Noni and Bua :)

So, this is about the love of my life Mr Noni. He is 3 years old and can sell the world for a toffee. He is the one i play with all the time since i am jobless for sometime and i just cant get over him. So, this baby knocks my door first thing in morning and touches my cheeks to ensure that i am alive and in his house, so that we can play. I open one eye and look at him and then he laughs out of excitement that he has a friend to play. Mr Noni starts with watering plants , sometimes with his papa, sometimes with his bua. He is too talkative and observant, so beware he will know each and every word of the discussions held infront of him. Now a days Noni has holidays, he starts with identifying some wild animals in his games and then more often than not, we are done with all the games in 2-3 hours. Then is the time for cartoons( Yes, i know all the cartoons in this world now:)), dont even ask the number of questions he will ask you while he is watching it and then he will sit in your lap and hug you and kiss you for answering all the questions so that you dont get irrirated with him. :)
Then you have to run after Noni to make him eat, you see food is not something he thinks is important for life, its all about playing. Not to mention he will copy his bua in everything, from the cream to gogs to the way she drinks water to the way she laughs. (Alright, i am someone's role model). After this is the time to take afternoon nap and time for Noni to swing between rooms and beds with his milk bottle in hand till the last person in home falls asleep and he has no choice but sleep. He has been told that all cartoons sleep in afternoon and poor baby does not know that thats not the case. (Are you not in love with his innocence? :) ) Then is the time for bua and Noni to take their water bottle and big ball and go to the big park infront of the house, he makes me run like there is no tomorrow and he ofcourse thinks that his bua is his age. :P
So, Noni has been my day and night for hols and i know that i love the time i spend with him. Kids are just too innocent and at times you just know you love them. After he scolds me , sometimes bites me at my nose, sometimes he gets angry with me, sometimes even i get angry with me, but then all this lasts for a moment, for somewhere both of us know that we love each other a lot. I used to wonder what is the craze for a toffee all about till i saw his insecurity towards the toffees he holds. I have learned that sometimes all it takes to be happy is an ice cream and then he tells me that when you want something you just go for it without any egos. So, when i tell him i will not talk with you, he just comes and sits in my lap, holds my face, looks into my eyes and says, lets play, you dont talk to me, i will talk to you, i am getting bored. Love you Noni, the time i spend with you is the best time of my life. :)

I have a dream...

I had an amazing discussion with a guy from air force over a cup of coffee sometime back and i will never forget it for the rest of my life. We were walking back from somewhere and we got talking. I always knew that these people are stronger than the civilians in their mindset and approach and i have always learned a thing or two from them. So, it was my time to learn from him. He told me about adventure and thrill in air force job and how he overcame his fear. (I told him that i am scared of heights at times and i feel i will fall.. :P)..Suddenly the discussion turned to women in general. I will never forget the words in which he described women. He said that every women on the face of this earth is stronger than him and he has seen it well in Srinagar. He told me about an incident when a woman actually threw herself in burning house to save her child while the entire batallion waited for the fire to extinguish for them to act. He also told that women in general are sweet and kind yet strong when it comes to exploitation and then about how they are moving ahead in life in all aspects. There were many incidents he quoted which made me realize how right he was. If you observe the world around you, you probably are the most gifted one.
I told him about how my dad always dreamt that i should have an individuality and how i should participate in every debate and have an identity of my own. I remember him evaluating everything in life rationally. It was never a case that i am a girl so i must adjust, or give up on my dreams, instead he always promoted that it must be a game of equality, else it will never stay. It was fun to think through the life in general. About how people reacted at every step and decision but i just did it. And it is a fact of life that i am proud of being a woman and i would have never wanted to be on the other side of the road. I know myself as an adamant human when it comes to my self respect and certain decisions in life. All thanks to papa, for just letting me be and telling me that in the end what matters in life is happiness and suffocation never gives one happiness.
He gave me a dream years back. My feet were not strong on groud and i was scared of public speaking, he told me that his daughter can never lose a debate. I participated in 34 debates after that and never lost one. He told me one day that he would love to see me as an MBA coz he thought i had his kind of attitude in life- Fearless , i was his daughter, i should not die with average degrees in life. He said he wanted the best in life for his daughter, because he had a princess and i know that for the rest of my life i will be his princess and strive for the best whatever it takes. I have a dream and i shall live it. :)
My air force friend told me that i have probably inherited the shine in my eyes from my dad and i shall live every dream of his. Thats just what makes women the best in this world and i am one of them. Thank You Pal for the best compliment ever!! :)

Travelougue- Dalhousie, Khajiar, Chamba, Kala Top and Back... :)

This time it was off to hills.

Gurgaon-> Pathankot -> Dalhousie -> Khajiar -> Chamba -> Kala Top -> Pani Har -> BACK One of the most scenic places i have ever been to. Since my nana was very fond of travelling to hills, he has always owned a home in one of the hill stations. We have homes in Mussorie and Shimla and i have some fond memories of my childhood spent there. I have been to many of the well known hill stations, but Dalhousie is absolutely the clear winner as of now. Its scenic, its peaceful and right there in mountains. However, the best part of my journey was trip to Khajiar. This is truly the Switzerland of India. I went for zorbing and trust me its was scary inside the huge ball, and i hurt my nose and got some scratches due to jumping into the ball wrong way. :) I went for the horse ride with Rajendra Kumar and his horse John. The 2.5 km ride was full of wonder ful trail of longish pretty trees and lots of grass. I was told about the movie 1942 a love story being shot there at some point in time. We walked down the lane to find out the apple orchards, the train was wonderful and can not be expressed in words, there was a view of snow clad mountains in back and greenery everywhere.

We headed forth to Chamba after this. Chamba is a commercial town of himachal. It was large and crowded. We settled in a dhaba for rajma chawal and saw the museum. There are many temples which one could visit. After this we headed back to Dalhousie and walked down the street to see the subhash chandra chowk and then subhash bowli which is known to have cured SC Bose of TB.
Next day was our trip to Kala top which is suposed to have wild life sanctury, but there is no animal. What is interesting is the 3km walking lane thorugh jungle with scenes i had never even dreamt of in my life so far. It was prettier than any imagination. We reached to a rest house which was stationed among the hills, i was told by our guide RC tandon that butterflies fall in bundles in this place , such is their population and liking for this place. It was one of the breaktaking views. One of the places i want to go and stay at sometime in life may be.
This was the end of adventurous exploration. Now was time to relax and explore Dalhousie, we went around in market searching for Pizza and shopping for family. The whole place was so serene and beautiful that i did not want to come back. Sometimes in life you just wonder what exactly is a place made of and how lucky are the people who get to stay there. Looking at the snow covered peaks in distance from the balcony of my room, i just wondered if beauty had any other definition. :)

Dance part 02 :D

This time its is Ahista Ahista from Bachna aae Haseeno and its a totally lovable song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTeXREBzUng
So, we are a gang of 6 for our classes now. I am suprised at the mix of age and professions which i get to see in my dance classes. And particularly fun is the fact that we are turning out to be the best batch in the institute. Yo, way to go, we are quick and we have a very good synch. Unlike most batches we have practiced extra hours to bring the weak and slow ones to the speed and we rock, totally. Its lovely the way we get each one of us to work. And the grace with which all of us just come together as one. I am learning a lot of people's skill right there while having fun. And i think i am making some friends for life, as we really dont have anything to give and take but for fun and encouragement.
My new friend is a lady who was in HR for 16 years before she took off from work to finally look at life differently. We have a nice 5 minute chat everyday before we start jumping on the tracks. She is warm and friendly and she was the HR head of my dream company. We laughed at how crazy i used to be about retailing and finally came into IT. She thinks i can rock any industry i get into. (Ahmm... She is in love with me, so ignore her confidence in me) ;)
Then there is a girl who can not move and twist her hands due to some problem, but she probably is the best when it comes to feet. :) The boys in gang are some teenagers, who generally have fun and who probably are the quickest to pick the steps.
Our instructors are totally adorable. While one is slow and perfect, the other is like a jumping jack who can not slow down for anyone, but he is just too much fun to follow, he challenges your confort factor. Good gurus, as i am not just learning the formal dancing techniques, but if i follow it properly i can choreograph many more dances than what i learn.
So, everyone loves what they do, there is too much of fun and entertainment and smile. I think one must pursue hobbies in life, these are things which you dont do for any purpose, you just do it because you feel for it... I always enjoyed dancing on tunes and this is the first time i decided to give it some serious focus, i think i enjoy it more than any degree, any subject and any position and job i have ever had. So, to the second learning i loved.. :)
Aahista aahista
Mujhe yakeen ho gaya

India Unbound

This is an interesting non fiction which gives a very realistic view on how Indian economy has progressed post independence. I had loads of aha moments while reading it since i did not know quite a few things about why India took a slow path to prosperity. While the country was freed from britishers , it was then put into the hands of Nehru clan whose ideology gave birth to useless PSUs, beaurocracy and no tolerance and acceptance for free prosperity. The transformation era started with Narsimha Rao government which let the wings to the aspirations of the budding entrepreneurs by abolishing license raj and opening doors for FDI. The writer has narrated the story as he has seen during his lifetime. Gurcharan Das, who is an accomplished executive, writer and a free lancing consultant writes about the economic transformation as experienced by him. The incidents in the book are realistic and one can relate to the hardships faced by the entrepreneurs in India during Nehru clan.
All in all the book is a very interesting read. I was hooked to it and i enjoyed it. The story is sequenced well and personal experience makes the work more lively. The writer is a big supporter of capitalism and free economy, the current economic crisis might put him under scanner, but he makes sense and i do endorse that capitalism is the way to life. Prosperity spreads prosperity, may be a little bit of control is needed, but not the one that Nehru envisioned for India. A wrong leader can ruin the nation and we just held one for 2 decades.