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Raphael... Cognizant play

2011-08-07T21:53:00.002+01:00

This is the play I was in when I was at Cognizant... Theme - Raphael and our colour was red. I was the co-writer and narrator of the play. We (obviously) won the first prize. Reading it now, I am amazed at the depth of the play. Hope you enjoy it.

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Good Afternoon everyone… What a pleasure it is to present Raphael Story to you – and that is quite literally too as you would be seeing in few moments.

Here is Raphael, an aggressive warrior. He experiences waves of emotions and is easy to be provoked and to win. His winning streak has given him an unnatural confidence. His brutal winning streak showed him just a single facet of Red… Of Blood that is on ground… Not worth as are his challengers according to him! Little did he realize the pain of losing or of dying?

But, there was one incident that made him change… A battle that drew his blood… A battle that left him so near to death that he almost lost his hope. The same color that previously meant victory to him is now speeding his own death…

His eyes closed, he could visualize all who were delivered to Death by him… No, he cannot lose hope now… as

ERIK H. ERIKSON:
Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.

He regrets his arrogance and aggression… he realizes All violence is injustice.
Responding to violence with violence is injustice, not only to the other person but also to oneself. Responding to violence with violence resolves nothing; it only escalates violence, anger and hatred. It is only with compassion that we can embrace and disintegrate violence. This is true in relationships between individuals as well as in relationships between nations.

Understanding why this violence has been created, we will then know what to do and what not to do in order to decrease the level of violence in ourselves and in the world, to create and foster understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness.

After regaining his senses, he observed his opponent in a worse state… With his renewed mind set, he cannot let his opponent die, not if he can help it! He passed on his blood to save his opponent… He is just learning about the importance of peace

ANTON CHEKOV:
We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.

And indeed – This is what the Angel said…

I bring to mankind, from God,
the Gift of Mirth.
I counsel you to
take pleasure in small things
and to laugh easily.
For laughter is
wine for the soul and a barrier
between man and madness.
Life is worth living.
Enjoy life!

And now, both are fit to live! Truly understanding the victory…

RALPH WALDO EMERSON:
The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.

A new mind set, a new perspective of life. He still sees the world in Red – but now, it is of Love, of Passion, of Care and of Life…

I now ask each one of you to close your eyes and visualize Red color. What is your Story? Does it represent the Drop of Life? Does it represent the Cross of serving? Does it represent the Depth of Love? Does it represent Beauty of Rose? Or is it symbol of Danger? Or is it the woe of warriors?

Let the hate abate giving rise to love for all beings – Coz’ love alone can conquer the world – Not wars, not hate!

Here’s Raphael’s tribute to the power of Red!

Robin Hood - Review

2010-05-15T21:03:00.003+01:00

A movie after ages! And while I would not call it great... a fine movie it was!

We all have read Robin Hood stories and his escapades, archery and so on since childhood... This Robin Hood breaks the monotony and gives us a refreshingly fresh perspective and a slight scottish accent Russell Crowe!

This Robin Hood story is how he became the way he did... His adventures and conquests of Europe and Asia, Royal problems and of course the grand bit of driving away the French!

If you like Russell Crowe, medieval movies, some action, some story - then worth a watch!

Rating - 3.5/5

Starting fresh...

2010-03-16T18:54:00.000Z

Time is a funny thing… As it passes, you lose interest in some things and gain interest in others… I regret that I lost my interest in blogging over the time. There was a period where I was an avid blogger in Cognizant community… guess I also had lot to say those days… even though it was just on love ;)

My good friend Himanshu gave me a reason to come back to blogging by giving me Happy Award! Thanks Himanshu… :)

Rules to accept the award:-

1. Link to the person who gave it to you,

2. List 7 things that make you happy,

3. Pass it on to 7 happy bloggers.

4. Notify the nominees about this Happy Award.

I award following bloggers “Happy Award” – Drumroll please!! (Lol… I miss the excessive amount of drama of ch1blogs ;) )

7 things that make me happy!

1) Ujwal… what else do you expect from a newlywed bride? (yes… even after a year, I still call myself newlywed ;) )

2) Talking to family – I love talking… and as both of us are so far away from family, we relish the times when we talk – especially video chat :)

3) Having toffee ice cream – I never realised I loved toffee ice cream till I came to UK.. I had it in Swiss before but did not actually think twice then… but now… I love it!

4) Fresh (not so cold) breeze – Staying in Aberdeen, its very common to feel the breeze (sometimes too much of it!) all the time… But, it is very refreshing to get out as the winter is coming to end.

5) Aroma of food (not cooked by me ;) ) – I enjoy food… before marriage, my brother and I used to go around restaurants… and now it’s me and Ujwal. There are very few restaurants left that we didn’t go to!

6) Surprising Ujwal with some new dish – some are good and some are bad, but my dear husband always says “Wow, its good”… till I ask him if it can be made again…

7) Seeing a long lost friend on online friend list – It is really nice to catch up! “Hey… did you know that X got married?” or “Hey… did you know that….”

So, here I leave… hoping that I will blog more often :)

Rakhi

2009-08-05T17:32:00.003+01:00

Rakhi was never a big deal for me... I was always with my little bro and we always used to go around for movies, restaurants, hang outs and so on... We used to try out new dishes at remote places... give them ratings... decide to try later or not... We were particularly attached to Curry on the Roof - Veg Saiwoo... both of us adore it and go there once in a while just for this delicious starter... The point being, I never needed a single day to spend quality time with my bro. We had fun... always, whether we were joking around or fighting...

This year, not being around, I wanted him to feel I was around... And itasveer was the answer for that. They started with these Photo Rakhis... I thought wow! That looks very neat and innovative... This was when I was having my exams... Once my exams got over and I finally booked the Rakhi, it was 2nd. I was quite worried if it would reach by 5th. But, itasveer team assured me it had pretty good chances of reaching. If they would have said it will reach, then, I probably would not have believed it ;) But. it did reach Satwik by 5th (i.e. today) and I am so glad he liked it!!

My dear Satwik... this post is for you and to say I miss you!

1 year since I left Cognizant

2009-08-01T21:11:00.002+01:00

Last 1 year had been a thrill ride... first 3 months, slowly going up and then a fast forward roller coaster! First 3 months, I was still in a daze of not having to go to work. It was hard not to do something. My Cognizant times had been full of activity... not a responsible sort of activities, but, nevertheless... there was something or other to do everyday! And whatever I did in Cognizant - multiple roles and mltiple jobs... did not help me in managing just 2 roles - a wife and a student... It was not that it was difficult... because, it was not. But, it was new. I was always (and am still) confused which cap to don when!

As a wife, I do hope, I am not drastic... ;) ... Ujwal does say he loves me... and we've already passed the 6 month milestone, so, I am quite satisfied :) As a student, well, I have passed my exams and managed to learn something on the way... See, there you go... But, there were times, when I mixed up these two... I wonder if things would be different after studies and when we go to job...

All this ranting to remember my blogging days of Cognizant... they were quite fun, actually... especially since I had a Love blog ;) And here I am gaining further experience... may be I should restart that!!

Penny for your thoughts... :)

Angels & Demons (2009)

2009-05-15T19:54:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASVeN-58HKk

Ever since I’ve seen the trailer, I’ve been looking forward to this movie… And we decided to make this our first movie in theatre too. But, what a disaster this movie turned out to be.

PLOT
For those who have read the book, you can appreciate what a fine read that was… A page turner with a fabulous ending. Movie delivers nothing – it is slow and the characters changed, characters removed! I was very much looking forward to the flight journey at the speed of Mach 25. What I get is a Helicopter Ride! Well, this summarizes the entire movie speed!

For those who have not read the book, the plot: ancient Brotherhood named Illuminati resurfacing for its revenge on Church at the time of Conclave and Professor Langdon solving the mystery with his usual aptitude for Symbology. Then again, if you have not read the book, lesser chances of liking the movie ;)

Dan Brown being on the producers and yet let this so called adaptation of his novel, release is indeed surprising!

CHARACTERS
Though there is handful of characters, one standing out is Evan McGregor. He is the most similar to the soft spoken Camerlengo and shows passion when talking about Science and Religion. But, he too was disappointing at the end. But then, the end itself is so terrible and emotionless – who is to blame?!

POSITIVE
Path of Illumination and the subsequent free tour of Rome and Vatican (Some of them being a full scale replica)

NEGATIVE
Everything else

RATING:
4/10

Are you looking forward to the movie or have already seen? Let me know your thoughts :)

March!! Uff!

2009-04-04T20:10:00.007+01:00

If I had to list out all the activities of March, it just sums up to three!!

--Blue Skies Competition
--Assignments
--Part Time jobs

But, this was one of the busiest months we’ve had and we both agree that we didn’t run around so much even for our marriage!!

This is the rough time line with major events:

Blue Skies is a competition for Business Ideas that are viable and profitable. This is run by University of Aberdeen and is open to all. Details of our experiences with this competition itself would be a Blog post. We’ve been lucky to get tremendous support from our Staff (Lyn, Russell and Colin) and our very own In house SIE advisor – Simon and organizer of Blue Skies – Ann. Lyn was as involved in our second round as we were and we do admit that we couldn’t have crossed the line without her expert suggestions and crossing out :) And we’ve enjoyed Blue Skies more so because of the passion we felt for our own idea as we progressed ahead. And of course, it does help that at the end of the competition, we did win £2000 prize money + £4000 support to actually start our business + a session with leading venture capitalist in shaping up the idea to a business!! (Woohooo! Yippie!! Yay!!!) In the course of building up a good presentation, we came across this wonderful program of BBC – Dragon’s Den. Also, we were introduced to Apprentice – a very addictive program. You can see previous series on YouTube.

Pictures: Preparing for presentation and after presentation!

But we had no time on 23rd to celebrate our victory… we were gearing up for our first MBA assignments… waking up the entire night to give that finishing touch. 25th by 8:30 AM, we reached our college to display the posters… Our Professor Lyn took pictures of these and posted them on Picasaweb. And once the Leadership assignment is completed, we had to rush to our Research Assignments! And of course lectures and tutorials (Marketing Game in case of Strategic Marketing – “informed” and “theory – based” decisions to be taken in a simulated exercise) were going on as always. For the Thursday tutorial of Leadership, there were just 6 out of 21 (including us) and Alison was so upset with that… but, hey, half the Indian Student population already flew to India!!

Picture: Leadership batch - relieved after poster presentation

27th and finally with Research Assignment submitted, we had no time to relax… YET! Our part time jobs are weekend based… and we had to be on our toes for that! On 30th we slept and slept!! Just one day at the shared accommodation…

Icing on the cake – 31st – the last day of March was entirely spent on our shifting to new home!! :)

Next post on new home… coming up soon!

Though it was busy, we’ve had loads of fun juggling through all of the above! And that is what we are here to learn anyway, right? Managing multiple tasks effectively :) And Profitably!!

Do share your thoughts or perhaps similar experiences :)

First week at School

2009-02-09T16:08:00.000Z

Back to School... and that too a B School... I've always treasured my first days at everything...first day at SKN, first day at Cognizant and first day at Aberdeen University...

It is amazing to be studying at a University that has more than 500 years of History behind it; is the fastest rising University in the World Ranking and of course a traditionally Research driven University... And if that's not enough... professors are amazing too :) Each with their own style and obviously everyone demand or rather expect punctuality...naturally...

As I've posted in my previous blog... first look at the college was stunning... a green lawn stretched and the back ground of Business School (the building with the crown)

When we went for our first lecture we were like "Wow!" Just look at the class and you would say so too!

More than half of the classmates are Indian...

We have a sparse collection of other nationalities too... Chinese, Taiwanese, Kazikhstan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia, British, Australia, USA, Canada, Oman, Middle East and all with different backgrounds of studies and experience... I'm sure the year ahead is not just MBA studies, but is bound to be very rich from Culture perspective too...

While just in the previous pic you saw all that is green behind... our photos next are going to show the true color of Aberdeen - White!

Our first and second week in the University went as we waded thru the heavy snow... it was wow in the starting... but it basically means that we shud start early from home if we want to be on time at the school... as the buses get more people... traffic is snazzy... with wheels barely going ahead... its a scene!! Aberdeen is a cool place... literally and figuratively ;)

More pics here

Acknowledgement: I thank Bala and Ranjani for the pics that I usurped from their Orkut photos :)

So, any suggestions to make the max out of our 1 year business studies??

India to UK!

2009-01-26T13:15:00.000Z

Our trip to UK had been very eventful and profitable! Wondering how? Read on for the details...

One day prior to the SCHEDULED departure to UK (19th Jan 2008) we did "Satyanarayan Vrat". This pooja is done by newly wed couples for success and prosperity... And we became the traditional couple... Pedananna (Uncle) performed the role of Pundit and explained the meaning in English beautifully...

Being all set, we started on 19th morning to Mumbai... reached Mumbai International Airport on right time (2 hours before check in - we already checked in online so, we needn't come 3 hours prior...) . We had a huge emotional block while going in... after all we are flying across the seas from our family and hey... you do get emotional... In that teary mood, we went in just 1.5 hours before the departure time... Whilst our family (Parents - Papaji, Mom and Dad, Praful - Ujwal's bro, Uncle and Aunt) waited outside, we went ahead with screening with heavy hearts. There was a huge crowd along with us and it looked like the flight was full! Only at the check in counter did we realize that it was over booked!! We were given an option - If we can change our travel plan by a day,
*Read this!!!*

we will be given £250 PER PERSON AND 5 Star hotel stay AND Food expenses AND Conveyance... Guess what we said... obviously we took the offer!!

That way, we all 8 had an amazing buffet lunch at Hyatt, performed Ulta See Off for everyone - Mom, Uncle and Aunt to Pune; Dad to Hyderabad; Papaji and Praful to Agra... This offer gave one most important advantage of being jolly about impending trip... Everyone was happy that we already started our earnings ;) and all's well that ends well, right? Hey! Its not the end yet... let me tell you about the actual journey...

We reached back to the airport next day around same time... Had our bags screened and blah blah... and we finally reached the check in counter... no such offers today... we paid for extra baggage (We were going for studies... we need that extra baggage of stuff, right?!) and made our way to Immigration... went on to Fast track security check in as the flight was already boarding... and when we went to the boarding gate... GUESS WHAT?? Our tickets had been upgraded to....

*Drum Roll please* Business Class!! BA business class was AMAZING!! Emirates Business Class was good, but BA was soooo much more comfortable!! So much more leg room, first class sevice and the seat can be converted to FLAT BED!!! We checked the cost of BA business class... it is coming up to 1,97,000 for 2 people...

After reaching London, we passed through immigration in 10 min and went ahead to meet Sarath Anna, Vadina and darling Buddu... We had a very enjoyable time there... having the feast prepared by Vadina and playing with Buddu and taking advise from Sarath Anna...

And then straight to Aberdeen next day...

For more photos click here

Aberdeen experiences in the next posts...

Ujwal weds Sravya

2008-12-04T07:33:00.000Z

Yes! We're married... Can you believe it?! It took both of us a lot of time for this feeling to sink in... If you are talking on the phone and just out of blue, you are married... Hey! That takes time :) But, it was sooo nice...

Marriage was exceptionally good... I'm so glad we've taken a morning Muhurat... But you know what... we both are just incredibly lucky to have such sweet Parents who agreed to our match and have been so supportive of everything!!

My Sasuraal are all so calm and most importantly accepting... Where we were all new to each other at my marriage, when we went to Amit Bhaiyya's Reception at Ajmer yesterday, it was as if I've known them for so long! Like Atul Bhaiyya said, it just doesn't feel we've met each other hardly a month ago! :) Both the families have gelled up so well...

I am not describing the Marriage here... for that contact us, we'll be more than glad to give you the details ;)

This post is dedicated to all of the Family and Friends who could make it to our Wedding Ceremony... We thank you for taking part and enjoying OUR first Milestone :)

Marriage Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/guptaujwal/Marriage?authkey=bdbOjaj2hEQ#

These are just few of the Marriage Pics... we will upload the rest soon... stay tuned! Any comments/ suggestions/ compliments to us... are accepted gladly :)

Next post on our Switzerland Trip...

Last Update - Mehndi

2008-11-23T08:15:00.000Z

Hey all!!

First of all... Thank you for sticking with me as I'm doling out Bridal Updates! This would be the last update before marriage - for which you would have already received e-invite! If you didn't please pardon me... and let me know... probably I've sent it to someone else thinking its you! :)

So, what's this update about? This is about thanking you and preview of the splendid function of Mehndi that I had recently...

It was a fantabulous evening and Thanks to all the ladies and girls who've come for this!! You all Rock!

Some snippets from the day:

Rest of the pics in the album and you need to come to the marriage to see them!

C ya!

Bridal Updates!

2008-10-31T05:18:00.000Z

Pelli Sandadi!!

When does it feel that one is getting married? When there are loads of people around, some or other function going on, shopping and showing the shopping and of course with everyone teasing the bride!

Our neighbor, Shailesh, never leaves a chance at the teasing part - he invariably always asks - "So, How is... what's his name?" and I always fall into that... and I answer back Ujwal Gupta blushing!

To inaugurate the Marriage process, there is a function called: "Pasupu kottadam" - This marks the Puja for Ganeshji and taking his blessing for having everything run smoothly.

For this event, Lakshmi Aamma and Sudha Pinni had come to assist mom...

Recently Seenappa Tatayya and Bamma were at Pune and that night we had a gala of time just talking, playing cards and just having fun... we slept at 3AM!!

And of course shopping!! Basically, I'm not a shopping girl... I just don't understand the point of roaming around without the need... but when there is a need, I'm willing to see around to get the best deal - like trying out n number of Ice creams before taking the best :)

When I called up at Hyderabad, everywhere it was like they are preparing for Marriage - all those discussions, fun and so on - minus the Bride :(

More photos: Here

Yea! I'm getting married!!

2008-10-20T17:15:00.000+01:00

Once the initial feelings sink in... it is definitely exciting to be getting married!! Being a FRIENDS fanatic, I believe I'm more like Monica now... Life will be boring after marriage ;) Nah! Not that Monica -ish... It's going to be very exciting even after that!!

I'm happy and content... I know things are going fast... I feel sometimes perhaps that I'm too young to get married... But hey! better 23 than 18!! And that's how long I've known Ujwal!! Here's an exclusive pic of Ujwal then:

There's just so much difference!! :) I'm happy with the changes... :)

Another aspect of marriage that I'm very excited about marriage is sarees... I love and adore sarees! Ujwal keeps saying I would look like a doll when I wear a saree... more like a child doll ;)

Since, I love saris, I take it as a compliment!! Yea yea!! I'll be wearing saris all through the functions.... keeping aside the fact that I cant wear a sari... ;)

With the date and venue fixed, all that's left is shopping... we bought a sari for one of the functions today!!

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Pre Marriage Bliss!

2008-10-14T16:01:00.000+01:00

Recently my dear sister - Ravali asked me how am I feeling now that THE DATE is set... Honestly, there are just so many expressions flitting across the head, I donno!!

There is definitely excitement... for a commitment to get the blessings of parents and finally reaching the altar is indeed very exciting!! And when the marriage preparations are on full swing from every side... This is indeed THE TIME of LIFE ;) :)

There is a lot of nervousness and Anxiety... How will things go on the day... Day in Day out we take care about trivial things as keeping everything ready and perfect... So the BIG DAY possible blues are indeed a cause of nervousness... It is after all once in a lifetime day :) And to top it, I am a Virgo... supposedly perfectionist :D

Smiling... Smiling all through the telephonic conversation while telling everyone about the date, I think I've got a smile fixated on my face... as long as this lasts till Dec 3 ;) :)

And of course a lot of fear... How can I be a wife!! Handling a home - can I do it? Seeing mom handle it is even scarier - Mom is an expert... at everything... If I can be a tenth as good as her, I'll make a good wife myself :)

As the day gets nearer... a lot more may come in... and I will be putting up the updates of marriage prep right here... so, stay tuned ;)

A Wednesday - Movie Review

2008-10-02T04:08:00.000+01:00

What a splendid reply to the various Terrorist activities in the country! This is an action minus racing movie. It keeps you enthralled to the core and makes you think! When Rang De Basanti had come up, there was a sudden surge of raw, unlimited, misguided energy against Education Ministry about the reservation issue. This movie is not that strong in the sense to wake up a common man, but it sure is one hell of a movie. One of the very few “Worth spending in a multiplex” movie in the recent times!

Story:

Mumbai Police Headquarters get a phone call about 5 bombs planted at various locations of the metro. The demand is the release of 4 dangerous terrorists. And the rest of the story is the police trying to find out the whereabouts of the bombs as well as the anonymous caller aka terrorist. Start of the movie establishes each of the few characters amazingly which is the foundation of a good movie. If the police are half as good as shown in the movie, I think we are in good hands. In spite of being a political movie, it didn’t involve lot of politicians and was left in the hands of the Law keepers –a very good move. Splendid direction and Background score

Characters:

This movie is all about Nasruddeen Shah and Anupam Kher. One of their best movies indeed. Jimmy Shergill without his boyish cute smile is still damn cute! Jay as Honest, “I’ll give my life in this job” policeman is perfect. Naina as the reporter craving for a bigger story is understated…

Rating: 4/5 – A must watch

Vantage Point (2008)

2008-09-11T17:34:00.001+01:00

This is a stunning movie that doesn't disappoint you. Irrespective of you being a fanatic of action movies (I'm not!) – This movie keeps you tied down to the seat. Pete Travis (Director) has done a seriously amazing work at getting this movie out!

Story Plot:

It is an international summit at Spain to counter terrorism across nations. Amongst the people, there is a visible antagonism against USA because of it aggressive nature and that results in the assassination of the President! Or is it? The events leading up to the assassination and how different people viewed it – forms the story. Not much of Adrenalin pumping Car Races… (Only 1 not so much of exciting race) but this still keeps you up and glued! Just when you feel you understand the plot… Bam! Comes another viewpoint and then finally when you feel Yes!—Oops!! It's all different!! And so much better!

Positive points: The concept of having the story from different perspectives itself is a huge selling point. Latest Technology, great action! It portrays human emotions and nature extremely well… you also get a viewpoint of the Press... and their right to keep things away ;) Dennis Quaid as Barnes gave an excellent performance!

Negative Points: Though the spectator knows the behind story, police are clueless… it might have been better to keep one of the assassins alive for the officials to know how deep things run or at least to show the reason… Car chase was really as if it was being done on the Race Tracks instead of streets who are clueless of the two massive bombs hat go off!

Overall Rating: 3/5

DVD Rating: 3.5/5 (this one has some really cool special features…)

Agonies of Eye!

2008-09-09T08:19:00.001+01:00

Do you know how it feels to wear glasses every single day? Wake up in the morning, fresh up, wear dress and wear spects! Or perhaps the agony of wearing contact lenses... Reserve 10 min in the morning and 10 min in the night for this ritual. And keep perfectly manicured hand with no finger nails... and then, if it gets late in removing, that constant blinking to keep them wet! Ah... I know!

So, I finally wanted to get rid of all that... I went ahead for LASER EYE SURGERY - with excimer laser... which the doc assured is perfectly safe and very very precise... He laughed aloud when I asked him what if the machine moves and gets my cheek instead of my eye ;) After my first appointment with this doc, it took me 6 months to go with this!!

I called up the clinic and asked them how soon can I get this surgery done... and I was told the next morning! No way... I had an Alumni Meet coming up and I was not going to miss that - not even for my eye! I scheduled it for 2nd Sep 2008.

There were myriad of tests done on my eyes... At one point when doc said aloud 7.5, I was concerned - I blurted out - No, my number is not 7.5 - Doc replied patiently - "this is not the number you think it is! There are going to be loads of numbers and don't be concerned, we know what we are doing!" Ouch! Then, came in the Anesthesia - to my extreme relief, they were just drops and instantly I could feel my eyes going all heavy... In spite of knowing t wouldn't hurt, I couldn't help blinking when the doc came in with his poking device... And finally after all that was time for the actual surgery!!

I just had to concentrate on the blinking green light in the machine (as doc told me hundred times before entering) and not show up my reflexes when the surgery is being done (as in no excessive blinking - though hey had the eye lids wide open and held in place) I could only admire the beautiful ripple effect those wonder anesthesia eye drops gave me... it was like seeing through a swimming pool...when the doc was slowly cleaning up the eye, preparing it... and then the laser - hardly for 25 sec each!! And lo' within 15 min, I could see better!!

I was given black goggles with instructions - there'll be:

1) Watering of eyes - I had such incessant watering that my eyes were shut off!

2) Swelling of Eyelids - So much, that I couldn't open my eyes!!

3) Pain - Though I had very little pain, it was the depression of what if I never open the eyes that took me over!

And after 3 days of above... along with my family's encouragement and care (loads of it!!) and going to the doctor, it was seriously nectar to hear doc saying, I'm the only one who is completely healed!! Isn't it a pleasure to see!! I could open my eyes... see the world :) Now am at the comp writing those wonderful memories...without spects or lenses!!!!

Indeed - Sarvendriyanam nayanam pradhanam (Of all, eyes are the most important organs!)

So, you thinking of the same... do consult your eye doctor immediately and get the tests done ... if you are eligible and trust the doctor... just go ahead... and trust him completely... you will open your eyes eventually ;) (Mom said that!)

WALL – E Movie Review ( 29 Aug 2008)

2008-09-01T14:43:00.001+01:00

WALL-E is an amazing story of love along with a shouting message! As the director says – "This is not about a scenario that would happen in Future… It is a situation that could happen if right measures are not taken!"

This is such a cute movie that makes you be involved in this character – you want this sweet little robot to get whatever he wants – when he throws off a diamond ring from the box and keeps the box in his red and white box, you laugh at his ignorance, when he unearths a plant – you go ahh – indeed that is a sight to see that bright greenery amidst all the piles of rubble. We need more greenery right now! And he sitting in front of his screen seeing the dance and his eyes are so expressive!

Story:

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class) is a robot for Waste Management (Wish we had someone here now for that!) obsessed with having someone to be with and hold hands with the special someone…! Anything remote that imitates Humans' life – he keeps it. His home is a world filled with items discarded over ages. Christmas Lights, All his spare parts, Screen, Rubik's Cube, Bulb and even an old IPod! His routine is charging himself in the solar light, going to the field (Here's where the saying comes true – "World is your field!" and quite literally too as he is the only unit left of his species), collecting "interesting" items, after coming back seeing old movies and trying to imitate humans… Enter Eve and he is complete. Eve is a very sophisticated robot whose sole purpose is to find life on Earth and see if it's fit to return back. And from there a Rollercoaster ride in the galaxy and beyond!

Watch out for: Absolute chemistry between Wall-E and "Eva" – with hardly any voice (– it is the body language that counts), the way Eva's eyes crinkle based on her emotions, Milky Way and the awesome architecture of the Axiom Space Ship and the horrors of what waits ahead for us if we don't take care of our beloved Earth!

The movie is very endearing for all class and mass. Never boring, it reaches out to public! With stunning animation from Pixar – it is an absolute must watch for Animation Fans – your collection is incomplete without this! And for those who are not huge animation fans, this is where you can start :)

Rating – 4.5/5