ChinmayC Blog

Some of the songs you heard in different phases of your life remain embedded in your heart. The moment you hum or hear it playing memories of that particular period rush in. Fond or sad nostalgia moist your eyes or makes goose pimples all over your body. I think nostalgia acts very powerfully in songs or music beats and tunes. They enact pictures, peoples and fashions vividly in your inner mind screen. Movies do too, but songs in some of them act as the catalyst. You idle at your home and feel extremely bored at times hating to be there, questioning yourself on wasting valuable time. But when you go away you desperately want to be there. Things you hated you start remembering fondly and want them to happen again. Nostalgia is a potent moving force and one of our most cherished assets. When you meet your dear ones after a long long time just sit down with them and go on chatting. That will be an unforgettable moment. We need nostalgia to love and appreciate life.

Take guard King Khan! Competition for you in cricket too! Already the IPL(Indian Premier League) experience is exasperating and now another Khan is on the way. Salman Khan had reportedly showed interest in buying an IPL team yesterday and met the IPL Commisioner Lalit Modi in Mumbai. Race for super stardom is faster in which sector--Bollywood or Cricket? Film stars always show great interest in cricket--supposedly for the love of the game. But, maybe they want a share of popularity of the cricket stars! Already so many Bollywood stars have joined the IPL bandwagon. Very soon, film stars will crowd cricket so much that the SEO(Search Engine Optimization)for Bollywood will be achieved with the keyword 'cricket'! And, what will happen to the actual cricket stars? They will of course continue playing cricket, but the limelight will be gobbled up by Khans, Zintas, Shilpas and many more. Corporate houses too have to take a crucial decision! If Dhoni and Salman are featured together w...

Media friends today arranged a quick darshan of the majestic Lalbaughcha Raja, the most prestigious Ganesha idol of Mumbai. The darshan otherwise would have been impossible considering the waiting period of up to 22 hours as 1 million people visit it daily through three entrances. Established in 1934, this Ganesha is believed to be the most vibrant one fulfilling one's wishes always. People from all over make it a point to offer prayers somehow within the 10 days of the Ganapati festival. Staring up at the huge idol with hands raised in absolute assurance I understood why devotees get so crazy to have a darshan . I saw devotees rushing,pushing and elbowing their way closer and press their foreheads on the golden feet. A friend told me that local shopkeepers and business houses complain of no sale during this ten days. On our way out I actually saw one hardware store resorting to serving hot snacks! Ganapati Bappa Morya! More at:http://www.lalbaugcharaja.net/

Ganapati Festival on the occasion of Lord's Ganesha's Birthday is being celebrated from today in Mumbai and Maharashtra. This 10 day festival begins on the fourth day of the new moon lunar cycle. Worshiped both publicly and at homes across the state this festival is celebrated from 1/2 day to the full ten days. On the 11th day idols are immersed in a big way. Depending on the days of celebration immersions take place almost every day. To check pollution in the seas the municipal corporation of Mumbai has kept ready many artificial ponds. Many idols are being conceptualized on the running themes of drought, swine flu and others. Meantime the Jaswant Singh book controversy still rages on in India. Somebody criticizes and praises dead persons and people are opposed to both! What kind of democracy we are living in? More interestingly, this constrained freedom of expression inspires lot more writers to express themselves better! Beware authors! Book writing in India is immensely da...

Mobile phones are so useful, but they can be a nagging irritation too. There are always unwanted callers. You just do not want to talk to them and your decency does not allow you to cut the line ruthlessly. Recently I had a caller who would ring my cell anytime and talk continuously and loudly that could be heard by others. He would ask for favors that I could not possibly grant and he would go on insisting. After much consideration I put his number in the 'screened calls' list of my cell phone. Someday I find his innumerable missed calls, but I am at peace when he calls as my phone does not sing or vibrate on screened calls. Then, for three consecutive days I kept on finding his missed calls and I was amused. But on the fourth day evening he came over physically with a friend to my office and there was no way to hide from him or to send him off. He complained of my misbehaving phone and renewed his requests with backlogging effect. What to do then? How on earth to screen his ...

Finally Swine flu seems to be controlled effectively. Now the spreading hype virus can be checked too. This even more dangerous virus has infected millions of hapless countrymen. Then, Rahul Dravid is back in the Indian one day cricket team. Trusted 'the wall' is expected to give solid base to the team in the forthcoming Sri Lanka Tri-series and the Champions Trophy in South Africa, both next month. But, 'ifs and buts' are bound to continue.

India celebrates the 63rd Independence Day today. Completed 62 years of freedom from the British. Emerged as a powerful democratic nation of the world. A Day to be proud of our heritage, our achievements and our people. A Day to muster all our positive energy and bravely face the challenges. At the moment there is no dearth of challenges. But a positive approach could tell the difference between a challenge and a crisis. Let us all join hands and build a new India. JAI HIND!

For the first time in history, maybe, Mumbai is giving a miss to its traditional ' dahihandi ' festival of merriment in celebration of the Birth of Lord Krishna. Political parties are falling over each other to show passion and compassion for humanity. With Swine flu deaths crossing 21, majority of them in Pune and Mumbai, people are paranoid. All schools and colleges and cinema theaters and malls are closed in Pune and Mumbai. The government is doing its best to make people aware, give all medical facilities and appealing to them to avoid congregations. This marks the start of the festive season in Mumbai. With Swine flu, poor monsoon and drought situations in many parts of the state and country celebrations are bound to be subdued. But today's restraint could well be the ecstasy of tomorrow! Cheer up!

I know a writer who always ends up a loser—for no fault of his or for the lack of talent. Some projects he conceptualizes, writes scripts and screenplays; but ends up not being given the promised money and credit lines. Some projects just dry up, some are nipped in the bud and some vanish as suddenly as they appear. Recently he had another unique experience. A big producer called him up through a source and fixed an appointment. At the right hour he was given a story and asked to develop it for a TV serial with native flavor. He was not given any specific deadline and when he asked he was told ‘as soon as possible’. The poor writer took it very seriously and right ho! He developed the story into several episodes and fully worked out the first one with dialogues too. In the meantime the biggie did not call at all. So the poor writer again phoned to tell him he was ready and could come three days later. The producer agreed and offered to call him before that. No calls came. The poor humb...

Ram wants to do good only for his people. Shyam wants to do good only for his people. One day Ram mobilises all his sisters and hold a demonstration to erradicate all injustice of the society. Next day Shyam does exactly the same. If they only join together the demonstration would have been so massive that the movers would have been shaken into action. Why don't they join hands? Why only Ram and Shyam? All wanting to do good for the people should join hands and do lasting good good and good. It's the same people. They should not get divided into Ram group or Shyam group or any other group. What do you people say?