Thursday, October 7, 2010

I am half...

I am exactly half her age. Last year I turned 30 and she turned 60!! She is a wonderful amazing person.

I am not just half her age, I am half as selfless as she is...I am half as wise as she is...I am half as nice as she is...I am half as sweet and caring and tolerant as she is...

I aspire to be all she is....She is the best person in my life.

Happy Birthday Maati !!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Enabler…Now WHAT? again…

I am addicted to "House", the TV Series about a Doctor who is a genius. Oh well, I am addicted to House, Mentalist, Family Guy, 24, etc. I am a TV-Addict…:)

So, one of the Episodes of House is about this girl who is addicted to Blogging. She is obsessed with Blogging and she blogs about everything that happens in her life. She writes about her Relationship with her Husband, Sex, Fights, everything and anything. She feels that it is easier to express herself to someone she cannot see. It is easy to open up and talk about feelings and thoughts. I kind of agree, any strong reaction from a Stranger (you cannot see) is easier to fathom than someone you know and can see. She is a popular Blogger with lots and lots of followers. She likes the Audience.

Her husband is a simple person. He doesn’t necessarily likes that she talks about their relationship in details on the Blog. He doesn’t agree with the fact that she is telling her followers about him. He says I don’t want you to discuss me and our personal life with people I don’t even know. At several points in that Episode, I thought that if I were the Husband, I would walk out on her. But he doesn’t. He stays. And I kept wondering WHY?

So, she gets really sick. She has a decision to make about something that will affect her relationship with her Husband. She blogs about it and says that she cannot let her Followers down. She will have to ask them and make a decision. The Husband is a little frustrated, he says, it all started like a fun thing. Blogging was like Free Therapy. But not anymore. He thinks that she is addicted to the Audience and popularity. He still doesn’t leave her. The decision would affect their Future, but he still stays by her side. Again, I wonder WHY?

Finally, in the very last scene of this episode, they show that it was a minor problem and she will live. She makes the decision based on what she feels is right for her and her husband. All is Well. Suddenly, the Husband hands her the Computer and says, I know you will go crazy if you don’t write about all this. And she says, Thank God you are an Enabler…seriously…now WHAT? again…What does "Enabler" mean? A person who is too good to be real? A person who is capable of truly accepting everyone as they are? It is a good concept to talk about…but actually living and practicing it..I don’t know about that.

ENABLER…hmmm…interesting. It got me thinking and I wondered if I am an Enabler? That should be a Gautam Question. He will know the best. But digging a little deeper, I realized…I am an Enabler with quotes (""). I am a "Selective" Enabler. I let my partner be what he wants to be with some Rules. I am selective in my approach. I get to decide how I wan to enable him based on how I feel. Say, for instance, sharing things about our relationship with anyone other than the 2 of us. He cannot share it with people I don’t like. My Ego is too big. I don’t want to ever be weak in front of people I dislike. What is Enabling, letting Gautam do what he wants, the way he wants it? Or letting him do what he wants but not exactly the way he wants it? There is a very convenient definition of Enabling. I always let you do whatever you want, the least you can do is…do that whatever according to my Rules. The Enabling I know, is to make people feel obligated, so things happen to them but according to your terms.

Is it right? I don’t know. Do I want to change it? I surely do. We all like to use big words and talk about philosophy and a perfect life, but do we really practice what we talk about? Not all the time.

In fact, the more I think about all this, the more I wonder. Do I Enable myself? Maybe not. I have all these boundaries for myself. I don’t know who I am. I have never known. I don’t think I will ever know or anyone else would ever know. The first step to Enable self would be to be an Enabler. Actions speak better than words….so, talking and writing about all this is much easier than actually implementing it. The key probably is to not make it about self. Enabling is about just letting it be without getting personal.

Oh, the best way to do this is by "ENABLING the ENABLER" !!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Sums Summing Up !!: When Fairy Tales Meet...

Sums Summing Up !!: When Fairy Tales Meet...

When Fairy Tales Meet...

Mike is always respectful. He comes across as a person who is caring and thoughtful. Brenda is cute. She is always smiling and cracking jokes. She is soft-spoken and nice. When I first met them, they came across as a fun couple. I know them for about a year or so and I keep hearing stories about them from Amy (Brenda's sister).

When I first found out about Brenda and Mike deciding on getting married, I was really happy for them. I love marriages, and I almost always like to believe that Falling in Love and deciding to get married are like Fairy Tales. Anyone getting married for the first time, gets into it thinking that this will last forever and this is once in a lifetime, so it has to be almost perfect. So, when I found out about Brenda and Mike needing a photographer, I offered to do it for them. I have a theory, Pictures cannot justify the memories but at least they try. Brenda and Mike were kind enough to give me the opportunity to click them. I did try my best to make their Photo-shoot almost perfect... :)

Brenda and Mike got married on 20th Feb. I wanted to do a Photo shoot for them prior to that. So, we decided to meet on a Saturday a week before their Wedding Date. It was a perfect day for Pictures. Sun was out and it was bearable temperature to be outdoors. We roamed around Austin to click pictures in different locations and capture as much as possible. It all started in Arboretum -> Downtown -> Oasis. It ended with the Sunset. It was a long day.

When we met at Arboretum, I was a little nervous and realized that if I screw this up, probably will be horrible for Brenda and Mike. Gautam was awesome; he tagged along and helped me with everything. He was my chauffer and also carried my equipment around. He helped with picking good locations, poses, sun light direction, etc. I can never thank him enough. It was just perfect. Both Brenda and Mike were awesome. I was as always picky and being a perfectionist...I made them change 4 times. I tortured them with posing, smiling, walking, talking, standing, looking...Perfect. Thanks a lot guys for putting up with me. I hope you love the outcome and don’t hate me as much when you see the pictures.

I believe my Fairy tale is all of the things I dream of becoming. Out of the million things I want to do in my life…one is to become a Photographer. Travel the world and click People and Places. Thanks to Brenda, Mike and Gautam my fairy tale dream came true too. It was an ecstatic day for me.

So when our Fairy Tales met, the result was lovely. I cannot wait to click pictures for the lovely couple Brenda and Mike for their upcoming reception in March.
Brenda and Mike, Congrats and all the very best !!

A glimpse of our Fairy Tales !!