Here's looking at you,kid

A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

Yes, I saw Casablanca again…for the 15th time I think! And for the 15th time, I was overwhelmed. It is one movie that just gets better with time. The superior wit, a very simple and unpretentious script and Humphrey Bogart’s unique style. Surprisingly, its one story of unrequited love that does not make me sad. Maybe because it’s not just a love story. As Rick puts it to Ilsa, "I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that."
Maybe it is the ‘beautiful friendship’ between Capt. Renault and Rick.

Capt. Renault: Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that you've never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick: Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.
Capt. Renault: That is another reason.

Or perhaps, its the setting. In the midst of war and brutality, when you think people had forgotten the meaning to humanity, it shows you the sentimentalistic streak in a seemingly dispassionate man.
Whatever it is, it is a wonderful movie. A classic. Too bad they don't make movies like that anymore!

Glimpses of India

Siliguri

Sunrise in Gangtok

The Frozen Changu Lake-Sikkim

Sunrise


The Kanchanjunga Range

P.S.: I wonder why people look for a chance to run to Switzerland etc. when there is so much beauty in India!

India trip

It has been 2 weeks and 4 days since I came back from India and the only reason I have procrastinated writing a blog for so long is I guess because I was afraid that once I began writing, it would all come back to me. How much fun I had…how wonderful it was to be with my family…to hug my mom at night before I went to bed…to wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking and to revel in the fact that I not only DIDN’T have to cook, but also that I DIDN’T have to do the dishes after…to make plans every single day to go shopping without worrying that it might burn a giant hole in my pocket…to hog without a thought at every single place I had dreamed of for the past 10 months...to just finally be home.
To say that my India trip was special is an understatement. I tried to live the next 2 years of my life in that one month, because I was quite sure that it would atleast be that long before I went back again. Somehow, it was worse leaving home this second time. Like I told my mom, atleast the first time there was that excitement about the unknown life in the US of A. Now I even knew what was awaiting me when I got back and it sometimes did not seem like a good enough reason to leave. I am not trying to say I hate it here. I don’t. I love the work and my friends. But I am very selfish and want everything. And most of my everything includes my family.
Anyways, leaving the melancholy behind let me tell you a little about my trip. It was WONDERFUL!!! Despite the severe gastritis that I was diagnosed with within a couple of days of reaching there, I had a lot of fun. Of course, I chose to ignore the doctor’s orders to not eat outside food! I think the best thing however was the trip I took with my family to Sikkim and Darjeeling. My family is very enthusiastic and we even went river rafting. It was soo cool!
But time passes so quickly when you are having fun! 30 days were gone in a flash!
So now I am back. To the place where there’s no pollution, no sucky roads (well, that’s not actually true...I DO live in Mass) no crowded streets, no honking, no trash on the roads…Man, life sucks!