The Train

While browsing the Merriam Webster portal today, I checked that they have few interesting quizzes, word of the day section, puzzles like daily sudoku and interesting articles. Having checked the word of the day for the day and past week, found that I have a better score than the average score for my age in a vocabulary quiz and having played a game of sudoku in under five minutes, I turned to the interesting and informative articles! For someone like me - who loves to read, who loves to learn, who loves to learn new languages and who wants to improve their proficiency in the English language, these articles are interesting and informative. Very simply to understanding and containing small bits of wisdom that make us build a well-informed and more understanding outlook of the world, these articles are found in all dictionary (or learning English) websites. Through small anecdotes, they will leave us with facts and information that we will never forget.

Today I found multiple articles on the above mentioned website. The first one to catch my sight was an article titled "Why Do We Call It a 'Train'?" Since I watched a Big Bang Theory marathon yesterday, my first thoughts towards this title were - 'Let us find out what interests Sheldon', 'Let us find out what Sheldon probably already knows.' (And Jim Parson's famous Sheldon Cooper voice echoes in my head saying - 'Really? Is it possible that Sheldon doesnt know this?').
I open the article and Sheldon Cooper is driven out of my mind in an instant. The image staring back at me (the one accompanying the article) was none other than HOGWARTS EXPRESS. I shook my head and thought I was hallucinating having not seen the moves for a couple of weeks now - but no!! It was there!! I shook my head, blinked my eyes but the image did not change. Curious... very curious! (In Ollivander's Voice, please)

 I held my breath, not wanting to jump to any conclusions, I decided to do some research. The obvious place to begin was - Google. I searched 'Train', 'A Train', 'The Train', 'Why we call it Train' and some other combinations. Surprisingly, all the above searches gave me images of trains that were NOT the Hogwarts Express. There was the image from the article which came for 'Why we call it Train' (as expected) from merriam webster search result [and you dont want to google 'The Train' unless you want to see images of Emraan Hashmi]. So, it was not a coincidence that while publishing this article, the image of the Hogwarts Express was taken by mistake.

Thus, I feel it considerably safe to declare that whoever penned and published the article, is a Harry Potter fan.
Such incidences never fail to amaze me. I am astounded how some ink and paper can create a magic so deep and so wide-spread. Even when I am not looking, I know it exists. Harry Potter, dear friends, is NOT a person and definitely not a book. It's a world - a world filled with magic and not just the wand kind. It is magic that holds people together and makes them believe. It is a magic that makes us see the best in each other and in turn in ourselves. It is a magic not just to create wonders but to support them as well.
Seeing the image, even after a long dull day at work, I feel like I can go for a Harry Potter movie marathon as soon as I get home ;)

PS : Train means something that is dragging behind. It was initially used to denote the part of gowns that trailed behind. [This is all that I read of the article.]
Hope you read the article and enjoy it!https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-history-of-the-word-train
Do let me know if you too know that its the Hogwarts Express!

Dr. Cabbie : Movie Review

Okay... Firstly, if you have not heard about this, let me tell you. Dr. Cabbie is a movie. It is financed

bu Salman Khan and you might have heard about it because it stars Isabelle Kaif, Katrina's younger sister. I came across this movie a little differently. It stars Kunal Nayyar, Rajesh Koothrapalli of The Big Bang Theory. Initially, I thought that he was the protagonist but he is not. However, I am really glad that I got to know about the movie.

The movie started with Deepak (Vinay Virmani) who graduates as a doctor from Delhi. He then travels to Canada where his Uncle lives. He wants to help people as his father was a doctor and is now decreased. He and his mother travel there. Despite trying hard, he couldnot get a job. That is when he meets Tony (Kunal Nayyar) who is a Cabbie there. Tony suggests Deepak could become a Cabbie too. At first, Deepak is too adamant of trying to be a doctor only but when he is forced to work at his Uncle's restaurant, doing a lot of misdeeds.
Deepak finally calls Tony and agrees to be a Cabbie. Tony has a special friend Simone (Isabelle Kaif). When Deepak meets the cab contractor, he realizes that the man was ill and Deepak gives him some consultation. On his first day on the streets, he has a hard time finding the routes but he gives alot of useful advice to his first client.
Later that evening, a girl sits in his cab, whom he previously had seen in a Coffee Shop and had fallen in love with at first sight. However, he finds that the girl is pregnant. The three of them (Tony was also there) get stuck in a traffic jam while there is heavy rains outside. Tony and Deepak park the car somewhere side as Natalie (Adrianne Palicki - also, the one who played Jessie in Supernatural, which I just found out!) is going to deliver the baby. Deepak delivers the baby and Tony shoots the whole thing and puts it online. Natalie and Deepak become hit overnight. Deepak gets popular as Dr. Cabbie.

Deepak and Natalie grow close. On the other hand, Natalie was in a relationship with a rich guy who was a future prospect of the state mayor. His dad was a very powerful person who wanted to strong his son's candidature and thus forces him to reconcile with Natalie.
Deepak takes Natalie to his home and they both become close. One day, Deepak finds a muslim girl attempting suicide and he talks her out of it and gives her anti-depressants which were apparently banned in that country. The girl attempts suicide, later, using those anti-depressants. There is a case against Deepak which is fueled by Natalie's ex.
Natalie, who is a lawyer by profession but had to work as a waitress after getting pregnant, takes back to being a lawyer and takes Deepak as her first client. A lot of people come and tell that Deepak had been nothing but service to the community. He is finally announced as not-guilty for all other charges except giving illegal drugs. But then, Natalie marries Deepak, not for the visa but so that she can travel with him. The judge decides not to deport Deepak back. And then we have a happy ending!!

Okay, I was really eager to see this movie and quite honestly, I really loved it.

You see, it is such a simple and beautiful story. It is very imaginable. It is about something that you can really see happening to people and nothing superfluous.  Moreover, there is a scene where Deepak tells the court that he did all this because of the Oath which asks him to be true to his

profession regardless of anything.

For me the catch was definitely Kunal Nayyar. To see him in such a different avatar from his usual Rajesh, is a wonderful feeling. Here, he was a total devil-may-care person and was paired alongside Simone. He spoke bits of 'Hindi' and acted a total playboy. He even looked so different! 

Another great surprise for me was Adrianne. I thought I did know her but when I found out that she was in Supernatural... wow! Amazing feeling!

It is a very simple movie with very real life characters and still I would recommend that people should watch it!!

January 01, 2015 #365

There is nothing better in life than to talk your heart out to a friend. I did that... for more than an hour. A friend who is far away but someone who will always be in the heart.

Okay, wait... let me rewind a little...

I had a good time today. We had a small treat at office and I sang in front of so many people. Good thing was -
a) I can sing again
b) I was happy
c) I sang in front of so many people

And then on the journey back...
I dialed to a friend. I met him 4 months back and we spent 3 months together (away from both our homes) in a totally stranger city. The thing is, this friend, that I would fondly call 'Shelly', after the great legendary - Sheldon Cooper of Big Bang Theory, as this friend is also that witty, is equally addictive. Once you know him, it is impossible to not like him and want to be near him. He is nearly infectious. Lolz.

Anyways, so I called him as he had called in the morning to wish for New Years and I couldn't speak to him. So, I called him and I spoke to him.

It was magical.

I spoke like we had never parted for different cities. He spoke like he is still here... catching me on my small - small habits, like lying :P, hating his flat-mate :P and the bike.

You knows, some people are not there in your life for any reason but just to make you realize how beautiful your life is. Their simplicity reflects your own joys that you had hidden deep within you and forgotten about. Shelly, is one such friend.

He is simple and very funny. He can make you laugh off bad with a fall of a pin. And at the same time he is very sincere and hard-working. And at the same time he knows how to really have fun. This is such a rare combination. In many people you will not even find one... very few are blessed to have two but someone with three and I know him, I am blessed!

When I spoke to him, it was a wonderful feeling. I am really glad that I spoke to him on the first day of the year. It was an 'awesome' beginning.

I feel that I started writing on the first page of the notebook with 365 blank pages, with a good quill, I hope the rest of the story is equally 'awesome' :D

I couldn't have imagined, how good my life would get, from the moment I met you.... ;)

This is a wonderful video from the show 'The Big Bang Theory' where, Howard (who is always shown to be someone as far away from commitment as can be) writes this song for his wife on their date anniversary.
This is the sweetest thing I have ever seen and it is very adorable.

Today, there is a friend who doubted whether if he is a good enough person and to him, I dedicate this. I couldn't have imagined how good my life would get... from the moment that I met you ;)

If I didn’t have you, life would be blue I’d be Doctor Who without the TARDIS A candle without a wick, a Watson without a Crick I’d be one of my outfits without a dick-ey

I’d be cheese without the mac, Steve Jobs without the Wozniak I’d be solving exponential equations that use bases not found on your calculator, making it much harder to crack

I’d be an atom without a bomb, a dot without the com And I’d probably still live with my mom (All, echo: And he’d probably still live with his mom)

Ever since I met you, you’ve turned my world around You’ve supported all my dreams and all my hopes You’re like Uranium-235 and I’m Uranium-238, Almost inseparable isotopes

I couldn’t have imagined how good my life would get From the moment that I met you, Bernadette

If I didn’t have you, life would be dreary I’d be string theory without any string I’d be binary code without a one, A cathode ray tube without an electron gun I’d be ‘Firefly’, ‘Buffy,’ and ‘Avengers’ without Joss Whedon I’d speak a lot more Klingon,
[Speaks Klingon] All: And he’d definitely still live with his mom

Ever since I met you, you’ve turned my world around You’re my best friend and my lover We’re like changing electric and magnetic fields; you can’t have one, without the other

I couldn’t have imagined how good my life would get From the moment that I met you, Bernadette

All: Oh, we couldn’t have imagined, how good our lives would get From the moment that we met you, Bernadette