In pursuit of happiness...

This is one of those random thoughts I had when I found a few hours of idle time amidst my otherwise busy schedule...those few moments which are spent contemplating on life and such...

All of us have dreams/aspirations/goals in life, small or big, doesn't matter. We visualize, plan, prioritize, chase and strive hard to achieve those *objects of desire* or fulfill those dreams. I've been there, done that too. But I have noticed that whenever I reach a goal or acquire that *object of desire*, it never makes me as happy and thrilled as I had thought it would, when I started off. In short, it doesn't live up to the initial fantasies. It really makes me wonder why?! It cannot be becoz I dont want to be at that stage anymore or I dont like that *object of desire*, coz I would have put in days, months & sometimes years of effort behind it... Then, is it becoz my priorities changed during the course? I guess not, coz then I would have not pursued the goal or chased my *object of desire* till the end! So what else could it be??

I do realize that as human beings, we are never content with what we get. We always aspire for more. It's like someone wanting to buy a house all his life and when he actually does, he'll wish he owned a bigger house or a house by the sea side. What's the guarantee that the same feeling wont pop up again? There's no limit to being satiatiated....

After much contemplation, analysis, thought & discussions, one answer did satisfy me to an extent. It's always the "pursuit" which is more exciting than the "attainment" itself. "Wanting" seems to be a much stronger emotion than "Having".... the happiness actually lies in the pursuit itself and not the end point or the goal ". So when you actually attain it, you wonder Now What?! Of course there is a short period of excitement when we attain the goal, I dont deny. But very soon we are back to picking on the next goal and sailing on the same boat, striving hard all over again...

The best analogy here could be climbing a mountain. You trek all the way up for many hours to get a glimpse of that beautiful view from the peak. But the time spent there is just a few minutes....The excitement and joy is more in the journey to and from the peak...

So in short, attaining a goal or the *object of desire* is not an end by itself.... it's the journey that matters and is more enjoyable ; pursuit is where the happiness lies...

IndiRank

Indiblogger is a community of Indian blogs; a site which maintains a database of blogs in the Indian blogosphere. So it's a good platform to gain more visibility for your blog, connect with fellow-bloggers and also find some of the best blogs around. My blog has been a part of this directory for quite a while now (more than a year).. I logged in today after ages to check the stats and was quite suprised to see what turned out below...

1. IndiRank 73/100 !
2. Google Page Rank - 3 !! (What is page rank?)
3. Frequency of Posting - Very Good

Kahi door jab din dhal jaaye.....

I was stuck in a crazy traffic while driving back from work today and was held up on the road for quite a while. It can sometimes frustrate the heck out of you, especially if you havent slept the previous night and studied the whole day and given a 2 hr exam in addition to a stressful day at work... My car doesn't have a music system, so that leaves me with very few options at such situations! I was just gazing through the window and it was just that time of sunset and I found this very pretty sight and cursed myself for having forgotten my cam. Anyways....got whatever I could with my mobile, but disappointed that the pattern it formed in the sky couldn't be captured (image above). There's very little that a 3.2mega pixel cam without a zoom can do :)

There is something about watching the sunset that I really like.. it's such an indescribable feeling...very relaxing and extremely soothing! Watching it across the sea or atop a hill would give me the best feeling ever!!

How I met your mother..

I recently started watching this sitcom and surprisingly have been quite addicted to it so far; 2 seasons,45 episodes in 3 days (currently watching season 3)......that's how interesting it got!

Honestly, in my opinion it's nothing very different or classy. It's like any usual laugh-track-with-romance-filled-show that you can think of.... but again, this recipe is what makes it click I guess! I've enjoyed watching FRIENDS, SCRUBS and SEINFELD a lot and though 'How I met your mother' doesn't fall in the same league, it does come pretty close..

The first episode starts off sometime in the future (like the year 2030 or so) with Ted Mosby (the architect) narrating the story to his son & daughter of how he met their mother. I think the 5th season is getting aired currently and till now who actually the 'mother' is, is not revealed. So, that's one concept that keeps the suspense on and the show going...Am not sure how far they can actually keep this concept going. Am curious to watch :) I absolutely love the character of Barney....a very interesting and super cool guy, who is the main attraction in the sitcom; he surely does manage to tickle that funny bone a lot!

Definitely worth a watch...it's one of the new funniest sitcoms of this season..

I have a lot more shows lined up to watch...

- One Tree Hill

- 24

- Lost

- Boston Legal

that's quite a lot to keep me busy for months! :)

Featured!

On a gloomy monday, it was a pleasant surprise to know that my previous post on Wake up Sid won a spotlight on the Sulekha Movies website and was selected by the Sulekha Team as their "Featured Review" for the movie!! :-)

It's strange that small things like these brighten your day to a great extent!

You can find the link to the featured review here

Wake up Sid!

A must watch, preferably in the theater!

I don't have to think much on giving a 5 star rating for this movie. I've been waiting to catch this movie since the time I saw the promos in August; so am glad that I watched it today

I dont know where to start my review - acting, screenplay, music, direction, dialogues...I loved every part of it. It's a mainstream bollywood movie, nothing extraordinary nor is it off beat yet it strikes refreshingly different. The entire movie is shot in Mumbai...You can smell the freshness in it, just like those rain drops in the first showers of the Mumbai monsoons shown in the movie. You can feel the love for the city, which every Mumbaiker holds dearly in his heart. Debutant director Ayaan Mukherjee has done an awesome job with his screenplay, casting and direction! The dialogues are very simple and in a casual conversation style which you can well relate to and you will be ready to emotionally invest through out the movie. Well, am sure you got my point by now... you walk out of the theater "feeling good"..

The story is probably a one-liner and predictable yet you cant complain! When the movie goes deeper, you dont need words to describe the story. The more I watched Sid (Ranbir) and Aisha (Konkona), the more I wanted to know them better. The 'nice'ities of their relationship is well depicted; the screen time is shared well to show how their friendship develops, how they grow fond of each other etc..

One striking part of the movie was the acting. Ranbir turned out to be a total surprise package. I really disliked him as an actor till I saw this one! I was awestruck. He just spellbinds you with his acting, making a flesh and blood character out of Sid; so natural, so effortless and very impressive, I must say! He is well complemented by Konkona. There is truly no doubt about her acting skills, she is as good as ever! The casting is quite unusual with a lot of new faces playing important roles, and they totally fit in...

Last but not the least, the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy create magic with their music again. I loved all the songs...but the title song and "Iktara" are extremely catchy and lovable...it definitely adds to the whole movie experience.


You can draw comparisons to Dil Chahta Hai at quite a few parts, but heck, so what?! Similarities always exist but this one still maintains its own identity at the end...


A very competent effort by a first time director and the movie definitely has its heart in the right place...