Thanks to last.fm I could easily get the list of the top 25 songs I listened to in 2009 (using Historical Last.fm Charts)
( Love Aaj Kal, Kaminey, New York & Delhi 6 Rule the Lists :) )

Tags: 2009, a. r. rahman, bollywood, favorites, kaminey, love aaj kal, mohit chauhan, music, new york
Current Mood: impressed

There is something magical about an event that has happened every single day for thousands of years. I have borne witness to it only a handful of times and everyone of those moments have been special in there own regard...

2009 ended for me with a gorgeous orange setting sun and the magnificent full moon rising over the ruins of Hampi... 2010 began with what can only be described as a pilgrimage of beauty and grandeur. To add to the happiness, I watched the first two sunsets of the year sitting over hill tops (one of those times conversing with a Bulgarian who was in love with India).

Something tells me 2010 be fine :)

Tags: 2009, 2010, hampi, india, pilgrimage, trip
Current Mood: contemplative

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Lets see - Travelled to 4 different countries, ran a 10k run & kissed a tiger cub. Im sure there were many more 'events', but they just arent flashing to my mind right now :P

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Some... I went after a few... I gave up on a few... I woke up to realize I really did not need to do somethings
( Read more... )

Tags: 2009, thoughts
Current Mood: blah

I really liked this meme from 2008 so, here we go again :)

Post the first line from the first post of each month in 2009...
Here we go:

Jan: You will never climb the mountain if you keep looking only at its peak. (2008... 2009)

Feb: Here is a short list of things I did in the last 12 days (for the first time in my life). Lets see if I can remember them all :P (Last 12 Days...)

Mar: A lot of people warned me about watching Delhi 6, the reviews weren't entirely flattering and a lot of my friends simply refused to watch the movie. (Delhi 6 - Movie Review)

Apr: Me: I wanted to ask this question to you... (Conversations With Her - Stories of Love...)

May: My last weekend's trip to Kannur in Kerala was one of my most awaited trips. (Finding Perspective...)

June: Last Sunday I participated in my first 10K run, the Sunfeast World 10K run. (The Run...)

July: It has been over four years since I started blogging and what started as a simple way to hone my writing skill and reach out to more people easily, has become a part of my life. (Thank You...)

Aug: Im Jack's absolute lack of surprise... (Epiphany...)

Sep: What is a more accurate definition of a Good man? (Good & Evil)

Oct: Last evening I got the tragic news that my friend Mehmood had passed away a little while earlier. (Memories Of A Friend...)

Nov: A motion picture, or music, or television, they have to maintain a certain decorum in order to be broadcast to a vast audience. (Guts...)

Dec: Nigahon mein dehko (Na Jaane Kyun...)

Tags: 2009, blog, history, posts
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Abhijeet & Sunidhi Chauhan - Lamha Lamha (duet) | Powered by Last.fm

The new year is almost upon us and this means that its time for my series of new year posts looking back at how the year has been for me. This year I will drop off some of posts I did last year coz I will be traveling from 30th Dec till Jan 03rd.

This has been an eventful year so hopefully the set of posts will be colorful :)

Tags: 2009, life, looking back

I have been to 4 countries, 7 different trips(With one more to go) and 27 days of traveling in all!




You can see more details and photos from the trips here: http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/chandrahasa/public

Tags: 2009, travelling

This post is almost a year late, but hope you still enjoy the photos from my trip to Bangkok from Jan 09 :)

The beautiful Reclining Buddha



( Bangkok - Day and night... )

Tags: asia, bangkok, buddha, fireworks, photography, photos, reclining, south east asia, thailand, travel, trip

There is a famous anecdote about a wise master and a tea cup. This story is one of my favorite zen stories. The short version goes something like this:

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era, received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

Like this cup, Nan-in said, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?

- taken from this post

Its a simple and beautiful story that hits home. What is amazing is that Hollywood has been dishing out different versions of this story way too many times.

There were mentions of parts or the entire anecdote in both 2012 and Avatar (and possibly many others I havent watched). To be honest either movie is not symbolic of great writing but seriously people shouldn't you be trying to come up with something a little different than the original story.

Ps: And guys dont waste too much Tea while getting the message thru ;)

Tags: hollywood, master, movies, stories, tea, zen

Maybe I should have written this post immediately after watching Avatar. It has been a few days since I watched Avatar, but I think that actually helps coz the whole experience had its time to sink in.

If you are reading this wondering - Should I watch Avatar?
The answer is an emphatic - Yes, but only in 3D.

Avatar isnt just any ordinary movie, with it taking 14 years to make, it is nothing short of an extaordinary experience. The visuals and effects simply take your breath away. While too much effort is put into the effects, they seemed to have over looked more than a few basic requirements.

( Read more... )

Tags: 2009, animation, avatar, computer-generated imagery, film, movie, review

Sometimes going thru the infinite turns and surprises in life, you are often brought to situations that you believe you were the first one to experience. Some of these are pleasant and you feel privileged to be a part of it... Then again there are times where you simply dont like having this 'experience'. You look left, then right and then left again but there is no let up.

Some choose to sprint away and ignore the situation till the situation disappears into the background. Some choose to face it and fight their way out. Some find their own unique solution... Whatever we choose deep down we hope that we never have to be in that situation ever again.

Then one fine day you notice someone else going thru the exact predicament you went thru. You see the way they are handling it and it reminds you of what you did. All of sudden you see flaws in what you did and what you should have done. You wonder if you had stepped back for a moment and looked again could it have worked out better.

And then you realize the important thing is not how you handled it or how it should have been handled but rather it is the lesson that the situation carried along with it. Sometimes its subtle and sometimes more pronounced but in the end there is always a lesson.

Tags: experience, friends, happiness, lessons, life
Current Mood: amused