Eyes

Eyes - Kevin Rodrigues

I watch you looking as bright as the sun
I try to get closer
Smitten that I am by you
Your presence is like the warmth of fire
It draws me close to you

No words or actions are necessary
Just being close to you sets me free
Then begins to dawn reality
What could be and what is there to see

The heart has hope but the mind doesn't
A constant battle between the two
Leaves both in a state unpleasant
Indecision causes the mood to go blue

Wishing my eyes filled with hope
Would express what words could not say
Imagine how my heart would cope
If the moment of love was here to stay

Abruptly ends my illusion
As I watch in your beautiful eyes
There seems to be some confusion
As they seek someone's presence

They move away from my direction
To a place away from my stand
There seems to be some distraction
What seems like an entrance grand

My eyes have lost this fight
Now they are filled with tears
Tried with all their might
How true now are their fears.

Oh My God!

Watched the movie Oh, My God! It starts off pretty ok but the ending was average and could have been better. I'm actually beginning to kind of enjoy bollywood movies considering the amount of variety in story and concept that is available these days (I kind of dislike the typical run around the bush emotional types. They are OK once in a while but get on my nerves when every movie seems that way). I feel movies should have a message which a common person can relate to. So that when people watch a movie they have an aha (this happened to me moment). That's what makes it fun to watch.

Coming back to Oh, My God!, it is a movie which is based on the thought that earning money is not everything in this world. There are things (family, friends, life) which is much, much more important. How we should be giving a more priority to the small things in life which make life worth living. Many people spend most of their time running after trying to make more money. And most do so at the cost of spending less time on the things that really matter. Money is really important, considering that in our present world, many things can be bought by money. But then the question is how much is enough. Somehow, people are never satisfied by the amount of money that they have. Even millionaires and billionaires are always finding themselves in the race to earn more money.

Actually it's a people's choice. If you want to set your goal in life to earn more money, kindly do so. Personally, I consider money as a means of buying things. But it's love, values and respect that are far more important .

So when the stock markets crumble or the interest rates fall, some guys have to say "Oh, My God!, we have lost so much in life" while the wise ones just shrug their shoulders and say "Thank you God" for what we have in life.

Terrorist attacks in Mumbai

I am sure we all are aware of the terrorist attacks that happened in Mumbai.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/mumbai_under_attack.html

Salute to all the heroes who sacrified their lives so that the city is once again safe for us. May their souls rest in peace.

Also I along with others hope that this will not be forgotten in a couple of months.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Major_attacks_in_India_since_2003/articleshow/3772437.cms

We need to start a movement as mentioned by people which will start a change in the way our country is being handled.

I am not going to perform a postmortem of this attack because I am incapable of doing so. Though I would be proud to be a part of any movement which can bring about the change that India badly needs.

EMI

Watched the movie EMI yesterday. It's about loans and credit in India. The movie shows a story of four people who use credit and loans and cannot repay them back. And how they end up being pressurized by the bank.

Some points were really worth thinking about. It's really scary how people borrow loans with repayment period of 15-20 years. We cannot even predict our lives tomorrow and we assume about such a long time. So much can change in those years. It's no fault of people as well. Consider the case of the housing loans. Middle class people cannot be expected to buy a house without a loan considering the current rates in real estate which seem incredibly high.

Then there are people who survive on credit cards. It's easy to get a free credit card. So just use it and when you need to pay up, just pay it from another credit card. And the cycle continues.

The moral of the movie (if it had any) was to use loans responsibly. What I feel is that people should not be greedy for the luxuries of life. Sure we should always aim for a good life. But do we really need that car when we have public transportation? Or do we really need that Rs. 2 lakh plasma TV? And that too on loans?

I guess it's just a question of how much is enough. Sadly for us it never is.

Think

There have been a spate of bomb blasts in India recently, especially in Delhi. I had a few heated conversations with a friend (since this is one of the subjects that I consider my emotional triggers). My point of view was simple. What is the reason to live in a country where you have a constant fear of getting yourself or your family killed by some idiots for no apparent reason. My friend told me the usual stuff that India is our country, we should not run away, etc, etc. And that I would be selfish if I would not stay there. I guess most of my friends will voice this same opinion. I asked why and it was mentioned that all of our family and friends are in India and so we cannot run away. Well, isn't that an even more selfish answer. 

The question I carried further was if you knew that your loved one was about to die tomorrow in a bomb explosion and you had a chance to save him by moving him to a more peaceful place, would you do it or not? Would you, just for harping a few words of patriotism allow your family to be killed? As expected I got no answer. I still think about this and can't still understand why people fail to realize the truth. The truth that we in India have placed our security in a very compromising position.

The movie "A Wednesday" express beautifully what I am trying to explain. Ah, but who cares and what will I achieve by mentioning this. Nothing will change, nothing ever seems to change in our country for good (no they are not pessimistic thoughts just reality). I just hope I can do something about it for my loved ones.

What is your opinion? What is your answer?

The girl by the window

The girl by the window - Kevin Rodrigues

I woke up as usual today

It's a cold, windy morning in Norway

Walking alone on my way to the station

Hands in my pocket, and in my mind, imagination

A handful of people walking along their path

I wonder what story each has in his heart

Passing by the Palace with its beautiful ground

Watching the birds as they scamper around

I reach the station in about fifteen

A few trains pass with their seats empty

Waiting for the train that is seven twenty

Looking around, observing as much as I can see

In the other direction, a train comes by

MY eyes wander, trying something to find

They finally see what they have been searching then

The girl by the window have I seen once again

It's a wonderful life

I watched a black and white english movie called "It's a wonderful life" today. I really enjoyed the movie. It seemed a lot like one of those old Hindi black and white movies. And yet it did have a good story. Infact, a very inspirational story.

The story begins with the Gods deciding to send an angel to help someone because there are a lot of people who are praying for that someone. Who is that someone? That some one is George Bailey. Whos is George Bailey? The movie continues from George's childhood where he saves his brother from drowning but in the process loses the hearing in one of his ears. As a kid he works in a chemist shop. One day his owner accidentally mixes poision in someones medicine and asks him to deliver it. He knows that its poison and does not do so. So he gets thrashed by his employer (of course, after knowing the truth, the employer apologises). George keeps on doing good acts for people. Thinking about other people before himself. He wants to travel the world and has many dreams. But as he is about to leave his hometown to go study in New York, his father passes away. His father had owned a Loan Bank which he does not want to work for. But after his father passes away to settle things up he works in it for four months. Later as he decides to go to college he comes to know that his loan bank will be closed down. And if that happens many poor people will not get loans as the only other money lender is a very greedy man. So once again he sacrifices his life and works for the bank for four years. He sends his brother to college hoping that after four years he will come back to work for some time and he can pursue his dreams. After four years when his brother does come back, he has already married a girl from New York and has a job at her father's factory. George is very disappointed that his dreams are crushed once again. But still he decides to sacrifice and is happy for his brother. After some time George gets married as well. As he is leaving for his honeymoon, he noticies a crowd near the loan bank. All the other banks have been shut down and so people have flocked to his bank for their money. But there is not much in the bank. So his wife who is a lovely woman as well sacrifices all their honeymoon money for the people. George has to overcome many difficulties in his life but he also gets a good wife in Mary and has lovely children who make his life worth living.

One day his uncle who goes to deposit all the money in the bank misplaces the money. So there is a deficit of 8000 dollars in the bank which they can't pay. This amounts to fraud and could land George in jail. George is very depressed and expresses his anger with many people he meets. He shouts at his wife and kids. And goes to the greedy money lender for money. But all he has is his life insurance. So he decides to end his life. As he is about to jump from the bridge, another man jumps into it and screams for help. George saves this man's life. The man tells him that he is an angel and he jumped in because he knew that George was about to jump and so he saved George's life instead of the other way around. George doesn't believe it. The angel tells him that his life is too beautiful to be wasted on such matters. But George doesn't agree. He feels his life is a waste and wishes he was never born. The angel grants him his wish. And then he does not exist in the world. None of his family and friends recognize him. Since he was not there, his brother whom he had saved drowned. His employer who had accidentally mixed poison in the medicine is in jail. His wife and mother don't recognize him either.

Finally George realizes what a wonderful life he has. He remembers his wife, kids and all the friends he had. He prays to God to return his life back to him. And so in the end everything is a happy ending.

P.S: Hope some one who thinks their life is not special read this and understood my pathetic way of conveying a message. That your life is very, very special. And don't you ever forget that.