'When The City of Destiny calls.'

RANG ---- DE----- BASANTI..... and more.

The day was bright and sunny.The moods all upbeat except one.And the time perfect.

Planning is often hard and when you take the task of making everyone happy, it's seldom successful.

Nevertheless, we all set out on a big trip to the city of destiny. I am not kidding.It was really where we went on Saturday.The name of the place is Des Plaines.Literally speaking described as the city of destiny.This is a local hub of sophisticated people of Chicago suburbs,close to the village of Shaumberg.

We set out from our home at around noon.With lunch and a family visit in mind, reaching the destination soon was driving all of us nuts.

Music accompanied with lot of Chit Chat and useless arguments of anything and everything ranging from food to love were good time and boredom killers.

Finally after a beautiful,hassle free two hours drive we reached Shaumberg.

First stop : Lunch buffet at India House.Probably the first and only well decorated Indian Restaurant I have seen in Illinois till now.Really impressive decor and yet pocket friendly!

Food? Dosa, Idali (till date I am still confused about the right spelling....) , Naan, Paneer Maakhani, Chicken Curry and Gulabjamun topped the list of buffet favorites.

We ate till our hearts content and the driving force was the since the place is so beautiful and the food range is decent and the food also tastes alright, the price ought to be high.Yes another of those factors which make people overeat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To our dismay the buffet price was lower than expected and that made us really sad.Yeah who would be sad with a little money saved........But we were.

So off we were to my friend's sister's house.The village of Shaumberg has several number of fellow Desis living there.Infact its kind of an all Indian neighborhood so to say.

Each time I visit my friend's sister, I feel her daughter has become even more cuter.This time however I was going to see this kiddo after almost 6 months.And given that infants progress geometrically in late infancy and early childhood, I was not surprised at all to see this smart kiddo do all the stunts that she was doing.

Draped in a beuatiful white Ghagra - Choli, embroidered with mirrors, she could give Aishwarya a run for her money!

Took tons of photos.Yes people think now that I am a camera freak but what is the use of a digital camera if you do not make the most of it.

An hour or a little over that was spent in Shaumberg and then we bid goodbye to the kiddo, who wouldn't want us to leave.Anyways we were then finally off to our final destination.The movie theatre.It was about 25 mins. away from where we were.We reached the actual venue ten minutes early.However as fate is , we still took a wrong left turn and landed on a street with no turns, no u- turns and no short cuts with tons of ice and thus very very low speed.

We managed to somehow find our way through all this and reached the place for the movie.Got the tickets and went in and sat amongst about two scores of others who were just like us.....yes Desis.

The movie had already started.I hate it when people miss even a little bit of the movie.But this time it wasn't that bad.Afterall I think my patience has proabably increased atleast a tiny wee bit more than what it was in high school.

Anyways so the movie...........Rang de Basanti posed a big question to me or rather it made me wonder why people hype movies so much.If they do why do I trust other peoples' opinions and even if I do that why am I ruesome when a movie comes along that is good but leaves a bitter feeling in my heart too.Somehow somewhere something in the movie made me think what I was doing abroad and why I am not doing anything to change the way things are in my homeland.Is it because I am waiting for getting an opportunity or is it sheer diffusion of responsibility? Or is it that I am scared to take initiative.Whatever it is, it is unsettling and it has made me even more determined to return back home after I finish with my studies here in the States and do something worthwhile which will change the face of the future for the coming generations in my Matrubhoomi.

Overall the movie was good.It was really good to see for a change that five heros in the movie acted their share equally well and talent was not wasted.Music was a treat for the ears and the Indian Air Force planes , a treat to the eyes.

Loved the song, Luka chupi bahut hui saamne aaja na.............Cried a great deal, and then again there were moments I could stop laughing like Aamir's laugh riot song"SUEkar mere mann ko...." Cool locales of North India and yes........................ the place where the friends would love to hang out.That cool cliff which was right beside water where they danced and sang a number of times.

Indian Cinema is changing, and so are the people.Often I wonder , does the society mirror cinema or is it the other way around.Besides the violence, booze and rallying shown in the movie, I would really be impressed if youth picked up a good message from the movie.

To end this write up , I'd narrate one of Aamir's dialogues : "There are just two ways to lead a life; one: Sit quietly and watch whatever is happening and two: constructively criticize take it upon you to change things."

"No country is perfect. You have to make it perfect.And hopefully we all shall!"

Well I am determined to fall in the second path of life.What about you?