Thought for the Day - The Link Between Gratitude and Being Fully In the Moment

It struck me suddenly that you cannot be grateful to anything if you are not fully present to it.Why should one be grateful. Good q. You should, because if you are not grateful, it means that you are generally not happy with stuff that is coming your way. That you are not appreciating what you have.That stuff will slowly dwindle as rejection or not being appreciated is not liked by anyone or anything. So out goes love, money, happiness, good relationships,...

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Thought For the Day - What Makes Us Look Forward to Certain Things

Why do I look forward to certain things and want to avoid certain other things?I look forward to certain things where I feel I can either contribute (or get something I like, such as praise, applause, gift etc). I do not look forward to things when I have nothing to contribute and I am getting something I do not like (criticism, rebuke, ridicule, penalty), or not getting anything.When I have something to genuinely share, I look forward. (It normally...

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Champions Trophy 2013 - Well Done MSD, Team India and Selectors

My cricket watching has gone down a bit because international cricket in recent times has not kept me interested for too long. Perhaps it's a case of overexposure.But I saw the final of the Champions Trophy 2013 and bits and pieces of some other games. I liked much about this new look Indian team - for starters - the new look. The Indian selectors led by the clear thinking Sandeep Patil, with his team of Roger Binny, Vikram Rathore, Saba Karim and Rajinder Singh Hans, are all hardworking, behind the scenes cricketers who will do an honest day's...

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Anjali's Second Blog - About Nature

Here's Anjali's second blog. About nature."hi i am harimohans kid anjali p and i want to talk about plants,animals,under water animals,etc. my dad is writer i know you know his books like the men within,if you love someone. now lets see mom. mom can heal you. why do we cut trees? why do we throw litter? no save the earth! do not cut trees do not throw litter i will be a prime minister and save the earth i will plant trees throw litter in the...

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Thought for the Day - The Outcome or the Process

This is a puzzle. Should one be focused on the outcome or the process. In my opinion they are both part of the process and the goal.Being entirely goal or outcome driven may take all the enjoyment out of the process, the journey. By not enjoying the journey, you may not enjoy the results of the journey. You may miss the forest for the trees. You may lose your soul in a mad rush to reach the goal. The goal and the process, trees and the forestOn...

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Pyaasa - Movie Review

I watched 'Pyaasa; again after decades. Or am I imagining things? Maybe I never watched the movie but always believed I did. But I do remember one scene from the movie, the famous 'Jala do, jala do' scene, which could have settled in off Chitrahaar for all I know. Of Guru Dutt on the steps of the packed auditorium. But whichever way, I did see the classic and am glad I did.Vasant Kumar Shivshankar Padukone  a.k.a. Guru Dutt's classic movie is...

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Rendition - Movie Review

One of the post 9/11 movies as you can make out in scene no 1 when the delegates address one Mr. Anwar. Soon Mr. Anwar is shown speaking to wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) who is American. Now you know where this can go from there. But seriously 'Rendition' is based on the true story of Khalid El Masri, a German national who was mistaken for Khalid-Al Masri, and abducted under 'Extraordinary Rendition' practice that US had begun post its famous...

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The Paradoxes of Our Lives - We Set The Frame, And Expect Others to Behave Outside It

We set the frames for every person in our mind, in our eyes, in our demeanour, in our expectations. This is how you will be, we say firmly.We can expect nothing better from you. We do that with or children, our wards, our students and our trainees, our subordinates, our spouses - in fact with almost anyone close to us.The Limiting FrameYou are like that only!Having fixed them in rock hard frames, we expect them to behave otherwise. To constantly...

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Garbage Beat - Richa Lakhera

Garbage Beat is a story of a tv journalist Laila who covers movies and fashion for a tv channel EMTV - two areas that brim with sex and scandal. Author Richa Lakhera is a tv journo herself and it might not be too far off the mark to say that it is autobiographical. But only to the extent that the reader gets a hazy idea of the way the world of the super cool tv journos functions - and little else. It is one breathless ride that hops from one event...

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Intimate Relations - Sudhir Kakar

This is an academic book. Sudhir Kakar is one of India's leading psychoanalysts. His book 'Intimate Relations' explores intimate relations in India, or the lack of them, through sexual fantasies in Hindi novels, folktales, films like 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili', proverbs and a huge insight into Gandhi's autobiography. It is an interesting read.Penguin India, Rs. 200, 145 pI must confess that I read it with as much interest as I could muster but found...

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Parking Woes - City Centre Mall Shines Bright

I am a bit worried about driving anywhere these days. That's because I can get to my destination but I cannot get out of my car. (It's a bit like Hotel California - you can check out but cannot leave.) Not that I have some unmentionable problems or that I am smitten by a sudden case of shyness - it's simply that there is no place to park. I drive around in circles and come back home without even getting off the car many times.That's true. I spend a lot of my time circling the place where I want to go to, looking at it longingly, as I would any...

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The Paradoxes of Our Lives - Love and Responsibility

Where love exists, responsibility cannot.Love can only bring out acts that are made of love. Acts of responsibility are not acts of love.Because the moment the word responsibility comes in, the 'I' comes in. What is 'my' responsibility to 'you' becomes a forced, assumed, victimized act. Most times this forced responsibility brings on resentment and while doing the act we do it with anger, hate and frustration.It is better to keep responsibility out...

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The Good Shepherd - Movie Review

This one is full of big stars - Matt Damon, Anjelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, William Hurt - and claims to be the Godfather of spy movies. With little action and much inner dialogue, the film may appear slow, but somehow, in Director Robert De Niro's hands, it possesses enough energy in every scene to make you want to find out what happens till the end. It succeeds as a good movie in my definition as it disturbs and leaves behind a slow...

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The Story of the Young Men Who Wanted to Go Somewhere

Okay here is the story of the young men who wanted to go somewhere.Once upon a time there were a few young men who were working very hard to go to a place called Somewhere but were not getting much results to show for what they were putting in. These young men soon started thinking that they were really unlucky, that the system was unfair, that there was no justice, that the gods were unkind, that the stars were not favorable, that the vastu was...

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Walking Clubs, Laughing Clubs

Today I saw the epitome of the laughing club. A group of friends who, after their walk, were laughing heartily at the general banter in the group. It was sheer joy to watch. As opposed to the forced, strict and unrelaxed laughing of some of the clubs I have seen. Ah, nothing like a bunch of good friends and hearty laughter to relax the soul.But while watching this laughing group of friends I also looked around and noticed the other informal groups. The other informal clubs fall under these major heads.The Self-Righteous Club: This is the group...

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Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James

This falls under the category provocative romance. Erika Leonard James, former TV Executive and mother of two, spun the Fifty Shades trilogy which have together sold 35 million copies in the US and 70 million copies worldwide, shocking even the author. After reading the first, on second attempt, and finishing it, even I am shocked. A bit. Not by the contents, but by the success. Ms. James has been ranked by the Times magazine as one of the world's...

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The Paradoxes of Our Lives - To Grow Inside, Empty Yourself

The more we empty ourselves, the more we grow.Flower against the blue skyBe it old baggage, or intellectual arrogance of 'I know', or whatever judgements and opinions, we carry needlessly inside, the best thing is to throw them out and empty yourself. (It's a huge relief first to rid oneself of all this baggage.)Stop holding onto what is good and bad, just empty it. Because all the good things we have stored have also served their purpose, and will...

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Thought for the Day - What You Want Is Not Outside, It's Inside

I was looking at a self-help book. 'All that you want and more' it promised its readers. I wonder, is it really about acquiring all we want or crave for? Or is finding the peace inside so that we get only what we really want?To get the peace inside we need to clear out some unwanted stuff. Old baggage if you may. When we have the space, we can get what we really want.Until we rearrange the interiors a bit, and make space, there is no point in wanting and expecting 'more' because we really cannot handle it.In that sense, it is about growing the...

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Aashiqui2 - Movie Review

I am now convinced that Aditya Roy Kapoor can take over all Amitabh's roles in the sequels/remakes. Ah, he would fit in brilliantly in a sequel for 'Sholay' - I do have the scene when he dies in mind apart from his intense and quiet love story. In addition to the intensity, Aditya has a strange vulnerability, that Karna like look on his face of someone who knows he is going to die but who will stick to his path despite that. Of someone who has accepted...

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ABCD - Movie Review

I like Remo D Souza as a director. He tells simple stories and simply. He has one clear hook that guides the movie and his characters are generally credible. Nothing too dramatic, too sad - alls well and that ends well kind of movies. I see a good future ahead for him as a director. He is responsible, thoughtful, gives a lot of youngsters chances and makes movies that are entertaining and meaningful as well.ABCD (Any Body Can Dance) is a dance based...

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Thought for the Day - Don't Look to Impress, Instead Express

In fact this is a brilliant line from the movie ABCD where Prabhu Deva, the hardworking dance guru tells his students that they must not try to impress, but seek to express themselves. At the same time we have his rival guru, Kaykay Menon telling his upscale students that they must look to impress, to dazzle and every move they make must be to impress!Some place on the Mumbai-Pune expresswayBut we all know that when we seek to impress we will not...

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Beware the Scary Anti-Smoking Ads in Theatres

These days, I get a little worried when I go with Anjali to watch movies - children's or otherwise. The Anit-Smoking ads that pop up without any warning are the sole reason. They are scary enough to watch for me (truly off putting stuff) and I am sure anyone who is smoking in the theatre at that moment will surely stop smoking which is perhaps the noble intention behind it. Good for you guys - I mean why can't you sort it out with the smokers and leave the rest of us out of it.But spare a thought for the trauma that all the others (the non-smokers)...

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The Paradoxes of Our Lives - To Reach High Up, Keep Your Head Down

To reach for the stars, we must keep our head down.A patch of the summer skyHead down works both ways - as in a) keeping ourselves rooted and focussed on the job and the process and b) being humble (again rooted to the ground). We cannot climb the mountain if we have our head in the air. We cannot hit the ball for a six if our head is in the air. The ones who are most in touch with their job, their work, the real purpose of their profession or existence,...

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The Bank Job - Movie Review

A true story allegedly. The movie is based on a 1971 Baker street bank robbery where about 4 million was stolen from the bank's lockers and was never found. The movie sets up the actual bank robbery as it is and the conspiracy behind why the stolen goods was never found. And this is where it gets interesting, as the interests of three conflicting parties gets caught in a seemingly straightforward bank robbery.Firstly, the bank robbery is initiated...

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Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani - Movie Review

It's a movie you can sit through. Bearable. A few moments. And that despite having powerhouse stuff in the cast. Somewhere the film stays on safe ground and never searches for anything extraordinary. But why should they - it's after about entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. Does it entertain? It does enough to keep it going. But its not stuff you'd be running to recommend strongly either.So what's the movie about? Three friends who are...

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Mr. Popper's Penguins - Movie Review

Jim Carrey is Popper, son of Captain Popper the adventurer, who does not have much time for his son as he is always traveling on his adventures. But before he dies, the senior Popper sends his son a unique gift, a penguin. I never understood the reason why the senior Popper thought penguins were ideal pets in New York, but he has been out of civilization for so long that he probably can be excused. Junior Popper is some kind of a con man real estate...

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Bright Spots - Sunil Kumar, Chief Secretary, Chattisgarh

A look at some of the bright spots in our lives.I was reading the article in The Hindu a few days ago on how the Chattisgarh Chief Secretary, Sunil Kumar Kurup, stood up and accepted responsibility for the Maoist killings when a fuming Congress President Sonia Gandhi demanded that responsibility be fixed. As a posse of politicians and top beaurocrats watched in silence Sunil Kumar 'saved the day'. He offered to resign, accepting responsibility for the security failure, as the top man in the administration.It needs moral fibre, conviction and the...

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Midhunam - Movie Review

This one is a classic. It's the ideal post-retirement dream that most senior people dream of, full of love and caring, good humour and health, hopes and yes, even fears too. One for the family to watch together, and think of the trials and tribulations of the seniors at home, and for the seniors to feel a lot more useful than useless. I loved it and the way the typical rural Andhra household is portrayed with its pujas and pickles, letters and relatives...

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Life Lessons from a Grandmother

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This is an interview I’d done with Dr. Nalini Nargundkar, all of 83 years now, on the lessons she learned from her life. I had done the interview almost six months ago, in the hope that perhaps her grandchildren could use it, and I told her to address it as she would address her granddaughter Anjali, but it may...

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