Is Shakespeare Still Alive?

The answer is YES.

He is alive not just amongst those students who, like me once, have had to compulsorily catch up with the Bard (whether they appreciated him or not) but the theatergoers, actors, and writers who celebrate the memory of their favourite playwright, who share a common admiration.

Today, all of us use his words in our day to day communications. His words are so embedded in our common usage that it has become a linguistic second skin.
The impact of isolated words from his works definitely has a deep influence on our language. Through Shakespeare's wordplay, we experience a genius that has become so usual that we are almost ignorant about it. "Refuse to budge an inch" and "tongue-tied" are so familiar that they sound like cliché.
Nothing else can prove this point any better than this quote by Bernard Levin:
" …if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinkin idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare."
Yet, it is only once we think in tranquility, the instancy and preciseness of such phrases that we realize these have become cliché because they makes the artifice of language seem entirely natural. I often wonder if Shakespeare ever diverged from “Imagination with Precision.”
And why just language? Shakespeare is so close to us that we find our own faces reflected in the characters he created, our own stories refracted through the tales that he tells.
His plays are informative, tragic, romantic and comedy. For instance the Romeo and Juliet is still considered the most tragic drama world-over; As You Like It and the Comedy of Errors are the plays famous for their remarkable comedy; while The Tempest and the Winter’s Tale display great romanticism.
And now that I am recollecting my experience with Shakespeare, how can I forget the theatrical show of Habib Tanvir’s translation and adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, translated as Kamdeo Ka Apna, Vasant Ritu Ka Sapna, (The Love God’s Own, A Spring time Dream), which made us “laugh into stitches.”Though Shakespeare is no more with us, he has become eternal in the form of his words and works, and will forever remain so.

M I becoming a shopaholic?

Thank God, I scored 26!
Of all the thing that I fear, this was something that was boggling me for long. But now I am relieved to know that I am NOT a shopaholic.
Anyways to tell you the fact, I spent 16 K buying clothes last week

Legend:
Total Score is: Over 50 Points: You may have a serious over-spending problem.
Total Score is: 25 to 50 Points: You need to be very careful. You could be headed towards becoming a Shopaholic.
Total Score is: Less Than 25 Points: Relax. You seldom over-spend.

This a simple test to know whether one IS or NOT a shopaholic:

http://www.banksite.com/debtconsolidation/shopaholic.htm

Sailing the ship

Highly inspired by the the Poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley,
I am determined to touch the pinnacle some day.
No matters what obstacle come my way,
No matter how high it may.
Because I know God is with me,
And so is my family.
Now I have my spirits right,
and i need not fright.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Ready to sail my ship,
Towards the Highest cliff.

PS: This blog could not have been commpleted if I had not taken words from the poem Invictus.
************************
Invictus (By William Ernest Henley )

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Do I exist?

Still Pondering over...

I think therefore I am.

I am therefore I think.

I think ____ therefore I am____.

The truth of Life...

While travelling from Rohini to Gurgaon everday, i often engage myself by listening to music or chatting with friends. But today I was sitting and thinking hard about life.....How it changed from peppy college life to a stressful professional life (Read no social life).

How pocketmoney changed to huge monthly pay cheques but gives less happiness...
How a single plate of samosa changed to a full pizza...but there is less hunger...
How a tea by roadside change to CCD, Barista...but it fell as if the shop is far away...
How a limited prepaid card in mobile changed to postpaid packege...but we don't really have friends to talk to...

this is the truth of life...............

Escape route

It’s important to keep an escape route but not necessary to take it.

Travel on the Wheels

Those two scintillating days in Shivpuri were the most memorable time I had in all these years. It was my first my first trip without any of my family member which turned out to be simply exhilarating.

While heading towards those rocky mountains, everyone was bubbling with energy in the bus. We reached the camp before dawn. It had drizzled. And the picturesque sunrise filled us with enthusiasm. There were mountains all around, and Ganga was flowing in the valley. And on the banks of Ganga was our camp. There was no electricity, no mobile network. Toilets were dry toilets with pits.

The trip was a quick get away from civilization to the lap of the Himalayas. This trip gave us more time to absorb the great outdoors and participate in activities such as a river rafting, bridge slithering, and cannoning.

Each and every activity was hair- raising but rafting was the one which brought a chill in my spine. Somehow I mustered up my courage and prepared myself for this fearful water game. After fastening my life jacket, I remembered all my near and dear ones as I had a very bleak hope of returning from the clutches of those roaring waves. But after crossing the first rapid, I threw my fear far away and enjoyed the upcoming rapids.

After this, we had the skill-full activity of canonying. Very surprisingly, I completed it most efficiently among my friends. Although, when it came to leaving the rope and jumping into the water, my knees went weak. But I did it with a splash.

The entire trip was a roller coaster ride with altogether a different experience. When I go in retrospect and remember those two days, I feel so refreshed and lively and want to revisit the place over and over again.