Why I like to be in Chennai

Recently lots of my colleagues crib about how much they hate/dislike Chennai. Thanks to my non-Tamilian look, people often assume that I would second their feelings and have a similar story of how this place ruined my social life or rather LIFE! Nothing personal against the people who don’t like this city, everybody has their right to liking or disliking something, however, this outburst from my colleagues really got me thinking, is this place that bad? Well my immediate answer was - No! "Why do you like this place Sakina?" you may ask. My answer - this blog post :)
- Chennai is what I call "home". I have had the most memorable memories, the best school life, the most fun filled college life, an interesting career and a very filmy love life. I have lived most of my life here, and do not mind living the rest here. In simple words, I am born and brought up here.
- I believe that this city is one of the safest places in India, especially for the girls. Try going on your scooty at 1 am in the night all alone in some other city and be sure to reach home safely. I have done this many times right here with no fear!
- The weather - yes! I mean it! The weather! (I can totally imagine your eyes pop out reading this). They say Chennai has 3 seasons Hot, Hotter, Hottest - Agreed. I rather enjoy being under the hot sun getting a tan, than wrapping myself in half a dozen layers of clothes. I rather have bath with normal tap water than from a boiling geyser. I rather sweat it out and get my body to cool down than freeze to death in snow. I rather enjoy those few rainy days with joy, than to carry an umbrella/rain coat daily and suck at it! I rather fall sick just once a year during change of weather than be sick all through the year due to erratic change of weather daily!
- The beaches - the world's second longest beach is in Chennai :) - well keeping that fact aside, having a beach at a driving distance is luxury. Beaches are a good way for me to unwind and a good adda to catch up with my friends. I don’t need a food court at the mall to meet someone; I would rather go to the beach with them and eat roasted peanuts instead :)
- The simplicity - the people here are simple and grounded. No show off, no bull shit. People here don't expect too much out of themselves or each other and are happy with what they have. None of us ever missed KFC, or a McD, or EA mall 10 years back.

This place is not perfect and has its flaws. But the point is, which place doesn't? I guess every city, every town, every village has its own good/bad and people who live there (or decide to live there) just see the brighter side of things. This city is special to me and will always be no matter what other people may think about it :)

Rocking Rockstar!

Saw "Rockstar" movie in the weekend and couldn’t stop thinking about it since then. I had already read the reviews of the movie and had gone with very less expectations in terms of story line. The first half of the movie was fun and entertaining. The second half was a little weird. Actually some people termed it depressing and some call it boring. I call it intense.I wouldn’t say that the movie has a very strong story line, but it surely has an effect on its viewers. The mad love, the passion for each other and the suffering both Jordan (Ranbir) and Heer (Nargis) go through when they are apart left me in awe.

The movie demands patience and concentration from the viewers and if by any chance you have come to pass time, this movie is surely not for you! There are several reasons I personally liked the movie, but the one single reason which will make me hate it is Heer! Oh God! What was Imtiaz thinking when he chose her?! Yes! I am allergic to women with pouted lips, and I have a reason too! They are too busy showing the pout that they forget the rest of their face is needed for something called "expressions", and the fact is, their pouted lips wont fulfill the expressions required out of them! The only time I think she acted well in the movie was when she was in "Coma"! No offence to all the fans out there, I really think that she needs some serious acting classes (actually dancing too) before she re-appears in another movie..

Anyways, I am going to completely ignore her presence in the movie and move on to why I really liked it :).
- First, I am a great fan of Imtiaz Ali after his creation of Jab we met. If you know me a little, you probably know how many times I have seen that movie ;-). When I came to know of Rockstar, I was just hoping that Imtiaz will create another masterpiece. I must say it doesn’t replace the love I have for Jab We Met, but he did create a masterpiece :).
- Second, the Rockstar music is extremely addictive. Rahman has done complete justice to Jordan's role and the theme of the movie. The album doesn’t have any dhinchak or item song, but it has some very unique notes :).
- Third, the lyrics; I am a very lyrics person, especially when it comes to Hindi Songs! I don’t mind listening to loads of Tamil songs without understanding them, but it’s a little different when it comes to Hindi. Rockstar song lyrics are simply awesome. Irshad (The lyricist of Rockstar) has added amazing words to Rahman's music.
- Fourth, Ranbir! Oh Boy, can Ranbir act? Darn he can! What a performance in this movie! from the ultimate loser in college to the self-destructive Rockstar, he played every part of the role perfectly! I mainly like the movie cos of him and his portrayal of "Jordan" :)

So what is your reason to love or Hate this movie?

A dream come true

 They say dream hard, dream a lot, dream something which will wake u up and make u achieve it, dream something which will bring tears to your eyes when they come true.

I spent the whole of last weekend with my parents. I got pampered and I pampered them. Mom was busy packing and I was busy executing her orders (hehe). Dad kept filling the house with savories, vegetables, eggs etc. for Zenab (she is going to be staying alone while they are out). I must tell you it was the funniest and most memorable weekend I have had. Oh btw, you must be thinking why I start about dreams when all I wanted to do was spend time with Mom and Dad? The actual dream was my parents’. They wanted to go on the pilgrimage that every Muslim longs to go on, the pilgrimage which has the most importance in any Muslim’s life. Yes, Mom and Dad were finally going for Haj!

When my sister and I started to work, our first and foremost goal was to get the family in good financial shape. Well we almost achieved that so we jumped to the next one and that was "Send Mom and Dad to Haj". We have been planning for this day for god-knows-how long. Beginning of this year, Maryam and I made up our mind that we will send Mom and Dad to Haj this year no matter what. The "no matter what" attitude really helped all the four of us to make it happen. There were a lot of people who had applied for Haj and we were just praying that our parent's application gets approved. It didn’t :(. But Mom didn’t lose hope, she went ahead and took all the possible recommendations to the Haj organizers and Mullahs and followed up every day to get their name approved. Fortunately (or unfortunate for somebody else) there was a cancellation and Mom and Dad got their approval! Hurray!!


After that Mom single handedly did most of the prep. From preparing a list of things needed to going for shopping and getting them :). She was motivated and enthusiastic, she was happy to see that she would be finally going for the trip she always dreamt of. Dad started his process of wrapping up work, so that there would be no unfinished business when he was out. Maryam and I were there to help wherever/whenever needed :) In fact, Mom and Dad were well prepared a month prior to their travel dates and the last few days before the trip were simply spent in spending time with each other and relaxing :)

Just the day before the travel, I felt anxious; I was worried about my parents having a safe trip. People who have been to Haj before have told loads of good and bad stories. They say going to Haj is life changing and I was hoping they would just be fine. This year they are expecting around 35 lakhs of people there, huge enough crowd to get lost and never be found :(. I am sure Mom and Dad are equally tensed. But they are being brave enough to make this trip.

On Monday Morning (Oct 3rd 2011) Mom and Dad woke up early, said their prayers and started getting ready for the long trip. They had to be in complete white from head to toe; White burkha, white chappal, white specs (the thread), white bag. It was an absolute overwhelming moment to see the dream come alive :). It surely brought tears of happiness in our eyes. Here's wishing them a successful and a life changing Haj!