Setu's Blog

Merry Christmas! Christmas... The word reminds me of a really grand festival which marks the birthday of Jesus Christ, the great prophet. The first picture that comes to my mind (and most others) is obviously, the Christmas tree, with a star on the top! Gifts surrounding the tree and the small coloured balls hanging on it from every small branch. And, who can forget the beautiful scenery on the outside? Pure white snow everywhere... Houses illuminated by yellow lights... The Christmas decorations and gifts are something everyone in the family takes efforts for. The Christmas delicacies, especially the cake and the chocolates... The socks that are hung outside the window by kids in hope of the Santa Clause dropping gifts for them. And, how can I forget the such holy people and animals associated with Christmas. The reindeer who pulls the Santa's flying sledge, the milk white rabbits, the red-outfitted, extremely fat, long-beard guy, with a big red bag, whom we popularly kn...

Hey there, "Grandma, may I take those coins lying there? I hope you don't mind that." "Mom, can I take the coins of USA, UK, France, etc. that lie in the cupboard? I would like to have them for my coin album." "Mom! Grandma just found a coin of the early Gujarat kings' times! And, the cherry on the cake is, that I can have it!" These were my reactions and requests, few years back, to have the coins of various countries of the world and the antiques of India. I still remember the pains with which I filled my own coin album (yes, specially designed for fitting coins) in ascending order of their denominations. It was a different hobby which I took up out of astonishment. Today, as I look back into my school years, it's one of the best things that happened to me. And, that's where this post actually begins! So many coins! The medieval Indian coins when the 1/12 anna, 1/2 anna, etc. were the coins of maximum denomination. As I look ...

Hello readers, I know it has been really long since my last post and I truly apologise for not being able to provide you with some reading stuff... The world is such a place to live in that we just can't describe it. We are almost always finding faults with it, but, love living in it at the same time. It's just hypocrisy most of the times. And, when it comes to the end of the world, there is no one whom I know who believes the world will come to an end... May be today, tomorrow, years later, or even centuries... But, all those whom I have come across till today are people with the attitude that 'I-don't-think-world's-ever-gonna-come-to-an-end!' Doomsday may not just be real. Who cares if it is? I do. It's not always that we switch off the lights and fans when not in use, not always that we turn off our cars at the signal, not always that we make sure we aren't just wasting resources, not always that we mend a leaking water tap as soon as possib...

Greetings, It's 26th of November... A day which redefined the extent terror could penetrate in India... The desi version of 9/11 World Trade Center attack... The carnage which shook the whole world and not just the nation. The massacre which left everyone in Mumbai open-jawed in astonishment. Those 62 hours... Glued to the television set... Watching TimesNow (the only news channel I trust) and updating myself about any developments in any of the three affected sites. I still remember the heated debate we had in our classroom the day school re-opened after a mini-vacation. While everyone tried to prove their points, there was one thing that was constantly on my mind, that everyone was trying to find faults, rather than appreciate the effort. It was then that I realized, we as Indians, have a habit to see the glass half empty and wonder who drank it, rather than seeing it half full. Some people said, it was humanity at its worst, some claimed it to be a result of India's ...

In life, every moment is different. Every moment brings something new to us. Something to learn, something to cherish, something to smile about. Sometimes, we cry before we laugh, sometimes we mourn before celebrating, sometimes we fear before approaching. But, everything in the end has to end on a goody-goody note. As we are social animals, we are nothing alone. We need some sort of frenzy to live and some reasons to hope. And, these reasons are usually provided to us, by, none other than our near-and-dear-ones. And, often there is more than one person responsible for it. Sometimes, they are our mentors, sometimes friends, sometimes, they are just there... By our side. And, if you ask me, I would want to put all of them into categories. Categories which determine if we are inspired by them, or enthused. When I began blogging, there were two such people in my life too. And since then, I have been trying to decide which category either of them belongs. Seems like finally I am succes...

Hello dear readers, As the title suggests, this one's about all I feel for my school. There are these happy places in everyone's lives about which even a thought makes us smile... Places which we dream about being in... Places which are next to heaven for us... Places where we have spent the most memorable times of our lives... And, the numero uno, in this category, for me, is undoubtedly, my school, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya, Malad. Thirteen years... I have spent thirteen long years of my place in this institution. The early years of my life. The years, when you can mould either a marvel or a gangster of the kids, were spent there by me. The most primitive stages of my development and the process of evolving into a responsible individual took place in me here. There I learnt there what are called the alphabets and then to speak and write sentences only to jump to essays and letters... The transition from time when we used to write our answers in just a wor...

When I began with 'Soothing...', I planned to write in it all the kinds of music that I am very fond of, personally. But, the English music part was just so long that I thought, that the Hindi would probably find its place in 'Soothing... - Part II'. And, so here it is... This post was awaited by many people who are regular followers of my blog. So, this one is my ode to the music which I had been originally introduced to, and have been listening to since the last fifteen years (I began exploring English music by myself in the last two years), Indian Music. India has had a vast musical history. From the discovery of the octaves, to the creation of the 'Sa Re Ga Ma'... It's endless. But, one whom we can't afford to forget here is, Tansen, one of the Navratnas of Akbar's court. He was the only laureate in the court who was specialised in music. This in itself explains that India has had a craving for music since its inception as a country. Aaah! Wh...

Every morning, every blogger, who updates his blogs frequently, is posed with one question. What do I write about in my next blog? Should I write on what happens in the world, the news, the current affairs and my opinions about them, like most bloggers around the world do? Or should I blurt out what my heart says? Or should I measure what I am writing because people might even judge me on the basis of what I have written. But, at times, the question doesn't come through or the answer is obtained in talks with someone unknowingly. The discovery of this topic too was obtained in the latter fashion. How many times have we been asked "What else?" or "What's up?" and we end up answering the same old, "Nothing" in the most dull possible tone. And, most of the times, even after having this answer, the conversation kicks off. We mine through the topics and begin talking about various things which sometimes doesn't have an end. And, as it's sa...

Hello dear readers, There are people and situations in our life who instigate some profound thinking. The same spell was cast on me by the serene beauty of the place I visited two weeks ago. I was left awestruck by the series of thoughts that came to my mind when I began thinking on 'Marvels of Nature'... Am just trying to recreate the magic (that I succumbed to) here today. The sparkle of the dew on the leaf, the slow fall of the snowflake on our face, the beautiful sky during the sunset, the star-cast sky, the everything... How did it all come to life? Our world was probably created because of a destructive (or should I say constructive, because I owe the ability to write this blogpost to it) celestial event called the 'Big Bang'. Though, there aren't any solid proofs as to how and why it occurred, it seems that two huge stars moving at relatively high speeds collided into each other and in turn, gave birth to many other stars and solar systems... Of which, ...

I have been postponing this post since quiet some time now. But, after yesterday's assembly poll results, I couldn't think any other post would be more appropriate. Bagging 5.6% of total votes of Maharashtra and 23.8% of the total votes of Mumbai in its maiden elections, Raj Thackeray has proved to the world and the Marathi Manoos (whom he says he's fighting for) that he's got worth. For those of you who aren't very well aware of politics in Maharashtra (with its epicenter in Mumbai), Raj Thackeray, is the nephew of the great Shiv Sainik Bal Thackeray. In 2006, he broke his alliance with the Shiv Sena and formed his own party named the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Since its inception, MNS has been drawing both attention and controversies. The newspapers have at least a report about MNS or its activities everyday and camps are being formed on the basis of pro-MNS or anti-MNS even in the newsrooms. While, Raj Thackeray tries to justify his policies and acts, an...

The festival of lights... The day when evil was defeated by the righteous... The day when one of the Gods attained his ultimate journey, away from this negatively charged world into the castles of heaven... What do I say about this immensely important day of Indian mythology? These things make very less difference to people in the lifestyle we live today. But, there are those faithfuls who still, on every single occasion, make sure to make everyone they meet realize the immense importance of the occassion. What I feel is, the occasions to cherish such reasons are turning to mere festivals. Festivals which signify nothing less than bursting of crackers, spreading smiles by the means of irreversible changes which are a danger to the existence of the future generations, burning of the desi Indian candle, the 'Diwa' which have changed from the old and primitive but meaningful shape and sober design to fancy, expensive and meaningless designs which do nothing except appeal the e...

When was the last time you saw a movie because it was a big banner movie, had a promising title, an unusual pair, and a debutant director. If someone poses that question to me, I would say, "Yesterday!" Yesterday (because it is 1:06 am as I begin writing), I went for 'Wake Up Sid'. A movie which should have been better than what it probably is now. For starters, the movie has a great deal of promise but which all ends as a disappointment. As anyone would have thought, in the opening scenes, our spoilt-rich-brat Siddharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) is seen as a dude who is lousing around and falls asleep when he's studying for his exams which are scheduled for the next day. Jumping off directly to his results (before which the story is very slow and he is flaunting all the money that his father has earnt) and he comes to know that he has failed when all his friends made it through the examinations. Shit! How could I fail! Typical arrogance rules his mind and he ha...

Every person has a list of varied things that provide them a peace of mind. Among them, if a survey was carried on, the result would surely be listening to music. The word music has varied importance in each and everyone's life. For some, it is a passion, for some it is a way of living, for some it is a need, for some it is a mean to be a part of the crowd, for some it is a part of their soul, for the rest it is just some estranged being. This one is a testimonial to music (or muzik, as I prefer to spell it). My focus in this post is mainly on the English music, which most of us back here in India, consider as a foreign territory much beyond our knowledge. There have been great bands and artists in the past and probably in the future, they will be better, but, what holds my nerves to the past and the good old music of the '60s and '70s are bands like The Beatles, Queen etc. These people had magic and melody in what they composed. Singers like the legendary John Lenn...

First of all, don't guess that I have just visited Hawai or something because am writing on something that has its origin in the Hawaiian islands of North America. The first time I came across this word was a song, 'Aloha Barack Obama' and I had understood the meaning of the word as welcome. Recently, I had a friend telling me 'Aloha' as a matter of good-bye. I was left in a predicament of rare sorts. I just couldn't make my mind as to which one of the two was true. The prior was as a welcome to the honorary President and the latter was as a farewell. I decided to unearth the meaning for myself so that I don't face the dilemma again. We meet people in every walk of our life and then their presence in our lives provides us comfort. We welcome them in any and every phase of our life. 'Aloha dear!' is what our first reaction turns to. Then, we spend some time with them. Know them better. And its time to bid them 'Sayonara'. We really s...

Hi there, This topic first seemed pretty silly to me to write about, but then, I thought I would even then give it a try. And the only reason why I decided giving it a try is that my friends have been one of the major factors who have shaped me the way I am today. So, this was the payback time. We meet many people in our everyday walk of life. It becomes pretty tedious to remember each one of those whom we meet. But, even then, there are these few (and many for some) people whose presence in our life is cherished, whose absence makes a difference to the way our life goes ahead. We call them friends. I don't know who coined this word 'Friend' and neither do I know who defined it, but, I just know one thing, in everyone's life, there are people whom we confer the degree of being our friends, the valued people in our lives, and there's a specific image created in our minds once someone says the word 'Friend'. We meet people, we are interested to know th...

Hello dear readers, Before you continue reading this blog-post, I would like to tell you that this one might seem a bit blunt to you, but, it is what I think is the truth. We live in a supposedly supernatural world. We all have certain needs, wants and we never miss a chance to expect. But, in reality, have we ever tried to understand the difference between what we 'want' and what we 'need', or, what we 'want' and what we 'expect', or what we 'need' and what we 'expect'? Have we been able to tell ourselves with all our self-confidence that we are pretty clear that it is either a want, need or an expectation? I just wish to throw some more light on these words, by decoding these words to the extent I am able to, which have been bothering me since quite a lot many days. When we are around people we 'expect' them to notice us, to think about us. But, what we really 'want' most of the times is that they just should be ...

We all seem to be victims of a simple yet complicated problem. What is life exactly? Some say it's a game, play it the way it should be played. Some say it's mystery, unlock the treasures when they are ought to be. Some say it's a story (or a novel), which will neccessarily have a happy-ending. Some say life is a gift, a gift from the almighty and we should make the best use of it. Some say, some say, we can go on and on about what we think life is! But, one of the least comprehended fact is that life is just a sort of mirage... We see something, we expect something, and finally things don't turn out that way, we compromise... That's life. We hope to be with our loved ones, in the protection of their unconditional love and support, but, sometimes, our hopes are belied... That's life. We feel something, we need something, we want something, we get something... That's life. We need to talk to someone, we need to share with someone, we need to cry in fron...

Politics. The word makes a picture in our minds of those fat, corrupt politicians who are no good at anything except making false promises and tarnishing the name on the country globally, those who are interested in making money for themselves through their practices taking birth from bribery and greed. Those politicians who can’t forgo their lavish lifestyles and luxuries even in the midst of crises, those who are submerged in their images of themselves, in their own minds that they are better than the rest in every possible way, and, not to forget, those who are the biggest hypocrites of the world. These are also those who are the ones seen most by the public. These are the people who make it to the cover pages of the newspapers and our magazines for their ridiculous opinions and silly blame games. These are those who might not actually work, but, don’t wait to get into the matter at the end, to take the credit. This is the condition of every country, and our India, the country whic...

When I talk to people, various subjects come up and eventually the things we talk about change. And I guess, that must be the case with most of us. A few days back, I had a talk to someone who is one of the most important people and also the one I look up to and admire. He's the one who has been there through my thick and thins and helped me whenever I needed help. The day was the last day of the Ganesh fesitval and the joy of Ganesh immersion surrounded all around us. All but me. Behind the truth that festivals like this bind the people together lies a fact about what effects it has on the environment. But, what disappoints me the most is the fact that in the country of 1 billion people and 63 crore literates, why can't we stand up for what we feel. There are millions in the country and probably tens around us who know and have a strong opinion that things shouldn't be the way they are and yet, they do nothing about it. Why do we always try to be one of the crowd and not...

I am back... and this post is not like my previous two. This blog-post is a review of a book I recently came across by the courtesy of a dear friend, who could grab an e-book copy of the book (even when the book hasn't been published), and I went ahead with it because I found the prologue of the book interesting. So, I was fortunate enough to read this book. The author of this not-so-famous book is Bhavin Shah. The story is a fiction about the life of two best friends, Ron and Roy, living in south Bombay and the ways in which their lives get entangled and disentangled in the period after their graduation. The way they seem to get a hold of their life and lose it even before they could realize they did. Their love for the most essential people in their life and how those people somehow misunderstand them, and all the relationships come crashing down. And, at last, the 'All's well that ends well' finale. A simple but profound story is very well presented here by the...

It has been a couple of years now since I have been trying to decipher the meaning of the word 'Relationship'. In the course of this time, I have tried to know what different people from different age groups think about the word 'Relationship'. For a woman, a relationship is her maternal care for her son(s)/daughter(s), her love and support for her husband, her care for her siblings, her duty towards her parents. For a man, it is his day-to-day experience of life. All that he experiences with his colleagues in his office, with his family back home, and with those who are distant but yet close to the heart. And if you ask a normal sophomore, what are relationships to him/her, he/she would say, it's when he/she is friendly with most of the people around him/her, the rapport he/she shares with his teachers, etc. But, the first thing that comes to their mind is (and probably will always be) a boy and a girl who are infatuated towards each other and they do all it tak...

Today is the 4th of September, 2009. I am sixteen today! I am an adult from today according to the laws of most of the countries and provinces of the world! In these sixteen years I have seen many things around me. Mostly changes. From talks on a regular fixed telephone earpiece to VoIP calls, from two-storey buildings to the same being demolished to build sky-touching scrapers, from buying vegetables and fruits from the vendors who sit on the roads to visiting malls and hypermarkets just to buy our daily grocery, from days when 40MB hard disks were considered as a luxury to days when even hard disks which hold terabytes of data is not enough, from days when the definition of study was obtaining knowledge to when it means just trying to obtain marks in every possible way, from days when people would co-operate with each other to when we have developed a sort of crab mentality and from times when human beings valued time to days when they try to turn e...