Stylish Shoes

There are many things about women which are very intriguing and difficult to comprehend. 

But if you ask me to take out a top list, this is something which would definitely be among them.

I am talking about shoes - simple shoes. And I have always been amazed by the number of shoes being possessed by the girls.

Now shoes are something which we wear beneath our feet - to help us walk comfortably, both when we are at home and outside home. And if this is to be the purpose of the shoes, then a couple of them would be quite sufficient.

But then, these days, shoes are just not meant to be shoes. They are meant to be style statements. They are supposed to reflect your mood. They are an epitome of your attitude.

There would be several other reasons - which I am unable to comprehend at the moment. But it seems this multitude of factors is the reasons why you would commonly find gals possessing a whole lot of shoes.

So here's a low down of a few attractive and useful variety of shoes which are in circulation in the market.

Starting with the humble Sandal.

This is the most simplest and basic of all women shoes. Quite easy to wear, it can come in stylish looks too. And the best part is that it offers a lot of fresh air to the feet, making it one of the most liked footwear.

Next comes another simplistic footgear - the slippers.

It is worn commonly at home - and is usually loved for its simple look and comfort feel.

Then come sneakers.

They have become an integral part of Friday Dressing for women. Needless to say, they are preferred footwear for gals - at games, at casual outings, and similar such occasions. 

And for formal clothing, women need not depend on a particular style of shoes. A lot of trendy formal shoes are available - like the one below - which makes formal dressing quite simple.

Such shoes are characterized by elegance and grace.

Many a times, you will also find women wearing high heels on formal occasions.

These are equally graceful. While it would help a woman with a slightly lesser height look tall, it is also worn by tall women to make them stand out further.

Slingback shoes too are similar in design - with a strap extending behind the heel.

Coming next are boots.

Commonly made of leather, they stand long - usually extending just right below the knees. They too are worn on formal occasions. You would also find them quite popular in countries where bad weather due to snow or cold is quite common.

And then you must have heard about globe trotting celebrities - partying their way away on yachts. Usually they are accused on not knowing what to wear on the yacht. They are commonly spotted wearing high heels - and are later accused of damaging the floor of the yacht.

To avoid joining their league, next time when you go on a yacht or a boat - put on a pair of Boat Shoes.

While these shoes are commonly used for regular wear, there are some other which are used only at parties or social occasions.

Such shoes come in attractive colors and stylish designs. And needless to stay, this is when they become more than shoes - they become style statements.

And to give the women the confidence that it is not about only style - but style with substance - you have advertisements like the one below.

These shoes - be they stylish or simple - might be at your feet. But they go onto add that extra bit of charm into your attitude.

After all, the world is beneath your feet!!

Of Playlists, Shuffle and Repeat

Times Change.

There was an age of Gramophones. This was the time when music started making a mark by making an entry in the homes of the people.

You could put on disc and listen to the best music in the comforts of the home. 

Then came the golden old tape-recorders.

It furthered the cause of music. Less bulkier than the Gramophones,they were instant hits.

But then none of these had a concept of Play lists, Shuffle and Repeat.

Then came MP3 players. 

For years, I did not know the meaning of MP3. Although today I thought what it stood for, Wikipedia proved me wrong. :-)

As you might be aware, the three most important things in a MP3 player today are - Play-lists, Shuffle and Repeat button.

Play-lists are used by us to compile a list of songs which we would like to commonly play and access. Needless to say, our favorites will figure here.

Next comes Shuffle. If you are getting bored with the sequence in which the songs are being played, then shuffle is the button for you. It showcases an important fundamental - Variety is the spice of life.

And then moving onto Repeat. This is one feature which allows you to play the same set of songs over and again. If you have small play-list, this is the button for you - you will never run out of songs, virtually. :-)

But why on earth am I thinking about these things, and worse still, writing about them?

The blame lies with the music of the single most awaited film in India - Anjaana Anjaani. 

Starring reigning queen of Bollywood, Priyanka Chopra, a.k.a. PC, and the nation's heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, it's music is making waves.

The film's release has postponed already once, in view of the verdict of the most important court case in the recent Indian history, the Ayodhya Title Suit. But the judgment getting postponed by a week resulting in a heads on clash with the films release date, I thing the release will get postponed once again.

But the Indian janata is satisfying their desire for what looks to be a good movie, by generously accepting its classical music.

It's two songs - Tumse Hi Tumse and Naina Lageeyan Baarishan - have taken over my music player. They have got into a Play-list and the Repeat Button is on!! And needless to say, Shuffle is not at all in sight!!

Until recently, it was Mora Piya who had occupied this top notch position.

A friend asked me whether I had listened to the songs of this movie. Of course, I had. And needless to say, she too was impressed by music.

And when the time came to choose the favorite, she chose the second. And I chose the first.

The same question to another friend yielded a slightly different result - we both agreed on the same song being our favorite. :-)

But be it the first or the second, it's all music to the ears. 

And this is one music record which has made a mark with all its songs being head turners.

Stone Cold and Hot Head

The thing on top of my mind yesterday was champagne.

Yesterday evening, I kept on visualizing how a bottle of champagne is opened, thinking about the pop sound that it makes and the fizz & spray that it creates as it flows out.

It is not that I was eager to have a glass of it. I was comparing it to myself - the way my little mind works when I get angry. :-(.

It's not a good thing to get angry. However hard I try play Stone Cold Steve Austin, circumstances make me go the other way.

But within a matter of less than a day, I learned a valuable lesson on why thinking with a hot head is not a good thing. 

A situation had arisen yesterday where a particular decision was to be taken. 

Although the solution to the question at hand was quite logical, it was not acceptable due to the fact that it was against the expected answer of the person who had raised the question. 

Needless to say, the Champagne had already popped.

Time they say is the best healer. And as always, it came to the rescue.

The same problem was resolved today with the same answer!!

And this went on to highlight the fact that it is always nice to think with a calm head and open mind.

I strongly hope and pray to God that the Champagne pops lesser and lesser times.

Hurt

What did I learn today when I got hurt??

This quote immemorable says it all.

"Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel it hurts you, it will probably hurt the other person, too.”

Accepting Problems

Remember these lines - "Houston, We've Had a Problem". 

These famous lines were said by the astronauts abroad Apollo 13 - who, on their way to the moon, faced one adversary after another.  

With their life at stakes, they accepted there were serious problems in the space ship. With help from people on the Earth, a unified team worked strongly over the next seven days after the problem was reported - to bring the team back to earth, successfully saving their lives.

This has gone down in history as one of the best examples of solving critical, life threatening problems.

Moving on to Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Commonwealth Games 2010 are just a week away. Being hosted in New Delhi, India - they will be conducted over a period of 12 days - from 3rd October to 14th October.

As you might be aware, the Games have been embroidered with controversies. 

The sports infrastructure is not upto the mark. The city is not considered to be ready for the Games. The Games Village is considered to be in inhabitable conditions. 

All of this just 7 days before the games. This is when the finishing touches should have already being put - so that you can sit back and reflect on your effort over the past many years.

But that is not the case. We are struggling to put together an acceptable infrastructure for the Games. And that would be the case till the D-Day.

72 countries from across the World will be participating in the event. But just a few days back, some of the major Commonwealth nations threated to pull out of the Games - citing poor security, bad habitation conditions, inadequate sporting infrastructure as the reasons.

But as always, the officials continued to be in a state of denial. They refused to accept there was any problem.

The Games Organizing Committee (OC) secretary general Lalit Bhanot shamed India with his poor comments. 

“These rooms are clean to both you and us. However, it may not appear so to some others. They want certain standards in hygiene and cleanliness which may differ from our perception,” commented the high profile sports administrator. 

This attitude was well summarised by Dave Currie, who is the New Zealand's Chief of Mission.

"We’ve lost faith in the OC. They were in complete denial. It’s very hard to work with someone if they don’t admit there is a problem", Dave commented.

This brings us to the most crucial point of any activity execution - Problem Acceptance.

Accepting Problems is one of the most fundamental and important points during execution of any activity.

Not all activities can be executed without any hitches and glitches. There are bound to be some road blocks. There are ought to be some challenges.

But then you need to overcome these problems. You need to climb over these barricades.

And you can do so only if you accept that there is a problem. 

If you play blind to such problems, all that you will end up doing is keep running into them. 

But then again, you need to be a jumbo to throw aside such problems with your sheer weight. In most cases, you don't have the strength to cast them aside - and you end up falling right in front of them.

And in an activity which is being executed by a group of people, all of whom have a stake in its successful execution,  it is very important that all the people have an unified opinion of the issue at hand. 

This may not be the case at the beginning when the problem surfaces. But effort should be to bring about a united opinion - so that steps can be taken towards resolution of the problem.

Otherwise, we would end up in a situation like the Games, where one party looks for a resolution - and the other simply refuses to accept the problem. 

Net result - Increased frustration for the person or group who accepts the problem. And poor showcasing of the activity which is being executed.

This is well illustrated by a few quotes - like the ones below.

“You won't find a solution by saying there is no problem”
~ William Rotsler

“No problem is too big to run away from.”
~  Charles M. Schulz

“If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem”
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti  

So next time guys, if there is a problem - be ready to accept it. And if you are working in a group, bring about an acceptance in the group about the problem at hand.  And then put all your skills, knowledge, efforts, energy et all  to bring about the resolution of the problem. 

The rest can be left to God Almighty!!

Latte, Mocha and Cappuccino

What happens when you are tired with work? And not in mood to eat you mid-day meal? Add to the fact that it's a Friday, and it is raining heavily.

That's the time when Coffee becomes your lunch.

That was the case yesterday. 

With a Cafe Coffee Day outlet in office offering its fare at prices much cheaper than those at regular outlets, coffee has become a regular lunch for quite a few people.

I like coffee - rather, I should say, I like sweet coffee. 

Now that is something which is quite contradictory to the inherent bitter taste of coffee itself. But that is the way I like my coffee. :-)

Latte is my favorite. 

Frankly, I don't know the difference between a Latte, or a Mocha, or a Cappuccino. But after years of having attempted each of these at-least once, I have come to the conclusion that Latte best suits my taste buds. Needless to say, it has to be spiced up with generous quantities of sugar.

I had requested for a Latte yesterday.  My friend was going for a Mocha. But the outlet operator, under pressure for serving the queue of people thronging his outlet, prepared a Cappuccino for me.

I insisted on a Latte. But then he gave me a look - a look which said that he cannot do anything with the Cappuccino and it will go waste. He said, "It's the same. Latte just has additional froth".

The accommodating person in my inside raised a voice and said,"It's OK" and I took that cup of cappuccino. And at the same time, I made a note in my mind to find out what exactly is the difference between these three types of coffee.

Now before going to the three types of coffee, it's better to understand about Espresso.

What is Espresso? Espresso is a concentrated coffee beverage prepared by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee.

There are said to be several techniques of brewing coffee. However, Espresso is said to offer thicker consistency, better cream(foam) and and thicker concentration of the dissolved solids.

Next comes Latte.

Latte is a type of coffee made with Espresso and steamed milk. It is also topped with a layer of foamed milk. And as per some standards, the layer of foamed milk is supposed to be approximately half an inch.

And if you are interested in how to make a Latte, then you can check out this website. 

Moving on to Cappuccino.

Cappuccino is quite similar to Latte, prepared with espresso, hot milk and steamed milk-froth.

Slightly different from the Latte, it has a froth layer of 3/4 of an inch.

And last come Mocha.

Once again, its quite similar to Latte - consisting of one third espresso and two thirds of steamed milk. However, it is spiced with with chocolate - usually in the form of chocolate syrup or chocolate cocoa powder.

All these types of coffees are best served at commercial establishments. They require a special Espresso brewer which would definitely be costly. And preparing them would require special techniques and talent too.

As for the humble souls - who dont have the material or the talent to prepare these exquisite drinks, we have the eternal favorite.

Needless to say, it's Nescafe.

This is instant coffee at it's best. So go ahead, and enjoy your cup of coffee!!

Jealousy

The hunt was on. The search was in full swing. 

This was something which they were doing for the first time. And such initial pursuits do not always yield the best results. 

But here they were not looking for someone who could qualify for the “best” tag. They were looking for someone who would win the “worst” tag - The title of the most jealous person on earth.

They spread their hunt across the six habitable continents, across seas, across lands. Deserts were not spared. 

They surveyed people across age groups – from just born kids to teenagers, from adolescents to middle aged people. They didn’t even exclude the old stars. 

They believed in the fundamental theory of search – the wider the sample set, the better the chance of finding what you want.

They weren’t disappointed.

They met a man whose eyes glowed with jealousy at the sight of someone’s happiness. They probed him further only to realise that such thoughts were without remorse. 

A deeper examination revealed that such feelings were all the more frequent. And he admitted that this had been the case since long.

They met someone else whose heart beat faster with jealousy. This was the result of someone experiencing some kind of joy. 

And it was not that he was deprived of experiencing similar delight at some point of time. But the thoughts of his cup of joy being empty while seeing someone’s cup overflowing with such rejoices made him green with envy.

They came across a lady whose eyes streaked like a flare with jealousy. And she always wore a mask so that the people couldn't catch her.

Eyes they say are a window to a person’s soul. And such jealousy reflected her frail soul. 

It was a soul that could collapse at any point of time. It was a soul which could not withstand such moments. It was a soul acting as a servant of these jealous thoughts.

But a soul is said to power a man and his feelings. What does a soul do which is plagued with jealousy? 

They say – If you can’t beat it, join it. With this, the soul ended up thrusting such thoughts back into the mind, resulting in a vicious cycle.

Jealousy breeds Jealousy. Nothing more, Nothing Less.

And then after a few months of a worldwide hunt, it was the time to crown the winner. Or loser would be a more apt word in this context.

A giant screen was erected – with a flashy LED display. The moment had arrived to declare the humble recipient of this poor tag.

They had found someone who not only embodied a few of these “qualities” but substantiated all of them.

Who was it?

And then came the moment. 

The world jeered and the crowd booed as a face flashed on the giant screen – my face. 

A bad habit had made me a come first - a sad first in the poor race of jealousy.

Joe The Pro

The night was pitch dark. The bright red light of the mosquito repellent pierced through the darkness.

The fan on the ceiling made a dull lazy sound. In a far distance, a small bell was continuously ringing. It was neither loud enough to keep me awake nor soft enough to let me sleep.

 

The loneliness of creepy. 

The day had been tiring and a sense of guilt pierced through my soul. The emotions were in shambles. And remorse was winning over my mind.

And then came the thought of the day - today - driving away all despair. 

Six years back, I tried to recollect whether I had slept peacefully on the same night.  Sadly, I couldn't remember that night - though the next day was something which I had eagerly looked forward too.

I said a small Thank You to God for taking care of me on this journey. I recollected all my friends who helped me selflessly all these years. And remembered by family for letting me pursue my dreams.

I harked back my most miserable moments. I recalled my most cherished times. The earlier have made me realise my failings and later have made me more humble.

I tried to recollect what I gained. And despaired over what I lost.

I thought endlessly over the things I thought I gained - were they really worth gaining at the cost of its expense? And I tried to value the things I lost - only to estimate that they were priceless.

Shared my joy with a few people - who were kind enough to wish me luck.

I worked with a calm mind after a long time. Faced a few challenges - but overcame them with strong thinking.

I made a few resolutions. But ended up breaking them before midnight!!

And ended up writing a blog which reflected my day - the day Joe became a Pro - a long six years back.

The Wayne Rooney Phenomenon

Flashback to June 2010.

The Football [Soccer] World Cup was in progress in South Africa. This is the single most popular sports tournament in the World. 

More than 200 national teams attempted qualifying for this premier event, played once in four years. Only the best 32 managed to make it to South Africa.

England was one of these 32 nations. As always, a lot was riding on England at the World Cup. 

They have a host of stars in their national team - Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Peter Crouch, Ashley Cole et all. Another set of super stars - David Beckham, Michael Owen - were on the bench due to injury. 

The English Premier League is one of the most commercial success stories in club football. And many a times, their WAGs (read Wives and Girlfriends) make more news than the players themselves.

Come World Cup - and the entire nation starts thinking that their team is destined to win the Cup.

Wayne Rooney was the guy who was considered to be the lynch pin of the English attack. 

Playing as a striker all year round for Manchester United, he was expected to score goals for England. After all, scoring goals, and lots of them, can make your team a winner.

After having scored 34 goals in the 2009-2010 football season, he was expected to be a likely winner of the Golden Boot Award at the World Cup.

And with this kind of expectation riding on him at the World Cup, he was expected to be in an upbeat mood. A positive approach towards the game was anticipated by the entire nation.

However, he failed miserably at the World Cup. He did not even manage to score even a single goal. 

England had managed to scrape through Round 1. But they faltered in Round 2 - losing poorly to the Germans. And within less than 20 days of the start of the World Cup, England were knocked out of the tournament.

While most players would have headed home in view of the shocking exit in a tournament which is played once in four years, Wayne Rooney made his way to Barbados on a holiday - with his wife Coleen and son Kai.

Pictures like the one below enhanced Rooney's image as a doting father. While the loss of the World Cup made the English fans frown, the smile on Kai's and Coleen's face made many a people bright.

A holiday after playing in a high profile tournament would be a well deserved break for any player. And it should not have gathered much attention.

But then came the news that the Rooney's had booked the holiday just two days before England's knock outmatch against Germany!!

Did Rooney sense that England was not capable of pulling it off against Germany? Did he think that the chances of England winning the game in the next two days was negligible - negligible enough to give him the confidence of planning a holiday two days after the game?

Had he lost the mind game much before the actual game on the field? 

What made him give less importance for something which takes place  once in four years - and holds a very significant value to any sportsman, to any nation?

All these thoughts made the English fans wonder - Two days before the critical knock out match against Germany, where did Wayne Rooney focus on? On the game in Bloemfontein or on the holiday in Barbados?

While the answers to these questions can be answered by Rooney himself, we as mere mortals find ourselves in similar situations - occasionally or regularly. 

These are the times when personal pursuits overcome professional quests. 

This is what I call The Wayne Rooney Phenomenon.

Needless to say, there is nothing wrong in it. 

P.S. The last thought made me go the Wayne Rooney way today. :-)

Roberto Carlos Free Kick

If you are a follower of the game of football - or soccer like it is called back in America - then you must have heard about Roberto Carlos.

Roberto Carlos is a Brazilian Footballer. 

He had been a part of the Brazilian National Football team for a long 14 years. He has been playing club football for the last 20 years. His stint with Real Madrid - spread over more than a decade - is well known.

He was a part of the team that won the Football World Cup in 2002.

In his hey days, he was a free kick speacialist. And this was much before the days of another free kick guru - David Beckham.

He is most well known for a free kick which he took against France way back in 1997.

Shot from a distance of approx 35 meters (115 feet) - with four defenders from the French team forming the wall - the ball made a swirl which defied logic. It beat six French players and made it's way to the goal. 

The only thing that the the French goal keeper - Fabien Barthez - could do was just watch the ball fly past him. It left him completely stunned.

Catch the goal right below.

This goal is widely regarded as the best free kick ever.

It is so famous that a few French scientist's have published a technical paper on this very goal.

Read more here.

Mora Piya

You are all I want and nothing but you, just look at me...

Please, say something...

Say something, why won't you speak to me, look at me

Just speak to me please...

Don't you know I just can't live without you...

Well, these are not my words.

These are the lyrics from the song "Mora piya mo se bolat naahin"

This song - starring Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor - from the hit movie Rajneeti has caught my attention recently. It figures right at the top of my play-list on my Cellphone MP3 player.

Who is Katrina Kaif? She is the reigning queen of the Indian Cinema today.

Who is Ranbir Kapoor? He is the rising star of Indian showbiz.

And what do you get when you put these two young stars together? A mega hit - in the form of the movie Rajneeti.

Although I have not seen the movie yet, I have been hooked to this simply superb song "Mora piya mo se bolat naahin".

For me, this is the song of the year!!

Sung by Aadesh Shrivastava, Shashi & Rosalie Nicholson - this song leaves me in a trance.

Catch the entire song here.

And the wonderful lyrics are as below.

Piya .. mora .. piya .. mora piya ..
Mora piya maanat nahin .. mora piya ..

Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
(you are all I want and nothing but you, just look at me 
please, say something)
Dawar jiya ke
(why won't you speak to me, you are all I need)
Ooo dawar jiye ke kholat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin

Darpan dekhun, roop niharun
Hoo darpan dekhun, roop niharun
Aur sola shringaar karun
Phir nazariya baitha bairi
Kaise ankhiyan chaar karoon
Koi jatan ab, hoo oi jatan ab kaam na aave
Uss kach sohat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin

Hamari ik, muskaan pe woh toh
Haan hamari ik, muskaan pe woh toh apni jaan lutaata tha
Jag bisra ke aanthon pehariya, more hi gun gata tha
Baagai ka oo baagai ka koyi sautan ho ke mora kuch 
baawat naahin
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
(say something, why won't you speak to me, look at me)
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin
Dawar jiya ke
(just speak to me please)
Ooo dawar jiye ke kholat naahin
(don't you know I just can't live without you)
Mora piya mo se bolat naahin.

A Whirlwind of Thoughts

My day today - was a Topsy turvy ride through different emotions and feelings!!

Day - 3rd September 2010.

Time - Midnight

The thoughts of the exam today are troubling me. It has been more than some 8 months since I appeared for the exam and the thought of it is giving me goosebumps.

The fact that the study period did not exceed 5 hours (including intermediating dozing off) did not add to the confidence.

Time - 6.20 AM

The alarm goes off. 

Exam or no exam - the snooze button needs to be pressed at-least once. And this made me realize one thing today - I am thinking a lot about unnecessary things.

Reason - The first thing that came to my mind when I pressed the snooze button on my cell phone was the the Snooze button was much larger than the Stop Button :-). This was done because it is more likely to be used.

Time - 7.15 AM

Mood - Anxious. One quick round of revision before leaving from home is on the cards.

Time - 9.00 AM

A small prayer to God to help me recall the answers to some really twisted questions.

Time - 9.20 AM

A small Thank You to God Almighty.

The exam is done and I have obtained marks enough to pass. :-) :-).

Time - Just after noon

Had talked to someone an hour back. And just got to know that I may not be talking to that person - maybe forever. 

This left me in a sombre mood.

Time - 2.00 PM

Answering a tricky complex question with a balanced answer in a few lines results in severe strain on the mind.

Time - 4.00 PM

Feel like I have let someone down. Wish God had given us the powers to read someone's mind - just to understand whether they felt let down.

Time - 7.30 PM

Mood - Extremely Nervous. Reasons - Completely Unknown. Strong rumbling sounds from my stomach are giving me company.

Time - 9.15 PM

Cursing myself for my bad habit of procrastination.

Time - 10.15 PM

Back Home. Blanked Out. Can't think anymore!!

Time - 11.25 PM

Recollecting what happened all through the day.

All in all, It was a day with a strange mix of emotions and thoughts. 

It made me more humble. It made me feel that I should be more accommodating. It made me realize that some things shouldn't left unsaid - you may never get a chance to say them again. And made me hope that tomorrow won't be as difficult as I think it will be today.