Meeting with the Indian Finance Minister!

I met with the Indian Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, at his office in Rashtrapati Bhavan at Delhi yesterday at around 1:00pm. The meeting was organized by the All India Association of Chit Funds and was primarily to present our report on the chit fund industry. The Finance Minister released our report. He also patiently listened to our presentation of the results and said it was good work. The meeting lasted around 40 minutes.

I am really excited about the positive response our report received after all the hard work that went into it. The meeting with the FM is an unforgettable moment in my life :)

The World Wide Web

The WWW is an amazing invention. Connects people across regional and cultural boundaries. I don't have to wait until tomorrow morning to get today's news. Well, actually I don't have to wait at all. With Twitter, Facebook and all the other social networks working as they are, the information dissemination is now real time. A time will come when everybody will be on these networks, 'tweeting' about their activities. That would be the ideal world. No secrecy, cunning dishonesty or hatred. People will know what others are thinking and doing and they can counter react in a logical way instead of waging war at each other. I am really excited to see this happen in my time!

Movies - The past two weeks

I saw like five movies in the past two weeks. Two on DVD and three in the theatres (one of which is second time). Following is a brief description of how I feel about them.

Kaminey - nicely taken but lacks a proper story line. Haphazard events culminate to form the final picture. Not much 'Masala' as well (that's good). I personally think Shahid and Priyanka should act as brother and sister more! Overall, not very entertaining.

Final Destination 4 - Gory but not scary. Couple of scenes are excellent; made me grab for my cousin's hand! However the extreme violence and bloodshed made us laugh more than frightened. Watch it on 3D if you ever plan to.

Kandasamy - Masala, glamour and color makes it palatable. Otherwise a no-show. Similar storyline as in Robin Hood, Krishh, Anniyan and so on. Songs are good.

Ice Age 3 - saw it again cos I love it!

New York - Old movie. Watched on DVD. Regret that I missed it in the theatres. Awesome! The theme was well explained and the truth in it touched my heart. I did cry for this one! Ending could have been less dramatic but overall I loved it.

Oh well, all good things must come to an end..

Last two weeks was fun. Super fun. My cousin sister was visiting from UK and she brought her two good friends along with her. Its always fun when my cuz comes down cos we are real close. This time it was even better with her friends around. These girls, they brought in a breath of fresh air into my otherwise dull life!

What did we do those two weeks? Well, not really two weeks but 10 days (given my cuz had to visit her mom's hometown as well). We went 'paint-balling' for starters. That was quite fun. And of course we went pubbing/clubbing like two maybe three, oh wait - was it ten? - times :) We also travelled a bit (to Pondi for instance). We went to the movies and had dinner couple of times.

The fun part, however, was the 'girl' times we spent together. Don't you think it is awesome when a bunch of teenagers talk about their bfs/gfs/parties? Especially when you are well out of your teens, yes of course! Made me feel old though, knowing I don't speak their language anymore. But yes it was amazing to listen to them! Playing 'dumb-sharadhs' and card games with them was also very entertaining.

Highlight of the whole visit was my cuz's 18th birthday when the entire family got together. We partied hard sans age. Was a good 'bonding' time :)

Now that my cuz and her friends have left, I am feeling very sad. I really miss them. I have no idea if I will even meet my cuz's friends again in the future. Well, life goes on, doesn't it?

Best moments in life...

There are some moments in life that one can never forget. Some moments that stay etched on our hearts. One such moment was my cousin sister's 18th birthday. I was unfortunately delayed for her birthday party due to some last minute work at the office. But my sweet cousin waited for me and refused to cut the cake until I arrived. She made everybody (from my baby cousin to my great uncle) wait for me! That was really touching. Yes, some moments in life remain unforgettable...