I have no voice for singing,
I know I cannot preach,
I have go gift for music,
I know I cannot teach...

I have alot of friends who are very talented, some sing so well that they have a band of their own, some dance very well - they have dance groups and organize shows, some write beautifully, some have a flair with the brush...

So as i was having a chat with a friend, who himself is musically gifted!...i thought out aloud, how untalented I am....I cant sing to save my life, i learnt Kathak(an indian dance form, from North of India) for 5 years..but it was aeons ago and now i can only appreciate dance...i hv 2 left feet i feel most of the times, i love to paint...it's a wonderful form of expression and i would like to learn some more...i tried my hand at pottery once...but never could pursue it...so what am i left with..i dont think anything!

What makes a person talented? is it when they excel at something, when their work is appreciated by all...when their creation receives recognition? It's probably a mix of all this...

My parents, esp. my mom has always been keen to make me learn new things, be it crafts, knitting, music, dance, painting, pottery...she has definitely tried to make me learn...but i hv never been able to do justice to the training i have received...never been able to appreciate the time and energy that was devoted to make me learn these things...

so i wonder what it is that i am good at...if not the obvious things...there has to be something i can do...
after alot of deliberation, i realised i am I am one of those people who is just about mediocre in some things, but is really not a master at anything at all...
it's alright, i dont mind being like this, I am not a perfectionist, but it would be nice to have something which I could proudly say, yes I can do this, for I know I am good at it!....

The Weekend - Kennedy and the Strings concert

This weekend was rather eventful, it started with a fun desi party on friday. On saturday a bunch of us went to downtown Dallas, now we always do this in the wk-end and no restaurant is ever open in the day, and there aren't any interesting people around...so maybe the best thing would be to explore the downtown on a wk-day by taking a holiday!

we went to "The Museum on the Sixth Floor" which is the place from where Kennedy was assassinated. When I was going there I was excited because museums, history always interest me....but on reaching there...i was struck with this feeling of melancholy and extreme sadness. There were exhibits of Kennedy's life when he was sworn in as president, how he performed while in office, his charisma that so appealed to people...
then came the exhibits on how he was assasinated. How Oswald hid in the same place where we walked at that instant....it was very depressing to be made to feel the same thing which a million people felt on that day....

i have realised that though i am intrigued by history and famous figures, but I dont want to face the reality of death...it's a very sad thing and it makes me reminisce moments in my life which have given me the same unpleasant feeling of helplessness to that force that we all know exisits but are not able to reckon with....

The better part of Saturday was the Strings concert, it was at the Irving Arts Center, and it was supposed to start at 8, but eventually began at 9:20...!!! yes it was that late!
Strings is a very talented band, it consists of Bilal Maqsood (guitarist and vlocalist) and Fiasal Kapadia (Lead vocalist). They are a very dynamic duo and Faisal has amazing stage pressence and the ability to entertain the crowd. They sang all famous numbers from Dhaani and other songs (some i hadn't heard before)...the best part being that they even engaged the indian audience...knowing how we might feel alienated in a pakistani crowd. It was a super show which ended with us taking pictures and autographs!

The band, Bilal and Faisal


This pic is us with Bilal and Faisal

It was a wonderful experience, one I would love to have again...and it's only thanks to Sameer and Mudi (my 2 very talented friends who have a band called Masum)....and I am in awe of this band...


England is playing really well and so is Argentina, I feel bad for Mexico...but it's elimination round now...all is at stake now...

Have some respect please!

As i was driving to work today morning, i was listening to Kidd Kradick In The Morning (106.1 FM) and Kidd, one of the hosts of the show,after whom the show is named, started to talk about Soccer and the ongoing World Cup, he seemed really pissed that Americans aren't appreciative of such a world (for once world is not just N.America!) famous game! And then he went on to say that he was sad that America lost to Ghana, and then the Kellie (co-host on the show) said, Ghana sounds like a disease's name!

I was mortified, I couldn't believe that she had something so outrageous about the name of a country! Americans are supposed to be real patriots, if that is right then how come they dont value the sentiments of a person with a different nationality? Any person who belongs to Ghana and heard that being said on air, would have found it very disgusting.

So i am not residing in my country of birth, the country that has made me the individual I am today, given me the moral values, the religion, the faith, the respect,the food...and everything I am . I am a proud Indian, yes very desi...

So today when i heard these jokes on Ghana, I wondered if someone said something like that about India to me, I would probably go balistic, I might crib all the time that India doesnt have this, doesn't care about this ...blah..blah...but the fact remains I love my country and no matter what other people think of it (land of snake charmers, land of hot spices, land taking away all jobs...!)...i dont care, coz yes it had snake charmers, can u charm snakes? it was the biggest producer of spices, and yes all jobs go to india, why...it's more talented, more enterprising and inexpensive!....

I donot like people who belittle other people's belief or faith or even country, it's none of your business...dont say things that are mean and derogatory please!
I have respect for every country, so you also please respect mine!

My car buying experience....

On friday, June 16th, my (now old car) Mazda 626, decided to play some more tricks with me, by this time it had already debunked the OD gear, it was just a switch that didnt work in my car, the left wheel was dangling on tenter hooks, but now it decided the rear gear was redundant too...when megha has friends who can push the car back, why hv this extra gear....
so i was in the starbucks parkign lot and i am making a herculean effort to come out of the parking lot..and it is embarassing..and e'one starting at me (the general thought probably was, why is she accelerating her car when she is trying to reverse, maybe she doesnt know abt the concept of a hand - break)....
so after praying, promising god that i will be nice to all and sundry come waht may if he just lets me get out of there...and what looked lk a whole 10 mins, i got out of the lot....i was sweating, not coz it was hot, but coz i was so mad with the state of the car and the embarassment i had to endure...

sat morning comes and i drag shahid to paul's (mechanic) shop...and i am told by a very sympatheitc paul that i would be better off getting another car, the transmission on this car was kaput!

so i come to the den...now the choice was between corolla or civic, i was more inclined towards the corolla coz of the mileage, it was cheaper and coz my dad and i wud not fight if i bought this!!!...haha...no seriously..he bought a corolla not 1 month back...and he wants me to do the same!!!
neways...so shahid and i go to "toyota of irving" and look at the corolla LX and CE..the difference b/w the two in standard package, all this is incl. in LX:
1.uni color in LX
2. cruise control
3. power packgae
4. wood look front panel

but the salesman (charles bui) shows me a CE with power package and cruise ctrl for 16,625
now shahid and i go to his office and the haggling begins...
shahid was the sweetest person guy ever...he bargained, gave every possible reason as to why we shud be given a better deal...and finally after what seemed lk 2 hours we reach a price 14,225...and shahid leaves to pick his taurus (cudnt resist this...he actually owns an infinit, but it's the J30 and it looks lk a tauras more than lk an infiniti) from the mechanic...and then i commit a blunder...the manager comes and tells me they cant do that price and tells me 14,725 it'll be...i do some math in my head and say ok....nwo shahid is back and he starts to tell them that this is not good..and they say i agreed to it...i was mortified...i had done something soooo stupid!...i felt so bad for shahid...but nothign cud be changed...so we settled @ 14,625 + tax and title...and after signing a zillion papers..i walk err sorry drive out with a brand new corolla, silver, 2006 and it's super cool!

i love my new "silver bullet" as anu calls it...and it's super...

thank u shahid...or mastah as he is popularly known...I OWE U BIG TIME FOR THIS!!

Yesterday was the mavs game 6 against Heats in the NBA finals, the mavs were 2-3 and needed to win this game to push for a game 7.

in the morning i was on the mavs website and i saw this tix raffle for game 7 if there was one...and i told all my friends to sign up too..since i am an eternal optimist, when it comes to others atleast :D

game starts and mavs are giving miami a taste of dallas heat!...but by 2nd quarter, heats have touched base with their game again...
it was sooo close, yet so far...not one mav palyed well, dirk was out of steam, terry, stackhouse were making no effort...i dont know the game too well, but i do know when there is effort and when there is not, it was a lack lusture performace by dallas...

it left us all very very sad..and mad...i think Wade is super cool...and shaq even gives mean vibes....

but in the end, the team playing better won, not the better team.

what sucks is the passion that this game had brought abt in us..there is so little going on these days that one can get passionate abt, indians drew 2 tests in WI and then mavs played lk this...now will brazil also loose to england/germany?

i do hope something good comes across this week, maybe the next cricket season...

Bombay Dreams

So Kapila and I went for Bombay Dreamz!
it was at the Music Hall At Fair Park in Dallas, the theater/hall is very impressive...it's HUGE and the architecture is pretty neat too...it's got a very modern feel inside and a medieval look on the outside.

so after quickly 2 hurried pics outside the hall...(desi BIG TIME)..kapila and i go inside and find our seats....and the play begins...it starts with a huge screen hung on the stage, with the popular
"shakala baby" playing on it....

the play is a story of a boy who lives in the slums in bombay and how he becomes a star and how he changes then....i dont want to tell u the whole story coz i want all of u to go see the play....the performances by the male protagonist, Sachin Bhatt and the female lead played by Reshma Shetty leave u with a sour taste in your mouth, but this other lady, sandra Allen who plays an estb. actreess in bollywood, is brilliant.
here's why u shud go....
it has amazing props...the back drops are so real...it really looked lk we were in a chawl in bombay when the slums were shown...when the ms. india contest is held...it did feel lk the backstage of a beauty pageant....when the wedding scene came up...it was sooooooooo
colorful and beautiful....and so typical!
and then the choreography.....sooooo indian...so many jhatakas and such....wonderful...and it's not by shaimak davar (sp?)...it's some american music needs no telling....we hv all heard the catchy "shakala baby"...but the other songs/compositions are equally catchy and they
are based on popular film songs from india....
so all in all...it was a super night out....

now when u guys go pl dont get seats in the back...that will not be fun @ all....one has to sit in the front...
kapila was lucky and she got us the $35...balcony seats...so when u guys start to book seats....we will be happy to tell u what is gg to
be good and what not so good...:)