This is the first time that I am delving into something where I am gonna leave my cocky side out of a blog. Hopefully this one would somehow someway influence the way you look at life and inspire you to look at life in a different light.
I was chatting with a friend of mine who narrated me a very touching incident about her chance meeting with an old friend. And she even wrote abt this in her blog. But having read it and feeling depressed abt it for a while I thought the incident had to be narrated from her friend's perspective and not her own. So here goes.....
"Its almost been a year since 7/11. The day me and many like me became prisoners of time and Fate. For the ignorant few who feel 9/11 was the big tragedy coz it was in the US. Well heres a link to the tragedy that was 7/11. But unlike the 9/11 there were no protests all over the world. There were no prayers in the temples and churches of the world. There was no war fought and there were no statements made to threaten the existence of a country. I felt angry about this initially. But as my anger subsided and reality set in, I thought this wasn't a way of getting redemption either. The tragedy as I saw it wasn't the blast itself. The tragedy was the fact that my post 7/11, my disability became my identity. There wasn't a moment in my life when I didn't feel anyone staring at me. There wasn't a single conversation after that which did not spring up my disability. There was more ruckus over someone sitting in a ladies seat in the bus than in the disabled persons seat. There were more able people in the disabled compartment of the train than disabled ones. The cries of reservation based on caste were more vociferous than the cry to give disabled people their shot at education, earning and life itself. Sure I could still work, somewhere somehow there was an iota of my being which yearned for the dignity that I once had.
I wish I could work in a place which had an environment more conducive to people like me. I wish my friends would still joke around with me and poke fun at some part of my being like they used to earlier. I wish I could meet old friends out of the blue and not freak them out into not meeting me again. I wish I could make people move beyond the pity and sorrow of my life and embrace the rest of my being. I know this won't happen in a flash and I can wait for it coz I haven't lost hope. Well not just yet!"
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
300 - The Movie
As mentioned in my earlier Blog, I recently saw the much in talk movie 300. Although I wanted to see it on Imax, the tickets and shows were far and between leading me to settle for the normal screen. As a pre-cursor to the hype related to the movie, I read up the wikipedia posts related to it. This movie has been made from a graphic novel also known by the same name. As a good History student in school, (for those of you who did not know me back then, I had once contemplated a career in archeology) I was intrigued by the amazing quality of the post and how it got me involved in this 'against the odds' fight.
Having said that, my reading exercise also let me form my expectations for the movie to be a fantasy kind of a historic and not an out and out historical account of the battle. The one thing that came out of the comments made by the makers was that It was a literal conversion of the graphic novel. So those of you who are wanting a gripping authentic account of the battle and era, you would be disappointed. For the real account refer this
Now lets get to the real deal, the movie itself. For a person who likes action movies, this one does not let you down. Even if you leave out the rest of the movie and watch the battle scenes, you would be treated to your money's worth or more. The skill of the Spartan soldiers is hyped to super human proportions and the 6 packs on each one of them, holds testimony to this claim. (btw if you felt this was done using special effects, think again.... Look at this routine for the actors who played Spartan soldiers). The movie seems more like an opera than a movie and has the same kind of aura about it. This is established by the over-emphasized dialogues like 'This is Sparta' or 'Remember Us' or 'Tonight we dine in Hell'....They are loud and spine chilling in some cases. King Leonidus has a distinct Maximus (of gladiator fame) hangover and lives up to the comparison.
There is nothing that really surprised me in the movie as the story is small and predictable. The best scene for me was the war scene with the Immortals wherein the Spartans use the dead bodies of the earlier parts of the Persian contingent. (Well the sight of the Oracle comes close to being my favorite too...ah what a sight!!!)
Now lets get to the flip side! The war depicted against the Persian Empire or the 1000 Kingdoms of Asia seems like a bit of a deja vu in the reverse chronology considering the current state of the world. And I hope it doesn't give the viewers the wrong view of the people from that region. Also, the battle scenes though spell-binding, do not get you emotionally attached to the Spartan soldiers. And as said earlier, there wasn't any attempt at making this a realistic tale. The 'Lord of the Rings' kind of effects and characters are entertaining and eeeky at different moments in the movie. All in all a movie worth watching once. Not a collectible though.
Having said that, my reading exercise also let me form my expectations for the movie to be a fantasy kind of a historic and not an out and out historical account of the battle. The one thing that came out of the comments made by the makers was that It was a literal conversion of the graphic novel. So those of you who are wanting a gripping authentic account of the battle and era, you would be disappointed. For the real account refer this
Now lets get to the real deal, the movie itself. For a person who likes action movies, this one does not let you down. Even if you leave out the rest of the movie and watch the battle scenes, you would be treated to your money's worth or more. The skill of the Spartan soldiers is hyped to super human proportions and the 6 packs on each one of them, holds testimony to this claim. (btw if you felt this was done using special effects, think again.... Look at this routine for the actors who played Spartan soldiers). The movie seems more like an opera than a movie and has the same kind of aura about it. This is established by the over-emphasized dialogues like 'This is Sparta' or 'Remember Us' or 'Tonight we dine in Hell'....They are loud and spine chilling in some cases. King Leonidus has a distinct Maximus (of gladiator fame) hangover and lives up to the comparison.
There is nothing that really surprised me in the movie as the story is small and predictable. The best scene for me was the war scene with the Immortals wherein the Spartans use the dead bodies of the earlier parts of the Persian contingent. (Well the sight of the Oracle comes close to being my favorite too...ah what a sight!!!)
Now lets get to the flip side! The war depicted against the Persian Empire or the 1000 Kingdoms of Asia seems like a bit of a deja vu in the reverse chronology considering the current state of the world. And I hope it doesn't give the viewers the wrong view of the people from that region. Also, the battle scenes though spell-binding, do not get you emotionally attached to the Spartan soldiers. And as said earlier, there wasn't any attempt at making this a realistic tale. The 'Lord of the Rings' kind of effects and characters are entertaining and eeeky at different moments in the movie. All in all a movie worth watching once. Not a collectible though.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
300 vs The Immortals
Yesterday was a day of coincidences....I saw a movie called 300 about a handful of Spartans fighting the Immortal Persian army.....At the same time India was given a propah Whoopass by 'minnows' Bangladesh.....Well I know the Indians are not the immortals.....and the Bangladeshis are not the best cricketers in the world...Ironically they say India has the best batting lineup....the most experienced cricketers...the most well paid team...and the BEST batsman in the world...(you know who....and whoever says anything against the man is damned to eternity for saying he is human and in my opinion....he may be the best player on a ball to ball basis...BUT...when in a pressure situation when its a Do or Die, he would be ranked 10th or 15th in the world and 3rd or 4th in India)...So what went wrong???
For one drawing a parallel from the movie 300, the Spartans made the Persians charge at them in a narrow corridor and that meant it was a level playing field for them. For Bangladesh, that narrow corridor was the width of the 3 stumps...wicket to wicket bowling and like the Spartans they defended their turf by brilliant fielding. Another parallel though its the opposite of what was done in 300...the Spartan king refused the services of a deficient fighter coz he was not in sync with the team...The King of Team India refused logic and fielded the 'Nawab of Najafgarh' (who comes up with these titles anyways?) despite the fact that he was dragging the team down since the past 6 months or more...(My honest opinion about Sehwag...He is exciting to watch and a 'Lucky go Happy' one at it...you heard it right...He wouldn't score half his centuries or half centuries if it wasnt for the shoddy fielding namely the dropped catches by the opposing team...look back at the stats and let me know)...Another rule of battle to be learnt from 300...Don't give your opposing team the advantage of knowing you know they can beat you...the Indian captain in his interview before the match said "We will not take Bangladesh lightly...We know they have beaten us before" (I mean 'Duh!' thats like saying we know you can beat us...and giving them self belief...Don't have to say "We will crush them"...all that needs to be said is we will take this on a match to match basis and face them like we would face any other team in the competition)
I will leave the other mistakes made to the other cricket critics (90 million Indians...hehehe) Lets get to the lessons which were learnt...oops I mean lessons that ought to be learnt...(you ll get it from the 1st lesson)
1. India like to repeat their mistakes. India have a penchant for making their own life difficult and making someones day or should I say tournament. In 1999, India helped Zimbabwe to have a great world cup by losing to them...they repeat this with Bangladesh.
2. Field players on their current form and not past performances....why in the name of god did Sehwag play instead of an in form Dinesh Kartik or even for that matter Irfan Pathan
3. Who is your best One day player on current form and performances in the past 3 yrs?...Yuvraj Singh (notwithstanding the almost yr long injury)...and which position does he play at?...Number 6...dont you feel thats plain stupid???
4. Theres no harm in putting up a surprise or change your strategies mid way.... Remember the pinch hitter magic of the 96 world cup? Well you have a lousy run rate at the 20th over and you need to get some quick runs...why not send someone like Agarkar (my opinion on Agarkar...he is a good batsman...underrated and does not perform to his potential...and he needs a thwack on the hindside for not doing that) to try and hit the attack...Theres nothing the lose as he is not a batter who you can depend on anyways...
5. Get the basics right...When you cant hit the boundaries...run like your life depended on it...Look at your last 2 players and the way they scored an almost life-saving last wicket partnership
Lets look at the possibilities now....
1. Bangladesh beats Sri Lanka: (Highly unlikely) We will go through by just beating Sri Lanka and Bermuda
2. Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh: We need to beat Sri Lanka and Bermuda by a very good margin...be sure to chase against Sri Lanka....coz we would probably have to chase in 40 odd overs....that would certainly show us which one of our paper tigers is capable of growling and hunting.
Consolation Prize for India??? Pakistan are out!!!
Consolation Prize for Pakistan??? India have a good chance of not making it as well!!!
Oh you know how brains work on either side!!! So don't say you guys did not enjoy the others defeat....
Kindly refrain from throwing stones or harming a family member of the Indian cricketers....wait for them to come back...hehehehe
For one drawing a parallel from the movie 300, the Spartans made the Persians charge at them in a narrow corridor and that meant it was a level playing field for them. For Bangladesh, that narrow corridor was the width of the 3 stumps...wicket to wicket bowling and like the Spartans they defended their turf by brilliant fielding. Another parallel though its the opposite of what was done in 300...the Spartan king refused the services of a deficient fighter coz he was not in sync with the team...The King of Team India refused logic and fielded the 'Nawab of Najafgarh' (who comes up with these titles anyways?) despite the fact that he was dragging the team down since the past 6 months or more...(My honest opinion about Sehwag...He is exciting to watch and a 'Lucky go Happy' one at it...you heard it right...He wouldn't score half his centuries or half centuries if it wasnt for the shoddy fielding namely the dropped catches by the opposing team...look back at the stats and let me know)...Another rule of battle to be learnt from 300...Don't give your opposing team the advantage of knowing you know they can beat you...the Indian captain in his interview before the match said "We will not take Bangladesh lightly...We know they have beaten us before" (I mean 'Duh!' thats like saying we know you can beat us...and giving them self belief...Don't have to say "We will crush them"...all that needs to be said is we will take this on a match to match basis and face them like we would face any other team in the competition)
I will leave the other mistakes made to the other cricket critics (90 million Indians...hehehe) Lets get to the lessons which were learnt...oops I mean lessons that ought to be learnt...(you ll get it from the 1st lesson)
1. India like to repeat their mistakes. India have a penchant for making their own life difficult and making someones day or should I say tournament. In 1999, India helped Zimbabwe to have a great world cup by losing to them...they repeat this with Bangladesh.
2. Field players on their current form and not past performances....why in the name of god did Sehwag play instead of an in form Dinesh Kartik or even for that matter Irfan Pathan
3. Who is your best One day player on current form and performances in the past 3 yrs?...Yuvraj Singh (notwithstanding the almost yr long injury)...and which position does he play at?...Number 6...dont you feel thats plain stupid???
4. Theres no harm in putting up a surprise or change your strategies mid way.... Remember the pinch hitter magic of the 96 world cup? Well you have a lousy run rate at the 20th over and you need to get some quick runs...why not send someone like Agarkar (my opinion on Agarkar...he is a good batsman...underrated and does not perform to his potential...and he needs a thwack on the hindside for not doing that) to try and hit the attack...Theres nothing the lose as he is not a batter who you can depend on anyways...
5. Get the basics right...When you cant hit the boundaries...run like your life depended on it...Look at your last 2 players and the way they scored an almost life-saving last wicket partnership
Lets look at the possibilities now....
1. Bangladesh beats Sri Lanka: (Highly unlikely) We will go through by just beating Sri Lanka and Bermuda
2. Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh: We need to beat Sri Lanka and Bermuda by a very good margin...be sure to chase against Sri Lanka....coz we would probably have to chase in 40 odd overs....that would certainly show us which one of our paper tigers is capable of growling and hunting.
Consolation Prize for India??? Pakistan are out!!!
Consolation Prize for Pakistan??? India have a good chance of not making it as well!!!
Oh you know how brains work on either side!!! So don't say you guys did not enjoy the others defeat....
Kindly refrain from throwing stones or harming a family member of the Indian cricketers....wait for them to come back...hehehehe
Monday, February 26, 2007
Moving......
For those of you who think the title means 'getting emotional about something' (Heres an example of the Moving Anna Nicole Smith trial judge)...ting ting...heres ur stop (get off this bus)....Now that I have your attention, (You are still hung up on Anna's story right...doh!!!) I have moved residences lotsa times over my short career on Mother earth (that sounds star trekky rt?) And there are so many things you can learn from me!!! (I may start a 'Donald Trump' kinds convention in your town....whats it called?...'Your are Moved'...better still turn it into a reality TV show...hmmmm)
Since I have moved in India and in the US...(not considering my move from India to the US....thats a future topic called travel tips)
Official tips:
1) There are 2 things to moving....a) Moving all the stuff to the new place and b) Cleaning your old place....These are 2 things which can be done in tandem....but better to have (b) follow (a) at least the major parts (What an Obvious tip huh?...trust me some numb nuts don't even know this)
2) Nothing pays richer dividends than to be organized about the whole move process. Unless you have only a little amount of stuff to move, you better start categorizing things. Don't start writing down 1 toothbrush, shaving cream....be a little bit high level than that...all bathroom equipment sounds great
3) Another approach to moving stuff is clearing one part of the house at a single time and getting it off the workbench completely. Just like a good modular design approach....(see it helps to be in software....better still u can actually relate coding and the rest of the world)
4) Early Bird takes the Worm (or something like that)....If you know when you are gonna move....don't wait till the last few days to get going....start as early as possible
Unofficial Tips
1) Boxes...however useless they look at the onset...believe me a Box is your best friend during a move....(well said....dogs 'You are fired!!!')
2) Stuff which you don't use (and you have loads of it believe me) gotta go to the trash bin...trust me when I say you are never gonna fit in those 24 inch trousers ever again....might as well get them off your shelf or if you wanna make some antique moolah, box them up for your grandchildren. (Refer Tip 1)
3) Don't feel bad to clean your own shit....(For the dimwits, I mean theres no harm done in cleaning your toilet....for the smart ppl, clean it once in a while to keep you from having an eeky feeling up your nose at the time of a cleaning session)
4) Better still have your room mate (if you have any....Hallelujah.....if not ... hahahaha .....thats my sadistic laughter...u like the sound of it?) clean the toilet.
5) If possible move stuff over a period of time....Best time to do this....every night make a trip with a lil bit of stuff each time)
6) Help other ppl move...(Not by cleaning their shit...refer Tip# 3)...u never know when u need (Refer Tip# 3 again) them for ur move.
Happy Moving Guys!!!...and Gals too!!! (sorry)
Since I have moved in India and in the US...(not considering my move from India to the US....thats a future topic called travel tips)
Official tips:
1) There are 2 things to moving....a) Moving all the stuff to the new place and b) Cleaning your old place....These are 2 things which can be done in tandem....but better to have (b) follow (a) at least the major parts (What an Obvious tip huh?...trust me some numb nuts don't even know this)
2) Nothing pays richer dividends than to be organized about the whole move process. Unless you have only a little amount of stuff to move, you better start categorizing things. Don't start writing down 1 toothbrush, shaving cream....be a little bit high level than that...all bathroom equipment sounds great
3) Another approach to moving stuff is clearing one part of the house at a single time and getting it off the workbench completely. Just like a good modular design approach....(see it helps to be in software....better still u can actually relate coding and the rest of the world)
4) Early Bird takes the Worm (or something like that)....If you know when you are gonna move....don't wait till the last few days to get going....start as early as possible
Unofficial Tips
1) Boxes...however useless they look at the onset...believe me a Box is your best friend during a move....(well said....dogs 'You are fired!!!')
2) Stuff which you don't use (and you have loads of it believe me) gotta go to the trash bin...trust me when I say you are never gonna fit in those 24 inch trousers ever again....might as well get them off your shelf or if you wanna make some antique moolah, box them up for your grandchildren. (Refer Tip 1)
3) Don't feel bad to clean your own shit....(For the dimwits, I mean theres no harm done in cleaning your toilet....for the smart ppl, clean it once in a while to keep you from having an eeky feeling up your nose at the time of a cleaning session)
4) Better still have your room mate (if you have any....Hallelujah.....if not ... hahahaha .....thats my sadistic laughter...u like the sound of it?) clean the toilet.
5) If possible move stuff over a period of time....Best time to do this....every night make a trip with a lil bit of stuff each time)
6) Help other ppl move...(Not by cleaning their shit...refer Tip# 3)...u never know when u need (Refer Tip# 3 again) them for ur move.
Happy Moving Guys!!!...and Gals too!!! (sorry)
Monday, February 19, 2007
V Day for Me
Of all the "Hallmark" days in the world, the one I despise the most is "Valentines" day. For all those love birds in the world...I know what you are thinking rt now....(pathetic loser!!!) considering me the Grinch equivalent for Valentines Day....Well I ll reconsider this view someday....Well People you gotta start playin Will 'Hitch' Smith to make the transition faster....
The V day crap was introduced to us by the quintessential Yash Chopra in his movie 'Dil to Pagal Hai'...the Mills and Boons movie which preached every cow had a bull in the world and vice versa (Not to be taken offensively in California...well we can work through the definition).... I mean everyone has a soul mate and we meet them and yadi yadi yada (thats a cool phrase I learned to describe etc. or in Hindi 'Vagaira Vagaira'...Not the blue pill man) So it started putting pressure on singles to get their act together so as to fulfill what Chopra says....Well not only that, it pushed the already hitched guys to start emptying their pockets if they didn't want to end up in the singles club...Well all hell broke loose!!!
Hey am I forgetting something? Oh yeah it wasn't Chopra that gave it the flavor of epic proportions, it was actually people who were hellbent on opposing the hallmark holiday (I would change my opinion abt V day unconditionally if they declare it a Holiday)...They have been playing perfect hooligans disrupting the V day celebrations all over India every year since around a decade ago...(For those of you from outside India....Well refer this.....Its an every year event that they organize)....splashing the V day across TV channels, debates and newspapers, in the process epitomizing the saying "Any publicity is good publicity"...So you have posters burnings...cards burning...shops shattered all over the place....You expect the sales to go down...right?....But people react just the way kids react, to the phrase "No. Don't do that".....You got the picture....The V day business zoomed....So you have got all lovers on to the bandwagon....What next? Well we gotta react to the 'obscene' adjective being hurled at the day...So lets see how do we fight the argument and boost sales as well...Hmm...Why not say that its just not for lovers...Love is universal and can be between any 2 human beings...So you have love between brothers and sisters...Parents and children and what not (By the way there are other hallmark holidays for that stuff like Mother's day...Father's day...and what not! Reiterating my stand...I have no issues if they are actually converted into holidays)...But what about ppl who are single and still feel left out...Well heres another funny concept...a kind of love is to love yourself and gift yourself....(hmmm...what a croak of S#%$!!!)...And before we know it V day is bigger than ever.
So whats my serious stand on this? Well theres no reason not to celebrate V day or Mothers day or Father's day! The important thing is you got to start looking beyond just the days...You don't need some anointed day to express love or to make your mother father or girl friend or friend to feel special....You can do it every day of the year....(Don't celebrate V day every day...coz you ll go broke with the diamond purchases buddy...and btw its much less expensive a candle light dinner on 15th or 13th of Feb).....I mean there is no point making life hell for someone or fighting someone for 364 days and making up for a day....Treat every day as special and give everyone around you the treatment that you would want meted out to you...Go wear that dress you are saving for your bday coz if you wanna feel good anyday is good enough...(Cool advice huh?...Yeah well you know I like Philosophy so much!!!)
To end the scrap on V day, I would want to dedicate this clip from "Love actually" to all my past and present crushes...
The V day crap was introduced to us by the quintessential Yash Chopra in his movie 'Dil to Pagal Hai'...the Mills and Boons movie which preached every cow had a bull in the world and vice versa (Not to be taken offensively in California...well we can work through the definition).... I mean everyone has a soul mate and we meet them and yadi yadi yada (thats a cool phrase I learned to describe etc. or in Hindi 'Vagaira Vagaira'...Not the blue pill man) So it started putting pressure on singles to get their act together so as to fulfill what Chopra says....Well not only that, it pushed the already hitched guys to start emptying their pockets if they didn't want to end up in the singles club...Well all hell broke loose!!!
Hey am I forgetting something? Oh yeah it wasn't Chopra that gave it the flavor of epic proportions, it was actually people who were hellbent on opposing the hallmark holiday (I would change my opinion abt V day unconditionally if they declare it a Holiday)...They have been playing perfect hooligans disrupting the V day celebrations all over India every year since around a decade ago...(For those of you from outside India....Well refer this.....Its an every year event that they organize)....splashing the V day across TV channels, debates and newspapers, in the process epitomizing the saying "Any publicity is good publicity"...So you have posters burnings...cards burning...shops shattered all over the place....You expect the sales to go down...right?....But people react just the way kids react, to the phrase "No. Don't do that".....You got the picture....The V day business zoomed....So you have got all lovers on to the bandwagon....What next? Well we gotta react to the 'obscene' adjective being hurled at the day...So lets see how do we fight the argument and boost sales as well...Hmm...Why not say that its just not for lovers...Love is universal and can be between any 2 human beings...So you have love between brothers and sisters...Parents and children and what not (By the way there are other hallmark holidays for that stuff like Mother's day...Father's day...and what not! Reiterating my stand...I have no issues if they are actually converted into holidays)...But what about ppl who are single and still feel left out...Well heres another funny concept...a kind of love is to love yourself and gift yourself....(hmmm...what a croak of S#%$!!!)...And before we know it V day is bigger than ever.
So whats my serious stand on this? Well theres no reason not to celebrate V day or Mothers day or Father's day! The important thing is you got to start looking beyond just the days...You don't need some anointed day to express love or to make your mother father or girl friend or friend to feel special....You can do it every day of the year....(Don't celebrate V day every day...coz you ll go broke with the diamond purchases buddy...and btw its much less expensive a candle light dinner on 15th or 13th of Feb).....I mean there is no point making life hell for someone or fighting someone for 364 days and making up for a day....Treat every day as special and give everyone around you the treatment that you would want meted out to you...Go wear that dress you are saving for your bday coz if you wanna feel good anyday is good enough...(Cool advice huh?...Yeah well you know I like Philosophy so much!!!)
To end the scrap on V day, I would want to dedicate this clip from "Love actually" to all my past and present crushes...
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Shantaram....
The name 'Shantaram' would put off a person of maharashtrian descent (no offense intended to the Shantarams of the world) due to its old world 'charm' (or the lack of new world charm...if you know what I mean) Having said that, I had been reading up on reviews of a book by the same name by an unknown author "Gregory David Roberts" (Coming to think about it...I like to go for unknown authors rather than the David Dhawan's of the book world...gives my bookshelf a more eclectic blend...and a stack of half read books....coz some of em are booooring) for quite some time....Finally I decided to take the plunge...(For those of you who don't know my reading habits...it takes me lot of thinking and maybe a bout of spontaneous impulse to pick up or order a book) and order this book.
So I got 'Shantaram' by UPS and the first thing that I noticed was "Man is this heavy or What?"..(suitably punished for not paying attention to the world hardcover)..Whats the second thing?...well "Holy Cow this is so Thickkk!!!"....It took me a while to finally pick it up from my shelf at 11 pm....and Guess what?...I still had it in my hands at 2 am.....(For those of you who can finish a book in a night....I don't sail in the same boat as u...bite me!!!...and besides this is the longest book that I have read in my career - barring the Engineering books I supposedly read of course)
Getting back on the saddle of the horse (cool phrase huh?)....Personally I prefer books which can paint the scene in front of the reader and the characters are enlivened into speaking the written word...As guessed from the fact that I am writing a blog about it, this book not only satisfies this requirement, but goes way beyond......rarely does one come across a book which has a good story which is well written and has words which are music to the ears...(whats that?)...phrases that compel the reader to backtrack them and say "Wow!!! Thats so cool or hot or groovy or whatever your buzz word is"...(I have read books wherein I have had to backtrack and say "Huh! whats that supposed to mean?"...Fury - Salman Rushdie being one of them...now you know I am a literary bumpkin)...My favorite would be the theory of evolution of the Universe...Don't wanna give it away...The book also poses a few introspective questions about human existence...It really puts you in the mind of the protagonist...(those imagining about games like Doom when u read this line...get outta hear!!!)...The one that I loved the most is "Whats better? Doing the right things for the wrong reasons? Or doing the wrong things for the right reasons?"...It takes you through the changes that the protagonist goes through and his psyche as it changes...the way he retrospects his own actions...comes up with some amazing comparisons when someone else makes a choice which is similar to his own in a completely disparate situation...I am short on words to say more....(and yet I have consumed so many words)
To write a review of Shantaram and not mention its main character would be criminal...I don't mean the protagonist which in this case is the author himself...I mean the city of Bombay or Mumbai...Being my hometown, I have not come across a better portrayal of the city in any other book as yet...(comments welcome if you have)...The author has quite literally captured the soul of the city...The reader would want to catch the next flight out to experience it in the flesh...(And for the record, I almost went to Leopolds some years ago and my next trip is gonna fulfill that...Go check out Cafe Mondegar as well...nice place)...The story of a foreigner who comes to Mumbai and makes it his home...well almost is biographical in a way...The different parts of this epic are amusing...thought-provoking and realistic...well realistic enough to keep the reader pondering as to what part of the book was fact and what part was fiction?
In addition to being a best seller, this book is soon going to be made into a major motion picture...with Johnny Depp playing the lead role and Helena Bonham Carter as the alluring Karla...though I would have preferred someone like Angelina Jolie to play Karla...(well I wud prefer her to play any role as long as she blazes the screen...what say?)..coz of her strength, sensuousness and again a sense of cynical heartless demeanor...well maybe not (any comments for Karla castings welcome!!!)...
Well what are you doin still reading this?...Go on pick up a copy....a paperback version of course.
So I got 'Shantaram' by UPS and the first thing that I noticed was "Man is this heavy or What?"..(suitably punished for not paying attention to the world hardcover)..Whats the second thing?...well "Holy Cow this is so Thickkk!!!"....It took me a while to finally pick it up from my shelf at 11 pm....and Guess what?...I still had it in my hands at 2 am.....(For those of you who can finish a book in a night....I don't sail in the same boat as u...bite me!!!...and besides this is the longest book that I have read in my career - barring the Engineering books I supposedly read of course)
Getting back on the saddle of the horse (cool phrase huh?)....Personally I prefer books which can paint the scene in front of the reader and the characters are enlivened into speaking the written word...As guessed from the fact that I am writing a blog about it, this book not only satisfies this requirement, but goes way beyond......rarely does one come across a book which has a good story which is well written and has words which are music to the ears...(whats that?)...phrases that compel the reader to backtrack them and say "Wow!!! Thats so cool or hot or groovy or whatever your buzz word is"...(I have read books wherein I have had to backtrack and say "Huh! whats that supposed to mean?"...Fury - Salman Rushdie being one of them...now you know I am a literary bumpkin)...My favorite would be the theory of evolution of the Universe...Don't wanna give it away...The book also poses a few introspective questions about human existence...It really puts you in the mind of the protagonist...(those imagining about games like Doom when u read this line...get outta hear!!!)...The one that I loved the most is "Whats better? Doing the right things for the wrong reasons? Or doing the wrong things for the right reasons?"...It takes you through the changes that the protagonist goes through and his psyche as it changes...the way he retrospects his own actions...comes up with some amazing comparisons when someone else makes a choice which is similar to his own in a completely disparate situation...I am short on words to say more....(and yet I have consumed so many words)
To write a review of Shantaram and not mention its main character would be criminal...I don't mean the protagonist which in this case is the author himself...I mean the city of Bombay or Mumbai...Being my hometown, I have not come across a better portrayal of the city in any other book as yet...(comments welcome if you have)...The author has quite literally captured the soul of the city...The reader would want to catch the next flight out to experience it in the flesh...(And for the record, I almost went to Leopolds some years ago and my next trip is gonna fulfill that...Go check out Cafe Mondegar as well...nice place)...The story of a foreigner who comes to Mumbai and makes it his home...well almost is biographical in a way...The different parts of this epic are amusing...thought-provoking and realistic...well realistic enough to keep the reader pondering as to what part of the book was fact and what part was fiction?
In addition to being a best seller, this book is soon going to be made into a major motion picture...with Johnny Depp playing the lead role and Helena Bonham Carter as the alluring Karla...though I would have preferred someone like Angelina Jolie to play Karla...(well I wud prefer her to play any role as long as she blazes the screen...what say?)..coz of her strength, sensuousness and again a sense of cynical heartless demeanor...well maybe not (any comments for Karla castings welcome!!!)...
Well what are you doin still reading this?...Go on pick up a copy....a paperback version of course.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Are you Smart or Are you Brave???
Ever wondered what its like to put all your eggs in one basket? Well traditionally speaking....its not a good idea right?...Well lets analyze that hypothesis a bit...Having a plan B or a safety net is great as against risking it all on plan A and push yourself to make Plan A to work like there is no tomorrow.
The smart people always have a plan B....they know, what they are doing, does not have a 100% chance to succeed...And they have a hedge fund kinda concept going for them. So if the attempt does not go through, they can say "Well whatever!!! I always had plan B if this did not work out. I am so smart that I am always prepared for the worst!" Hmmm...well thats a good way of looking at it.
Lets look at the other side now...The Brave people put all their eggs in one basket...They kinda risk it all on that one chance they got....And they are not prepared for the worst....They always keep saying to themselves "This has got to work...else I am totally screwed!!!" So they are audacious enough to not think about protecting themselves from failure!!!
Lets dig a little deeper in the Smart person psyche and the Brave person psyche shall we? The Smart person starts his attempt to get plan A working....Well he runs the first 50% of the task really well...Now as he approaches the last leg, the pressure is almost wilting and knocking the day lights outta him....Now he must fight that pressure off and become a stronger person and try and win plan A...Guess what...his sub-conscious takes over and he begins to think..."What the hell? I have plan B!!! So whatever happens, I am gonna be just ok!"...And before the person knows it....Well he has lost his perspective on plan A and now he is all about plan B....In the process it may so happen that he fails to make that last stretch and fails by just a small amount. Now lets look at the Brave person...He starts off just like the smart one...After 50% of the task is done...He realizes "Geez man! I got a lot of stuff riding on this baby!!! I better get this done".....So he starts running harder towards the finishing line....and as he gets closer to the line...he gets faster coz he knows theres no second chance....
The Brave ones are the ethereal optimists and the Smart ones are somewhat optimistically pessimistic. The third kinds "pessimistic ones" are not considered at all...Coz there is no way in hell they can win. So do you really make that decision to be smart or brave? Or does it depend on the circumstances? Well I would say its a mix of both. Having said that Circumstances do tend to influence your choice. It all depends on what you may have to lose if it you don't succeed. More often than not situations in which you have 'nothing to lose' or you have 'everything to lose' have a way of invoking the braveness of a person. It is when you have something to lose that it becomes grey....Coz then you have a choice to let plan A take as much as you are willing to lose or a little more than that. This little more that a person gives up is a really difficult mix to achieve...if it is too much it jeopardizes plan B and if it is too little...well bye bye plan A....So ppl who have too little to lose in the first place tend to bank on plan A....ppl who have everything to lose put everything behind plan A coz its just about enough to get them thru.....Its when you have choice between either plan A or plan B to succeed that the smart guys chicken out and go for plan B.
So Tell me something? Are you the smart one with the "Hope for the Best. Be prepared for the worst" attitude? Or are you the brave one with the "Be prepared for the Best. Get screwed lest the Worst" attitude? Waiting for your comments...(Ain't this blog very unlike me?...Well I am inspired to write inspirational stuff once in a while!!! What inspired me you ask....I ll get back to it in my next blog!)
The smart people always have a plan B....they know, what they are doing, does not have a 100% chance to succeed...And they have a hedge fund kinda concept going for them. So if the attempt does not go through, they can say "Well whatever!!! I always had plan B if this did not work out. I am so smart that I am always prepared for the worst!" Hmmm...well thats a good way of looking at it.
Lets look at the other side now...The Brave people put all their eggs in one basket...They kinda risk it all on that one chance they got....And they are not prepared for the worst....They always keep saying to themselves "This has got to work...else I am totally screwed!!!" So they are audacious enough to not think about protecting themselves from failure!!!
Lets dig a little deeper in the Smart person psyche and the Brave person psyche shall we? The Smart person starts his attempt to get plan A working....Well he runs the first 50% of the task really well...Now as he approaches the last leg, the pressure is almost wilting and knocking the day lights outta him....Now he must fight that pressure off and become a stronger person and try and win plan A...Guess what...his sub-conscious takes over and he begins to think..."What the hell? I have plan B!!! So whatever happens, I am gonna be just ok!"...And before the person knows it....Well he has lost his perspective on plan A and now he is all about plan B....In the process it may so happen that he fails to make that last stretch and fails by just a small amount. Now lets look at the Brave person...He starts off just like the smart one...After 50% of the task is done...He realizes "Geez man! I got a lot of stuff riding on this baby!!! I better get this done".....So he starts running harder towards the finishing line....and as he gets closer to the line...he gets faster coz he knows theres no second chance....
The Brave ones are the ethereal optimists and the Smart ones are somewhat optimistically pessimistic. The third kinds "pessimistic ones" are not considered at all...Coz there is no way in hell they can win. So do you really make that decision to be smart or brave? Or does it depend on the circumstances? Well I would say its a mix of both. Having said that Circumstances do tend to influence your choice. It all depends on what you may have to lose if it you don't succeed. More often than not situations in which you have 'nothing to lose' or you have 'everything to lose' have a way of invoking the braveness of a person. It is when you have something to lose that it becomes grey....Coz then you have a choice to let plan A take as much as you are willing to lose or a little more than that. This little more that a person gives up is a really difficult mix to achieve...if it is too much it jeopardizes plan B and if it is too little...well bye bye plan A....So ppl who have too little to lose in the first place tend to bank on plan A....ppl who have everything to lose put everything behind plan A coz its just about enough to get them thru.....Its when you have choice between either plan A or plan B to succeed that the smart guys chicken out and go for plan B.
So Tell me something? Are you the smart one with the "Hope for the Best. Be prepared for the worst" attitude? Or are you the brave one with the "Be prepared for the Best. Get screwed lest the Worst" attitude? Waiting for your comments...(Ain't this blog very unlike me?...Well I am inspired to write inspirational stuff once in a while!!! What inspired me you ask....I ll get back to it in my next blog!)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
My Style of writing
For those of you who have been reading my blog a lot....(hmmm...so I am a self confessed apotheosis of immodesty...bite me) must like this for my style of writing. Well let me give you a background of why it is so!!! As you may already know, I take a lot of inspiration from movies and television (read my other blogs if you don't know...grrr)...This is no different...I have been a fan of Sitcoms all my life....But to tell you the truth...the ones that appeal to me the most are not the ones with laughter track on them....My favorite shows would have 2 most notable ones...Ally McBeal and Scrubs.....Why so?...The striking resemblance between the 2 is to deliver a serious or somewhat sane message without having to be serious or sane about them....For starters the protagonists Ally and Dr. Dorian are always guided by their own voices...Not just that these inner selves think of the most whacky things at times completely opposite to the happenings....they are insane at sane times and sane at insane times....and if you really analyze this is something I identify with a bit.....So getting back to my style of writing....you will always notice something written in brackets which if ignored don't impair the relevance of the written matter (But make it B-OR-I-N-G) and gives you a mirthful third person view on what I am writing. Heres looking forward to a lot more whacky stuff from yours truly....
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
I Banged a Pole
Before you get any ideas from the title....take the literal meaning of it....Oh no...not that literal meaning....I mean the other literal meaning....hmm...let me explain....I was walking while reading a newspaper (or maybe I was reading while walking on the footpath...neways) and I failed to notice a Steel pole right in front of me...and sure enough I banged right into it with my legs on either side of the pole....Fortunately my hands took the brunt of the clash....I didn't bang my head and I am sure I will be able to start a family...(toungue in cheek)
Well has this happened before?...hell yeah...with so many disastrous (hyperbole intended) consequences...you just need to start talking to my mom and half my stories (btw if my mom starts narrating 'funny to you horrific to me' tales...you gotta keep in mind that anything before the age of 10 will be said as if it happened yesterday and any amount of denial from my part will only result to more publicity to the alleged incident) would reflect such acts of absent-minded behavior....and that is all that I have to say about that....(Sorry Forrest...couldn't resist copying that one from you)
Well has this happened before?...hell yeah...with so many disastrous (hyperbole intended) consequences...you just need to start talking to my mom and half my stories (btw if my mom starts narrating 'funny to you horrific to me' tales...you gotta keep in mind that anything before the age of 10 will be said as if it happened yesterday and any amount of denial from my part will only result to more publicity to the alleged incident) would reflect such acts of absent-minded behavior....and that is all that I have to say about that....(Sorry Forrest...couldn't resist copying that one from you)
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Guru says 'I Am Bani yeah'
Its 2 am and I just got back from a screening of 'Guru'. What compelled me to write this blog at this late hour?....Well I just told you I saw Guru.....Well if I yap abt the stellar performances of the lead and support actors in the film...then I would be aping what every newspaper reviewer has done or what any other amateur blogger has done (well I am confident I am not an amateur any more....a confidence I drew from Gurukant Desai) .... So instead of doing the usual routine, I would like to say how well the book 'The Polyester Prince' has been adapted for big screen keeping all lead characters intact. If you haven't read it...well you are missing out on a piece of history u ought to know about.
The film delves into a lot of jargon..well not a lot of it (non-convertible debentures and all)...which could have been avoided or explained better considering you are making a mainstream movie....u say its not mainstream???...well what was the future Mrs. Desai doing dancing at the start of the film or Mr. Desai in the middle of the film. What such roadblocks of musical boredom did was consume precious film reel...taking away a chance to film some more insightful scenes into the success of Gurukant Desai....which has a few chapters...90% of them showing some kind of manipulation....
So what could have made the movie interesting?...Lets see how about a common mans life change during the course of the film due to his investments in Guru's company?....Hmm that would have made the film an account of a Hero...in the cliched bollywood sense.....maybe......The episode of the protagonist against the cartel of bears in the stock market would have been a really good and easily understandable part of the original protagonist's growth...Unfortunately this is not one of the episodes covered.....The remark about needing a license was sharp, witty and yet I believe went unnoticed by a generation which knows nothing about the post independence era from conventional sources of education....So a small anecdote or insight into the license era would have been welcome.....The scene between Guru and the newly appointed prime minister...oops i meant minister was not sinister enough and did not suggest the kind of pressure it put on the minister...they should have stuck to the bag containing the bribe being returned to the minister...as that was the unofficial scene between u knw who and u already knw who.....And that was too sensational for the book too.....Hmm well these are some of my opinions and I don't expect Mani Ratnam to follow them....(as if....)
All in all the philosophy of the real life person or the character come through right in the last few scenes where he challenges the way business was carried out before he came along....And that is one of the scenes which really touches the viewers...Most other scenes though brilliant just don't tug at your heart....
Last words...Heres looking forward to some great future work from Mithunda and of course 'Abhishek Amitabh Bacchan' (poora naam haaaiin)
The film delves into a lot of jargon..well not a lot of it (non-convertible debentures and all)...which could have been avoided or explained better considering you are making a mainstream movie....u say its not mainstream???...well what was the future Mrs. Desai doing dancing at the start of the film or Mr. Desai in the middle of the film. What such roadblocks of musical boredom did was consume precious film reel...taking away a chance to film some more insightful scenes into the success of Gurukant Desai....which has a few chapters...90% of them showing some kind of manipulation....
So what could have made the movie interesting?...Lets see how about a common mans life change during the course of the film due to his investments in Guru's company?....Hmm that would have made the film an account of a Hero...in the cliched bollywood sense.....maybe......The episode of the protagonist against the cartel of bears in the stock market would have been a really good and easily understandable part of the original protagonist's growth...Unfortunately this is not one of the episodes covered.....The remark about needing a license was sharp, witty and yet I believe went unnoticed by a generation which knows nothing about the post independence era from conventional sources of education....So a small anecdote or insight into the license era would have been welcome.....The scene between Guru and the newly appointed prime minister...oops i meant minister was not sinister enough and did not suggest the kind of pressure it put on the minister...they should have stuck to the bag containing the bribe being returned to the minister...as that was the unofficial scene between u knw who and u already knw who.....And that was too sensational for the book too.....Hmm well these are some of my opinions and I don't expect Mani Ratnam to follow them....(as if....)
All in all the philosophy of the real life person or the character come through right in the last few scenes where he challenges the way business was carried out before he came along....And that is one of the scenes which really touches the viewers...Most other scenes though brilliant just don't tug at your heart....
Last words...Heres looking forward to some great future work from Mithunda and of course 'Abhishek Amitabh Bacchan' (poora naam haaaiin)
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