Back from Hiatus

I was filling up my spare time with my new addiction "Heroes" all these days. Now that i happened to cover all the seasons, i am finally back. The last episode of Heroes season 4 or chapter 5 as it is called, had some cliffhanging moments. While i was looking forward for a new season, i was astonished with the news that the series has been called off by NBC this week. That came in a  surprise for me and made me sad. But they are going to wrap up with a 2-3 hour show in near future.All my life, I have been a big fan of super hero stories. As a kid i watched super hero cartoons, as a teenager i indulged in super hero and science fiction novels and here i am still satisfying those interests.

Heroes is paramount story about ordinary people contended with the fact that they had extraordinary powers. Some think it is a curse, some think they are destined to have them and some think they are angels of god to rule the earth. Heroes apparently gave me a different perspective on super hero talent. All the movies and cartoons just depict how the good super hero hunts down the bad one and saves the world. But Heroes is not about one super power story. It is about ordinary people, it is about how want to get rid of these powers but convince themselves to lead a normal life with these powers. It is about readjusting to the life handling abnormal changes which affect their loved ones and their surroundings. It showed how world is not a safe place even for the gifted ones and how they unintentionally embark a risky journey to protect themselves from the bad. 

Of all, it gave a perfect message that Love is the only emotion that can conquer any super power, as opposed to regular shows of that genre. A character called "Peter Patrelli", who is a hospice nurse/ paramedic, uses his powers to save the dying. Another character "Sylar" is a serial killer always targeting evolved humans with abilities. However in the end he realizes how he lost himself in the quest of some craziness, after saving a lady.  

On the whole this series gives an idea how super powers can be painful, depressive and can ruin lives in spite of the common notion of coolness associated with them.  So people, when ever you think about having two extra hands or being invisible or can time travel, just think you are just awesome the way you are, being normal. 

For me this week had send offs in store for every show that is on my list. Gossip Girl finale was an epic. But the character   "Jenny" had crossed the extremes of being a spoiled brat and accumulated hatred among most followers. In spite of Blair giving a second chance, it was sad to see Chuck could not come clean. And the writers should take the edge off of Serena's character on being confused, gullible and lack of direction. 

On the other hand 90210 finale was a complete disappointment. There were like a zillion cliffhanger moments and we have to wait till September 2010 to watch. But it is good to see Annie and Liam together. All the characters of 90210 have some serious work as a part of their lives as opposed to characters of Gossip Girl (except for Vanessa and Chuck).

And this season also saw Ugly Betty's exit. Ugly Betty always brought itself a positive energy of what all can an ordinary girl accomplishes. And it is set up in NYC background. I always have a soft corner for any series which has NYC backdrop.

Now that I am done with Heroes and not getting to watch either Gossip Girl or 90210 till September, I wanted to get hooked up with another series. I tried watching Glee but I could not able to connect with it. Then I had some kind of poll on Lost vs.  Dexter amongst my friends and the winner turns out to be Lost. I had a quick review of Lost in Time's “Lost in 108 seconds". Loved it so far and will update my experiences with Lost in near future.

Till then XOXO (Gossip Girl style ;))

The color Hot Pink

Pink is the color that represents femininity. Pink adorns the curves of women when it flows along with the fabric they wear. Pink enlightens our world when it spreads on the walls of our room. Pink creates a wave of happiness when it decorates woman's lips, pink is a quiet color that makes a huge statement when we carry it in any form. pink is all babies, little girls, candies and breast cancer awareness. 

Spring is all about bright colors and pink is bright. Hot pink is even brighter. I am having this "fashion craving" for all that is hot pink this spring.

It all started after seeing this picture of Jennifer Garner. Ms Garner is one such a lady, who can pull of any color with any fabric. And this hot pink Christian Dior dress brings out sheer elegance that competes with her smile to greet the viewers first. A hot pink dress like this will definitely make my day.

 Hot pink can make any one at any age look elegant and chic.

While talking about Hot Pink, i remember Bollywood heroine Katrina Kaif, who looks absolutely stunning in all that is Hot Pink.

This pink Saree is just near to plain but because of the color, it looks mesmerizing on her. 

I would not write this post had i not come across these Givenchy Cut- Out Shoe Boots, online. A sheer stunner, potential enough for a crime that can be avoided if i ignore them ( crime here refers to swiping my card to buy these shoes). It is hard to resist them but i better look for a cheaper alternative.

My choice for nail polish is becoming bolder and bolder. Eventually, i am now known as " the girl with weird nail polish colors" in my close circuit.(Bold=weird? seriously?). But my thirst for bolder colors is on the rise which is proved by the color that i absolutely want to decorate my nails now. Hot Pink by OPI. 


I welcome all women to embrace the color this spring. Have a bright-HotPink-full day!

Give me some sunshine....Give me some rain........

As soon as i escaped India's scorching heat flying to US, i thought NJ would welcome me with a lively spring weather it presents every year. But how would i ever thought my plea for "some rain" while i was in India would dramatically become reality in US. Now i am clinging to the phrase " give me some sunshine" cause i want to step out every day with a smile.  Tired to see this gloomy weather when one still has those beautiful and fresh memories of outings in India. Armed with a pair of flip flops, a pony tail, a skirt and top, small clutch and a pair of shades, i can roam around the city with bunch of girl friends all day long. No car, no parking issues, no week before plans/ appointments for the coming weekend, no hassles with jackets/umbrellas/gloves not sure of when the weather would change. Rarely, one would check for weather online to plan something as the seasons always remain obedient to us.

A Saturday in India:

I want to share one of the Saturdays during my stay in India. The morning started waking up along with grand mom to get ready for puja. A head bath followed by picking up flowers and sitting at puja filled the early hours of Saturday. Then read the local newspaper sipping coffee( no online news). After that randomly made up my mind to visit our ancestral home which was built by my great grandfather and was like 10 km away from my home ( This house is like more than 100 years old and i spent a small part of my life growing up there). I took my Honda Activa bike, picked up my cousin and drove all the way. Being at that place had made my mind to rewind the memories that got stored over the years and i was a child all over again. I happened to visit a  small shop in the same place where we used to buy chocolates. After spending 2 hours, we returned back home and had lunch. The menu consisted of home made tamarind pickle and tomato daal. Though these do not make it to the list of Mogul in NJ or the Cheese Cake Factory, they have their own reputation as comfort foods. Then after tried watching TV which kind of sucked as my grand mom did not let me switch the channels as the daily soaps pour in all the day long. So i pressed buttons on my cell phone and called my cousins ( One being in medical college, one working and one looking for jobs in IT) and planned to meet up for a movie ( the medical college one had to bunk the class). We drove in a car to big cinemas and watched a Telugu movie " Leader". ( I wanted to give a review for this amazing movie here but apparently it distracts the topic). Then, after a hour long journey in the traffic we reached home, got freshened up and hit the road again for shopping. This time we hired an auto rickshaw, which gave a pleasant ride to the shopping center of the city. The air along the road filled up with all kinds of smells where the smell of soot coming out from automobiles dominated all. We all got down and hit the dress store, where a shop boy brought  dresses and opened up in front of us so that we can select a dress. After making that guy to literally open up  all the dresses the store got, we finally zeroed up on 5 dresses.( Thanks to his patience).  After the fun and exhausting shopping, we wanted to feed our stomachs and found a cart selling Pani Puris on the other side of the street. These Pani Puris had the authentic taste which the "Bombay Chaat" on Oak Tree Road killed. After that we strolled along the street and made frequent stops at bangle carts, jewelery carts and shoe stores. The best part one should not miss out while enjoying shopping in Indian streets is bargaining.You can almost get like 50% discount if you bargain. And if you walk out of the store when you are not satisfied with the price, the shopkeeper wont let you go empty handed and chances are high he will agree to your price ( of course with a marginal profit for him).  From there we hired an auto rickshaw to the local exhibition (the mini version of  Six Flags). The not so adventurous rides drove us through comedic situations. We then managed to grab some chili bajjis and headed back home. No matter how far i live from my city, the motherly love it displays in which ever way i interact with it is amazing. But i can clearly admit New Jersey has been and will be my home away from home. At the end we had a girls night out enjoying the "Super Bowl" of gossips while Saturday closed its doors and Sunday opened its for yet another fun filled extravaganza.

A Saturday in US  might be the same but most of the times you get to enjoy alone and fun always seems to be a need to keep ourselves busy over the weekends. Sincerely, there is a need for sunshine in the weather and sunshine in the routine we Indians do in the US.

UNO and friends

It has been almost (edited this post after realizing it is exactly a month!) a month since my last post. Do not know why i was away but yeah time really slipped away.
Did not even get a chance to pen down lyrics. Anyways, i tried new software to implement this font on my blog which caught my eye like crazy. I hope it suits well.
My recent activity, well , past few days i did lot of stuff that in some way related to my childhood. I found all the pictures from school and class group photos. It is both funny and interesting to see how one would grow through the years.

Here is a picture from my 9th grade in India.

During weekend, i bumped into card and board games which are also connected to my childhood. Gone were the birthdays where i used to receive gifts, majority of which were the board games and interesting card games.  My all time favorite is Monopoly cause it never seemed to end once we start it. I can recollect an instance where we sat down the previous day evening for a game and continued playing till the next day evening( of course there were breaks now and then).

This Saturday, i enjoyed the glory of the card games again by playing UNO. It might come as a surprise but yeah this was the first time i tried my hand at UNO. An initial clueless followed by confusion leading to excitement left me in the second place( we were four players). Hmmm......it wasn't a bad victory after all :D

Childhood is indeed a gift wrapped up with those early moments where we learn, fail, smile, succeed, cry  but wont care what all these mean to us when we grow up. So preserving this time is very important in every person's life.For most of us, dreams come true only after they do not matter, Only in childhood do we ever have the chance of making dreams come true when they mean everything.

If one gets time, please relive your childhood. May be a high school reunion or a garage search or a Facebook meet up or buzz on the favorite teacher's doors or open the album that gathered dust over the years!

The background score for all my musings about my childhood : Secrets by One Republic

"Tell me what you want hear, i am gonna give all my secrets away................"

A trail long gone cold

This poem is about the current situation that is prevailing in India. I am really tired of reading corrupt stories, murder articles, a cult's(Shiv Sena) obsessiveness for one religion to exist in a secular India and Andhra's youth claiming their lives for a cause. All Indians who are enjoying the fruits of  freedom bought by our beloved leaders, have forgotten the means and purpose of this freedom. The true sense of Democracy  "By the people, to the people, for the people" is now confined to classroom teachings in schools. Freedom to live, freedom of speech are still a dream for most of the Indians.

Did we ever practice getting things done in peaceful way since Independence?. The only peaceful way we follow these days is bribery. We forgot teachings of Gandhi, we forgot how Ahimsa has led to the greatest victory the country ever experienced. This situation should change.

I wish every Indian should pledge this: We will fight for our causes in a peaceful way by not giving up our lives. We will discourage corruption and get things done in a "peaceful" way. We will not encourage hatred, fight and murder each other. We will not exchange words criticizing other religions, as we are the people who have to carry legacy of  father of the nation. A legacy that should set a good example to rest of the world.


I see a dizzy pace of upheaval in today's India
tough out there for a leader with an ideology
an ideology that Buddha preached
an ideology that Gandhi practiced
The country finds itself on the cusp of confusion,
chaos and dissolution brought by
greed, power and crime.
Frustrated souls not willing to take
this time for glum acceptance
nor clinging to fight for peace with peace


He who parlayed a problem
into a thriving social expression
He who with a stick and a vision
drove entire nation for freedom
had a glorious prophecy for future India
But generations, since, diluted his aura,
brushed off  his principles
The foot prints that brought freedom
have faded in the wheel of time
Ahimsa, on the verge of extinction,
is now a trail long gone cold


Sure we live in a time of innovation and expansion
but prizes always go to shrewd politicians
who can stake out new territory, define boundaries,
even set new rules for the game
a game giving illusions of freedom
for the nameless hundreds
a game exploiting the true
sense of  Democracy

We are approaching a tipping point
in attitudes and behaviors towards the downturn
A country promised to be united even diversified
is breathing hatred and division
is claiming lives of youth
is suffering the loss of  resources
i can see millions of Gandhis
on currencies that fill the pockets
and i wonder if they are just  images
not a reminder of glory, truth and non-violence

I want to see the situation unfreeze
let all portray Ahimsa in a new context,
a new reality, not a return to the world as we knew it
but become a part of dream envisioned by the greatest leader
Let us walk the trail he walked

Oscars Twenty Ten

I felt bad missing Oscars for awards presentation. But not for fashion 'cause when it comes to fashion, it is better applauded on a still screen than on a motion screen.So, i scooped out much fun in helping my eyes gleam with hollywood glam on internet. First, i congratulate all the winners and nominees as well. The most covoted Best Actress is finally won by Sandra Bullock as i wished.While watching the movie " The Blind Side", i could not help but admire the real life character " Leigh Anne Touey" portrayed by Sandra Bullock. A strong, possesive white mother adopting a black child, who eventually brings his talent to limelight, made Bullock an oscar winner. And Bullock's Silver Marchesa dress for the evening, has given us another reason to glee for her.

By the way, what's with the silver, gold, metallic shimmery shades on the red carpet? I can clearly see hollywood welcomed summer before spring with those pale textured dresses. Even Kristen Stewart's midnight blue,Penelope Cruz's dusky red did not brighten up the red carpet as different tones of silver did.

My personal favourites from this Oscars: Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Lopez, Elisebeth Banks and Cameroon Diaz. J Lo worked the dress with her flaunting curves while Diaz looked whimsical in champagne tulle gown. The cascading ruffles on Elizabeth Banks created a ripple of envy in me.Sighh....

A top nod goes to Demi Moore, not only for her red carpet fashion but also for her ever lasting beauty. This lady belongs to my mom's generation. Yet she makes all the young ladies give Oh-my-how can she get/look/make/dress/Blah fashion lingo and all the men go weak on their knees. She looked extraordinarily stunning in Versace's strapless silk organza for her age(47).

And finally it is sad for me that Anne Hathaway is not spotted anywhere near oscars. No nominations and no presentations. Well, i can wait for Oscars'11. Mean while, i will catch up with her on other red carpets!

Old, yet refreshing

This is about a poem i wrote in 1997. I totally forgot this even exists. Found it at my home recently, when i was in India trip. Thanks to mom for preserving my early work :) I was so glad i found it and amused while going through it. I wrote it when Titanic movie had released , when whole world went crazy over it.

This poem describes about Rose's feelings for her love Jack, after his death. There is nothing great about this poem except it connects me to my past self. It is sort of like a page from a personal diary. I always wanted to maintain one personal diary but  feared it might fall into some random hands. With a diary like that you can always fall back in your free time, ponder over and re live your past. I should start writing a personal journal (not referring to a blog here) at least from now since every thing is digital and secured. So that, in future when i have no one to talk to or when i am tired of talking to people around me, i can travel back in time and talk to my past self. Hellooo Shilpa =]

okaaaayyy.....here's the poem..

Jack, its me Rose,
Your hand in my hand
indeed was a big hope
When i looked at you
your eyes were filled with my image
I can clearly not miss you
But i had to leave you in those chilled waters

Years passed on by
But my love for you hasnt gone dry
My promise to you
has not missed its reality
"Rose" with all her color put on,
Waited everyday for
rain to shower on it

You are far away from me
playing with stars
singing along with moon
But you are in my breath
going into my heart and pumping out strength

That night,
While others struggled for their lives
you rescued my lilfe
yes, you rescued, my life, your soul

I owe you for everything
And i promise to repay
waiting for a warm welcome from you......