Gudgudi!

That’s the name of the song from ‘Just Married’ that I like immensely! Well, the entire soundtrack is easy on the ears and since Gulzar saab is at the helm of lyrics, I would naturally be biased! For me, however, this particular song is the pick of the lot! Here are the lyrics:

Jab bhi zara tumne chhua, Zindagi halki si gudgudi kar gayi,
Chhalki huyi thi pehle se main, thodi-si aur bhi bhar gayi,
gudgudi kar gayi…

Socha tha tum se mile to,
paanv zameen pe padenge,
Yeh kya pataa tha ke phir se,
khwabon main udane lagenge,

Darr to rahi thi pehle se main, thodi-si aur bhi darr gayi,
gudgudi kar gayi…

Anjaan logon ka milna,
pehle bhi hota raha hai,
Padh ke batao sitare,
yeh rishtaa kahan pe likha hai,

Marne lagi thi pehle se main, thodi-si aur bhi mar gayi,
gudgudi kar gayi…

Jab bhi zara tumne chhua, Zindagi halki si gudgudi kar gayi,
Chhalki huyi thi pehle se main, thodi-si aur bhi bhar gayi,
gudgudi kar gayi…


If you like soft, mellow songs with meaningful lyrics, give this one a try! Highly recommended!

From the Cup!

I am a cricket fan, albeit not a crazy one. Given the kind of passion most people in this country have for this particular sport, I am a below-average fan. Nonetheless, world cup is generally a very special piece of my life whenever it is on and I can’t help sharing my thoughts on the same:

1) Sri Lanka-Bangladesh Match:
I had watched the initial part of the India-Bangladesh match and thought that India bucked under the opening match jitters rather than anything else. Not that the pitch didn’t do anything or that the Bangladeshis didn’t bowl well, but if you had seen the Indian batsmen early-on, you must have got the feeling that they were under enormous pressure. Too much has been made out of Dravid’s decision of batting first. I think that was a natural decision. India’s strength is batting and Bangladesh bowlers aren’t a Mcgrath or Ntini!

Given that, I wanted to see the first hour of Sri Lankan batting against Bangladesh. They batted well and of course the Bangladeshis weren’t as good as they were against India. Though Lanka batted well, I thought the openers were a little tentative. So, when India plays Lanka and if the pitch is even a little active, Zaheer Khan will be the man to watch! Hopefully, Agarkar will be given the first change and not the opening overs. One also hopes that Pathan is given a chance but I am not sure that will happen!

2) Pakistan-Zimbabwe:

It’s commendable that Pakistan agreed to play this match. Because India-pakistan are such arch-rivals, I have always considered them as opposition. However, y’day when the teams lined up on the field to pay respect to their anthems, I couldn’t help feel sympathy for them. Given the kind of circumstances, it must have taken a lot of courage to get on to the field.

For Inzy, it must have been the toughest! For someone who has really been the backbone of Pakistan cricket, it is not the kind of farewell he deserves. Very few players bring about calm and stability in this game that is getting increasingly hysteric and one of them is gone. Very few players believe that Cricket is (still) a gentleman’s game and one of them is gone.

While the game is increasingly seeing emergence of ‘street-smart’ kids, such men show what separates men from boys! I like the man, I really do and it is not easy to digest that we’ll no longer be able to watch him. Good I didn’t watch the match long enough to see him walk back to the pavilion!

Meanwhile, good luck to our boys against Lanka! Personally, as long as they play well and give a solid fight, any result is ok!

Jo bhi ho, kal phir aayega!

Last year, I got an interview call from one of the IT giants. I was not too sure if I wanted to switch my job but I decided to give it a go anyway.

The interview was somewhere in town on a Saturday afternoon. I wanted to do well and I thought I had prepared myself well in the little time that I had. While I was on my way to the venue, I was a little anxious. It was indeed a big moment and a big victory if I pulled it off.

I reached the venue and saw quite a few ‘hopefuls’ like me. There were definitely more people than I had expected, and most looked senior to me. All very professionally attired, speaking only when required, and waiting anxiously for their turn for the interview. The atmosphere was quiet but restless. I sat there and was made to fill a form. While I was filling the form, sudden, unknown restlessness gripped me. I was very uncomfortable and I found my hands trembling!

I don’t get nervous so easily. I also think I know my job well. However, on that day, I wasn’t too happy sitting in that room, waiting for the interview. I tried to calm down but wasn’t totally successful. I also tried to put a finger on what exactly was making me sweat but I couldn’t!

Well, finally, I was called for the interview. I entered a small cabin with two straight-faced people trying to read between the lines in my resume. Formalities exchanged, I sat down on a chair and things started to go downhill from then on. The interviewers were a little hostile (They probably wanted to carry out a ‘stress’ interview), there were a lot of questions on theory which I had least expected, some of the things I generally have on tip of my tongue failed me and what not! All in all, it was a disastrous interview. It lasted about 30 minutes and I was only too happy to come out of it.

Generally, in such situations, what is more painful is the aftermath. I came out bewildered at what had happened. I was disgusted with myself. How did this happen? How did I let it happen? For the next 10 minutes, my world was full of questions I had no answer to.

Thankfully, the disappointment hardly lasted a few minutes. Anyhow, I wasn’t too desperate for the job so missing out on this opportunity wasn’t like the end of the world. ‘It was just an interview’; I told myself and moved on!

I didn’t know what went wrong, I still don’t know. Whether I wasn’t serious about the interview, whether the ‘too-professional’ air about the place put me off, whether the ‘stress’ interview technique was repulsive, whether the unexpected questions on theory caught me off-guard – what went wrong, I can never tell. I laughed it off as a one-off incident, forgave myself and moved on! I am still in as much love with myself as I was prior to that interview.

Last Saturday, as I switched off the TV after Sachin got out against Bangladesh, this incident came back to me with a question. If I can forgive myself so easily after failing so badly, what gives me the right to criticize my team, which obviously is under far bigger pressure? I still love my team and I want them to have as much fun as they can in cricket’s premier event. I think sometimes, we pull the team down with the huge expectations that we have from them. We, as fans, should be a little more forgiving, I think. After all, it’s just a game!

Wah, Pradhanmantriji!!

I have been watching ‘Ji, Pradhanmantriji’ on Star Plus for two Sundays in a row and must say that I am really impressed. I have always felt that Indian comedy lacks wit and shows like these (scarce, though) prove me wrong.

I watched ‘Ji, Mantriji’ regularly and was very disappointed when it was discontinued only after 13 episodes. The show probably didn’t garner enough TRPs, I guess. I hate to say this but with the same kind of show and the same kind of Indian audience, it is very likely that this show also will see a premature death.

Catch it before that happens. The show is aired on Star Plus on Sundays, 12 noon!