Sunday, December 09, 2007

I did something very satisfying after a long time, planted trees on the sides of a road in Koramangala (the regional passport office road). Thanks to Bindu for getting me into it :-)

An organisation called TreesForFree (http://treesforfree.org/) had taken up this task of planting trees in Koramangala on Saturday. When Bindu told me about it I was very excited about the idea and agreed to join her. We reached that place at 10:00 AM and waited for a while for the dignitaries to plant the first few trees. In fact we didn't wait, we just left the first few slots and started off with the rest. Bindu and I were doing something together after a long time, we were very enthusiastic! There were people from a nursery to assist us but I think they had done most of the work. We had to just place the trees in the holes that were dug up in advance and cover it with mud (two different kinds of mud) using a shovel. Ms. Janet who was leading the activity was quite happy with us and said she would let us know when they plan tree planting in other areas around Bangalore. We must have planted around 12-14 trees.

After we left the place, it felt nice to think how it would feel when walk on that road 10-20 years later :-) I was thinking about those people who planted trees in Jayanagar, BasavanaguDi etc. we owe them a big thanks.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

fanaticism continues...

KIMI in my hands ;-)

Chinnu, Vinay and I assembled this racing car yesterday :-) We found the kit with tools and parts in Landmark toys section!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Kimi, you rock!!

Kimi is the world champion!! Just can't describe how it feels, had waited for this day all along...

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Chak De India! Chuck chauvinism!

what effect it had on me as i watched... the movie elevated my feminist ego and the love for my country! and i enjoyed watching every bit of it :-)

it's simply a no nonsense movie made with a sincere effort to showcase the intention and emotions of the coach Negi (on who the story is based on), the Indian authorities' attitude towards a women's team, the problems, insecurities, emotions the team members go through and how a sensible coach who is extremely focused can make a big difference!

details! they have given enough time to establish each team member's attitude so that we can appreciate it when they the coach has an influence on them. there is a fine balance between the theory and the practicalities of the game, the team playing hockey looks very realistic...they haven't missed the technical details. nothing in the movie is introduced just for the sake of it or anything, it looks like everything is there for a reason, or at least i could find a justification.

SRK rocks as the coach, his focus, his arrogance, his fairness, his ability to sense the exact problem/issue with the team members...are all showcased very well, he gets full marks for his acting.

i read in TOI that he touched Negi's feet when he went to see him first, and also that he was very detailed and made sure that every technical detail was correct. Negi has also said that he was around when the last scene (India winning the WC) was shot and he had his doubts as to if someone can actually express/demonstrate the emotions he went through in reality...but when SRK performed, he was speechless and thought it couldn't have been demonstrated better than the way he did!

with all this, what i liked the most about the movie was the parts where SRK stresses on playing for India and the parts where it is shown that he never discriminates between men and women!
and my favourite scene in the movie...
when SRK proposes a match b/w men's hockey team and women's team to decide if the women's team gets to go to the WC or not, he says "lets have a match b/w your team and my team" and the other person says "yeah, a match b/w men' steam and the women's team" and SRK stresses "a match between your team and my team"! i don't know if anyone could find it special but i did! when he stressed on "my team and your team" as a means to imply his non-discrimination, i could sense the respect he had for women...it's showcased so well is what i felt!

Friday, June 15, 2007

loving people...

just a thought that crossed my mind, that i can insanely admire some people for what they are!

watched this play “mysooru mallige” at ranga shankara yday, it was a good play though i thought it could have been a little shorter. i couldn't relate to all/most of the incidents showcased on the stage but in the end i saw myself standing up and applauding, i was really thrilled! i think what touched me is the fact that the poet in the play just wrote poems cos he loved to write, nothing more nothing less! there were a few strong dialogues which stressed this fact towards the end of the play and I think they what made me admire the poet so much. he said he wrote and wrote, never had time to stop and look at what he had written earlier. he said if he had spent time on getting his work acknowledged by someone he would never have written as much as he had written now. he said he could write what he wrote cos of what he was and couldn't have done that if he attempted to become someone. think it is so true.

i recently read Bill Watterson's graduation speech. he said the only significant thing he did in his first year was that he painted the ceiling of his room. he finished painting it towards the end of the year only to wipe it off by the year end as agreed! but he said that was one of the most satisfying things that he had done! amazing!

yeah, one kind of people... their passion is in doing things that they love/creating things they would want to create without spending time no anything else. there are some whose passion is in doing good to the rest of the people. there are some who are just principled. so many people to admire, an interview with Ratan Tata on a TV channel excites me so much...knowing that Rajani kant returns money to his producers/distributors if his films don't do well delights me.

coming to the people in my own life, i do insanely admire them for what they are! not just the people who are close to me but it could be someone who i interacted with for a very short period of time. once in the malleshwaram govt. school we asked the kids to write down what they wanted to become when they are old. one of the kids wrote that he doesn't know what he wants to become but he only knows that he wants to build a lot of orphanages and help all the orphan kids in his country! he touched a deep part of me by saying that, i really admire that kid.

i don't know if i can write what i am thinking but it’s something like i tend to love some people... the way they are, the things they do, the things they say, everything about them excites me, delights me, inspires me...

have no idea if am doing anything with all the inspiration from these people but it’s a special thought/feeling for me :-)

something i did recently out of passion and inspiration.



This was inspired by a picture taken by my friend Sainath :)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

surpriZe!

A radio station here had a contest last evening where the host asked people to make a funny prediction of the movie Guru's story and she would give away two tickets to the first day's evening show as the prize! I never participate in any such contests but yesterday I was just thinking why they came up with such a contest. I listened to a couple of people who made funny predictions and won the tickets. I thought I can't make a funny prediction of a movie like Guru and just tried listening to some other station. But it somehow disturbed me and I decided to send the following message to them.

"Sorry.. Can't make a funny prediction of Mani's movie, am a big fan and am expecting the movie to leave a profound message -Ashwini"

After I sent it, I thought I sounded arrogant. But to my surprise, they actually called me and told me that I can collect my tickets!!
So, may be radio station guys also like Mani and his movies! Cheers to Mani!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

proudly presenting my student Arvind's drawing :)
no, i don't teach him drawing... we teach him english but am really proud that he has the talent to draw pictures really well!