I wonder what life the celebrities live for being who they are...!! Even without wanting to be one... they become a role model simply because they excel in field of their interest.... but is it necessary for the role model to be a perfect person in all possible ways.... I'd say NO.
Tiger Woods and his sexual (mis)adventures has made him infamous almost instantly.In a second we all forgot the greatness of the sportsman and looked down upon him for his wild adventures. In a moment his personal life overshadowed the greatness of his professional life.
I ask myself.... how does it affect me if Tiger Woods is such a maniac... the answer is NO it doesnt affect me at all....! then why do I treat him so lowly. For a country like USA, such escapades may not be so horrifying as it looks in the news articles, but they are the people who are pulling him down on moral values!!
The only reason for such a reaction is that he is a celebrity .. a celebrity who has excelled in golf and taken the sport to greater heights. There are innumerable cases,where celebrities have been hounded to get a piece of the (mis)adventures of their lives.
In the rush to pull a celebrity down for their ill doing we forget that they are also humans at the end of the day.By saying this, I am not sympathizing with Tiger Woods, at the same time I dont think it is right for me judge and doubt the greatness of this sportsman because of his sexual escapades.
As a non celebrity ... I tell myself that I can keep my personal and professional lives separate, that I shall not let my professional life affect my personal life and vice-verse, sadly the same cant be for a celebrity. Their professional and personal lives are so connected that one imperfect move shakes both the lives equally.
Tiger Woods episode(s) gives me the ideal example to teach my children about a role model. I believe we make a person a role model for what he/she achieves in their field of interest, not for the life he/she lives otherwise. We can only learn from the achievements and disregard the wrong doings of our role models. The other life of these role models is for them to live.... how they live is their choice... who are we to question, judge or comment on that choice??
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
3 Idiots
Nope... I am not writing anything on the movie....!! I guess enuf has been written and discussed on how good the movie is ,how good Aamir is and how Chetan Bhagat has got a raw deal from the producers!
3 Idiots only got me back to my school days in Meerut, UP. This movie got me nostalgic... of my school days. We were three good friends and all three different in our own ways! Yet something kept us together and we are best of friends till date. None of us were preachy and none of us was a role model to the other, yet we love each other as much today. All three of us came from different backgrounds.... one belonged to the joint family.... one from a defense background and one from a modern nuclear family, yet each of us loved spending time at the other's house. It was not just the three of us ... our friendship also got our families to know each other well. While none of them really attended my wedding we all attended each others sister's wedding. I took a dirty slow passenger train called Janata Express all the way from Calcutta to Delhi at the last moment to attend to the wedding of Vinni's sister's wedding (which became so much an issue with my senior's in college that I was blocked from booking train tickets for myself!!), the journey though was very interesting and very scary, coz it took me on a bihar UP darshan trip stopping at almost all stations on the way that too in an unlit compartment till 2 in the morning! How I survived the trip.... am sure I was surrounded by angels ....! But I really dont regret it... coz at the end of the journey I was with my friend and her family for a beautiful occasion and that was more important to cherish!
None of us was bookish intelligent.... but we all were quite bright. While Shivani and I always competed with each other for good scores in Accountancy and Economics but how I managed to top the school in our 12th boards is as much a mystery to me as much to Neetu who was the teachers pet and was considered to top it anyways!! I still remember how we never used to take our studies seriously and used to even laugh at the tution classes (specially maths) coz we never got a hang of it. But Shivani was a great foodie and she loved Idli dosas... thats where my amma came to the rescue! She loved eating South Indian food and I got crazy about UP food.... like Tehri and Kaali dal...!! To a great extent I think my love for food and subsequent graduation in Hotel Management would have initiated from here.
Vineeta on the other hand was not a foodie... but she was one NO NONSENSE person! I remember Vineeta and I would constantly be on logger heads and Shivani would become the peace maker for us. Shivani being the most beautiful girl is the school... used to get all the attention from boys and many of them even declared love for her.(thanks to our movies!!!). One such guy who accidently "dared" to disclose his so called love for Shivani .... got such an earful from Vineeta... that I really doubt if he would have ever fallen for any girl after that. Being the soft hearted person that I am... I thought she was rude to him... but I realise now how practical she was then. I can still get the best advice from her though she has mellowed down a bit post her marriage and a child.
Its strange that I met them almost 15 years back and been with them only for 2 years .... and yet they are the best things to happen to me (well.... before marriage and children),there are moments big and small that I still cherish and given a choice lead those years all over again with the same people, still.... ! Today three of us lead very different lives... while Shivani is an AVP with an investment firm.... Vineeta and I have settled well into our married life with children and are home makers. But we still take out time to talk... listen and be for each other whenever we need each other!
This movie, 3 idoits just got me back to those beautiful days just because the three of them are as diverse as all were.
3 Idiots only got me back to my school days in Meerut, UP. This movie got me nostalgic... of my school days. We were three good friends and all three different in our own ways! Yet something kept us together and we are best of friends till date. None of us were preachy and none of us was a role model to the other, yet we love each other as much today. All three of us came from different backgrounds.... one belonged to the joint family.... one from a defense background and one from a modern nuclear family, yet each of us loved spending time at the other's house. It was not just the three of us ... our friendship also got our families to know each other well. While none of them really attended my wedding we all attended each others sister's wedding. I took a dirty slow passenger train called Janata Express all the way from Calcutta to Delhi at the last moment to attend to the wedding of Vinni's sister's wedding (which became so much an issue with my senior's in college that I was blocked from booking train tickets for myself!!), the journey though was very interesting and very scary, coz it took me on a bihar UP darshan trip stopping at almost all stations on the way that too in an unlit compartment till 2 in the morning! How I survived the trip.... am sure I was surrounded by angels ....! But I really dont regret it... coz at the end of the journey I was with my friend and her family for a beautiful occasion and that was more important to cherish!
None of us was bookish intelligent.... but we all were quite bright. While Shivani and I always competed with each other for good scores in Accountancy and Economics but how I managed to top the school in our 12th boards is as much a mystery to me as much to Neetu who was the teachers pet and was considered to top it anyways!! I still remember how we never used to take our studies seriously and used to even laugh at the tution classes (specially maths) coz we never got a hang of it. But Shivani was a great foodie and she loved Idli dosas... thats where my amma came to the rescue! She loved eating South Indian food and I got crazy about UP food.... like Tehri and Kaali dal...!! To a great extent I think my love for food and subsequent graduation in Hotel Management would have initiated from here.
Vineeta on the other hand was not a foodie... but she was one NO NONSENSE person! I remember Vineeta and I would constantly be on logger heads and Shivani would become the peace maker for us. Shivani being the most beautiful girl is the school... used to get all the attention from boys and many of them even declared love for her.(thanks to our movies!!!). One such guy who accidently "dared" to disclose his so called love for Shivani .... got such an earful from Vineeta... that I really doubt if he would have ever fallen for any girl after that. Being the soft hearted person that I am... I thought she was rude to him... but I realise now how practical she was then. I can still get the best advice from her though she has mellowed down a bit post her marriage and a child.
Its strange that I met them almost 15 years back and been with them only for 2 years .... and yet they are the best things to happen to me (well.... before marriage and children),there are moments big and small that I still cherish and given a choice lead those years all over again with the same people, still.... ! Today three of us lead very different lives... while Shivani is an AVP with an investment firm.... Vineeta and I have settled well into our married life with children and are home makers. But we still take out time to talk... listen and be for each other whenever we need each other!
This movie, 3 idoits just got me back to those beautiful days just because the three of them are as diverse as all were.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Memorable people.....
2009 has largely been an eventful year to me.
J - My daughter... had her first annual day at her play school..(whew), joined a good school during "Dashera" , enjoyed her first "Kolu" and has started taking interests in books specially Indian mythology like Ramayana and Kri shna Leela.
N : My son... he came into our lives in the first half of the year and by the end of the year he has slowly transformed into a brat.
and I completed my PG and have started taking interest in blogs and blogging.
But more than the above incidents, I will remember 2009 as the year I had met and discovered some very interesting people. I particularly will always remember this mother whom I met at J's school. Irritated with the fact that in spite of the lump fees that we shelled out for our children, the school was not able to handle the children as well as we could at home, this young mother went overboard with her negative emotions about the school. Upset with the fact that her child wasnt able to settle in school even after 2 weeks of schooling, she saw no reason to give the school more time to set things in order. Finally one day her son got adjusted to the school and started enjoying it and thats when she was calm. The next time I heard from her was when the school displayed the activities of our children and called the parents to the school to have a look at them. Like typical parents, My husband and I went and saw and appreciated, spoke to their teacher, got J's report card and returned home. However, this mother of J's classmate, made more efforts to find out how much is allotted for which activity so on and so forth and above all shared that info with all fellow parents. At first I thought WOW.... it never struck me to ask all these questions, but later I thought how does it matter how much time is spent in what as long as J is happy at school and enjoyes it....!! But, when I look back at these incidents, I feel, what else than the heart of a mother and its constant quest to keep her children happy, would have made her behave like that!!
Second person is a close relative of mine. Well read and working in a fortune 500 company, she has also managed to make a mark in her professional life and lives away from her parents in foreign shores. Her parents have been trying to get her married for almost 4 years now... but things dont seem to be happening yet to her. This time, on her visit to India, we had a small chat on this issue, and I realised that her idea of perfect man is too perfect to be real. She is a fiercely independent woman who doesnt want to be dependent on any person for anything. She wants someone, who can give her freedom and let her be independent, yet when she speaks to potential grooms she doesnt like the idea of them being too forward or too backward in their thoughts. Though, I believe women should have the freedom to live life on their terms, I also understand that a marriage is a bond for life, where the husband and wife are invariably dependent on each other for everything. She makes me realise, how imperfect I was when I was getting to know my husband through those innumerable calls and chats before we tied the knot, yet the fact that my comfort level with him was so high that the dependency factor never became an issue. That makes me ask myself ... in the name of women's rights are we really making ourselves too perfect to be real and co exist with men.....!!
The third is my maid. She is this inquisitive, talkative and probing woman who can spend 2 hours just talking and finish her work in half an hour. Now... you may think.. why will I always remember her... well... ! I realise that she comes from a background whose luxury items may be items that are basic necessity or desirable objects for us. Being a sole bread winner in the family of three (her husband daughter and she),she realises the importance of smile and a smiling face. With soaring prices of basic items like rice,pulses and veg, meeting ends have become difficult for each one of us. Yet, I have never seen her sulk... I have never seen her cry..... never seen her losing hope on a better tommorrow.... never seen her losing hope on the almighty! I dont know what power drives her to be what she is ... but something is... may be thats the power of the almighty!
There are many more fascinating people that I have met... but these three will always be on the top.
I wish them a happy new year and all of the people in this world a happy new year and a content year in 2010.
J - My daughter... had her first annual day at her play school..(whew), joined a good school during "Dashera" , enjoyed her first "Kolu" and has started taking interests in books specially Indian mythology like Ramayana and Kri shna Leela.
N : My son... he came into our lives in the first half of the year and by the end of the year he has slowly transformed into a brat.
and I completed my PG and have started taking interest in blogs and blogging.
But more than the above incidents, I will remember 2009 as the year I had met and discovered some very interesting people. I particularly will always remember this mother whom I met at J's school. Irritated with the fact that in spite of the lump fees that we shelled out for our children, the school was not able to handle the children as well as we could at home, this young mother went overboard with her negative emotions about the school. Upset with the fact that her child wasnt able to settle in school even after 2 weeks of schooling, she saw no reason to give the school more time to set things in order. Finally one day her son got adjusted to the school and started enjoying it and thats when she was calm. The next time I heard from her was when the school displayed the activities of our children and called the parents to the school to have a look at them. Like typical parents, My husband and I went and saw and appreciated, spoke to their teacher, got J's report card and returned home. However, this mother of J's classmate, made more efforts to find out how much is allotted for which activity so on and so forth and above all shared that info with all fellow parents. At first I thought WOW.... it never struck me to ask all these questions, but later I thought how does it matter how much time is spent in what as long as J is happy at school and enjoyes it....!! But, when I look back at these incidents, I feel, what else than the heart of a mother and its constant quest to keep her children happy, would have made her behave like that!!
Second person is a close relative of mine. Well read and working in a fortune 500 company, she has also managed to make a mark in her professional life and lives away from her parents in foreign shores. Her parents have been trying to get her married for almost 4 years now... but things dont seem to be happening yet to her. This time, on her visit to India, we had a small chat on this issue, and I realised that her idea of perfect man is too perfect to be real. She is a fiercely independent woman who doesnt want to be dependent on any person for anything. She wants someone, who can give her freedom and let her be independent, yet when she speaks to potential grooms she doesnt like the idea of them being too forward or too backward in their thoughts. Though, I believe women should have the freedom to live life on their terms, I also understand that a marriage is a bond for life, where the husband and wife are invariably dependent on each other for everything. She makes me realise, how imperfect I was when I was getting to know my husband through those innumerable calls and chats before we tied the knot, yet the fact that my comfort level with him was so high that the dependency factor never became an issue. That makes me ask myself ... in the name of women's rights are we really making ourselves too perfect to be real and co exist with men.....!!
The third is my maid. She is this inquisitive, talkative and probing woman who can spend 2 hours just talking and finish her work in half an hour. Now... you may think.. why will I always remember her... well... ! I realise that she comes from a background whose luxury items may be items that are basic necessity or desirable objects for us. Being a sole bread winner in the family of three (her husband daughter and she),she realises the importance of smile and a smiling face. With soaring prices of basic items like rice,pulses and veg, meeting ends have become difficult for each one of us. Yet, I have never seen her sulk... I have never seen her cry..... never seen her losing hope on a better tommorrow.... never seen her losing hope on the almighty! I dont know what power drives her to be what she is ... but something is... may be thats the power of the almighty!
There are many more fascinating people that I have met... but these three will always be on the top.
I wish them a happy new year and all of the people in this world a happy new year and a content year in 2010.
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