Keep Dreaming !!

Everyone should dream. Without a dream you wont have anything to look forward to. I know not all dreams come true, but that should not stop you from dreaming. Afterall, dream is what begets passion in us to make an all-out effort to pursue our goals. People put up with hardships and struggles year after year with a smile on face cause they hope that one day their 'dreams' would materialize. It's a dream that gives strength to overcome a crisis.It's a dream that keeps a person get going amidst devastation. It hurts when dreams are shattered, but it hurts more when you have no dream to hold on to. Dreamless life becomes void, static and monotonous. So keep dreaming !! cause "dreams are necessary to life" as quoted by American author Anais Nin.

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat - A Review

I have this problem with the books of Chetan Bhagat that when I sit to read his writing, until I reach the end of the book reading, I find no peace.That's how addictive his writing is. I bought his latest novel 'Revolution 2020' from a street vendor. Just when I was in the midst of an interesting chapter, I noticed that around 16 pages from pg 216-232 were missing in my copy. Damn ! I felt like going back to Karamongala to return the book and exchange it with a fresh piece, but we were only about one and half hour away from the movie we were to see that evening. Travelling down to Karamongala meant we would have to miss the movie. Tickets were bought already, but I had no patience to wait until the next day to know what transpired in the novel. So my hubby scoured the cyberspace desperately in search of a pdf version lest I stayed adamant with my demand to get the book exchanged first and made him miss his movie. Thankfully a philanthropist blogger was generous enough to distribute pdf versions of the book on his blog and my husband downloaded it from there, all for my sake I assume :p


Based on what apparently seems to be a real life incident, 'Revolution 2020' recounts the life story of three friends - Gopal Mishra, Raghav & Aarti. Set against the backdrop of Varanasi, a city that cleanses sins, the novel revolves around their ambition, competitiveness, jealousy, failures and achievements in life. It also broaches a very sensitive topic up for discussion - the desperation among Indian parents for their sons to clear engineering or medical entrance exam and putting pressure on them for repetition in case of failure at first attempt. It's hard to live a free life being a woman in our country, thanks to the deluge of restrictions imposed on our freedom to movements. But the novel opens my eyes to view the perspective of guys who go through the pain of pressure for clearing JEE or AIEEE at any cost. Based on a period when number of seats in govt Engineering colleges were limited and private technical institutions were not prevalent in India, the novel describes the frustration of its central character Gopal Mishra who for the sake of fulfilling his father's dream goes all the way from Varanasi to Kota to spend one year taking preparation for JEE and AIEEE.On the other hand, Raghab, the good boy, cleared JEE but instead of choosing IIT as his alma mater goes to BHU for further studies as it will help him fulfill his passion of 'journalism'. When asked if being a journalist is his ultimate ambition, why he is wasting precious years studying engineering, he replies "Dad. Why else?" Such is the mindset of most of the Indian parents who think that without an engineering or medical degree, their children's career will go to waste.

This desperation to become engineers or doctors breeds jealousy & frustration among those who lag behind in the rat race while their friends race ahead of them clearing the sought-after JEE or AIEEE. This is what forms the core of this novel - how sheer competitiveness and failure in the tests of life take two friends apart, with a fuel adding to the flame is the girl who, both friends are in love with, responds to the proposal of the guy, handsomer of the two with a brighter future. How life with all its challenges change the moral trajectory of people and how an underdog also has the ability to make it big in life with fate standing by him are the questions answered in this novel. A fully engaging book, it will keep you glued until finish.

Rockstar - My Review

I cherish a fondness for Ranbir Kapoor ever since I have seen his second release 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'(I gave his debut movie 'Sawariya' a deliberate miss for the acrid reviews). I simply admire the way he brings forth a character alive by his spontaneous god-gifted & genetic acting ability. In Wake Up Sid, even Kankona Sensharma, who is my favourite because of her natural expression, looks slightly faded in comparison with Ranbir's full-bodied performance. So I might be quite prejudiced when it comes to writing a review on Ranbir's film as my eyes remain transfixed on him throughout, everyone else sharing the same screen space looks hardly existent in the shadow of his power-packed deliverance.


'Rockstar' begins with Ranbir missing from a stage show & his entering the screen struggling with a band of police to wriggle himself free & finally arriving on stage with a guitar in hand. The next moment we are taken through a kaleidoscope of fast-paced flashback glimpses into Ranbir's life.The film covers the journey of an eccentric man called 'Janardhan' from an ordinary boy, passionate about music with dreams of reaching heights just like his idol "Jim Morrison", to a megastar, riddled with negative controversies & a heap of court cases.The first half of the movie was simply fantastic when Jordan aka Janardhan influenced by the words of his mentor made romantic moves towards the most beautiful girl in the college, Heer (Nargis Fakhri) with a motive to experience 'pain' as 'pain' motivates one to sing with passion. Their unusual friendship and curious attempts at socially unacceptable things brought them close to each other. While Nargis moved to Prague after marriage, fate & a chain of circumstances transformed Ranbir aka Janardhan into the country's next big sensation. The second half highlighted more of the candyfloss mushy romance between Ranbir & Nargis than the ups & downs of the rockstar's life. The movie went overboard with an application of the cliched stereotypical formula of Bollywood showing true love winning over a terminal life-threatening disease. It was just way too much and watered down the effect of the film.However, for a die-hard romantic person comfortable with conventional love stories, the film might do the trick.


The hypnotic numbers composed by A.R Rahman playing in the background was mesmerizing, interweaving perfectly with the story-telling.I like the way Imtiaz Ali built the story with minute details. The technique of showing a collage of shots passing rapidly on the screen and then painting a picture through subsequent development of the story was undoubtedly commendable and artistic. Shammi Kapoor in the last role of his life as Bismillah Khan was heart-touching.The film even paid a tribute to late Shammiji through the enactment of a one minute song sequence from 'Kashmir Ki kali'. Shot across beautiful locations of Prague with the breathtaking bird's eye view capturing the entire city in a single frame, the cinematography by Anil Mehta was stupendous. Needless to mention, Ranbir outdid his fellow actors in his portrayal of the passionate whimsical somewhat crazy character of 'Jordan', the rockstar. Ethereal Nargis Fakhri was more noticeable for her ravishing glow than acting.


The film with all its flaws in archetype storyline is watchable because of many reasons mentioned above. Undisputably, the movie would have been awesome if the story, woven around Janardhan's achievement, failure & frustration, would have received the main focus of treatment with the love story complementing it. Sadly, love ostensibly being the main concern overshadowed what the movie was meant to be based on - "Music & Rockstar".

My Encounter with Beading

Beading is one hobby that I have picked up by mere chance. I am hooked on to embroidery since my childhood days. Yes heard right from childhood days, barely from the age of eight. There was one of my aunties who had done a diploma in embroidery and her expertise in sewing would alter any ordinary fabric into a wow marvellous piece of handicraft. It's unfortunate that she never opted embroidery as her vocation cause I believe she had the talent to become a successful business woman had she started selling her sewn bedclothes and tableclothes. They were simply amazing !!

So as imitating elders comes naturally to any child, same was with me. Auntie used to visit our house with a pouch containing needles and fabrics and as she would busy herself readily in conversation with my mother, her hands would skillfully continue maneuvering the motifs into beautiful pieces of art, simultaneously. Sitting by her side while mutely observing the dexterity of her hands I would feel an urge swelling inside me to imitate her and swept away by that growing urge, I made repeated pleas to have her teach me some stitches. On my persistence, she showed me how to make certain stitches including chain stiches and buttonholes.That was the beginning. I stitched some wonderful tableclothes, during my school days , which my mother still uses. But after sometime as I started growing up and got myself entangled in what seemed neverending pursuit of education...graduation, postgraduation....my mother gradually stopped buying me threads and fabrics in order to put pressure on me to keep studies as my first priority. Thus embroidery went on the backburner until I got married and returned to Kolkata from Pune, within three months, to join back school where I had been working as an assistant teacher after my postgraduation.

During my short-term absence from work, one or two new teachers were recruited in school. B was one of the newly recruits who joined as a temporary teacher in the same subject as me...English. She is of the same age as mine. Hence just within few days we made a good rapport with one another. I came to know of her brilliance in drawing. As our friendship bloomed and we started visiting each other, one day at her home I discovered a salwar piece she was sewing. The motif was designed so beautifully on the fabric that I thought of picking up my needles again. On my insistence she drew some beautiful motifs on the dupatta of one of my salwaars and thus I reverted to my old hobby once again. My passion for embroidery made me scout through the cyberworld in quest of patterns and stitches unknown to me. I learned a lot about world embroidery and came to know that embroidery involves such a wide gamut of subjects that learning all of them in one life is next to impossible.

My hunger for learning more and more about embroidery one day brought me vis-a-vis with another exquisite craft...Beading. Now I guess you might have been able to corelate the introductory statement of this article to the rest of my blabbering. One thing leading to another, chance led me to beading. As I moped around different websites featuring the works of a host of terrifically talented people in the art of beading, I deliberated to start beading jewellaries. But unlike embroidery I am only a novice here. I have merely started to walk in the art of beading...and I have a long way to go, a lot of things to learn and enjoy.Beading is strenuous for eyes but the strain seems trivial to the joy that I feel upon completion of a bracelet, earring or necklace created by me.Recently I wove a necklace using Dutch Spiral Stitch that I learnt couple of days back. The snaps are attached with the write-up.