I tagged myself to do this tag Found this on Reema’s blog. These are the rules.

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

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1. What is your first name?
Neha. I found the pic amazing… the eyes were so expressive. Beautiful

2. What is your favorite food? Right now?
Baked Pasta.. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm… slurrrpppppppppppppp

3. What high school did you go to?
Prakash. Thats my favorite teacher in the middle

4. What is your favorite color?
Lavendar

5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Abhishek Bachchan (or should I say was)

6. Favorite drink?
Naariyal pani

7. Dream vacation?
Hmmmm…

8. Favorite dessert?
Litchi with cream

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I always wanted to fly planes

10. What do you love most in life?
Family

11. One Word to describe you.
Aquarian

12. Your flickr name.
Nova

… from where we left!

Saying that I am bad at keeping in touch would be an understatement. I suck! And I have always envied people who can do this with as much ease as is needed to brush your teeth! And I personally consider this as one of the biggest virtues a person can have. To be able to keep in touch. Nothing can be worse than genuinely liking a person and not being able to stay in touch with them. Its such a waste.

I have been to many places, so I made many friends. But, I have also successfully managed to lose touch with many of those. You tend to be in your sweet little world assuming things havent changed. Life takes over. And you get so involved in your little world that you forget that there is a world beyond. But life doesnt stop. All around you, you have people breaking up, getting married, having children, switching jobs… whew!

Life just goes on!

What probably remains behind are those moments spent with the other person which are so cherishable - absolutely unforgettable.

However, in the stage of life where I am in right now, the best part about the whole thing is getting in touch with old friends - people I lost touch with… It is absoutely wonderful getting back in touch again… It just transcends you back in time. Its like all those years never really passed. All those things never really happened. Feels like it was just yesterday when we discussed the latest gossip and giggled endlessly over nothing.

Last week and the subsequent weekend was full of fond memories and I was happy throughout Got in touch with so many old friends. It was great - just laughing, just plain talking and sometimes even just listening!

It feels blissful to pick up from where we left :) Truly blissful

Aamir is a low budget movie with only one actor. Yes, the movie revolves around a day of the protagonist played by Rajeev Khandelwal, a famous TV artiste, who is debuting with this movie by Rajkumar Gupta.

The movie does not have big names associated with it. But, it does have a great story line and some great direction.

Aamir is the story of a young and successful doctor who comes back from the UK to India after completing his studies. The moment he steps down from the air-plane, he is surprised to see that no one from his family has come to pick him up. He tries calling his family, no one picks up. Thats the first time he senses something wrong.

And then, he is handed over a phone by two hooded men on the bike. And he starts receiving calls from an unknown person who guides him on what to do next. When he refuses, he is not given an option and the life of his family is at stake.

The whole movie revolves around how he is tortured and used.

The climax of the movie is the best part and keeps you hooked onto your seat. The end is brilliantly done and specially the last scene where the news excerpts all over the media are shown.

I would call the movie a definite eye-opener. It certainly made me rethink on a lot of things, which I would not like to mention here, lest I may reveal some spoilers.

An excellent watch. A must see for all.

Go watch it today

Did you know that 4 out of 5 American women say that they are dissatisfied with the way they look?

Beautiful is a term perenially associated with women! Women are “supposed” to be beautiful or else they feel incomplete and inadequate! No woman can ever be satisfied if she does not manage to garner enough male attention and well, to be able to do that, you have to look good!

Cosmetics industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The reason? Very simple. They play with emotions. Emotions of women who already feel bad about the way they look. They would do just anything, ANYTHING to look good. Maybe its a need to be admired, to feel respected. Something tells these women that if they do not look good, they will neither be admired nor be respected. Which is so NOT TRUE!

My concern here is: Who decides what is beautiful? Is white skin beautiful or black? Is round face beautiful or square? Is a skinny body beautiful or curvy? Each woman has a different body type. And lets face it. Some women are just not meant to look skinny. But, this does not mean that they are not beautiful.

Someone once said

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder!

This doesnt seem to be true anymore. The eyes of the beholder have been smudged by the images of beauty as defined by the mass media and women’s magazines.

Not just women

To make matters worse, its not just women who are a victim of fashion and cosmetics. Men are beginning to become as vain as women when it comes to that perfect look, that perfect hair! The need to look good is no longer specific to women. Men are not behind. It wont be too long, before men start carrying men-purses (just to make it sound better) carrying their toners, cleansers and moisturisers! I was not too surprised to find many websites dedicated to skin care and hair care for men!

It may sound cliche, but its high time we start focussing on inner beauty more than outer beauty. Frankly, anyone can be painted and made to look good. It may need working on, but is definitely attainable. But, a good heart?? Well, that is something that is not so easy to get!

And you know whats funny? It is as easy to lose physical beauty as it is to gain one. But a good heart is there to last!

To conclude, it is extremely important to feel good about yourself. Do not get bogged down by the pressure the world builds on you. It is very important that you smile every time you look at yourself in the mirror :) 

So, just be happy and remain stress-free. That will give the kind of glow to your face that will put a thousand cosmetic creams to shame!

After Hum-Tum, Ta ra rum pum and decent promos, Thoda pyaar, thoda magic was much awaited by adults and children alike - Adults for a glimpse of the crackling Saif-Rani chemistry once more and children for the four cute children, who promise a lot of fun and frolic.

Alas, the movie fails in both! Saif and Rani do not even remotely connect to each other. It is plain cold between them! And the children aren’t that much fun either. Most of the jokes are so plain, you dont feel like laughing. But, to look at the bright side, some songs are ok to listen too and the movie does have some moments of its own!

First things first, TPTM had a lot to match up to - Its uncanny resemblance to super successful movies like Hum hain raahi pyar ke, Parichay, I dream of jeannie and its inability to match up to the level of any one of them!

It is a cute movie… could have been cuter had watching it had not seemed like watching a million movies together. Does not have trademark style of its own. Songs are mostly sub-standard! Only a couple of them like Nihaal ho gaya and background score leave an impression!

Now, coming to acting, Saif is bad - He is supposed to be strict, but he comes off as awkward and very very expression-less. Rani as usual is good… sweet, effervescent… and does her job well… the kids are all ok… plain ok… ]

My verdict: watch it when you have nothing better to do!

After my previous post on price hike, Ashes sent me this wonderful link - It is a site where people willing to car pool can get together and pool…!

You have information on routes that are being shared currently. You can register yourself and then find a suitable pool for yourself.

It is a good service people… specially for the ones living in Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore!

Visit http://commuteeasy.com/ for more info.

Use this service and then spread the word around. Lets make it popular!

[Disclaimer: I know this post comes a bit late. But, its better late than never... :) ]

When the fuel hike was announced, people reacted harshly.. for obvious reasons.. Right from petitions to bandhs, we tried it all…!

It may sound strange… but I am somehow in favour of the sudden fuel hike. The reason for the fuel hike may be varied… but, I take this as a wake-up call - a reality check!

Lets get down to the basics first. Fuels, or more scientifically fossil fuel, is a non-renewable energy resource.

Origin

According to the biogenic theory, petroleum is formed from the preserved remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae which have settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions. Over geological time, this organic matter, mixed with mud, is buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure cause the organic matter to chemically change during diagenesis, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis.

Terrestrial plants, on the other hand, tend to form coal. Many of the coal fields date to the carboniferous period.

Comparative figures:

• 1 litre of regular gasoline is the time-rendered result of about 23.5 metric tonnes of ancient phytoplankton material deposited on the ocean floor.
• The total fossil fuel used in the year 1997 is the result of 422 years of all plant matter that grew on the entire surface and in all the oceans of the ancient earth.

Consequences of price rise

• A need to search for renewable and alternative sources of energy like solar power, hydropower etc.
• Less usage of fossil fuels and hence it will last longer
• People resorting to more ecocnomic ways like car pooling, using company buses, etc. It is a pain to see thousands of cars during a traffic jam in Bangalore and all occupying one, at max two people!

Believe me, this price hike is a blessing in disguise. It is going to prepare us better for a world without fossil fuels!!!

Hellooooo people, m back!!!! I just had to write about this beautiful movie I saw earlier this week. The movie is called If Only, and stars Jeniffer Love Hewitt and the gorgeous, gorgeous Paul Nicholls.

Has it ever happened to you? That you see a dream and then suddenly everything around is happening just like it did in the dream! It is not a feeling of deja vu. Its actually happening!

The movie revolves around the lives of two main protagonists: Musician Samantha and a business man Ian Wyndham. Both love each other a lot, but Samantha (Sam for short) always feels that Ian is so obsessed with his work that he doesn’t have enough time for her. One morning when they are up and getting ready for work, she feels a little dejected, but comes around some how and starts her day.

The day goes on… She goes to his office while he is in a meeting and ends up creating a ruckus… He forgets that it is her graduation day, after she has been reminding him for over a month now… In short they end up having a really bad day and towards the end of it, they have a fight… a really bad fight… they are on the verge of a breakup when Sam meets with an accident and dies… Ian rushes after her and tries everything to save her but cant!

She is dead…

And thats when he wakes up… to his alarm… and finding his girl-friend next to him scares the hell out of him. Thats when he realises that all of that was a dream, but seemed so real! This scares him… because now he knows how much his girl friend means to him and what kind of life would he have without her… and that scares him!

He tells her that he will take off and that they should spend the day together. She is kind of surprised at his sudden change in temperament and keeps asking him for the rest of the day “Whats wrong? Whya re you panicking?”

As the day proceeds, everything that happened in his dream actually happens for real and every other signal just re-affirms his belief that the everything that happened in the dream is going to happen again!! Throughout the day, we see tremendous transformation in the man. He takes good care of her… He loves her so much and this one time, he shows it… shows it by doing things that she always wanted and appreciated… He is scared, really scared deep within, and when she asks him, he cant tell why! He just cant tell her that he is scared that she is going to die today.

When the movie ends, the entire dream would have been repeated in real life, but with slight changes!!!

The best I liked about the movie was the way in which all the sequences are shown. They are so well synchronised that you do not feel lost for even a second. The movie manages to keep you hooked throughout. In fact, you are hoping throughout the movie and praying silently for the worst to not happen!

There are some movies you watch and forget and there are some which leave behind imprints in our minds. This one falls in the latter category. It just made you think that life is really so perpetual. Every second, every minute is so unpredictable… We do all the planning as if we are going to live for an eternity and we forget to live that moment, which may never come back!

So, if you want to tell anyone how much they mean to you, do it today, right now! Because not all of us get the chance to make up for our follies!

My fav dialogues from the movie:

Ian Wyndham: I Love you.
Samantha Andrews: Ooh I Love you too.
Ian Wyndham: I wanna tell you why I love you.
Samantha Andrews: It’s… It’s raining, you know that right.
Ian Wyndham: I have to tell you this and you need to hear it. I loved you since I met you, but I wouldn’t allow myself to truly feel it until today. I was always thinking ahead, making decisions soaked with fear… Today, because of you… what I learned from you; every choice I made was different and my life has completely changed… and I’ve learned that if you do that, then you’re living your life fully… it doesn’t matter if you have five minutes or fifty years. Samantha if not for today, if not for you I would never have known love at all… So thank you for being the person who taught me to love… and to be love.
Samantha Andrews: I don’t know what to say.
Ian Wyndham: You don’t have to say anything… I just wanted to tell you.

Ian Wyndham: I guess what I’m trying to say is… I want to soldier on. I really do. Okay?
Samantha Andrews: No.
Ian Wyndham: No what?
Samantha Andrews: I don’t… want to soldier on.
Samantha Andrews: Ian, if I were to stay in London now, it would be for you. For us. And I would do that in a heartbeat if I knew we were really special.
Ian Wyndham: We are.
Samantha Andrews: Really? You never tell me how you feel or talk about yourself. You don’t want to meet my family. You forgot my graduation. We run into my favorite student and you act as if he has something contagious.
Samantha Andrews: Ian, I know you have the best intentions, but I feel like I’m a really high second priority to you. That hurts. And the worst part is I’m starting to get used to it.
Ian Wyndham: I don’t understand.
Samantha Andrews: I know. That’s what kills me.
Samantha Andrews: If there had just been one day Ian, one day where nothing else matters but us.
Ian Wyndham: I adore you.
Samantha Andrews: I don’t want to be adored, I want to be loved.

[PS: I really wanted to mention all the details of the movie, but I had to refrain myself from doing so, as it will spoil the charm for those who want to catch up with the movie after reading my post ]

Dear Readers,

I guess all good things in life are good only when used in moderation. I have been involved with my blog so much during the past one year and more that I feel I have neglected some things in life that I should have not. Its time to now concentrate a little more on other things that interest me…

On that note, I think I need a break.

From blogging.

I do not know when I will be back. It could be tomorrow, day after… or after a month… dont know

Just want to tell you guys, Its been wonderful with you wonderful people out there I am going to miss you a lot

Love,
Nova

[PS. I am going to try and repy to all your comments on a regular basis. I will also try reading your blogs, though it wont be as often as it was earlier!]

Found this on Sakhi’s blog

I tag my blog fellas to mention one item they did that bought a smile on their face.

Well… a lot of things brought a smile to my face today…

Seeing a lovely flower on the way to office :) A cute child’s smile Lata’s reverberating voice on my iTouch, My office colleagues’ exuberant hi. And ofc Sakhi’s post has made it a perfect morning so far