2 sides

One of the most important things I've learned is this:

"There's always two sides to every story"

Even when you are listening to your friend and she is telling you about her boyfriend who has cheated on her; even when you are listening to your 4-year-old nephew and he is telling you about a classmate who snatched away his chocolates; even when you are talking to your brother and he is telling you about this girl in his office who has gone crazy for him; even when you are convinced that there is this one person who is the root of all your problems, even then there's another side to the story. 

    A guy cheating on his girlfriend is wrong; a kid taking away another kid's chocolate is wrong. But, there's a reason for it. Sometimes it's just too difficult to do the right thing. 

   I would have been quick to judge that guy who cheated on his girlfriend, that kid who snatched chocolates from his classmate, that girl who has gone crazy for a guy and that person who I think is the root of all my problems, but now I wonder what happened to cause them to act that way. They may just be selfish, but maybe not. 

    When my friend said "it was all his fault" I wondered what the other person's story is? I am not saying that two sides to every story concept explains and justifies everything! 

*In the end it comes down to belief: which one did you want to believe, which one suited you best? Or, perhaps more to the point: which one told the story you were already telling yourself? 

(*Michael Pantini, The telling room: a tale of love, betrayal and world's greatest piece of cheese) 

P.S- I'm not talking about things like murder or child-abuse or stealing or lying to protect oneself. 

Police Brat

BRAT. Born, raised and transferred. 

Getting transferred is what general public associates life in the police services with. Moving to a different place practically every year is very much part of enlisted life. From a very young age children with parents in the police force are used to of having dad walk in and announcing yet another move to a new city or town, a new home, new school and new friends.

Packing up and moving on is a very normal concept for police children. They even learn the art of how to pack sans the modern day comfort of packers and movers. The parents do the packing, with the generous help from fellow officers and the kids pitch in as a matter of course. Being a police officer's daughter, I personally have supervised loading trucks. 

With so many changes in everyday life, police children develop a rare brand of confidence and world perspective. Adapting to a new school in every few years is a kind of 'survival training' that children outside the services rarely undergo.

From the earliest years we learn to dress correctly. Women are treated with respect and children learn to show respect to ladies by observing other officers doing the little things, like standing up when a lady enters a room, opening doors, holding out chairs and those other chivalrous things. 

We learn not to discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, color, language and race. In the police force every person is valued. They learn to respect and accept everyone. Police children grow up with friends from every religion, they visit temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras with equal gravity, and learn to celebrate all festivals with same pomp and gaiety. This perhaps is the most important lesson children growing up in the police environment learn.  

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad
How are you?
I am sorry I am not there to take care of you
Will you forget me?
I thought about suicide
I thought about jumping from the building
But, I didn't have the strength to climb the roof

I've coma a long way now
And, I'm strong enough to survive
I will stay positive
each day with a purpose.   

Lucknow Tips 2

Matter matters the most! 

Aliganj, Hazratganj, Hussainganj, thakurganj and list goes on 

Aam! 

hahnemann Chowraha! 

Jugaad. 

Such satisfaction 

The story behind Lucknow! :P

 hum bol rhey hai aap "gaali" naa dein varna "hum" aapki taarif mein doh shabd galat bol deingey .. !!

Samajh jaaiye janab! 

Aminabad Again! <3

And, that's it! :)

Lucknow Tips

The Lucknowi lingo 

When you go to Hazratganj, you go Gunj-ing 

Aminabad <3

Elephants are one thing you notice in Lucknow 

The epic V-khands 

The lame question non-lucknowities ask 

Ama-yaar!!

Lovelane, Hazratganj! 

Try doing this! :P

     

For superb evening snacks lajawabi, it has to be Dastar-Khan and Tundey-kebabi! 

Humare Nawabi Andaz! 

Lucknowi Tehzeeb! 

It looks likw the whole lucknow has landed up there. 

And, it's pathetic! 

I wonder who did these epic nomenclatures. 

I don't know what this post is about; hiding things or unconditional love

"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides."

~Andre Malraux 

We hide things, we all do, some small or some big things. We hide things so that life becomes easier. But, does it really becomes easy? 

Worrying that no one finds about it, trying hard to keep it a secret, censor all our words and acts. 

We were trying to make things simpler and easier. Weren't we?

Sigh!

What we thought and what it turned out to be. The stress, the pressure, the skipping of heart when someone calls you or says "I heard something." 

This is not what we expected when we hid things.
And, what when it comes out? It always comes out someday. 

"You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find out."

What when people not just about that thing but also knows that you were hiding it and wonder what else is deep buried in you? You lose all your credibility. People narrow their eyes and wonder whether you are telling the truth or not each time you say something. 

It's a terrible feeling. Isn't it? 

   And, why do we hide things?

I do because I fear that my loved ones will me a little less or won't love me at all if they find out about that things. 

They say love is unconditional. Then, why do we worry about loving less or not loving so much?

I always wonder, "Is love actually unconditional?" 

IDK

"there comes a time when you encounter the question "what is the most important thing in life?"

We narrow are eyes and consider the array of potential answers in front of us. Maybe it is about finishing studies and getting a job and living our life. Or it is little things in life. Those unmade beds, people getting drunk and crying and cannot be anything but honest in that moment, the look in eyes when we are in love, the way we look when we wake up, the gasp we take when our favorite character dies, when we close our and drift to another world, the breakdowns, the smeared makeup, the daydreams, the look in our eyes when we see a dog, the happiness when we buy food for a homeless kid, that flipping through cable complaining there's nothing on, spending Saturday night drinking overpriced beer, that waiting in the line, at the gym, on the train, eating lunch, we are complaining about the wait, that staring into space, that admiring ourselves in the reflective surfaces, the sometimes empty fridge, the priceless moments we spend with our friends, the smile on our parent's face, those giggles with our siblings and those sibling rivalries, those weekends with cousins, and those sleepless nights when you blogging. :)
But, 

"I don't know," we say, shrugging."

The New Kid in Town

To all the people who achieved something special and right now are the "New kid in town"

There's talk on the streets; it's sounds so familiar

Great expectations, everybody's watching you 

People you meet, they all seem to know you

Even your old friends treat you like you're something new

Johnny come lately, the new kid in town

everybody loves you, so don't let them down 

You look in her eyes; the music begins to play

hopeless romantics, here we go again 

But, after a while you're looking the other way 

It's those restless hearts that never mend 

Johnny come lately, the new kid in town

Will she still love you when you're not around?

There's so many things you should have told her,

But night after night you're willing to hold her 

Just hold her, tears on your shoulder 

There's talk on the street, it's there to

Remind you, that it doesn't really matter

Which side you're on.

You're walking away and they are talking behind you

They will never forget you till somebody new comes along 

Where you been lately? There's a new kid in town

Everybody loves him, don't they?

Now he's holding her, and you're still around

Oh, my, my

There's a new kid in town

ooh, hoo

Everybody's talking 'bout the new kid in town 

ooh, hoo

Everybody's walking like the new kid in town 

There's a new kid in town 

There's a new kid in town

Saturday, the 1st of March'14

The post exam hangover!
Four movies in 24 hours.

                                                        You will watch it dobara. :)

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The film is gentle, taking time out to look at the horses running in the meadows, feel the wind the air, swim with the fish underwater. Three adventure sports to test your courage. Naturally the trip to Spain is not just a trip, it's a journey of the soul. 

Lovely. A bromance that has more style and heat than most rubbish romcoms.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara? You will definitely watch it dobara (or more). 

The entire cast. 

The Realistic Approach

Hum Tum. It's a romantic comedy that explores love from a slightly realistic point of view and that is what I like about the movie. It doesn't show the lead actors falling in love at the first sight. But, it shows love as a gradual process, happening over a period of years. 

The 12:20 show

All I have to say about this movie is that, it is not a typical romantic drama, nor an average love story. It is a movie made with a difference. 

The 5:50 show

This is actually two movies in one. The first half is sparkling comedy, which traces the sea change of happily married couple Sid and Trisha. But, their first kid puts a brake on their bliss. Trisha declares: We are pregnant and it's all downhill from there.

Coming to books. Only I know how difficult it was to stop myself from going to the study, giving a quick look at the selves, picking a book and not doing anything till I finish the book. Right now I am reading two books, first is one of my all time favorite 'A Walk to Remember' and the other is the controversial 'The Hindus' by Wendy Doniger. 

A Walk to Remember

What do I say about this book? The more I read it the more I cry. It was so correctly said in the prologue of the movie 'First you will smile, and then you will cry-don't say you haven't been warned.'

The lovely quotes this book has given us, and my personal favorite is

'There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have a feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well.'

Whenever I am in a sad or difficult situation, I look up to this quote. The little things in life which make it beautiful. Well, I never fall short of words when I am writing about this book. So, I will just stop now. :)

The Hindus

According to the reports, Penguin books India has has agreed to withdraw all published copies. Reports say that they have even agreed to destroy remaining copies which are with the publisher. 

When I first heard about it I ran to the study to check whether we have the book or not, in case we didn't had I would ran all the way to the book store to buy it before it was withdrawn. Luckily it was there and then I decided to read it as soon as the exams get over. So, here I am reading. Since I haven't finished the book yet therefore I wouldn't comment on the book right now. But, there is one thing I want to say rather ask 'How can a group of 10-12 people decide on the behalf of all the Hindus?'

They say, the book has hurt the religious feelings of millions of Hindus. Millions. Isn't that a huge number? How can these some hindus know or decide how millions of Hindus are feeling? 

To quote India today, 'I am glad that, in age of internet, it is no longer possible to suppress a book. The Hindus is available on Kindle; and if legal means of publication fail, the internet has other ways of keeping books in circulation. People in India will always be able to read books of all sorts, including some that may offend some Hindus. 

Exploring the unexplored

I decided to spend my last summer holidays with my cousin, who was posted in a small sub-division in Meghalaya. Little did I knew that this small, remote location is going to be the one of the most beautiful places I ever saw. Simply heaven on Earth.

Amlarem, Jowai, Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India.

At the Palampur monastery, the monk kids

Here are some pictures from a monastery in the outskirts of Palampur. It was around 10 in the morning when I decided to take a walk. While taking this short walk, I ended up discovering this monastery, where many monk kids reside.

As I enter the monastery, little monks start to appear.  

 

Meanwhile I improvised a photo-session. There were a lot of laughs when I showed them the pictures on LCD. :)

As I said good-bye and was ready to leave, I saw this tech savvy monk.