“Whatever limits us, we call Fate”

It was all so good that how time flew no one realized. It was time for Seema to deliver and she had gone home to deliver, but Seema kept on thinking about Anant. Anant used to be in touch with Seema however, one day he called and told her to be good with her hubby. He is been forced to marry as per his parents. These words made Seema shocked and she was very unhappy.

“Laughter is the shock absorber that eases the blows of life”

Seema delivered a baby boy and was happy to be with the kid and forget all that she had been thinking of having a good peaceful life with Anant.

Mean while, Anant got married and he brought his wife Rekha (meaning a line in Hindi) to Seema’s house. Seema was not able to take this however she managed being a good host along with her hubby Samir (meaning wind in Hindi).

“Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other.” ~ M.K. Gandhi

Life was very miserable for Seema and Anant however Rekha and Samir had no idea as what was happening…though they do felt that there partners are not near them if not far!

In all these frustrations Anant still wanted to keep a relationship with Seema which she was not ready specially when she saw there is another girl just like herself. Seema couldn’t think of ruining another life and hence she accepted the truth that she is married to Samir and that is where she has to live.

“Truth makes many appeals, not the least of which is its power to shock.” ~ Jules Renard

But was this fair for Anant? Was he able to live that kind of life that was again forced upon him?

The answer was NO. Anant’s wife Rekha couldn’t take it and she left him and Anant still waiting for Seema to come back. Seema remained in her seema (boundary).

“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”~ Albert Einstein

Now as a reader, what you think…was Seema right? Where she accepted the truth and the facts of life and so moved on with life! Anant still hoping and convincing Seema to leave everything and be with him. Which is correct? Do write your thoughts on Seema and Anant, as I conclude this story here…

“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

However, I feel Seema sacrificed for good yet she remained the vamp as if she is selfish …probably this question will keep on lingering in everyone’s mind!!

“Every act of will is an act of self-limitation. To desire action is to desire limitation. In that sense, every act is an act of self-sacrifice. When you choose anything, you reject everything else.”~ G.K.Chesterton

“Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.”

It was summer when Seema met Anant in one of there office training session. When she met him she never thought it would end in this way…!

“Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.” ~ Lawrence Block

Don’t know what was it but he was just crazy about her at the first sight itself…! Always chasing her and asking her questions so that he can stare her while she is replying to him!

She always found safe and confident about herself, since she was married. One day when she came by and told her friends at work that she is pregnant…instead of feeling happy for her, Anant felt bad and he started thinking that Seema will go on maternity leave and then he wont be able to meet her …!

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

But this didn’t stop Anant here, he asked her if he can drop and pick her from work to her home …and Seema thought it’s his way of helping and she agreed, now she doesn’t have to wait for the bus. In this duration when they fall for each other no one knows…!

At work Seema’s friends used to tell her look Anant is always caught staring at you…he is crazy be away from him and Seema used to smile…at the same time guys used to warn Anant that Seema is married…hope you know this! Anant never gave a look at these comments! Time took its own pace…!

“Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It's all about timing.” ~ Stacey Charter

It was winter and snow was just getting piled-up every where making driving a chaos. Anant was supposed to pick up Seema and it was getting late for work! Seema started worrying as she never likes to reach late at work. Suddenly the phone rang…it was Anant asking her to be quick so that they don’t get late to work! Seema quickly grabbed her keys, winter jacket and her purse. She locked the door and ran to his car.

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.” ~ Oscar Wilde

It was freezing cold outside and warm in the car! The wiper was making a very huge sound and Anant quietly driving. Seema didn’t know what to say but she was always scarred of this silence so she said why don’t you put on the music and he said the player is broken! Seema was about to think something else when Anant took her hand and said – Seema do you know that I love you? …to this Seema didn’t respond and tried to look away from him by trying to pull her hand away! Quickly he asked her – do you? Seema was feeling a great comfort when Anant took her hand into his and pressed gently! Her eyes were saying all about it and in the cold weather he gave her a warm hug taking that as an agreement. Seema felt very happy and cozy and Anant was on the 9^th cloud. He started dreaming about spending life with Seema as they get old.

“Love means the body, the soul, the life, the entire being. We feel love as we feel the warmth of our blood, we breathe love as we breathe air, we hold it in ourselves as we hold our thoughts. Nothing more exists for us.” ~ Guy de Maupassant

Today, they were not in the mood to go to work! Seema wanted a coffee and Anant drove her to the coffee shop which was near to the work place. He ordered her regular coffee with double cream and sugar along with her favorite oatmeal cookie. As they were having there coffee…Seema started thinking…”What am I doing?”…”I shouldn’t be thinking like this…Am married and 6 months pregnant too”!!!

Anant (meaning Endless in Hindi), was all happy…one can see through his eyes the sparkles …he was away from all the worldly matters….all he was thinking about life with Seema (meaningBoundary in Hindi)

“When all is said and done, friendship is the only trustworthy fabric of the affections. So-called love is a delirious inhuman state of mind: when hot it substitutes indulgence for fair play; when cold it is cruel, but friendship is warmth in cold, firm ground in a bog.” ~ Miles Franklin

To be continued....

“A good opening and a good ending make for a good film provide they come close together.”

This weekend, even though I spent times at friends house…I did had the chance to watch two of the movies! Nishabdh (Speechless in Hindi) and Namesake…(what a coincidence that the name starts with N..lol I didn’t notice until now)

“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.” ~ Ingrid Bergman

Well, when I was watching Nishabdh…I was telling myself that I can’t see Bacchan doing this …and as the movie went on…this actor really proved himself…! I do believe that one can fall in love any time and anywhere …it has no age bar …or should I say…when one falls in love one can never know…!

Bacchan’s acting was so good that at one point I could see Bacchan looking younger than what he is :D…he is too good that’s what he has proven.

Besides the girl Jiah Khan who has got real good photogenic shots in this however I don’t give credit to her acting.

“I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all”
~ Alfred Tennyson

But of all this, when I look at the story …I feel this is just not possible. A girl who’s parents have been divorced and hence she can fall in love with someone of her father’s age just because there are ample of reasons for her to do so…but a 60 year old guy falling for a teenage girl…sounds quite unrealistic! Though I do believe love is something which doesn’t see for any worldly aspects :D
I liked the movie …the concept of it as what the director is trying to convey!

“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love” ~ Albert Einstein

Then after many unsuccessful plans with my friends to go out and watch the movie ‘Namesake’, I finally checked for the DVD!

The movie as the rumor was going around…didn’t make me cry frankly speaking. Yes, I have seen many such movies where people from different country migrate and then the hardship that they go through etc…similar story…with a bit of twist but nothing as such that it would make anyone cry. Tabu’s husband dies in the movie…but the way she has managed it…one doesn’t feel sad …in fact the positive path of life is chosen by the widow and that is what she teaches her son as well.

“Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.” ~ Isaac Asimov

I loved the movie as it shows lot of Bengali culture and I do love it to tell you the truth. I guess that’s why I always loved to watch Rabindranath Tagore’s story as a drama :D! In this you will see one of the cultures of India.

“Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, of love, and of thought, which, in the coarse or centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved” ~ Andre Marlraux

I think it’s a good lesson and awakening for the kids who have grownup in North America so that they can understand what there parents have gone through to get them a good future.

But I felt the book is better than watching this movie! Sorry, may be I had higher expectations when I heard its Mira Nair’s :D

“Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.” ~ Marsha Norman

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take."

I know we all say that every mother in this world is the best…all mothers are born great to be that kind where every child will thank her for countless years!
But I know one and yes I am not talking about my mom as to every child his/her mom is the best :D!

“I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights” ~Adabella Radici

Today I want to dedicate this post to one of the mother whom I know and I find it so great that I came across her in this life time :D

“The sweetest sounds to mortals given
Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven”
~William Goldsmith Brown

She was brought up in a well to do family…the times were such when girls were not sent to school… in such times she graduated and was married to a Doctor – Surgeon! She traveled with her husband to different countries and when she tells the stories of those days…it makes clear that romance she had with her husband is still young and cherished in her heart…even though her husband parted with this world at a very young age! By then she has two kids – girl and a boy. I have seen many women struggling alone with kids and she also did but she made sure her kids get educated well enough to face this world!

“The phrase "working mother" is redundant” ~Jane Sellman

I admire her courage and will with which she raised her kids. Today both her kids are well to do with there family and kids, and guess what now she is caring for her grandchildren the same way as she did for her own kids!...C’mon, tell me how many mothers do that? Many mothers feel content with there own kids success but she makes sure her love is distributed among her 5 grandchildren as she did for her two kids.

“Women are aristocrats, and it is always the mother who makes us feel that we belong to the better sort” ~John Lancaster Spalding

When I met this mother all I could get from her was love and a friend to chat with! Even today I do not hesitate to discuss anything with her which usually I might not share with all…I love this mom for what she is…she is an inspiration for today’s youngsters…!

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts” ~Washington Irving

Happy Mother’s Day Amma :D

“Motherhood is priced
Of God, at price no man may dare
To lessen or misunderstand”
~Helen Hunt Jackson

Home is the place where boys and girls first learn how to limit their wishes, abide by rules, and consider the rights and needs of others

How many times it happens that you go to the library pick a movie thinking it will be a good time pass and you figure out it was the ultimate selection and decision that you made to watch it?

“It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I was never expecting anything that I will be so much touched with this movie from every aspect of it, and yes my favorite Sir Ben Kingsley …as I watch his movie the respect for him grows more and more :D

“To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater.”

This movie “House of Sand and Fog”, directed by Vadim Perelman; is about an Iranian immigrant who has spent most of his savings trying to enhance his daughter's chances of a good marriage. Once she is married, he spends the remaining funds on a house at an auction, without any knowledge putting him and his family in the middle of a legal tussle with the house's former owner – who is emotionally unstable and neglectful woman evicted from the house she inherited from her father when she is mistakenly charged for unpaid taxes. What begins as a legal struggle turns into a personal confrontation, with tragic results!!!

“I guess when your heart gets broken you sort of start to see cracks in everything. I'm convinced that tragedy wants to harden us and our mission is never to let it.”

In all this situations the teachings that the parents give to the Iranian boy in the family is just awesome! I mean how much tensed you are as a cop comes in and threatens you that you will be deported and I can do this happen to you …blah blah!!!! And still the father (Ben Kingsley) advises son how to behave and be brave at heart like a lion as the cop is weak when he shows a gun threatening that he will shoot them.

“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right” ~ Confucius

I just simply loved this movie and this time I will ask my friends do watch this one for sure…it not only helps to understand the situations of immigrants but also how you still follow your culture and don’t loose the temperament vaguely.

“Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

My respect for Sir Ben Kingsley just grows day by day :D I just love him …his acting…the calmness that he carries ..Its marvelous!!!

I was feeling so angry about the former house owner lady and the cop who in turn leaving his family and kids tries to help this lady by threatening the Iranian family.

“Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it” ~Vincent Van Gogh

My soul was satisfied after watching this movie, that’s how far I can explain about this movie – a worth watching :D

“Living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking, Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making.” ~ Leanne Womack

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring

All of a sudden life seems to be too busy…guess with what???
Too many outings, picnic and BBQ and too much of reading too! That ‘too’ word will tell about the happenings.

I just remembered my Toronto days…when spring time comes my gardening fever catches me so wildly that, looking at my craze my neighbor also starts gardening and watering his lawn :D! I wonder many times Nature gives so many opportunity to us to celebrate.

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin

Lately, lot of meeting and greeting friends is taking place and when friends gather we discuss on so many endless topics and religion being one of them.
All these discussions and things that is happening around makes me think of my childhood days when there was no such thing that differentiated any one whether its religion, cast or even province…we all were like the beads of one necklace.

Today, there are so many reasons just to untie those beads just for some stupid thinking and thought process which is not even there’s but induced by someone else who want to see the world to fight with each other and spread only hatred.

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” ~ William S, Burroughs

My mind keeps going back and I keep rewinding those moments of my childhood when we all used to be happily playing whether its Farzana, Savita, Elizabeth, Ambika, or even Paramjit …our religion, language and cast was one – friendship with love!

“True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness” ~ Albert Einstein

When someone brings my own fallen eye lashes just to make a wish before blowing it away …I often wish for my childhood not for any other reason but for the peace and happiness that we had as a kid…!

“I don't wish to be everything to everyone, but I would like to be something to someone.”

Sometimes I wonder if my childhood friends are still the same or will they see some differences in me due to religion n other aspect???

“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion” ~ Abraham Lincoln

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm

I have seen many movies on World War II and Holocaust movies too, and always wondered these are all the tortures that people went through and the Jews who were targeted and were mass murdered; but no one to come back from those place and tell there experience as what they were and what they went through in the concentration camps and later if they survived how they were treated!!!

“Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind, this creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough”
When this movie ‘Fateless’ (directed by Lajos Koltai ) started, I didn’t know it is about the Holocaust! As it proceeded my interest grew upon this metropolitan teen who like any of us, living a carefree life with family where not much related to religion etc. All of a sudden he is separated from his family as part of the rushed and random deportation of his city’s large Jewish population. He is brought to a concentration camp where his existence becomes an adventurous yet a lesson for adaptation. He is not sure if he is the victim of his captors, or of an absurd destiny that metes out salvation and suffering arbitrarily.

“Fate is a misconseption, it's only a cover-up for the fact you don't have control over your own life.”

When he returns home after the liberation, he misses the sense of community he experienced in the camps, feeling alienated from both his Christian neighbors who turned a blind eye to his fate, and the Jewish family friends who avoided deportation and who now want to put the war behind them.

“Suffering, once accepted, loses its edge, for the terror of it lessens, and what remains is generally far more manageable than we had imagined.”

It was sad yet a lesson through the experience of a teen…I really liked the kind of message this movie has sent across!

“The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.” ~ Aldous Huxley

For a very little time our new Bond- Daniel Craig, when as an American soldier reaches there, he offers the teen to come to USA and study and build a better future but he chooses otherwise to be with his family, community and his country but what he gets from them really left him with a feeling of ‘hatred’

“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.” ~ Buddha

If you have patience and a dare devil heart, (as at one scene I just couldn’t watch it and got off my seat for a walk), do watch it, you will like it.

“Suffering is the price of being alive, and it is music and singing and art that has helped me live through some of the most difficult things that have happened to me” ~ Judy Collins