Happily Ever After..!!

Like any girl I am also sucker for a good love story. I've grown up reading Mills & Boons—much to the chagrin of my Mum, (she considered it for adult reading and rightly so, I wouldn’t have let a 12 years old read it. Had I been on her place)—Yes I was just 12 then. But my sis was a teenager and she use to tell me these wonderful, heart wrenching romantic stories— I couldn’t wait to grow up to read such stuffs. And read I did—by covering the MBs with brown covers to make it look like a course book. Our local library Apna Pustakalay use to have a huge collection of MBs. Oh! How I miss that place, the enormous collection of books, that typical smell of old wornout, the endless racks and shelves and that old gentleman, sitting quietly observing everyone. I owe my reading habit to that library and to my sister!

Since then I've read hundreds of books—fiction, non-fiction, drama, thriller, Booker winners, and what not. But still nothing turns me on more than a good romance. Deep down we are like that, aren’t we? Hardcore romantic, we might not show it often enough, but we all love a good love story. It’s because of this that I pour over the relationships of celebrities. It’s for this reason, why I am still rooting for Brad Pitt to come back to Jennifer Anniston they were so perfect. A good love story is so hard to find these days. All around we can only see the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger—erghh!! And Will & Kate saga, though fairytellish is still too young to be called as everlasting. In today's time an age—when stories of infidelity, divorce, affairs and what not, are rampant, one story that has stood the test of time, is of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.
I've read their story way back in 2001, when they created a furore in Norway. Their love story is seems like a story from straight from Mills & Boons. Don’t you think the Prince looks like a knight in the shining armor variety? Their story is one of the best real life, high profile, love story I've come across till date. You can read their whole journey here . In short, the Prince fell in love with an unmarried mother (much to the chagrin of the Royal family and the people of Norway) and against the Royalty & his Country, he insisted on marrying his love and cherish her son as his own, even if it means giving up his crown. Eventually the Royal Family relented & and they lived happily ever after. Now isn't it utterly romantic! Ah!!!

TAGS: Crown Prince Haakon, Norway, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Mills and Boons, Royal Family, Love Story, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie

Music, Musings and more

I was wondering the other day that I don't like melancholic songs anymore. Rather I hate them nowadays. When I was in college, I use to listen to gloomy cowboy songs a lot, as we know, country songs are usually about unrequited love ( girl leaving boy or vice versa). The best Hindi songs are usually about separations, if you know what I mean. In my college days, I use to love these sad romantic numbers a lot. Songs evokes such vivid tumultuous emotions, it's almost like you are living through that phase. Remember that song 'Lambi Judaai' (from Hero), isn't it depressing?. Well, it always managed to depress me. The music and the flute play of that song is so haunting and painful that it always use to leave me in despair. The lyrics is so heart rendering, that I always use to feel the pain seep up in my veins and honestly, I don't like being affected like that. Name any sad romantic song, I bet, it will have a long fan following. One of my friend use to cry every time she listened to "Ektara" from Wake Up Sid. I remember, we were on our way to give 3rd SEM MBA exam, when the driver played "Ektara" yes just to cheer our before exam nerves. Poor chap, he was unaware that he just stir up the hornets nest because after few second Sumati ( my friend) was literally started sobbing in her hanky, which eventually turned into a full fledged brawling.Songs are very tricky, they make you laugh, cry, dance, glow with their universal appeal. Also music tells you about the time gone by, about the moments you have lives, people who came & left. When I hear an old song playing from the creak of a door, this sudden rush of recognition reminds me of a time I've lived and left and this inward tear makes it all for the time gone by.

P.S. I remember one quote from "High Fidelity" ( a highly recommended book) by Nick Hornby. "What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to the music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to the music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?" — Nick Hornby


TAG: Music, Hindi Music, Nick Hornby, Lambi Judaai, Hero, College, Wake up Sid