Great Movies...all of em

Amongst the many movies which have entertainment as their sole purpose, I ve always been a fan of good movies which go beyond entertainment into invoking a sense of philanthropy and some insight into the harsh realities of human existence.
The first movie that actually shook me in a way was City Of Joy. What hit me the most about this movie was the indefatigable spirit of human beings in a dark slum in the City of Joy, Calcutta. Although I saw this movie just once I vividly remember the important moments of the movie. One dialogue at the end of the movie sums of it all for me and everyone else...'God hasn't made it easy to be human. So it feels great to beat the odds.'
Several years later, Hotel Rwanda was a total eye opener to problems I never knew existed. It takes us straight into an African Civil war. Don Cheadle plays a Hotel Owner turned into a refuge provider brilliantly. This one has one amazing scene followed by another. The most moving is a scene in which a car is driven through a misty surroundings on a bunmpy road which turns out to be a road full of corpses.
A few days later, I saw another good movie called Lord of War. This unlike others had its mirthful moments but it never ever let the focus away from the main theme of the gun dealers all over the world. Nicholas Cage does an awesome job of narrating the story and playing the main protagonist. Along the way it subtly points fingers at all G8 nations which are the peacekeepers of the world alongwith being the largest exporters of weapons. Entertaining and thought provoking.
I just finished watching Beyond Borders. While not in the same league as the above 3, I would certainly rate it as a good watch. It has some rivetting and mind boggling moments like the one in which the vulture is just about to get to a malnutrtioned kid and one in which a Cambodian baby is handed a grenade to play with. Angelina Jolie tries hard to get into the skin of a British UN employee..but just isnt British enough. Clive Owen steals the show playing a free lance Doc working for the welfare of people all around the world one corner at a time. The movie deals with the hardships faced by social workers all over the world.
Well that ends a short list. I would like the movie makers of the world to make welcome additions to the above....Untill then this is me Sanchit Rege signing off on the philanthropy movie network.

Lets Have a Beeeer

What prompted me to break the alcohol ban in my blogworld? Well it has been brewing (pun intended) in my mind to write something about the strange tradition of havin a beeeeer (thats how a freind of mine pronounces it). To say the least, havin a beer has meant a lot of different things at different phases in my life....not to me...but to others. Confused? Well lets delve into this some more.
I started with beer way back in the Ice age...aint gonna tell u when guys...(my parents have access to this as well...and i am censoring the inceident that happened with me and beer back in college) As long as I have known, I have not liked the taste of beer...and still I am getting to terms with it. But as we all know its a nice habit to break the ice (pun intended again...for all u eng poetry students read and learn) or to have a night out with the guys (this time no puns u sick @#*$%) Back in college, someone who drinks beer was an alcoholic even if the frequency is once in 6 months...well I was asked by a queer (for all the shocked beings who know one of the meanings of queer is gay...well consult the english literature majors for the other meaning) fellow 'Tu Beer Pike aaya????' at a college fest....and I was like 'Are you asking me coz u were told by someone or my breath gave me away?'.....Anyways as days went by the same ppl who were asked whether they drink...give an answer...'Main Madira nahi peeta jee' hehehe got u on that one...the stranger thing they say is 'Haan lekin sirf Beer'.....Well is Beer alcohol or Is it not? Or is it like a sin u can commit and be forgiven for it. Is Beer the pious V among vodka, rum and other Ws of the world (decode that...its simple)? Hmmm well I dont know... u tell me!

Some more years later, I have known these same type of guys drink beer every day of the week (so that they dont get knocked out) and drink beer after the other alocoholic beverage supply runs out and then get knocked out, along with the fact that they get offended to get invited to parties which choose to go sober. Me on the other hand have maintained my frequency and go steady with my alcohol not violating the qualitative or quantitative boundaries....Hey am I preaching...Hmm well maybe I am....I just wanted to convey that a persons contorted view points (which he/she hold close at a certain time and later relinquishes them..ever so subtly) does not do justice to what the real truth is. Ok I am definitely preaching preaching peaching.....did u say u see see see 3 preaching....well u have had one beer too many mate...Cheers.

Ek Saathi Aur Bhi Tha.....

Well thats the only worthwhile reusable (now u knw i am into software...duh) dialogue in JP Dutta's dud LOC. 'Ek saathi aur bhi tha' is a function being invoked by all and sundry in my workplace. And the funny part is the people who say 'Et tu brutus' are the next in line. Well heres to all my buddies who I wish all the luck in their future endeavours (...hehehe I picked that from one of the last day mails)
Now I would have written a superficial blog about ppl from the workplace leaving and throw in a few mirthful quotes here and there and just leave it at that. But it seems to be affecting my personal well being with the gauntlet of responsibilities being handed over to unsuspecting trespassers like yours truly....(woooooo I am Grisham in the making...but I would be writing on IT rather than law...so my central character would always be a mouse - metaphor and a damager- manager) Well it started with me driving off room mates and managers and now the whole ecosystem in my nick of the woods seems to be tumbling down.
Talking of room mates, I would like to publicly thank each and every one of you for being such a good friend and support (now that I will write in my last day mail)....On a serious note, I have lost very many friends over the years because of my inability to keep in touch after we lose touch... Every one of these friends has left an indelible mark on my psyche (for better or for worse) and created a void which can only be filled by their presence.....now now those who know me know that I am not a sentimental being...but do u really know me guys?...hehehe just kidding. I have come to know so many friends in such a short period of time that 2 trips with same group of friends had just 2 ppl same as the earlier group...then how is it a group???...well lets call it my group of friends....I have almost lost all the matter I could write on this matter and I do not wanna list down the friends that I lost....I would have to write name changed for each of em coz it may get nasty...hehehe. So till the next blog...asta la vista amigo

Vrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooom

ferrari. The July 4th weekend was planned for a long time. The pilan waj to go see michaelWell if you have still not guessed it...this blog is an account of the time when 2 legends crossed path me and Schumi....ok ok just kidding. I walked and he vrrrooooomed past me in the red skumachher (thats the way a gujju friend frm college used to pronounce his name...try sayin it and its even funnier when I pronounce it for ya) kick some serious b$%^ at the indianapolis grand prix. The trip began on friday when I was late for the planned start time and got the flak for making a friend miss his flight to NY (Hey dude u were late anyways..:) We started from Atl at arnd 4 pm and the traffic was absolutely mumbaiyya or like delhi to be precise...unbearably long. We had to cover a lot of distance 2 drive to Indianapolis. My suggestion to extend the trip to chicago was vetoed out by my co-passengers (Mark and Rutu...names changed to keep identities secret..hehehe) On the way we went thru a lot of bad weather in Tenessee. All the while I was tortured and surprised by the shyam sundar music (kallu hip hop) which is Rutu's forte (why surprised...well there were some non shyam sundars as well...hehehe) We had booked 2 tent sites at the Indianapolis KOA for 3 nites...those @#$%% had a policy that it was minimum 3 nites.....Since we were running late, it was past midnite when we reached the place. Thankfully we all concurred that 2 am was not the best time to set up a tent....so we had to settle in the car.....a rented dodge stratus...and all the time we were unable to find the button to switch on the inner lights in the car.
The next day started pretty early at arnd 8. We had got tickets to the qualifying race....alag se :(..... anyways the traffic was intimidating as we got near the colloseum...its not gladiator..near the race track. Nevertheless twas not chaotic. We just couldnt wait to get in as we could hear the sound of the lean mean machines revving up the decibel levels...did u knw F1 engines are of the capacity of a jet?...Nawledge.... So as we made our way into one of the stands the first thing that hit us was a beatiful chick in blue...hehe u were expecting something else rt?...but the renault color was looking awesome on so many of em.....anyways lets keep it short...no pun intended. The stands were burning with the summer temperatures soaring to arnd 90-95 deg. We were already in awe of the cars zooming past the J stand where we were sitting intially. The best part about the qualifying day is that we could venture out and sit in any stand. So we decided that we are gonna try and get our money's worth and xplore each and evry corner of the race track...the stands that is. It was the best day of our trip as we enjoyed Ferraris overtaking Renaults on the fatsest part of the circuit....(also oggling at some delicious chiks in blue...well though a ferrari fan...the reanult blue looks rockin on em) After the qualifying we rushed to a nearby bar to watch France plunder Brazil...Well the bar ambience was nice too with some brazilian drunks singin 'braziiil lalalalala...' Anyways we got into a kroger nearby so we could get us some Chicken for the BBQ. Gosh this is a loooong one will continue in part 2....hehehe lord of the rings style

Memorial Day Weekend wih Shanks and Avanti

The memorial day weekend was really fun. I went to my cousin Shanky and his wife Avanti's place in Richmond. Well seemed like just yesterday that the 2 got married (its been 2 yrs actually..but nice line eh) Well start se start karte hain... I booked my tickets some 2 months in advance...gosh now I think I was stupid to believe the flights wud be full like the time we used to book Konkan railway tickets to go to Goa...Duh.... anyways so after a brief mix up of the destination and a few anxious phone calls later (dont ask me how...I am already famous for my mix-ups..... better still u can find em in any of my family members blogs....wait a min...phew no one has a blog other than me) I got my ticket to Richmond. I took an late night flight outta Atlanta...another duh moment for me as I realised I cud have sneaked...(woh to chori se jaana padta hai)...no walked outta office after lunch....(thats a friday tradition...more so on a long weekend...India mein cudnt even sneak out on a saturday)...Anyways so after a futile attempt to get on the earlier flight..(only 15 mins late ...sob sob), I was forced to sit and wait for my already late by 30 mins flight to take off. as I reached Richmond airport, I recalled Circuit's famous line 'Yeh airport to chaloo hote hi khatam ho gaya bhai' Its really tiny in comparison to Atlanta...also there was bit of renovation work goin on.
I settled down into Shank and Avanti 's (Does the apostrophe s come for both...English majors a bit of help here) cosy home and we chatted like not a single day had passed since we last met....all 3 had put on quite a few if that assumption were true (sorry avanti had to include u in that one...u dont want shanky to feel bad do u?) Twas decided that we were gonna visit Virginia beach the next day...thats Saturday and visit Washington DC on Sunday. After a sumptuous meal of chicken and bread (or saada pav as Shanky says...others dont try to get the joke u wont), We went to bed and got up really late (at least me..Shanky and Avanti were up already...so I will believe u even if u said u got up at 6 :) After another delicious meal we were off to VA beach in our summer gear. The traffic to get to VA beach was quite dense as we got close to our destination. Once we reached there, we headed straight to the sand....and me and shanky splashed into the cold waves...twas like almost 1-2 yrs since I had done that. After the beach we started looking for a good restaurant to eat...(duh of course to eat...what else?) ...we zeroed in on this mexican joint which served a good margarita and some almost spicy food. In the evening we roamed around the VA beach streets which had various shows all sponsored by the VA beach city....the magic show was the pick of them all...well thats the only one we watched for more than modicum of time. We drove back home soon afterwards.
The next day started early and I rose before Shanks and Avanti did at arnd 6 am (hehehe just kiddin I think it was 5 mins earlier to u guys) and made some tea as well.....ok ok enough of the modesty stuff...So we kinda got ready to go to DC and started on the freeway. The ride was a pleasant one until a point where we were overtaken by a harley samellan...It was a real site though. The next thing we know, we are stranded at the same place for 30 mins...geez. After that ordeal came to end..phew..we reached DC. The place is a treat to watch for the sheer amount of open space and that too well mainatained open space arnd smaller monuments or museums. If Washington wouldnt have been commemorated with the naming of this city by his name, I would have called it Museum DC. (gosh that was a long grammatically incorrect sentence....aaah who care anyways...this is the US anyways...I dont care for nobody....pure american english taht one) It has a plethora of museums, outta which I loved the Mammals museum, Air and Space, American History..which was quite a surprise. By the time the trip to DC got over we had broken bapu's record from sabarmati to Dandi, in terms of miles covered (yeah miles not kms...hehehe)
The next day (Monday not a usual one..it was memorial day) was the most relaxed of the 3. We had our morning breakfast in the porch and talked a lot about life....dont get so serious guys just a casual conversation about my future plans...(they are secret...so ask me no question and i ll tell you no lie) We had our lunch and then drove to Richmond downtown where I met one of my cousins after a looong time. By the time we got back it was time for me to pack my stuff and leave for the airport. I got very emotional at the airport and broke down.....hehehe got u there..just kidding.....I bid adieu to Shanks and Avanti. I thank em for the wonderful time I had....gosh I need to buy a camera...socho Virginia beach and I cudnt click pics of my choice...ciao till the next blog!!!

What a Week!!!

Well the week that went by was one of the most ironic ones. I was totally up in arms during the week over tremendous workload. A colleague actually said to me 'Sanchit you are not smiling.....thats not a good sign.' Well having done my bit to earn much less than i deserve (thats another blog altogether...:), I embarked on one of the best weekends ever. I went White water Rafting to Nantahala River, NC (yeah i am also getting in the mode of calling states by their nicknames...North Carolina for the novice that one).... Natahala means sun at noon...or whatever in Red Indian jargon. The reason is it is surrounded by mountains/trees on both sides. And the water is released by a hydro electricity center. So it remains at a certain temperature (certain bole to 50 degrees Farenheit. If you are a person who thinks in Celsius hahahaha...thats sadistic pleasure for me coz I have been thru that phase. Get ur calculators) Anyways, so getting back to the real story...I was advised by a sanguine soul that I shouldnt wear Shoes but Floaters...Well my perception of the sanguinity was challenged I must say...How? read on.
Well before we got into the boats, we got into a Bus which took us to the top of the river from where we were supposed to take our boat into the river. A lil background on the rowing teams...well there were 11 of us, so we had to split into 2 teams. As fate would have it, we inconspicuously got divided into a team of young 6 and an older lot of 5....We had 2 instructors Mark and Gary...(u are smart if u got that I made up the names...hehehehe...kya karen naam bhool gaya) who hopped onto each of the boats. Mark was the older guy who obviously hopped onto the older guys boat...lets call it team B....(well why not team
A ...coz thats us silly)....Gary was one of our clan...a trainee in terms of being an instructor at white water rafting....The amazing thing about him being that he is a skiing instructor in the winter and a rafting instructor in summer.
Now as we got into the boat we took our positions. I was in the 2nd position on the left and for some unknown reasons the left side (unlike in politics) is the one who does all the work. We were supposed to lock one of our feet in the internal crevices of the boat. And this is where I cursed the guy who told me to wear the floaters...coz I cudnt feel my left foot after 30 seconds..It was totally frozen....
The battle lines were drawn between Team A and B as we went on the a ride like no other I have been on. Well we were constantly tossed and turned in the currents of the Nantahala river. We had some amazing getaways from the trees and rocks at the banks of the river as we came nearer to Team B. (did I tell you we gave them a lead???) Well we were constantly alternating the lead positions but team A was playin it rough...as soon as we came in striking distance they blasted a rampage of water bursts at the right sid of the boat. Well I cudnt fight back as I was on the left remember???...anyways so we went down the river enjoying every bit of the way and then Mark the shmuck that he is let our boats collide and we were stuck on a rock....and our instructor had to jump into the freezing water and get us out.
Finally at the fag end of our ride, we came across the best part of the river a level 3 turn where we got some cool pics (shud i say cold pics...hehehe) Anyways so all in all we had the most amazing time...Hey and about the floaters, they dried pretty soon and the shoes which others wore were wet the whole weekend....thats all for now.....agla blog sometime later.

A Tribute to Agassi

Well ever since I have liked Tennis, I have been a fan of Andre Agassi. I mean more than anything else the one thing that stands out in Agassi is that he cries when he wins and smiles when he loses. I mean thats one leaf even Steffi needs to take from his book. The kind of fightbacks that the guy has made over a career spanning nearly 16-17 yrs is amazing. He hs risen like the phoenix in so many seasons. And you always enjoy when he is playing coz he is not the boom boom serve kinda player. Most players are helpless without their booming serves but I have not found a single one who has the natural ability to return serves the way Agassi does
Why am I suddenly going ga ga over a player who has retired a year ago....well to tell u the truth, I have just started playing tennis regularly and if I can succeed to bring in just a part of Agassi into myself (well then it would have to be the part who made steffi fall for him......hehehe got u there) then I would be really thankful to God. So heres a tribute to Agassi, who makes me believe that one can succeed without a big serve...Now dont fool urself into believing I dont have one (got u there again)

Kya Dialogue Hai

Being a Film Buff, this is one Column I shud have written long back. Numerous dialogues have left a hangover on my mind. Here are few of them

• Life is like a Box of Chocalates, you never know what u can get - Forrest Gump
  
• When the game is over, the King and the Pawn go back into the same box - Being Cyrus
• When you realise, that you want to spend the rest of ur life with someone, you want the rest of ur life to start as soon as possible - When Harry Met Sally
• ...Today we celebrate our independence day - ID4 the whole speech actually
• The last comments made in 'Gangs of New York'
• The difference is I make this look good - MIB
• Its not the Size. Its how u use it - Austin Powers...after the Yah Baby one that is.

Well I have got the writers block so thats it for now....yah i know I ll be more creative next time...

A Trip to Chattanooga

After a long time since I have been living on my own, I got an opportunity to organize a road trip...(Not the kind shown in the movie by the same name...I ll surely try and do that someday)...Well anyways lets re-christen this trip by the traditional name PICNIC...(gosh thats what we have called a one day jaunt since school days).... So getting back to the main motive of this blog, we rounded up all the single males in the vicinity...(not exactly lets add single straight males to obviate the thoughts of the quircky mind...hehhe) and stuffed them into 2 cars and drove to a place nearby called Chattanooga in Tenessee (hey is it a double N..anyways)
We had planned to visit Ruby Falls and Rock City during the day. The day started real early at arnd 6:30 am. And I proved my theory of giving ppl a time to start which is an hour earlier to the real time...coz face it we go by IST...hehehe. I was really thrilled coz this was my first long drive for a long time. I had the more level headed guys (not equivalent to boring thankfully) in my car. The other car belonged to an almost alcoholic friend of mine. Thankfully he wasnt driving and thankfully I was not in his car coz the other driver was worse than if the orignal one was drunk (phew that was a long sentence....all english literature majors pardon me...gosh Am I gonna be in trouble if the 2 of them read this blog)
So we got to Ruby falls with a modicum of trouble due to a detour. We had been warned of the fact that Ruby Falls was a letdown....But we were in for a surprise coz letdown is a scaled down word for that money eating place... I mean I got to give the promoters credit coz the kinda marketing propaganda they have goin...they cud convince the death of a dinosaur on an ant's grave....hehehe. I mean at the end of it all we are darn sure it had a municipality pipe in place of the falls. We had our fun anyways with the constant 'taang khichayi' and masti in the caves. We were finally rid of our misery in terms of the tour and could see sunshine.
After the Ruby falls visit we went and looked for a place to eat and converged on the nearest Pizza Hut. After a lot of friendly banter and some good pizza, we were on our way to Rock City. Now this is a good bang for the buck kinda place...It has a lot of places to click amazing photos at...And speaking of photos, am I glad that I havent bought a camera yet. Coz da fact of da matter is, if you are carrying the camera, you are the least clicked person....hehehe and I had 4 cameramen at my beck and call to click me in some inane poses. Rock city was an amazzing place to walk around and I loved the place where we could have a view of 7 states at the same time..(well thats what they say...who cares anyways...coz it was a rocking view) After spending around 3-4 hours admiring the scenic views and some PYTs...hehehe, we retreated back to our cars. Only after a customary visit to the gift shop where I added to my collection of tequilla glasses.
Twas already 5 in the eve, so we were debating whether we shud go to Chattanooga downtown. And we made the most sagacious decisions to go there. I mean I literally fell in love with this place. We went on this bridge called Walnut Street bridge which is a wooden footover bridge with a quay built right below it (Kinda reminded me of Goa actually). It is one of the most romantic places I have been to and I ll surely go back with my better half some day. The walk on the bridge is right out of a mills and boons situation...hehehe Enough of the mushy stuff....
We had a cruise ride back home with a joint singing session in the car. As the day ended, I did was down and out as soon as I hit my head on the pillow. And thats the kinda exhaustion I dont mind at all. So till the next trip, heres me Signing of on this weeks episode of Traveller guide...gosh I always wanted to host one of those shows...any producers in the making?

License to Drive

Back in the 80s there was this movie by the name 'License to Drive'. Well I found it funny back then. But I underwent a similar longing for the freedom to move about as an independent entity. Hmm not since the freedom struggle of our forefathers has someone been so desperate. (Figure of speech hyperbole...I am really great at using one...hehehe) Maybe back then the phrase coined would be 'Tum mujhe fuel do main tumhe gaadi doonga' (forgive me for that pakao joke...hey thats the figure of speech anticlimax rt...never mind....ok I can hear u swearing at me now...so I ll get to the point)
Ok for ppl who havent got the basis of this blog of mine, let me decode it. 'I got a car and I got a permanent license to drive...yipppeeee' Its similar to a 'Bat Mobile'...(I told u I was good at hyperbole) and there are buttons for which I dont know the function. The great part is I cleared my test in one go and it was actually worth the wait coz I waited for this baby for almost a month. ...and I was tired of answering to 'Tera Gaadi kab aa raha hai' and 'Tera driving test kab hai'
Well its done finally and I can now enjoy my weekends...hey if I remember correctly, License to drive had a very young 'Heather Graham' playin Mercedes (the quietessential babe in a teen flick) Well....Lets hope the rest of the story for me is similar...hehehe...bye for now.