Current Tune: Kehta Hai Babul - Babul

So this is the first day that I am home, and Neeraj went to the office. Only one more day in this week for him to work — then we are heading back to IL for the long weekend.

As I was cleaning the house on Friday, I wanted to listen to the rest of the songs from Baabul as I was not able to download all of them. I listen to this song above, and it immediately touched my heart.

The relationship between a father-daughter is very sweet. I am Daddy’s little girl, and I remember when we were planning for my marriage, my father would tell me, “Now you will be far from me, nothing will be the same….” I remember telling him that I will always be here for them - nothing will change in that.

Recently we have been able to catch up on a lot of movies that I would like to share our views on, and there are also a lot of movies that are coming up that we want to see.

First on the ones we have saw.

Note this is an original letter that I am writing being Abhishek Bachchan’s biggest fan from day one. Abhishek has and will remain a crush, Neeraj is my love forever.

My Dearest Abhishek,

I know that you were heartbroken when you had heard that I was going to marry Neeraj :grin:, but now it seems that its my turn. Kuch Naa Kaho Abhishek, kyon ke jab se meri Mumma ne bataya ke tumhari sagaai hone wali hai Aishwarya Rai ke saath tab se mera dil dhadak dhadak raha hai. Since day one when you had entered the Bollywood industry, I had faith in you. Tumhare saath saath main bhi Refugee banne ke liye tayyar thi, aur Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya tha pehli nazar par. When every other person in the world had said that Abhishek could never live up to his father’s image, I defended you and said that you just watch, Dhoom machaa ke dikhaayega. That is exactly what you have done.

So the awaited — I finally saw Rang De Basanti. It definitely left me speechless. From a technical aspect, it was great acting by each and every character in the movie. You hated the politician, and felt a part of the 5-6 friends that ran around together.

Current Tune: Jhalak Dikh Laa Jaa - Aksar

I just had a very yummy Dove Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Bar…. Is it making you hungry?? Delicious!

I am partially watching Indian Idol, but its not really that interesting at this point. I am waiting for the very final. Go Karunya!!

A very big thank you to Harry for doing a very sweet interview with us. Neeraj and I really appreciate that you took out time on your blog, and that you wanted to do something like that. I think its important that young people understand what love and relationship is all about, because I feel that its being taken for granted in our society. What Neeraj and I wanted to get out of the interview was that someone to gain something positive out of it — that was our main goal, and we hope that we have succeeded.

Neeraj and I are currently busy trying to finalize plans for our American friends who are coming to the wedding. Many of you may not know but Neeraj and I are not going on a honeymoon because we felt that we have gotten this lifetime of an opportunity to enjoy a few days with our American friends in India. We wanted to take them around and show them our country. So we have decided that we are going to Mumbai for a few days after the wedding, so we are trying to find a good hotel for them to stay. If anybody has any contacts in the hotel business in Mumbai, do comment.

Is it me or is Himesh Reshammiya everywhere? I believe that in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa after Aashiq Banaya Aapne he said that I will only sing very limited songs, but now I seem to see him everywhere and that too singing! Don’t all of his songs sound the same?? What’s going on with him???

I haven’t seen any movies lately, but I do know that when I am in India I am going to go see Aamir Khan and Kajol’s Fanaah in the movie theatre!!! Anybody want to join for a movies out in Jaipur with Neeraj and Poonam?

The excitement is building — I can’t wait to come to India. We are less than a month away until Neeraj and I land in Delhi. Are we there yet??

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

Song playing: Aaya Tere Dar Par - Veer Zaara

Time flies when you are having fun. We are just a few days away from February ending, and its unbelievable!

I forgot to update a while back that Neeraj has gotten the job as a lead Java/J2EE developer in SFI (my client). So that means that we carpool to office together, have lunch together, and come back home together from the office. Its only been a few weeks, but its great! I have started working on Fridays because he works 8 hour shifts M-F (I used to work 10 hour shifts M-Th). Oh well, its worth it!

This is the last weekend to practice for our dance. We are trying to think of something clevel to call our dance. Neeraj, Bhaiya, myself, and five other friends (Lopa, Rajiv, Pinky, Brijesh, and Anvita) are doing a medley for Bollywood Night being held by our Indo-American Cultural Society on 4th March.

Its about an 8 minute medley — and here’s the listing of the songs:

Starts with the beginning of Mujhse Dosti Karoge’s (MDK) medley -

Naa maangu sona chandi….jhooth bole kauwa kaate….le jaayenge le jaayenge dilwale dulhania le jaayenge

Then..

Bole Chudiyan - 3KG - 40 secs

Back to the MDK medley…

Bachna Hai Haseeno

Then…

Gore Gore - Hum Tum - 30 secs

After that to the MDK medley…

Main Nikla Gadi Leke

Then..

Nimbooda - HDDCS - 35 secs

The MDK medley one more time!…..

Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar ke Cherche

Then…

Dola re Dola - Devdas - 35 secs — Girls Only

Next…

Dus Bahane - Dus - 35 secs — Boys Only

Last we all get together and grand finale

Nach Baliye - Bunty Aur Babli - 1 min

Extensive list, I know. But almost all of the songs are 30-40 secs long, so they will go by fast. All eight of us have a song that we will solo on for a 10 secs. For instance, my song is Gore Gore and Neeraj’s song is Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar ke Cherche. Its going to be a rockin’ performance:!:

Other things on my mind –

I have a sore throat, and it hurts. I didn’t find any tablets or cough drops at home. I think Bhaiya turns off the heater at night which caused me to get this. Oh brothers!

For those that may not know, Govind, a former blogger, just got married on 16th February in Hyderabad:!: I don’t know much of the details, but NP.com only wishes for your happiness Govind! Hope all is well:!: Congratulations!!!

Seems that Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh played too good for India in the last series against Pakistan. Keep it up! Jai Hind!

Watching Deal Ya No Deal last night, and the only thing that bugs me about that show is that they don’t have any constellation prizes AND they show these people crying their eyes out on national television! I don’t think that’s right either; they should really go to a commercial break, I mean who wants to watch that??? Constellation prize is something that they should consider because no one came there to take home a chlor-mint.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

One of the reasons that I like having this blog is that I am able to discuss any type of topic that I have seen on TV, radio, etc… and be able to have a lively conversation with you all. Due to the fact that Neeraj and I have been so busy with everything in life, I have either been posting more on what his happening in our lives, rather on a topic. Well, that’s going to change starting today.

As many of you know, I am a sucker for desi serials and shows. Recently, Neeraj and I have gotten hooked on watching Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 and Indian Idol. Previously, I had watched the majority of the episodes from Fame Gurukul.

After watching last night’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa episode, Neeraj and I were discussing the emotional aspect of the show. Everyone in that show, including Shaan the host, and the magical mentors (Aadesh, Himesh, and Ismail) are making anyone and everyone cry on that show, including me:!: That’s what Neeraj didn’t like about it and last night I noticed it too. Does that take away from the realism of the contest? Possibly, in fact yes.

The mentors are emotionally blackmailing the junta to vote for the kids in their gharana. Then they are emotionally troubling the contestants themselives, like they made Debojit, this 29 year old singer, cry yesterday as he was reminded of his mother’s pride for him. Vinit, a 17 year old singer who everyone adores, was not able to hold back his tears as he took about 15 minutes to tell his mother that he wanted her to be happy.

I don’t think that you need to make it so emotional to make the show a success. People will watch the show if you have quality. Neeraj used to say from all three of the singing shows that he liked Sa Re Ga Ma Pa the most because it seemed the most real, but last night episode was the limit.

Indian Idol does the same as well as they take 10 minutes to announce whether the person is going on to the next round (that’s real annoying ). Arre why do you do that to the poor teenage contestant?? One of the contestants fainted after she found out that she didn’t make it to the Gala Round (btw she should have made it ).

Most of the contestants are teenagers ranging from 17-20, and its really amazing that our next generation are so talented in this field of singing. Indians were known for their maths and science, but soon we are going to be well known for the creative side as well. I think its great, but there is an issue. Many kids think that they have talent, but then get their heart broken on television on these shows.

Emotionally it has to be tough on the contestant, their family, and the friends that they have made with the other contestants. You have to fight with each other to win a spot. One mistake and lead you right out the door into the world of struggle.

Is it going to make me stop watching these shows? Most likely not, because the shows have done what they needed to reel me in because now I also have this feeling that I have this emotional bond with these contestants. I know I know, they have me where they want me.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

We finally got a chance to sit and watch some Hindi movies. The movies that we saw were: Ramji Londonwale and No Entry.

I watched the first one, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might have been. Its really well worth watching about a Bihari who migrates to the London in order to pay off his sister’s in-laws demand for dowry. Its quite a cute story that should be watched:!:

Last night we were watching No Entry. This is a total timepass movie where you should leave your brain behind. By the middle of the movie, I was totally bored with it so I fell asleep. But my sleep was far from peaceful because Neeraj was laughing so loudly! My gosh, I don’t know what he found so funny, but boy he was having a good time. The last half hour of the movie, I didn’t hear anything other than his laughter!

We had gone for his fingerprinting to Chicago during the day yesterday. It was a fifteen minute job that we drove two hours for, but then afterwards we went shopping. Neeraj bought two nice dress shirts for himself, and then we had lunch at the food court.

Preparations for the party continues as my parents and Neeraj are going for the menu taste test at the banquet hall tomorrow during lunch time. They will make to sure that the food for the party is per our Indian style (authentic).

Really sad to hear about the bomb blasts in Delhi yesterday. From reading of the newspapers, it seems that it was done by Pakistani militants. Funny how we are over there opening up our side of the border so that we can give them aid due to the massive earthquake, and here they take advantage of us and detonate bombs at our capital. Something should really be said about this:!:

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.