Thank god!

As I write this blog, I can't thank god enough for keeping me and Ameya so safe. I don't even have words to thank the people who helped us come out of the initial trauma. A split second could change your life forever and affect you in millions of ways. People whom you hadn't ever seen in life get connected to you in freaky ways. Suddenly Mitch Albom's book makes a lot of sense.
It just doesn't matter whose fault it was or who did what. All that matters is good wishes, prayers and above all, love, can bail you out of everything. I've realized, every moment like this teaches you a lot and makes you a stronger person....hopefully..

Thank god!

Bhajji by the lake!

Michigan weather is very funny. Bloody unpredictable! Today morning when I checked Yahoo weather, it said 'Cloudy with a 30%possibility of rain '..and then..it's been the 30% all day! Today, I started from home in a hurry, trying to eat a yummy Jimmy sandwitch and at the same time saving myself from the water sprayed by the inhumanly fast cars. To my utter disgust, as always, by the time I reached school, my jeans were wet. I so hate cars..well, ..unless I'm in it! So, it was a cold, boring and wet day. Until now. Cause, Parag and China have decided to make yummy, hot, mouth watering, oily bhajis and piping hot, flavored tea...yumm...u think i should help them...nah..I'm just gonna lie back and enjoy it! By the lake!

Bhajji..by the willowtree lake..WOW!!

Choker Bali

Don't Choke her.. I mean, though I positively think Rabindranath's story was shitty, I would surely say, the movie is worth a dekko. The story is about a young Bengali widow during the Bengal partition and Independence era. It is way ahead of it's times, and compels you to think profoundly about issues such as sati, remarriage and independence. All woven into each other! Interesting huh??!
Aishwarya plays the main character, called Binodini. Though she is well educated and extremely pretty, she is rejected by the most eligible bachelor (Mahendra) from her town. She goes on to marry an old man, who dies within a year. Mahendra in the meanwhile marries a naive Ashalata, portrayed perfectly by Raima Sen. For some reason, Mahendra's mom finds Binodini and gets her home. When Binodini realises she's in Mahendra's house (who once rejected her) she burns with vengeance and/or desire! This young, smart widow tries every trick she can and lures Mahendra. Binodini and Mahendra have a thing on and finally his wife, Ashalata finds out. Ashalata leaves him and goes to Benares. Binodini then (for no apparent reason) offers herself to his friend! But since he refuses, carries on her affair with Mahendra. They too go to Benares and in a few months.. lo! behold! she meets a very heavily pregnant Ashalata (very dramatic)..She immediately feels guilty and asks Mahendra to return to his wife. Then, Mahendra's friend proposes marriage to her, and she agrees...Finally you would think she's settling down.but no......let me not give away the ending! Even Rabindranath himself thinks that's the worst ending he could have ever given to the story..
Ghosh does an awesome job directing the movie. Some scenes between Aishwarya and Raima are very poignant and disturbing. Aishwarya must've had to work a lot! She actually emotes! Raima is beautiful and a very apt choice for the role. The other actors are just about alright!
So guys, sorry for the big blog...but worth watching...at least once!

The 5 people you meet..

I actually survived two shitty tales! One-Mitch Albom's , 'The five people you meet in heaven', two, Choker Bali. I don't know how!
Well, for Albom, I had predicted that he couldn't get any worse than 'Tuesdays with Morrie', but .. he proved me wrong! So wrong, that actually I've started liking Morrie! If you've read Albom, you can tell this guy was born to make you cry.. I'm sorry I'm asking for a bashing from all Albom fans, but I really hate reading stories which start with dying..(Love Story is an exception..and Erich Segal rocks!) So this story starts with a guy called Eddie, who dies in the first chapter, meets a person who touched his life in every chapter thereafter, and tries to tell us how all our lives are interconnected, and how we leave imprints on each other's lives without even knowing it! The story keeps going back and forth on Eddie's birthdays and gives us a snapshot of Eddie's life then.The outline is freaky and interesting, but there is no connection at all between the loosely connected parts of the tale. But I guess, a novel doesn't become a best seller for nothing..so I'm sure there are some people there who would still like to grab and read it.. go ahead you guys! For those who aren't, don't worry, you're not missing much!

More on Choke her Bali later..oops I meant Choker Bali!

Its here..

It's snowing!!!! I am soooo excited :) ..I'm sure within two weeks, my face is going to turn from :) to :( ..but whatever, till then, I'm excited! It was a beautiful, successful evening. After a long effort, sleepless nights and endless debates over costing and inventory, we finally got our product ready! Right after dropping off our product in the B-school, it hit me! It was the first snow of the season..... The hard hail hit my face. The strong gust blew the tiny pieces of snow everywhere. It looked beautiful....the pavements and the car tops were covered in layers of white!!!
But now, a sudden realisation has dawned upon me. It's here, but it's here to stay! For a looonng time. But for today, I'm excited!

still up, hardly alive and not kicking..

A lot of people actually thought I'd stop writing right on my second day of blogging..but to their utter disappointment..i'm back! without a bang :( .. have been up all night.... working!
I'm actually quite proud of myself for having come up with a website all by myself! Never did html make any freaking sense to me till yesterday. My team was supposed to meet a deadline today at noon, and my dear teammates decided to do the disappearing act on me!!
But now that the website is done, I'm actually happy I learnt quite a lot of new stuff..
I guess I'm going to be the happiest person ever on the Wednesday before thanksgiving. What with four assignments due on the same day almost the same time...
Check out my website - www.tmi.umich.edu/webshow.htm ... i made teh icy hot serverware..
Thanksgiving plans - Aditi, Mangesh I'm waiting .. come soon!

My first blog!

With due thanks to China clay, I'd like to start my first blog. It's been a while since I've written and words don't flow like water anymore. But, there is so much happening at my end right now, that if I didn't put in down on paper/ blog, it would actually be a sin!
Pune to Ann Arbor....it's been three months since I left home, my parents and Pune. Never had I dreamt of calling any city other than Pune, my 'home'. It's been a crazy journey already. The school's keeping me busy through the week, and my friends keep me busy on the weekends! Starting out a new life wouldn't have been the same without some great people that I met. I can't really remember how I met these people, but I so thank god for putting me in the nicest of company anybody could ever find. When I look at some of my friends from other Universities and hear their depressing experiences, I actually thank my stars. Life would have been a big bore without these friends and Ann Arbor.
AA - I haven't seen much of the town yet, but I'm already in love with whatever I have. It's not only the beautiful houses or the University buildings that I admire, it's the people - mostly fellow students. It's amazing how much you learn from a diverse student population. It surprizes me how I made such good friends with people from all around the world. I spend endless evenings discussing various religions with my Turkish friend. She makes the most amazing hummus and while we eat that, offers me a radically different viewpoint of the treatment of women in the middle-east. My Korean friend, who happens to be an artist, introduced me to sushi (which I still hate, but couldn't tell him!). He's taught me so much about product development, that he actually inspired the hidden artist in me and has convinced me to start painting again! And ofcourse, my Indian friends.. these spoilt brats (including me), were so pampered back home, that nobody ever knew how to cook! And now, thanks to the unstable external environment (courtesy, 421-Bob) , have suddenly taken to sharpening their culinary skills. All in all, having a wonderful time meeting new people and at the same time finding a new, Me!!