Those were the days, my friend

"Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end..." sang the Carpenters and we sang along with them...
For we were young, happy and carefree

And then time passed and we grew...as did our responsibilities..
And we lost touch with some of our oldest friends.

Yet life still went on....

Until one day 30 years later, we met again.
And now life has come full circle..For we can actually sing along with each other
Those were the days my friend

And they've actually never ended..
For we are all the same
Plus some...in fact, lots more..

Milestones....

Milestones are exactly that...moments that matter in life.

Amongst them will be the day(2oth Sep 09) that our daughter Neha, signed her first Bill at her Club, the Delhi Gymkhana...for she is now a Green Card holder..

Takes me back to all those years when as a baby she first learnt to swim in this very DGC pool, then went on to win prizes in various swimming competitions....

Or then when she sat in the Reading room devouring reams of fiction...

Or, eating paneer and chicken tikkas..in the Children's room, while we sat in the main dining room..

Simply because kids couldn't be seen wandering around in the main Clubhouse.

But since time and tide(s)wait for no-one, she is now her very own person.

Even at the DGC .

The Aarushi murder case....bizarre twists and turns

A year ago, we mourned the death of Aarushi Talwar, a 14 year old girl who was found murdered in her own bedroom by her mother...

And then the next day, their servant Hemraj was found murdered on their terrace...mind you, not by the cops who had searched the entire house ...but by a neighbour who decided to follow the trail of what appeared to be looking like dried blood trailing down..

After all that has been said and done in this whole year and when all the different cops who have handled the case have given their version of what 'appeared' to have happened..

After her own father has been arrested and released..

After three servants in the neighbourhood have also been arrested and then released...

Now it emerges that her phone has finally been found ...

To what avail?

We will still have to wait, watch and see...

Memory Lane and Facebook

Going down 'Memory Lane' is something that I like to do every now and then as it helps restore my perspectives and balance in life. Thereby helping me in remaining grounded and focused on reality..the way that it had always been.

Today, I have more than such an opportunity, one that has been created by the phenomenon called 'Facebook'. For it has helped me rediscover three of my very oldest, dear friends from Sophia Girls School, Meerut.In the last couple of weeks Pamela, yesterday Vipula and today, Sangeeta, all friends with whom I had completely lost contact with for ages.

Yet right now, I feel as if Im right back to those days...a time when we were all happy, young girls enjoying all that life had to offer.When nothing seemed to be more important than the all encompassing board exams. Yet, somehow we could never think of what possibly lay ahead.

Momentarily, if I were to glance back at the road thus far travelled, I feel a certain sense of vindication. For things have turned out right.

As for the other three, will really know when we sit together in the not so distant future, catching up on life over a cup of coffee.....

'Sach Ka Saamna'/Moment of truth

This is the second blog post that I'm writing on this programme, and still can't help but wonder...

What really is it that drives the participants to come in front of the television cameras and expose their deepest, darkest secrets to the world?And after much pondering, have finally concluded that it just has to be the prospect of the prize money that is offered to them.

Is that money really worth it, though? Because, as I see it, here's the tradeoff....

For instance in the programme that I just watched, when a man tells the programme host that he's been responsible for conning students who came to study at his so called Acting 'Institute'?

Or then, his wife sits through the programme while he admits to having had an intimate relationship with a colleague?

Or...or..or...or...

Can any amount of money in the world be a possible replacement for breaking the trust of those one holds really near and dear?

Therefore is Sach Ka Saamna/Facing the truth really such a good idea?
Or can he/others like him, manage to get across to the other side of this tunnel?

Despite Sach Kaa Saamna?

Cellphones in today's world

A recent news report that I just read confirms what I've thought all along...
That a cell phone is probably the most indispensable gadget of all.

Calling mobile phones the "remote control for life", market research firm Synovate's poll said that cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year(2008)more humans owned one than those who did not

A global survey conducted by this same firm has found that most people can't live without their mobiles, never leave home without them, and if given a choice, would rather lose their wallets.

Here are the statistics to back this up..
Three quarters of the more than 8000 respondents polled online in 11 countries ( Canada, Denmarak, France, Malaysia,the Netherlands, Phillipines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, UK and the UAS)in June 2009 said that they take their phone with them EVERYWHERE, with Russians and Singaporeans being the most attached.

Some two thirds of these respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can't switch them off, even though they might want to...because they're afraid that they will "miss something.

So here's a statement that is an 'all in one'..
According to Jenny Chang, Synovate's Managing Director in Taiwan,"Mobiles give us safety, security and instant access to information. They are the number one tool of communication for us, sometimes surpassing even face to face communication.They are in fact, the connection to our lives."

And finally, as aptly put by Steve Garton, Synovate's global head of Media"As the mobile becomes more and more an all in one device, many other businesses are facing challenging times..."

Why is it that I tend to agree with all this and more?
Simply because it echoes my own thoughts exactly.


Ref-Cellphones are indispensable, by Miral Fahmy

"Tell me a story.".....a personal recollection

Since people began to communicate with each other, "Tell me a story" has been a request of both children and adults. Like I always did...with my father.

And do so, till today, when just the two of us get a chance to spend time together....

As children, whenever we could manage, my brother and myself would wait him to tell us one of his entralling tales. I don't know what he did, but all his stories, whether based on real life incidents,were absolutely thrilling , taking us into a whole new world, where we could actually almost see and experience all that he used to talk about.

Particularly memorable were his stories about Air Marshal Arjun Singh ( obviously one of my dad's heroes)and some of his daredevil missions in the skies,then of Naval submarines, particularly the INS Vikrant and the things people did on board,of Guru Gobind Singh, Shivaji Maratha, Rani Laxmi bai...

Then of course, there were funny stories too, which consisted of make believe characters and an extended storyline where the four of us as a family would get involved in their lives and adventures. The beauty of these tales were that they could go on and on endlessly, simply becauase there was never really a beginning and an end to these stories.

Keeping both of us enthralled for hours and hours on end, repeatedly begging him, "Pop, one more, one more"....to which he would always, always, always oblige...

Today, as I'm reminded of those days, I'd like to take this opportunity to say "Thank You Pop, for that's where I really learnt my love of storytelling and now that of writing stories"

I loved your stories then and love them even more...Now..

The Stockholme Syndrome-one that is as intriguing as it is unfortunate

The first time that I heard about it was in 1974, when Patricia Hearst, the heir to a publishing fortune was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, (the SLA.)

What was astonishing was that sometime later, not only did she join the SLA, but actively participated in a bank robbery with them ....only to be caught and gaoled by the authorities-The emaciated, bedraggled human being, a far cry from the sophisticated young woman she had been before her kidnapping..

More recently, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by a couple for 9 months. Elizabeth repeatedly had the chance to run away or ask for help but did not.Symptomatic yet again...of the Stockholm syndrome, in which she formed emotional bonds with her captors.

So what exactly is the Stockholm syndrome?
Medically, it is defined as "an extraordinary phenomenon in which a hostage begins to identify with and grow sympathetic to their captor. It is believed to be named after an episode that occurred in Stockholm in August, 1973 when an armed Swedish robber took some bank workers captive, held them for six days and apparently stole their hearts.

Most recently, the world's atention has been turned towards the case of Jaycee Lee Dougard, in the USA the who as an eleven year old girl was kidnapped by Phillip Garrido, a previously convicted sexual offender.

Then she was held by him for over 18 years, while he fathered her two children, now aged 11 and 15 respectively, all the while apparently choosing to work with him in his speciality printing business and appearing to be just like a normal every day person..
(In fact, being introduced to all his clients as his 'daughter' Alissa.)

While she has now been rescued, it is believed that Jaycee will need years and years of counselling to help her recover and come out of this Stockholme Syndrome..

And yet, there lies the frightening possibility that this Syndrome can and will be repeated, somewhere in the world, time and time again..