Heaven is a place on earth

V'day09 photo @ Powai, Mumbai

When I feel alone
I reach for you
And you bring me home
When Im lost at sea
I hear your voice
And it carries me

In this world were just beginning
To understand the miracle of living

They say in heaven love comes first
Well make heaven a place on earth
Ooh heaven is a place on earth

Wow! Our very first V’day since we officially tied the knot a few months ago (Dec 28, 2008). Frankly, everyday seems like a v’day so our behaviour didn’t really change or nothin! The concept of V’day seems a lil trite since people are expected to be extra mushy, caring, sensitive and romantic on this day. But, shouldn’t people be like this everyday? Anyways, back to my original train of thought. We’re still in our honeymoon phase and we’re uber mushy everyday, every minute we’re together (can’t enough enough of my cute lil wifey). Since this happened to be a long weekend – a saturday, which was non-working for me (many companies follow 6 day work week in India); we decided to take it slow, chill out and generally unwind – enjoying each other’s company to the fullest.  

We lazed around in bed giving each other deep tissue massages – something that both of us enjoy a lot – giving and recieving. Though, I must confess that I prefer recieving them more than giving them. (sorry baby!) We immersed ourselves in each other’s company exchanging pillow talk, talking sweet nothings and embracing each other passionately until midday after which we had to get ready to see my folks in Powai.

Dad, wanted to meet us before he left for another one of his voyages (dad’s a captain in the merchant navy). We had planned on being at Powai at around 5pm but eventually landed up around 6:30pm. The delay can be completely attributed to Mumbai’s horrible weekend traffic which plagues residents/commuters alike. We had planned on cooking some dinner (for us all) when we reached. Ruth had a salad cooking class scheduled for me that evening. Much to my dismay, it turned out that dad was leaving on a 11pm flight the same day and not the next day as I had thought. This meant that he had to be at the airport at 8pm. I was planning on dropping him to the airport – as I always do (and, have done so for the past 4 years since the time I returned to India after my 4 yr stint in the US) which meant that we needed to be out of the house by 7pm. That didn’t really give us much time as a group. We did have time for a brief photo shoot and a short word of prayer (a custom of sorts with our family – practiced before any member is undertaking any sort of travel which might result in a long leave of absence). Ruth also captured mom and dad hugging on camera – a sight i’ve always seen – but never thought to film/document. The journey to the airport was suprisingly uneventful as there was hardly any traffic on the road and even less traffic on the road leading to the airport. Dad reached well in advance and his check-in/security clearance was pretty smooth as well.

I did manage to get that lesson when I returned home to pick up Ruth. I was suprised to learn at how simple it was to create a dish that was sooo delicious!! Shortly after I had a bit of that salad and bid mom farewell – I decided to document the day with a photo at the local kodak photo studio. We hadn’t dressed up for nothin. Ruth has spent hours doing her hair and she looked fantabulously gorgeous!! (tequiero mucho mi amor, para siempre mami!)

Me Derrumbo

Yo quise imaginar
Que sabría esperar
Engañándome sin más
Siento tanta soledad
Que no veo ya el final
De ésta eterna ansiedad
Porque sin tu amor me derrumbo
Soy sólo carne y huesos yo sin ti
No me salvaré, esperándote
Un minuto sin tu amor
Es un infierno en mi interior.
Y me derrumbo
La distancia entre los dos
Hace fuerte nuestro amor
Sin olvido ni rencor
Por favor que acabe pronto
Esta pesadilla cruel
Que hace perder mi control
Porque sin tu amor me derrumbo
Soy sólo carne y huesos yo sin ti
No me salvaré, esperándote
Un minuto sin tu amor
Es un infierno en mi interior.
Y me derrumbo

Y me consume sin piedad
Pensar qué un día volverás
Sentir tu piel.
Y abrazar todo tu ser
Y me derrumbo
Soy sólo carne y huesos yo sin ti
Nome salvaré, esperándote
Un minuto sin tu amor
Es un infierno en mi interior.
Y me derrumbo.

Relationships, Journey, Hope & Happyness

Everything is fragmented today. Everything from language, media, entertainment, trade, business and right down to families. This is largely due to globalization and advancements in travel technology. People have begun to venture beyond the boundaries of the homeland in search for a better life and better prospects. India has seen significant ‘brain drain’ since we won our independence in 1947. This is why USA, UK, EU, ME, South Africa have become hubs for large indian expat (NRI/PIO) population. There have basically two nomenclatures used for these people – 1. NRI – non resident indian, 2. PIO – person of indian origin. The former is an indian passport holder (a citizen of india) who is staying outside of india for an extended period and is perhaps the citizen of another country other than india. PIOs are people of indian descent who have been born abroad and who are citizens of foriegn countries with parents that are either PIOs themselves or NRIs.

There has been a great demand for people wanting to rejoin thier families. It could be parents wanting to live with thier children or siblings wanting to join thier brothers or sisters. The way this typically works is that the person living/residing in the foriegn country can apply on behalf of his family (immediate blood relatives). The resident may either be a permanent resident or citizen. Looking at USA as a case study, the process of immigration is quickest when the application is done by a Citizen which can take anywhere from 3-6 months (for siblings, spouse, parents). This is not to say that permanent residents (people holding a green card) cannot do the same. The process for them typically takes anywhere from 1-6 years depending on complexity. It also helps if the applicant study in granular detail the changing immigration laws that are posted on the US government website. This is a tedious process since any miss in paper work (application, supporting documents, etc.) would result in money and time getting wasted as the entire process would need to be repeated.

Ruth, has been offering such a consulting service for quite some time now. She has helped several people of various nationalities get thie relatives into the US. A lot of the countries she has worked with are from Latin America – Venezuela, El Salvador, Gautemala, Colombia, etc. She has even helped my aunt with her US tourist visa application. Anyone that wishes to contact her may do so by posting replies to this blog.

Oscar Fever 2009

The Oscars have come and gone. India is proud that 3 movies with India centric themes won big. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire had a huge windfall with 8 Oscar wins whilst Smile Pinki and The last Inch won an oscar each.

Here’s my 1 minute rundown on the various Oscar Movies:

1. The Wrestler: The second film (after Frank Miller’s Sin City) with Mickey rourke playing a lead role. This is a boring ass movie about a washed up, has been wrestler thats trying to salvage whats left of his shambled, trailer park life.  Rating: 2/10
2. The Reader: An interesting story (set in post WWII era) that’s  mostly set in an author’s (Ralph Fiennes)  flashback (about his youth) when he was ‘involved’ with a much older woman (Kate Winslet) who suddenly disappears from his life only to reappear in court, on trial for the human right atrocities at Auschwitz. Rating: 8/10
3. SlumDog Millionaire: A story about the journey of life and love of Jamal, a boy born in Dharavi – Mumbai’s most famous slum (largest in Asia) who gets on a TV gameshow just to locate his childhood sweetheart who might be watching the show. Rating: 10/10
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Its curious how anyone can stay awake for more than 5 minutes watching the slow, boring, absolutely unentertaining peice of work. This is a story about a man who’s aging cycle is in reverse i.e. he is born old and grows younger with time. This is as much fun as watching paint dry. Rating: 0/10
5. Milk: The story about the 1st openly gay politician (Sean Penn) in San Francisco (no suprise there!). Haven’t seen it yet. Hope its not another brokeback mountain. Rating: TBA
6. The Changeling: If you’re expecting Sci-fi or Sfx (based on the crypytic movie name) think again. Brace yourself for another boring ass movie about a mother who loses her runaway child and never knows whether the boy is alive or dead. Rating: 0/10
7. The Dark Knight: Christopher Nolan’s kickass summer blockbuster from Fox Studios about Gotham city and its caped crusader – The Batman (Christian Bale), battling against his arch nemisis – The Joker (Heath Ledger) and a new villain – Two Face (Aaron Eckhart). Excellent Acting, excellent sfx, excellent story. Rating: 9/10
8. Wanted: A kickass, badass action packed flick from the get go about a secret society that acts on the will of the fates executing people that are deemed to die for mankind’s greater good. The action is better than the Matrix. Rating: 11/10
9. IronMan: Another summer superhero blockbuster – this time from the Marvel Comics franchise about Top weapons manufacturer/inventor tony stark and his epiphany on life leading him to create his greatest creations – Iron, an instrument of great power for the purpose of peace. Rating: 10/10
10. KungFu Panda: An adorable animated feature that has both humor and great wisdom. Jack Black is hillarious as the bumbling panda that wants to be a kungfu hero.  Rating: 7/10
11. Wall-e: A kiddish animated feature (meant for tiny tots & toddlers) about a robot on an abandoned planet who somehow, accidentally makes people (aboard a spaceship)  aware of an active life. Rating: 3/10

It pays to be honest

There are game shows and there are game shows. There’s a fairly new game show on TV that got our attention and has us glued to the sofa weeknights at 9pm on star world.  Its a game show that tests contestants on their ability to be honest. Seems simple enough right? As the show will reveal, this is not often the case. The contestants have to tell the truth on national TV and very often in front of family and close friends.

Contestants are put on a polygraph and asked 50 questions. 30 of those questions are selected for the show. Questions range from opinions to attitudes and extend towards questions that are both intimate and very private like ‘do you think of getting back with your ex’, ‘did you ever cheat on your wife/partner’, ‘were you ever willfully dishonest’, ‘do you ever suspect your best friend is cheating with your wife’, etc. etc.

So why would anyone dry their dirty linen (as is usually the case) for mass entertainment  so openly you might ask.  They all have 500,000 reasons. Yes, you guessed it. All contestants shoot for the $500,000 jackpot after answering 20 questions truthfully.

The hitch is that 1 lie will cost the contestant everything he/she has won till that point in the game. The truths revealed very often shake up relationships, destroy some and even make relationships stronger.

Here are a few questions inspired from the show: