Chintadhara - a thought process

... and of course the sportsmen who made it so. Abhinav Bindra . Sushil Kumar . Vijender Kumar . My heartiest congratulations to them for their dream achievement! Also there are few more things to remember about India at Olympics 2008 . We had a contingent of 56 athletes, and they had a support-staff of 42 officials. The athletics contingent was the largest, with 16 athletes. Still in very few events only we came close enough to think about medals and finally won 3 precious. No, I am not blaming the sportsmen/sportswomen. They would have worked really hard to be there and compete. Its the support structure which is weak. If you looks at the 3 medal winners they had their own personal support structure which supported them till they got those medals. Another thing which we should not forget is that India was not able to qualify for the hockey, our national sports. We should also remember these while thinking for London 2012 Games . But now is a time to celebrate with Abhinav, Sushil and...

Today was the first day of the 62nd year of independent India and yesterday we celebrated the 62nd Independence Day. My best wishes to every Indian! But each year, one thought does come to my mind. What does this day mean for me? Is is just a holiday which comes every year? Maybe. I have read about the great and hard struggles which our freedom fighters have fought. I am very proud of them and really cherish the free India they have given us. But that feeling is not for only this one day. As a child it took me many years to understand the difference between the Republic Day and the Independence Day. Republic Day is my favorite of the two. I love the parade on Republic Day! Coming back to the question - what does this day mean to me? I am not sure. I tried searching web to see what others feel on this ... feeling of pride, remembering the sacrifices. These were some of the answers but question seeks an answer beyond that. And the answer comes - holiday! It's not something to be asha...

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I am referring to the latest Bollywood releases - Aamir and Sarkar Raj . Frankly Aamir was not even on my to-watch list. I was eagerly waiting for Sarkar Raj though since I had enjoyed Sarkar a lot. But after reading through the reviews of Aamir and also I did like Rajeev Khandelwal in whatever few episodes of Left Right Left I watched; I decided to watch Aamir before Sarkar Raj. When you go for something without any expectation; if it turns out to be bad you do not mind because no expectation means to expect it to be bad but if its good you are overwhelmed. With Aamir it was the second! Splendid acting by Rajeev with a fresh and crisp storyline. The movie is equally thought provoking. Its surely a must watch. Sarkar Raj was bit less than what I expected. I felt it has the same storyline as Sarkar, I do not know how many of you will agree with me but I can draw parallel between the two in every sequence. I wont do that here as many of you are yet to watch it. For me, it was more ...

Last weekend we went for team outing to McLeod Ganj , Himachal Pradesh. It was almost 2 years since my last escape from office. Hill Stations are always my favorite. And with weeks of hot climate in Delhi, the whole team wanted to go to a cool place. There are so many options around Delhi deciding the destination was a tough call, but everyone agreed that it has to be a non-regular spot. Many people know it by the name Dharamshala and actually McLeod is suburb of Dharamshala and also has second name 'Upper Dharamshala'. We started of from New Delhi on May 30 by train to Pathankot which we reached the next day. For Pathankot we took a cab for a 3-day to McLeod. It should take about 3 hours to reach McLeod but we reached in 6 hours thanks to Himachal RTO and the beautiful scenery on the way. McLeod is a very small place that you can mostly explore it on foot. The climate was very pleasant; exactly what we were expecting. Himalayas are so beautiful that you want to capture every ...

Wish you all a very happy 2008! May you and your loved ones have all the joy, success and good health! But I wrote 'Welcome' in the title with a dual reason. Today only I watched the recently released Hindi movie - Welcome . Laughed all the way through it. Akshay, Anil and of course Nana & Paresh rock!! Katrina and Mallika supported well :). Go and watch for yourself! Have an exciting 2008!