I'm Officially an Uncle!!! :)

Sharing the biggest joy of my 2015 as a unique post!!! :)

On 7th November 2015, my sister Shilpa was blessed with a beautiful baby boy! :)

They named him "Ved" which means Knowledge :) And I'm officially an Uncle now :) 

My parents are in US now, they are visiting Shilpa to spend time with Ved!! :)

Ved in Shilpa's arms at the hospital :)

Ved enjoys a nap :)

Nice and comfy in the child car seat! :)

I wish him all the best and may God bless him with all the happiness in the World!!!

Cheers!! :)

Thoughts on 2015...

Well, one more day to go and we gonna say goodbye to 2015! :) 

2015's a memorable year for me because:

1. I met my parents after 4.5 years. I was so happy hugging them and then spent a month with them.

2. Lived in a caravan for 6 months. The best part is I spent 1 month with my parents in the caravan which was brilliant.

Life has changed so much. Sometimes I just sit on my own and think about the memories from the past years. How different things are now. The good, the bad, success, failures, happiness and sorrow. I wish I wasn't so stupid to have said or done things which I had in the past and I know nothing can be done about it now. I reflect on the incidents to ensure I am well prepared for the future.

There were times that I felt so lonely in life - far away from family and far from true friends, the stress of work and losing motivation to cook a meal alone for just myself cause I always enjoy cooking for people around me and there is happiness to watch them enjoy the dishes I cooked. On some days the heart aches for not being able to receive enough warmth, love, care and affection cause you got nobody around you who is close to heart similar as family or those friends who are genuine and true - who live thousands of miles away. I do talk enough on phone, whatsapp, skype, etc, but nothing will ever feel like a real hug and having a meal sitting together. I never talk about this to any of my family or good friends cause I don't want them to worry - they've got their own lives and things to do and I just want them to be happy.

I always believe that when you take the pain, you will get rewarded with joy. So, sometimes when I feel the heart breaking and it couldn't take anymore pain, I pray for strength. Strength to stand up and carry on the journey of life - for every time you stumble and fall flat, you gonna become tougher than you were before. I reassure myself that God sees the truth but waits, so good times and happiness will be given as the reward for bearing all the pain. I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to eat, sleep and have a healthy happy life. So, I am definitely grateful for what I already have and all I would want is the company of a soul to love and get loved back.

I know I will be alright once I have a girlfriend cause when I need her, she'll be there for me and when she needs me, I'll be there for her too. Yes love is all I need. But who knows when am I gonna find one, I can only hope that maybe 2016 will bring the blessing to me.

I've started to watch more movies since the holiday season started coupla weeks ago and learnt that there is always something you can pick up from a good movie - it can be a positive vibe, a nice idea that you wanna try in your life or wisdom that you can make use if you come across similar challenges. Watching a good movie is like reading a good book, you get so engrossed that you forget about the world around and it's relaxing. So, I might become a movie buff from next year, let's see.

I've recently watched Indecent Proposal and I love the below quote:

Someone once said, "If you want something very badly, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never yours to begin with."

And I love the below dialogue:

Diana: Have I ever told you I love you?

David: No.

Diana: I do.

David: Still?

Diana: Always.

Will write again tomorrow, wish you all a wonderful New Year's Eve!! :)

Take Care :)

Poem: The Magic of Christmas...

Just wrote this poem and posting it straight away!! :)

Merry Christmas to all my friends!!! :)

Poem : The Magic of Christmas

Let us walk the hills

Under the blue arch of sky

Stand there on a windy day

And watch the clouds sail by

Let us walk the woods

Through the misty morning

See the glory of autumn's colours

And stroll on a carpet of fallen leaves

Let us walk in pleasant towns

Through hellos, waves and cheers

Dazzled by a dozen Christmas trees

And enjoy a pint each at The Lamb, The Lion and The Swan

Let us walk the magic of Christmas

Singing hymns, carols and folk songs

To share the gifts of our hearts at home

Trust me, it's gonna be a right laugh and good fun

Love, Charan xx

Karaoke Singing in the Caravan...

Continued from Sai Charan Unplugged... , Go Gentle Song... and A Tribute to Kishore Da...

Also, took motivation from: Singing at Sainsbury's Event! :)

I enjoy singing just as a hobby and never had any formal training so far. I often make mistakes when I sing - be it missing lyrics, wrong pronunciation or going out of tune. So please feel free to correct me wherever necessary and any suggestions from you are always welcome, so I can improve :)

Sang these songs yesterday evening in my caravan, hope you'll like them :)

Click on any image to view photos as slideshow and all the songs were recorded on HD, so choose HD to enjoy a better viewing experience.

Intro and Song 1: 

Song 2:

Song 3:

Song 4:

Song 5:

Song 6:

Song 7:

Song 8:

Song 9:

Please share your experience and suggestions in the comments column!! :)

Have a lovely weekend!! :)

Cheers!! :)

Sai Charan Unplugged...

Among all my hobbies, I love singing the most :)

Check out these practice songs which I've recorded yesterday! :) Not long now before I put my caravan in a storage/park it in a garage and move into a nice warm n comfy house, so wanted to record some songs before I leave my summer home :)

Here's Sai Charan Unplugged... for you, live from his caravan ;) All videos were recorded using my iphone, I've placed the phone in one of the cupboards :) Choose HD format to enjoy the video exactly how it was recorded.

Hope you'll like my practice versions, please let me know your views in the comments column :) 

Last weekend I was practicing Sonu Nigam's songs and this time, I choose to sing two of Shaan's most popular numbers. The first thing you'll notice when you listen to the Saawariya song below is that I sang it as "meri nainon se" instead of "mere nainon se" lol ;) I've only realised about it later.

On most occasions, I try and pronounce the lyrics correctly but sometimes, mistakes do happen. Especially if you have not spoken the language since the last 5 years. Yes, I am talking about Hindi. I love and respect Hindi cause it's my national language but as my mother tongue is Telugu, I use Telugu to communicate with my family and since I moved to UK, I've been using English all the time, so need to get back to the basics of Hindi :)

And below is Tanha Dil, I used to sing this song all the time while I was in school!!! Couldn't find the karaoke version for this song on the net, so sang it without music!! 

Hope you liked listening to my practice, I believe that I can definitely sing them better if I practice regularly!! 

Have a nice weekend!! :)

Take care :)

Beyond Barriers...turns 7 today :)

Celebrating Beyond Barriers...7th birthday and yes it's my birthday as well today!! :)

It all started here --> Welcome to Beyond Barriers... The two capital Bs have made me cross many barriers - I've learnt a lot about myself while expressing on blog my true thoughts - this blog is indeed a reflection of my mind. And the three dots in the title have always been a trademark which I use on most of my post titles :) Blogging has definitely changed my life - made it better :)

I take this opportunity to thank all my dear friends and readers who have always appreciated and encouraged me over the last 7 years, it has been a fantastic journey - I lost track a lot of times but came back nicely with some good poems and posts that you all have found good to read :)

I've realised I need to specially allot some time every weekend to enjoy reading my friends blog posts and also I need to get back to regular blogging. I know I keep saying the same all the time but didn't quite start doing it yet - but this time, I am more determined than ever ;) you'll notice the change soon - I will visit all my friends blogs one-by-one and I'll start writing posts on interesting topics that have defined "Beyond Barriers..." since the last 7 years :)

My motivation this birthday is to follow these words, "Think Big, Dream Big. Never stop believing in yourself, you've got it in you. The world will never be the same because you came here!!" :)

Fulfill all your dreams!! :) 

Have a nice weekend!! :)

Cheers!! :)

Me at The Goodwood Plant :)

Who wouldn't love a luxurious car like Rolls Royce? And the heart of every car model lies in the place where it gets manufactured - where it actually takes shape/birth. For a car lover to visit such places is super exciting!!! :) And so was I, when I visited the Goodwood plant coupla weeks ago!!!

Goodwood is very popular for it's motor-sport circuit and horse racing. Check the Goodwood diaries here --> Festival of Speed - this festival is like a blessing for every automotive enthusiast!!! :)

Below is a front view photo of Goodwood plant. Click the photo to view as slideshow!

Below is my photo taken at the car park of the Rolls Royce Goodwood Plant!! :)

Have a nice evening!!! :)

Enjoy your weekend!! :)

Cheers!! :)

Visit to Chichester & Bognor Regis...

Just like to share some pictures from my recent visit to Rolls Royce factory located in Chichester, Goodwood. Goodwood Plant is where the premium car of BMW Group is made. Rolls Royce Motor Cars Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW. Went there with one of my colleagues from MINI Plant Oxford.

We stayed there for one night and returned back to Oxford the next day. We stayed at Annas bread and breakfast which was really good and is located only about 5 minutes drive from the factory.

The evening we reached Chichester, we wanted to breathe the sea and get some fresh sea breeze, so we visited Bognor Regis - it was nice and peaceful. And I am a big lover of the sea, beaches and sea breeze. It was quite windy when we were there but we enjoyed some ice cream at the sea front :)

Click on any image to view the photos as slideshow.

Happy Friday and here comes the weekend!!! :)

Live your Life, a nice story! :)

I've read the below story on linkedin recently and really liked it, hence sharing it here:

"Live your life before life becomes lifeless"

A boat was docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and... asked how long it took to catch them.

"Not very long" they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City!!! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.

And the moral of this story is:

Know where you're going in life, you may already be there! Many times in life, money is not everything.

“Live your life before life becomes lifeless” :)

Wanna Laugh Again? Part 2

Continued from  Wanna Laugh Again? ;)

Warning: This post contains strong language, if all you want is just a nice relaxing laugh go ahead and check it but if you get offended by swear words, then avoid the post! :)

Please note that all the below images are the property of their respective authors. Their use here is non-commercial and for fun only!! Click on any image to view as slideshow!

Click on the image to be able to read the above text!

Use the comments column to share with me if any of the jokes made you laugh and I'm sure you know the answer to the question in the last image haha ;)

Hope you had  nice weekend!! :)

Cheers!! :)