Christmas Spirit

It is an incident that comes to my mind as I decorate my Christmas tree every year on 25 December. The memory has been living with me for quite some time now, and springs up in my mind whenever I think of Christmas. The incident I am talking about dates back to the time when I was in VII standard. My aunt who stays in Calcutta had come to visit us with her kids, that is my cousins – Lalti and Raja. They were both young about 10 and 6 years old respectively. Unlike their previous visits this time they had come during the winter break and were supposed to stay with us during the Christmas celebration for the first time.

That morning I had come down just after decorating our Christmas tree to have ‘tea’. While munching on some home made cookies which my aunt had brought with her from Calcutta, I had a feeling that I was chewing slippers like our pet dogWoolfy. Once I was done with the exhausting chewing job, I picked up my cup of tea and slowly started moving towards the sink. When you are up to some mischief you always have this eerie feeling when you are about to do it and are scared that you might get caught. I had a similar feeling, but today it was stronger. The sink was about 10 steps away, but to reach the place I had to cross my aunt, duck behind her back and pour this cup into the sink! It might not appear scary to some people, but the additional information might help – she was as strict as Hitler and detested people who wasted food – and she considered ‘tea’ to be food. As soon as I took my first step towards the sink my cousin Lalti said “Didi”, I froze the moment I heard it, my face went blank for sometime. She continued speaking “Didi was talking about Santa Claus he comes here every year and gives them gifts!” My aunt interrupted her and said “There’s nothing like Santa Claus in reality.” Lalti persisted “No muma, he comes only to those houses where children decorate trees for him. It’s a signal for him to know that kids stay there and he gives them gifts!” My cousin brother Raja joined in too “Yes muma it’s true, they’ve shown us the gifts he gave them last year!” My aunt who had been listening so far said with a straight face “Oh so it’s for the gifts, look sona there’s no one like Santa Claus in this world. Your uncle and aunt buy gifts and keep them under the tree. I won’t waste any money on gifts, because of some stupid story that someone has told you.” I couldn’t believe m ears, my aunt just broke the loving bond I shared with a non existential Santa, off course I knew he did not exist but there are a lot of emotions attached to certain memories. Memories like waking up one morning to find a watermelon on the television, running in the whole house to find a hidden gift and at last finding it on the rooftop, finding a puppy near the gate – these memories even if not entirely true are so loving and endearing to you that parting with them on any account is very difficult.

My aunt was spoiling the ‘Christmas spirit’. I tried arguing with her, you can onlytry arguing with her as every argument leads to dead end sealed with her comment “I am elder to you.” I tried resurrecting the belief of my cousins in Santa, but now it was difficult to do a lot had been spoken about. I felt exhausted, drained off all my energy, vitality and happiness, was it really Christmas today? With all these thoughts I glanced at my cup, oh I had been sipping tea all this while unaware! My parents and my elder sister – who had been watching all this – started laughing. After all I had finished my cup of tea that I was planning to dispose off in the sink. This was no less a miracle to happen that day. I joined them in their laughter, and in our laughter remains the ‘spirit of Christmas’. It remains with us no matter how hard others try to break it.

My performance at Jadu Utsav 2011!!!

Jadu Utsav which was a two day fun filled event celebrating the spirit of magic in Delhi on 10 and 11 September saw huge participation by magicians from all over India. Approximately 300 magicians were there at the magic convention. I too went with my dad, for the first time officially as a "magician" :P....and it was fun! I participated in the Senior Magic Competition and my performance was applauded by all. I won an "Appreciation Prize" for my performance (picture above). My dad, I could see, was more happier then me. :D One thing that I would love to learn from my dad is his ability to make easy functioning props but with wonderful effect. Wish i get that soon, very important in this profession! :)

Magic show at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital

The magic show at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Center on 11th August was a fun filled event for my dad. The cute kids who were present there just made his day. The event which was in association with 'CanKids... KidsCan' -  is a family support group for children with cancer and their families. He had a nice time interacting with the kids during the show and my dad loved it the most when he called the kids on stage for assisting him. I wasn't as lucky as him, as I couldn't go with him for the show, had an asssignment in college :(  Nevertheless I feasted my eyes on the pictures clicked and sent by Pankaj with whom we were in touch with throughout the event. Thanks a lot for your sweet gesture! :)



For more pictures of the event click here.

Five reasons why I like Anna :)

Lately I have been hearing a lot about Anna, but this time more criticism than praise, unlike before. My college just today organised today a talk in which the guest lecturers lay open the faults present in the Lokpal bill and presented their very own version of the same which they said would be more effective and useful for the people. This made me think over my stand, i was supporting Anna till now, do I still support him!?....I went over everything I think about him and that lead me in reinstating my faith in Anna. Below I list my top five reasons for liking Anna:

1. Yes I know hunger strikes are not the way to bring out reforms, but when was the last time, somebody had such mass appeal without being a celebrity, politician or any other public figure...i cant name anyone. He brought the issue of corruption to the forefront and made it the topic of hot debate, which we had been ignoring for good many years, rather generations.


2. I know the Lokpal bill has faults, but people who are now correcting it and bringing more correct versions of the same forget that Anna was the original inspiration.


3. For the first time one man is leading a campaign by his sheer mass appeal earned not by political tactics, mud slinging on others or other such unconstitutional means (in which our politicians are pro).  He is a living example of  'not asking what the nation has done for us, but what we have done for the nation'.


4. He truly lives for others, read his biography to know more. His contribution are so many they cannot be listed here. But for those who don't know at all about him, I would like tell them that he was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing Ralegan Siddhi as a model village. He lives in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. He never visited his home though it is in same village. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi which is being used by his brothers. Two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager have been donated by him for village use.


5. Name one other person like him if you can think of any in today's world, if you are able to I will change my stance and not support his cause. But I know its impossible to think of anybody else, and that sums up why I like Anna so much!

If somebody feels I am still wrong in supporting him, comment below and let me know why, I am open to criticism. Finally I would like to end this blog post by one chant - "Jai Anna"!! :)

Shopaholic guilt attack and Trend Forecast 2011

One thing that I will remember my summer vacations for this year would be shopping! One thing I never believed was that girls are shopaholic, but thanks to my last one month long shopping spree I admit that at least I am one. In the last one month I have been to all big markets of delhi flocked by girls like me: Janpath, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Kamla Nagar, this year I even explored some new options like: Laxmi Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Moti Nagar, Kraol Bagh, and others. My prediction for this year college fashion according to my market research shows:

• Cloth bags are out, Leather, Rexine, Jute other materials are in.
• Tote bags are out, Sling bags are in.
• Identical shorts are out, Innovative jeggings are in.
• Heavy material is out, Sheer, Net material is in.
• Boring or top to toe coloured look is out, a pop of colour with your look is in.

But despite the lessons I have learnt about the latest inclothes and accesories, I still get guilt pangs of spending so much when my wardrobe is almost bursting! Just hope that I get over this feeling soon. And if you too are lusting after the new bag/shoe/cloth that you saw in a shop days back, just go and get it so that after the lust pangs are over your guilt pang begins...best of luck shopping!! ;)

Merlin Award Ceremony 2011

On 23rd June 2011, about 250 magicians from across the country met up in New Delhi to perform and participate in the International Merlin Awards night. The event had been organised to officially hand over the Merlin Award for the year 2011 to Gopinath Muthukad by the president of the International Magicians’ Society, Tony Hassini. Union ministers Vayalar Ravi, K.V. Thomas and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were also present during the handing over ceremony.



The prestigious ‘International Merlin Award’ which is considered as the ‘Oscar for the Magicians’ is presented to those magicians who are best in this profession and have proved their skills to highest level which can be achieved by few both in National and International stage. Gopinath Muthukad became the second Indian to win this award after  P.C. Sorcar junior. The awards show included a 45-minute show of “the best of Indian magic and illusion”. The magical night had been very well organised by “MAZMA-Society for Uplifting Traditional Magic and Performing Arts”. 



I was lucky enough to get my pictures clicked with both Mr. Muthukkad and Mr. Tony Hassini, in all it was a fun filled day with loads of colour, sparkle, pixie dust and of course *Magic*!! Looking forward to more such achievements by Indian Magicians in the near future!

Is this Delhi that I see?

While going through my college diary I stumbled upon this poem that I had written in the beginning of June 2010, when preparations for Commonwealth Games were in full swing. Here is the poem: 

Is this Delhi that I see?

No birds, no plants, no greenery

Beautification of the city they said

‘Men at work’ the signboards read

Bricks, mortar, cement, and stone

New structures have been grown

Colour, fragrance, liveliness

Nature spreading happiness

Sweet songs of birds and bees

Pure air and the cool breeze

Now replaced by oil and grease

Smoky air that makes you sneeze

Is this Delhi that I see?

No birds, no plants, no greenery.

2010 Commonwealth Games

It was the culprit to be blamed

But is it right and is it fair

Blame not one it should be shared

Wrong has been done, everyone’s to blame

It was not ‘them’ cause ‘we’ had claimed

Beautification by cutting down trees

Progress and growth that’s what we see

Isn’t it so foolish, isn’t it so lame

Putting natural beauty to artificial shame

Cement structures and stony lanes

Done all this for Commonwealth Games

Oh when will this attitude change?

‘Growth’ by cutting tress isn’t it strange

Not measured by the structures built

But by the trees that we have killed

Can’t change it now we’ve done it all

Letting buildings grow & trees to fall

We’ve done it all

We’ve done it all.

Is this Delhi that I see?

No birds, no plants, no greenery.