taare zameen par

a horrible education system..as if life is a race...each one of us been a part of it growing up....
every child.... a gift of god... a gift to US all...
the most beautiful phenomenon that ever exists... nurturing a child....and remembering that each blossoms into a different human being!


TAARE ZAMEEN PAR ..... the only other movie I remember having cried is Masoom.... but I could not stop myself in this one...

Aamir Khan always stood out as the greatest actor of our times.... but now as a director... and a wonderful human being.....

its impossible that your heart wont go out to this one..... PLEASE WATCH THE MOVIE.... its beautiful!

SIMPLE AND STRONG.... sums it up!

lifeless in ice

lifeless in ice, originally uploaded by K'space.

ps1: taken from an office camera on a project site... not from mine!

ps2: flickr's updated

i miss my tomato plant...

red and green
Originally uploaded by K'space

.... all through summer I nurtured you so...

... and winter came and still we were going strong...
...till one winter Saturday afternoon....
...I open the doors and let the cold breeze come in...
... so that the 'aroma' of Indian food doesn't stick around...
... only to wake up next morning...

... to see you gone... and all my efforts to revive you are in vain too...

I am SORRY my tomato plant!!!!

santa tales

Dear Santa,



I think I am ready for spring... can I get that for Christmas?





talking about Santa tales here are a few stories that I have to share with you about my first few instances of realizing Santa doesn't exist after all... and since I know that no kids visit my blog I think I am ok talking about it here....



Some background info: I was a diligent Santa fan - and Santa loved me too - cos every year I wrote letters to his address in "FINLAND" (thats where we were told he lived) and Santa got me everything that I had asked for... maybe not in the exact same way as I imagined but the list was always fulfilled. There were years when I didn't ask for anything and even then Santa used to keep some gifts by my stocking.... I even had questions like 'wow, how does Santa fit through the grill of my bedroom window' - but he is Santa right... I still clearly remember the image that I had created in my head of Santa flying in on his sleigh, parking it by my window... and coming into give the gifts...



and now for how slowly but surely the truth about Santa came by... the story goes from doubt to almost there to certainty....


1. In one of my letters to Santa I had requested for a school bag. assuming that Santa will bring one from overseas I had a fancy picture of what school bag I would get. and the morning of Christmas I found a blue DM pakitwala bag by my bed. I was a little confused as to how come I got something so local... the doubt began

2. A 'spoilt sport' friend once started arguing with me about how there is actually just no Santa and my parents were putting the gifts. I argued back.. but then the doubt started firming up.

3. Now for the finale - so Christmas time as kids also meant all 'cousins' spending the week at our place... and all of us lined up our stockings in line and went to bed...but Miss. Ta and Mr. Chips couldn't sleep on one Christmas eve and were awake talking - when they heard footsteps they pretended to sleep (maybe thinking it was Santa Claus) and then the surprise was all out... they saw mommy putting the gifts there... and as they rose from bed to ask... 'tu kay karte?' poor mommy was like ... 'zopa ata' ...this was somewhere around the age of 10.

surely one of the funniest memories of childhood... we still cant stop laughin when we all talk about it...and of course we kept receiving gifts for the next few yrs... though this time we were aware who kept them :)

and for all those spoilt sports there I think its wonderful to believe in Santa for a few years... and it doesn't matter what you get. our presents were not always fancy...even simple things like maggi packets at times...but they just filled our Christmas day with joy... thank you "Santa" !

i hope I never get diabetes...

... cos I love my sweets the most in this world.... but I just cannot stand splenda/ equal or sweetners....

you cannot fool me with a sweetened drink... or a sugar free brownie... artifical sugar is no fun... the after taste puts me off the MOST in this world...

oh wait... just like in a person right - only natural sweetness is appreciated not the fake 'oh how wonderful and sweet' kinds

I hate artificial sweetners!!!!


yaay!!! the holidays are here and so are the goodies... guess the weighing scale should be wrapped up for a while?

relish

... its white and cold here but someone is surely enjoying the summer in another part of the world... :) hehe!

of funny orkut and green wines

this morning I had an orkut-email from a stranger with the email subject: serious offer: please do consider.. - no it was not one of those strange men looking for "relationships" on orkut! .... but this was worst- a film offer... I am going to leave it here and let you decide if that's funny or disgusting!

now on a pleasant.... lets say greener note... (on and off I keep bombarding you with my 'green gyan'.... but here is something you will enjoy) ... its about drinking Greener Wine... so if you love your wine and are not doing anything to Go green maybe this is the place to start... you can take some tips from this link...and trust me the tips will only be appreciated, for instance one of them is:

"As though you needed any further encouragement over the holidays, bigger bottles are more carbon friendly than smaller bottles."

http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/2007/12/tasting-notes-how-to-select-the-best-green-wine.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter-a

details

http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=68296_0_23_0_C


more details on my previous post with pictures of the man himself and the project - it is way more interesting than I thought yesterday !!!

Brad Pitt 'Makes it Right'

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/arts/design/03pitt.html?_r=1&ref=design&oref=slogin

Just a few weeks ago I read an article about Brad Pitt stepping into the role of the Next 'green guru'...

and today something better. Read the link above to see Brad Pitt's contribution to New Orleans.

It is refreshing to see the architects involved.. each one of them stands out as a significant contributor in the contexts that they come from!

so more reason to like Brad Pitt( not that we need more but its always good when celebrities use their fame and money to a worthy cause... )

oh and now for my vested interests in Brad Pitt's interest in Architecture... maybe now someday I will cross paths with him..he he!

Tia at work!

are you so excited while working? if not... here is some inspiration from the future generation! :) hehe

play

play, originally uploaded by K'space.

i struggled hard to write something about this picture... I didnt know if I wanted to write about the mist, the net, the stones or the plants... or just the emptiness that it depicts...

what do you think?

days

I agree when they say that a day is well spent only when you learn something new... each day...

but then they are days where you learn things you rather not learn ever...

and then on days like these you wish for days where you just dont learn anything

do i know you?

have been with you all my life...
and i have seen you through thick and thin...
i am always aware whats going on in your mind...
i feel like I make every decision for you...
and I am responsible for every act of yours...

but dear 'ME' just sometimes I wonder do I know you really?

p.s: I am not a freak - just that each time someone says they know someone really well I always think that's so cool because sometimes I wonder 'do i really know myself well'

treasure the 'everyday'!!!

We all have favorite places- places that make us comfortable- places that we relate to- places that we long to go to- places that make up a thousand memories- and sometimes just places that we have inhabited at some point of time on a daily basis...

it could be the house that you lived in - the school that you went to- your neighborhood park - the street that you frequented- your favorite restaurant- your workplace- your playground- your temple, your corner store... some place that you belong to - in some way or the other has interacted with you...

ever wondered- or ever experienced the feeling of seeing these places being demolished?... it hurts... yes to see it torn down but more when you realize that the place doesn't exist if you feel like going back to it sometime in the future...

Just like everything else - they stay now only in your memory -

and just like we value everything in life - you learn to value these 'everyday places' which we almost take for granted
- because there are a thousand bulldozers waiting there to tear them down... might just be something different in their place next time you visit!

happiness

we have heard and said most of these things...

...once I get there I shall be happy... .
..if I get this I shall be happy...
... once this goal is achieved that's where happiness shall lie...
... if you are happy I shall be happy...
... if this works out we shall be happy...
... I am just one step away from happiness...
... money makes me happy...
... being with family makes me happy...
... fame makes me happy... ...success makes me happy...
... a sense of achievement makes me happy...
... only if life would have worked out this way I would be happy...

does happiness always lie in pursuit... a condition... or a regret?

at somepoint in life ...somewhere WE all realize...
Happiness is not a destination... but a journey!
Happiness does not always lie in the extraordinary!
Happiness in its lowest form means just 'not being sad'

As hard we all are on this word it is the most giving of all...

Happiness lies in valuing life... in valuing oneself... in valuing the loved one... in valuing just that fact that we are not sad!!!! in valuing a daily sadness free life as much as an achievement or intense moment of joy....

Happiness lies in acknowledging not just a dream but a lot more in living an accomplished dream!!!

Enjoy!!! - that's not too much to ask for is it?

OSO update!

... so there is one blog I trust when it comes to bollywood reviews and what movie to look out for...

I have already seen OSO.. .and shared my two cents on it with all of you...

but check this review by ' My Stance' - it does total justice to what the movie is - even the title of her post :)

http://maithilikabre.blogspot.com/2007/11/picture-poori-filmy-hain.html

sometimes I wonder...

.. is there room for error anymore ?

and is slowing down even an option?

do not miss

if you have even a remote connection/liking for bollywood... you will thoroughly enjoy OSO...

om shanti om.... one of the funniest Hindi movie spoofs seen ever!!!

and yes Shahrukh rocks... Farah Khan is actually talented... Ms. Padukone is extremely comfortable and confident for her first movie...the movie sports a lot of young talent on and behind the screen!!!

its that time of the year!

where will IT and Green Design meet?

this article was in my mail box for the Green Team at the office... and I enjoyed reading it completely... the last line is sweet!

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman
Nov 7

Remember Y2K? That was the “millennium bug,” the software glitch that threatened to melt down millions of computers when their internal clocks tried to roll over on Jan. 1, 2000, because they were not designed to handle that new date.
And remember that the only country that had enough software programmers to adjust all these computers so they wouldn’t go haywire, and do it at a reasonable price, was India. And remember that it was this huge operation that launched the Indian outsourcing industry — which is why I have long felt that Y2K should be a national holiday in India.
Well, remember this: there is an even bigger opportunity for India than Y2K waiting around the corner. I call it “E2K.”
E2K stands, in my mind, for all the energy programming and monitoring that thousands of global companies are going to be undertaking in the early 21st century to either become carbon neutral or far more energy efficient than they are today. India is poised to get a lot of this work.
I first started thinking about this when I heard Michael Dell declare that Dell Inc. would become “carbon neutral” in its operations by the end of 2008. He said Dell would take inventory of its total greenhouse gas outputs and then develop plans to reduce, eliminate or offset those emissions.
With a carbon tax or cap-and-trade legislation looming, every day you are going to see more and more companies doing the same thing. It is going to be the next big global business transformation. And it’s going to require tons of software, programming and back-room management to measure each company’s carbon footprint and then monitor the various emissions-reduction and offsetting measures on an ongoing basis. Guess who’s got the low-cost brainpower to do all that?
Some of the smartest Indian outsourcing companies are already positioning themselves for the E2K market.
“What did Y2K do?,” asked Nandan Nilekani, the co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, one of India’s premier outsourcing companies. “It was a deadline imposed by the calendar, and therefore it had a huge ability to concentrate the mind. It became a drop-dead date for everyone. Making your company carbon neutral is not a date, but it is an inevitability.”
When Y2K came along, some companies responded tactically, doing only the minimum reprogramming to keep their computers operational after Jan. 1, 2000. Others approached it more strategically, saying: “Since we’re going to have to go through all our software anyway, why not just retire all the old stuff and upgrade to the newer, simpler systems that will make us more efficient.”
These companies went from seeing I.T., or information technology, as a cost to looking for ways to make money from it — through data mining and using better information to cross-sell products, reduce cycle times for introducing new services and to manage inventories more efficiently.
The key to winning E2K business for the Indian outsourcing firms, said Mr. Nilekani, will be showing big global companies, like a Dell, how becoming more energy efficient or carbon neutral doesn’t just have to be a new cost they assume to improve their brand or satisfy regulators, but can actually be a strategic move that makes money and gives them an edge on the competition.
“The strategic companies will say: ‘We are stuck with this problem — why not take advantage of it and use it to revolutionize and rejigger our whole energy infrastructure,’ ” added Mr. Nilekani. They will use E.T. — energy technology — “to reduce material costs, simplify logistics, drive down electricity charges and shorten supply chains.”
As they start to do this, it will require a lot of data management, which companies will want to do as cheaply as possible. Hello India. Hello E2K.
“My impression is that there is certainly a significant opportunity for Indian outsourcing companies,” said B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services, another top Indian outsourcing company, adding that the precise size of that business will depend on “the speed and scale at which the carbon neutral policies are adopted by the global companies.”
To better compete for such business, Mr. Nilekani is installing solar systems and other efficiency technologies at Infosys’s Bangalore campus. Satyam is planning to do similar things with its verdant Hyderabad complex, which already has its own zoo.
I.B.M. seems to be moving into this space, too. Big Blue knows that even if Indian companies do a lot of the back-room work, there will be lots of front-end jobs nearer the customers.
So, mom, dad, tell your kids: if they’re looking for a good stable-growth career — green consultants, green designers, green builders are all going to be in huge demand. And if they can speak a little Hindi — all the better.