahhhh...well there are still so many more names that I haven't included...but I just want all my friends and people to know that you all are just as special....luv u all!

My Socially Networked Circle of Friends ;)

Just yesterday I happened to log into my facebook account after a long time and was surprised to see that the world was still where I had left it...some busy updating their status...some uploading pics..some taking the hilarious quizzes that facebook is know for. It was somehow comforting to know that the people I was familiar with were still around and had not just vanished into their cozy office cubicles like me. I don't think I understood most of the communication that was happening between different groups of friends in my list but it was comforting to just read their chat and feel the spirit of the friendly banter of which even I was a part not long ago.
While browsing through various updates, I happened to see newly uploaded pics of one of my ol school frens. She had got married just the year before and was happily settled in her new role as a wife and as a daughter-in-law. It was difficult for me to picture myself dawning that role someday in my life...I mean somehow it seemed a task with too much responsibility for which I wouldn't be ready ever :P .I had been invited to her wedding but thanks to my pre-job training that I couldn't be a part of her big day. While browsing through her pics I happened to see one of the pics which was taken in Pune that too a month back. I don't know why but that slight bit of information hurt me. Do people change so much after marriage? Aren't we the same friends who used to be excited about meeting each other in school every morning?
Maybe years of growing up takes its toll on us and instead of cherishing our old school buddies we start seeing them as strangers who no longer have anything common with our lives. I don't know about the guys but for gals marriage means an entire renovation of the life they had led uptil then. I don't know the reason why my friend didn't contact me even once and I don't know if I would have been delighted to meet her or not. But as of now I feel a sense of pain deep down to acknowledge the fact that facebook and orkut may have definitely flooded my freind list with familiar faces and names but they are no longer the same people that I knew.
Everyday social networking is growing as a business. It is the new age mantra to excel but what part of this "social networking" is really "social"(please look up the word in dictionary for exact meaning)? I wonder why do I have 300 to 400 odd people in my friend list when I hardly converse with any of them. The ones I converse with are either amongst my "current" friend circle whom I meet regularly these days or are amongst the closest oldest eternal buddies that I have know for like a ...lifetime! It may then seem appropriate if I remove the other people in my list who, it may seem, are just creating a kind of traffic congestion on my "social network". This would then imply that I only stay connected with my closest buddies and no one else. However,  it would be like travelling in an aeroplane which sure enough takes you from place A to B in shortest period of time. But then doesn't gurantee the same adventuresome trip that you might have on a train which stops at every possible station and you could get down and have a walk down an XYZ city's platform which perhaps you may never have a chance to visit otherwise!
Well just imagine a scenario of about 5-6 years back when people hardly talked of sites like orkut or facebook. In those days having a chat id was the latest and coolest way to stay in touch. But then how many people did you have max in ur chat list...30-40 ok max 100...but then having someone on ur chat list meant you had or would have something to chat with them. Orkut and facebook has reduced this compulsion in a smarter and must say friendlier way by allowing us to stay connected with more people without the actual need of talking to each one of them individually. Thanks to the new entrant in this sector- "TWITTER" which has further simplified the whole communication process. All I need to do is tweet of what I am upto and others are saved from asking similar sounding questions like "wassup" or "howdy" !
Though must say that I m a big fan of technology myself but then at times I wonder where technology has brought us today. Are we embracing social networking which limits our feelings to mere tweets? Is technology providing us a cutting-edge in maintaining long lasting relationships or merely increasing the count of my friend list everyday? I don't know friends if Orkut and Facebook is a boon or curse but then to all my friends all I can say is that "kamino sirf friend reqst bhejne se dost nahi bante ...galti se hi hello bhi kar liya karo " :P :P :D

Is it easy to remember or hard to forget?

It's 4am and I am sitting idle wondering what should I blog about! I know it's rather a weird hour and time to think of something like a blog but then I strongly believe in the sentiments voiced out by my ideal in 'Jab We Met' - "Weird lag raha hai na...toh karna chahiye"...
Well while I was sitting on the couch and watching some random music channels, a thousand things were going on inside my head- old memories of friends, foes, strangers I had met, happy times n creepy times. It was amazing how even a simple cup of tea could bring back memories of old times. I was wondering if it was easy to remember things or was it  hard to forget them! Just penning downsome random thoughts ...

• Is it easy to remember the fairy tales and adventure stories that one used to hear from grandpas n grandmas as a kid or is it hard to forget those stories coz they are the best memories we have of our grand-parents?
• Is it easy to remember the first school we went to coz thr we met the 1st 'idiots' we called chaddi buddies or is it hard to forget that school coz most of the friends we met there are no longer the idiots we knew?
• Is it easy to remember the 1st time we flunked in a test and the scolding/slap we received for the "acheivement" from dad or is it hard to forget that failure coz now there's no1 to bother if you pass or fail in the everyday tests of your daily life?
• Is it easy to remember the first trophy we got for outstanding performance coz that reminds us of our excellence or is it hard to forget coz it's hard to imagine how a thing as simple as a 'trophy' could make us happy?
• Is it easy to remember the first love of our life coz that feeling still stirs strings of innocent n happy memories or is it hard to forget the first time we loved selflessly and got dumped?
• Is it easy to remember your first job coz you that was the 1st time you were excited about working or is it difficult to forget it coz it was also the last time you were excited about working?
• Is it easy to remember your first car/bike coz it symbolized your first possession from your hard-earned money or is it difficult to forget it coz you are still paying the installments of the EMI you took to buy that?
• Is it easy to remember the first time you got drunk coz it was the 1st time you didnt remember the "wild" fun you had after that or is it hard to forget the day that got you used to a drink that always made you forget the fun you had?
• Is it easy to remember the first time you were cried all alone coz you didn't know who else could act as the 'wall' or is it hard to forget that it was the time when you so desperately wanted to run away from the world and celebrate your failures by yourself?
• Is it easy to remember the things that made you happy in life coz that still brings a smile on your lips or is it just too hard to forget those moments as you can't have them back ever?

While I keep wondering you can go ahead and do some thinking yourself if any of the points above made any sense to you.. :)

Valentine's Day "BLAST"

It was just another beautiful Saturday evening when usually Koregaon Park, considered heart of the city, is abuzz with young chirping crowd of people. 13th of February meant that there were lots of couples out there at different restaurants, or taking a stroll down the lanes of Koregaon Park waiting for the clock to strike 12 so that they could make their love vows irrespective of the caste, creed, state, country or any other form of human drawn boundaries. Young guys and gals walking hand-in-hand, OSHO followers clad in their maroon gowns, some buying cakes at the bakery for the special occasion at night, others in groups of friends taking sips of their favourite evening tea and loads of other unknown people from different sections of society moved about carelessly on the streets unaware of the disaster which was about to strike. But at about 7:00 all this excitement, happiness and many lives were blown apart into pieces by a bomb planted in one of the popular hangout places in KP- “German Bakery”.


After scanning all the news channel for hours where people were busy discussing if its a bomb blast or just explosion of gas cylinders, I, along with my friend Rathi, decided to just take a walk down the lane which was known for its high-profile party atmosphere on weekends. The lane was all deserted today with a few people moving about and mostly on phones trying to assure people on the other end of the line that everything was "FINE". It seemed weird, and I kind of missed the happy-go-lucky faces on the lane....the faces which I did not know but which reflected that life was all about living for the moment!

The news channels and reports say that 9 people died and only about 40-50 injured in the blast. But if you look deeply, I would say that the entire Pune is injured irrespective of the fact if they are born in Pune or in Bihar or in Taiwan. Pardon me for saying Bihar exclusively but with all this North Indian drama going on in the background I wonder if the MNS or Shiv Sena would now go and say "Sorry" to the families of the so-called "Outsiders" in the city if they were injured in the blast inspite of the fact that they were not considered a part of the city? The injury may or may not be visible externally but what's injured in this blast is the heart and soul of the city. People would now be scared of even going out for a stroll. They would be scared of sitting at a place like 'German Bakery' and taking relaxed sips of their cup of tea/coffee with friends. On the personal front, I would miss 'German Bakery'...though I wasn’t a frequent visitor there yet the place was symbolic of the loads of memories I have had in this wonderful city of Pune as a student and of lately as a working professional. Had the Police been on their alert instead of guarding the cinema halls for Shiv Sena activists, perhaps this blast could have been avoided. Maybe the Shiv Sainiks can now proudly shout their victory slogans...afterall they stopped the anti-Indian from releasing his movie though they couldn’t stop a terrorist attack!

By afternoon of 14th, the site had become a place of outing. The street which was symbolic of life and fun on other days was full of media vans and police troops today. People thronged in huge numbers. All of them stood silent and watched. It was a strange feeling for me to stand there and watch the mayhem. There were people of all age groups standing there and watching the scene. I wondered what was it that they were watching. Were they feeling sorry for the ones who had been affected? Or were they moved by the inhuman incident that had the city grieving? Or were they merely mute spectators like me trying hard to actually believe that such a thing had happened?

As the time passes by, people would forget this blast, people would forget that there was a place called 'German Bakery', people would party in the same careless spirit(I wish that happens soon) afterall thats what we have learnt from 3 Idiots- "Aal Izz Well". But how good is that attitude? Is forgetting and moving on with life always a good option? Shouldn't we stop at some point and think about what happened, and why it happened and how could we stop that in future? Or we may just choose to let the things pass...we may just choose to let few or lot more such places and lives be blown apart....and just keep saying "Aal izz well"!!!