The books read by so many people all over the world, children, adults.

I had watched all of the movies released, but had not read the books. Finally, I have done so.


J K Rowling had cast a spell on all the Potter books, except for Deathly Hallows where she tried to remove the spell and hence the last book in the series comes through as extremely slow and a total disappointment. In the movie the scenes happened so fast, I was really not sure what was going on. But now having read all the 7 books, I have finally understood much more.

I feel though, that the book is like a Hindi movie. Why on earth would Lord Voldemore be after a kid? Duh... The book is surely meant for school kids, but nevertheless its magical and fun reading.. Till you reach the last book and then wonder why on earth did I spend so much time reading the earlier books.

Well! I hope Rowling creates more fun with her murder / mystery books that she is currently working on. I am looking forward to reading some more intriguing stuff.

Surfing through the net for Daniel Radcliffe's image, upset me greatly. The image of Harry Potter for Daniel Radcliffe is so inbred in my mind, that finding nude pictures of him for his new play was totally shocking. It has made me feel worse about the Harry Potter books, even though there is no connection.

Do you feel the same?

Hang Onnnnnn....

As I took the lift to reach the 15th floor of my office, little did I know what would be in store for me.

Due to the huge line for the lift, I took the 17th floor onwards lift so that I could reach a few minutes early. But suddenly, the lift jumped and I felt my heart come almost into my mouth, if you know what I mean. I thought I had reached the 17th floor. But, it had stopped in between the 16th and 17th floor, due to overload. I was so scared that the lift would crash down, not having got stuck in an overloaded lift before.

I said a small prayer to Our Lord to keep me safe and trust me, after this, the Lift man managed to open the lift and we were able to jump down onto the 16th floor.

I learnt one lesson: Hang On. In a moment of crisis, trust the Lord and hang on. He will bring us through safely.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

Too many movies showing the lives of prostitutes, but none have been able to portray the emotions a prostitute goes through, unlike Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.

Rani Mukherjee, the protagonist's role is unbelievable. Through this movie, Rani proves that she is truly a versatile actor.

Well Done, Rani!

Three Bullets

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner. As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it. The rabbit ran away. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree. As he went further, he saw a large wild "Tom" turkey in the tree, but he had only one bullet remaining.

A voice spoke to him and said, "Pray first, aim high and stay focused." However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still, the voice said again to him, "I said "Pray, Aim high and Stay focused." So, the man decided to listen to God"s voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God. Moral of the story:

Pray first before you do anything, Aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God. Never let others discourage you concerning your past. The past is exactly that. "the past." Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our future and that He will not put you through any more than you can bear. Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors that only He has prepared in advance for you in your favor. Wait, be still and patient: keep God first and everything else will follow. Pass this on in order that someone else might be blessed.

Chak de India!

A few weeks back, I watched Chak de. I am not a fan of SRK, however the movie was a wow.

In India and many Muslim dominated countries, women have yet not been accepted by society, in spite of calling ourselves developing countries. Chak de is a film which makes us realise that women too have talent. Loads of talent and are equal to men even in the world of sport.

Have you seen pictures like this one, for any other sport in Indian newspapers?


The above picture proves that cricket though not always played best by our Indian cricket team, is always making the front page, unlike other sports. Women players or for that matter even hockey players who really struggle to prove themselves get a small photograph of theirs only on the sports page.

Thank you for the eye awakening Chak de film.It helped me realise that any sport requires a lot of support. It also explains why some of the Indian hockey team members had wanted to go on a hunger strike, as per the email that had been in circulation some time back.

What is India doing to help the women and other Indian players?

Are we going to support all sports equally after chak de, or will we still support only cricket?

Remember India starts with an I and everything starts with Us. It is upto to Us to encourage all in the world of sports and a woman in all fields of life.

Right to Emergency Care:

Date Of Judgment: 23/02/2007.
Case No.: Appeal (civil) 919 of 2007.

The Supreme Court has ruled that all injured persons especially in the case of road traffic accidents, assaults, etc., when brought to a hospital / medical centre, have to be offered first aid, stabilized and shifted to a higher centre / government centre if required. It is only after this that the hospital can demand payment or complete police formalities. In case you are a bystander and wish to help someone in an accident, please go ahead and do so. Your responsibility ends as soon as you leave the person at the hospital.

The hospital bears the responsibility of informing the police, first aid, etc.

Please do inform your family and friends about these basic rights so that we all know what to expect and what to do in the hour of need. Please not only go ahead and forward, use it too!!!!

TOUGH QUESTIONS

Question 1:

If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had
syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

Question 2:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates. Who would you vote for?

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a
day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C.
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be our choice?


Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the response.



Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.


And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question: If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think before judging someone.



And Finally, can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the LAST YEAR...

Can you guess which organization this is?


Give up yet?


It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.

The same group that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

U IN JESUS

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.
And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?

The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

"Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U."

So many great people are spelled with a U, Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.

Quote for the Week ahead!!!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
the troubles that have passed away.
But never forget to remember
the blessings that come each day.

my MOM

I always thought that I am a chip of the old block - ie dad. But today, I know that I have inherited the bestest traits from you.

My positive thinking ie to try, try till I succeed (in terms of preparing new recipes, learning to swim, making and retaining friendships), the gift to clean, clean, till its spotless, etc, etc.

In all this, I would like to state only one thing: I am a better person because of U.

Mom, I would like to wish you a belated happy birthday and I sincerely hope that you had a wonderful day and I wish you the very best in the year ahead.