My Written Voices

You know you are too much into Harry Potter when…

2012-01-20T12:07:00.001+05:30

… you compare any trio, in fiction or real life, of two boys and a girl with Harry, Ron and Hermione
… you are disappointed when you realize the dynamic in the trio is not the same as Harry, Ron and Hermione
… any reference to mind-blocking and mind-reading brings your mind Occlumency and Legilimiency
… you automatically correct yourself and stop yourself from thinking of Occlumency as “mind-reading”

(RED) and (2015) QUILT - Ending AIDS

2011-12-09T11:51:00.001+05:30

Join me in the fight for the end of AIDS by adding your voice to the (2015) QUILT created by (RED)and ONE.

(RED) and ONE's (2015)QUILT is a digital patchwork of photos and images made by people all over the world who have pledged to join the fight for an AIDS Free Generation by 2015.

Click here.

Comeback Thoughts

2011-11-30T17:18:00.001+05:30

Well, today’s a light day at work, which gives me the perfect opportunity to make my nth comeback into blogging. Hmm… so far, things have been quite busy managing life between family and career. Parenting, a not so new yet not so old facet of my life, has certainly opened my eyes to so many things that I probably never bothered to pay attention to in the past, such as the costs of kids stuff (exorbitant!), or school admission procedures (harrowing!).

Well, there’s my topic: Parenting. Sometime back a friend of mine jokingly revealed to me an obscure memory (or made-up one, I don’t know) of my childhood, where I announced that what I want to do with my life is have a baby. Embarrassing to admit, but it’s true. I think for as long as I remember, I always wanted to have a baby. And I think I always wanted to have a little girl. And Imagine my happiness, when it did happen.

You know I think Nature has a knack of dropping a hint here and there about the gender of the baby you are going to have. Only what happens is sometimes we tend to get confused between what’s being hinted and wishful thinking. It’s only after THE event happens that things settle down and you find yourself thinking, “See! I knew I would have a boy/girl! I just knew!”

Then again, this might just be my experience. What do you think?

Deathly Hallows Part 2: A Bittersweet Farewell

2011-07-18T17:24:00.002+05:30

Wow… what an emotional journey. Up until last Thursday night, I was sure that I will not be able to watch the Harry Potter finale on Friday night as planned (and fantasized) by me – because of an ugly dispute between the theatre owners and the film distributors.I scoured through discussions about the dispute and vented out my frustration along with many other Potter fans in India.

But I guess, the fans and their pressure won out because out of nowhere the bookings opened and that’s how I opened my day.

Let me get to the movie. What’s to tell about the story? The thing about movie adaptations of books is that you already know the story. What remains to see is execution. The story picks up where the Part 1 left off. Right where Voldemort nicks the Elder Wand from Albus Dumbledore’s grave. From there, the movie takes us through an action-packed emotional journey, bringing together all the characters from all the past Harry Potter movies like a reunion like Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Potter etc. We have the trio breaking into Gringotts to steal a Horcrux, then landing up in Hogsmeade and then finally ending up in their alma mater, Hogwarts with all their schoolmates hailing their return.

Yes, I said action-packed emotional journey, because if you come down to it, all in all Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is an action film. Yes, there are some emotional moments like Snape’s story (oh ::sniff:: I was really touched to see the emotional side of Snape, I cried but the tear were hidden behind the 3D glasses), Ron-Hermione kiss (just too good to see Hermione all starry-eyed about Ron in the rest of the movie after the kiss – although I wish this had happened in front of Harry as in the book, but I like this too), Harry’s conversation with his parents and guardians. There were also quite a lot of funny moments in the movie which helped a lot in diffusion the tension in the film

Since I can go on and on reminiscing the film and wishing I can see it again, let me summarize some things I liked and didn’t like about the film.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THIS MOVIE, THEN DO NOT READ WHAT’S AHEAD – EVEN IF YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK. THIS FOLLOWING SECTION HAS MOVIE SPOILERS.

Ten Things I Liked – No, Loved – About the Film:

The Rise of Neville – I knew this would happen after reading the book. But the movie just took the rise of Neville to a whole new level, plus a surprise revelation from him which was not in canon.
Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione disguised as Bellatrix. Kudos to the actress to be able to mimic a bit of Emma Watson.
Snape’s Story – A true story of redemption that had me crying and sniffling. Snape was always my favourite character. But this section of the movie just moved me to the core. I was also in a way glad to see that Ron, Hermione and Harry sad when Snape dies, sad in a manner of mourning.
Harry’s conversation with James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus – Another gut-wrenching scene where the mother in me just broke for Harry. The Boy who never knew what it’s like to have your parents around.
Draco Malfoy actually smiling proudly when sending his son to Hogwarts.
Minerva McGonagall – “I always wanted to do this spell!” My favourite quote in the film
Chamber of Secrets – A pleasant surprise to see that the scene which is narrated in background in the book, is actually shown in the movie.
The King’s Cross scene
Albus Severus Potter
The death of Bellatrix Lestrange and the Molly Weasley’s evil-ish smile

Five Things I Wish I Were Included in the Film:

A little more spotlight on Ron other than the comic moments
Ron-Hermione kiss: Wish they had pictured it in a better manner
The story of Teddy Lupin’s birth
The story of the Dumbledores esp the death of Ariana
Complete scene at the station in the epilogue. I wish they had somehow updated the audience with the what has been happening with all of these characters in the nineteen years that have gone by.

I think I will stop here. Maybe later, I will post something about what I didn't like about this movie. For that, I will have to watch it again. :)

Social Media Pet Peeves

2011-07-06T18:12:00.004+05:30

I have been on social media long enough to get irritated by the way some people communicate on it. Also, I am sure ever since the popularity rise of Facebook has been noted, there must definitely be articles written about social media etiquette (yes people, it is etiquette, not etiquettes). Now, I am no certified Social Media expert, but just a common Facebook user and this is my list of what bothers me about some people’s style of using Facebook:

Peeve no. 1: People logging off as soon as you ping them.
Sure, their internet connection is shaky and that’s why they logged off without their own knowledge. Sometimes it is even true, but most of the times it’s not. So the next time when someone you are not in the mood to talk to pings you, don’t log off, talk to them and gently convey your inability to talk to them at the moment. Maybe you could catch up later. Remember, not only logging off like that is rude, but also it is cowardly.

Peeve no. 2: People answering the question you asked in a chain other than where you posted your question.
Get what I mean? It is like you asking a question to your group of friends on the current situation of cricket in India only to have one of them answer it out of random while discussing the story of Pavitra Rishta and that too, abruptly after a week. Can you imagine what that feels like? Irritating, in my opinion. What to do? If you have something to say, take the time to look for that post and comment accordingly. Obviously what you want to say is important, so don’t diminish its importance by goofing up like that.

Peeve no 3: People not bothering to fix the orientation of the photos they have uploaded.
You went out with your family to a beautiful place and there, you went crazy with the camera. You want to share your photos with your friends, so what do you do? You upload your photos in Facebook (read as, any photo-sharing website) as you clicked them. Just select the lot and click Upload. Great, now your photos are up for everyone to see. You are happy about and you get up from your seat thinking your work’s done here. Stop! Stop right there! Think again. Is your work really done? Are your photos really going to be enjoyed by your friends. Chances are, your friends are now cursing you because they are having to crane their necks right and left to see who actually is posing in that photo. So the next time you upload photos in any photo-sharing website, take the time to fix the orientation of the photos to make them viewable. It doesn’t take much time, and it definitely does justice to your sentiment of sharing your memories with your friends.

Well currently, these are my top 3 social media pet peeves. I think these are the small things that, if paid attention to, make your and your friends’ social media experience more pleasurable and less frustrating.

Flavour of the Season - Castle

2011-06-16T17:09:00.000+05:30

After gushing on and on about Harry Potter, my near and dear ones have probably been wondering "when is she going to move on from this obsession." Well, you got it people, I have moved on from Harry Potter - not completely, no - but yes, a new obsession has gripped me. It came to me when I chanced upon a thriller series one night where they showed this suave dude spinning off weird theories to a group of detectives to solve a murder. Some careful listening and watching unravelled the mystery of this strange phenomenon (I mean, you tell me, why would a normal citizen take time out to solve crimes with the city police and most of all, why would the city police spare time and energy listening to him). And I was hooked. Still am.

Well, if you haven't yet got what I am talking about, you are losing out on a some major television excitement in life. I am talking about the currently-on-break thriller drama series, Castle.

This is a story of a suave famous author, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion - living example of men looking better as they age), who has just finished releasing the last book of his series by killing the main protagonist, Derrick Storm because he was "bored" of it. Caught between his huge writer's block and threats from his publisher ex-wife to write more, he is confused on what to do next when he is arrested by a very attractive NYPD detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) who is solving a spate of murders being committed by using ideas from Castle novels.

When he offers to help the police department, Kate reluctantly agrees. It is while solving this murder case when Castle is struck with inspiration for a new character, a smart and 'hot' female detective Nikki Heat. Using his contacts with the mayor of NY, he manages to worm his way into Kate Beckett's team to conduct character research, to Kate Beckett's extreme exasperation. However, with time, Castle relationship with Beckett evolves from nosy writer to plucky sidekick to partner. His wild imaginative theories as a writer help the team solve many cases which would have been otherwise unsolved. Something about Castle makes Beckett confide into him about why she became a cop - to solve her mother's murder and avenge it. Events in the story bring Beckett close to Castle's closest family, his smart and mature-beyond-years daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn) and his aspiring actress mother Martha (Susan Sullivan).

This thriller drama series is produced by ABC Studios, has completed three successful seasons so far, and has been approved for the fourth season (Yippee!!)

(Next post: Intro to the NYPD Dream Team: Beckett, Castle, Esposito, Ryan, Capt Montgomery, and Doc Parish. My notes on why I love each of them)

Life after Farmville, CityVille, and the Whole Lot of Games

2011-06-08T15:19:00.001+05:30

Hmmm…. It’s been some time having quit these games after a lot of Should I? Should I not? After all, I had clung to these games for the longest time and there was a period when it was I did. I fought my way through the major levels and was really making a breakthrough. In fact, in Café World, I was the leading player at Level 45.

Sure there is a lot to learn from these games. The most important thing I learnt from these games is Planning. Building a city takes some planning and yeah, it is much more easier in Flash than in reality (because it is sure as easy to move a house from one corner of the city to another, as it is difficult to do it in reality). Managing a farm takes a lot of planning – when do buy a tractor, when to spend the Farm Cash, where to place the trees, how to place the plots, what seeds to plant etc etc (some points are definitely what a farmer considers when planning a harvest). Managing a restaurant when you have a coffee machine and drink bar sucking up all your energy – again some major planning like what to cook, how many stoves to occupy, coffee or drinks, how to keep your customers coming to your café. So that involves some business sense.

Of course, I am definitely aware of the fact that all this is much easier done in a virtual world than in the real world. Nonetheless, knowledge is knowledge and you never know where what may be useful.

So what made me give it all up? Boredom and monotony. Not to mention, lack of time to dedicate to the games. You see all these games have the same method of playing. You have a farm/café/city of which you are the boss. What spices up the whole gaming procedure is the introduction of goals. Complete the goals and you get some rewards (coins, a new decoration, a new ability, and so on and so forth). The biggest reason of all would be the irritating feature in these three games which makes you quite dependent on your “friends” for completing certain goals. Ugh…. You know, “game making people”, not everyone has active neighbors and would still like to play the games. I got really tired of waiting for an input from neighbors, and finally I gave up.

Life after giving up the games, to my surprise, is tad more relaxed than I expected it to be. After a giving it a lot of thought as to why that might be, I have realized that it is because I am no longer under pressure to log on to the game to get my everyday reward, which gets juicier the longer you keep up the streak. And once I would log on, I would be glued to it (“Let me just finish this”, “Oh just one more level”). This also came with a sense of guilt that I am probably glued on to the game longer than I am supposed to. Now I am free from the sense of guilt.

So, all in all, I am glad I took this much needed break from these online games to devote that time to much important things like Work and Family.

Bitten by The Jeffersons Bug... Again

2011-03-04T12:44:00.002+05:30

Some time back.. no long time back, I wrote a blog post on one of my favourite sitcoms, The Jeffersons. As it had to happen some or the other time, I am bitten by the Jeffersons bug again. This comes from my sister who reminded of it. Anyway, just wanted to share the title song.

Get groovin' people.

Note: These are the opening credits of the Season 1 of The Jeffersons. Why is Louise (Isabel Sanford) crying in the title song? Well, that's because she has just left her neighborhood in the Queens to move to a richer neighborhood, and is missing it. The Jeffersons was a spin off from the sitcom All in the Family. To see what happened before this title song, see here.

Lyrics:

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Random Observation

2010-12-08T11:33:00.000+05:30

Never ask a question to someone who is brushing their teeth or crying.

Because even if they did answer, you are not going to understand what they said.

Elixir of Immortality: Review

2010-09-25T21:57:00.000+05:30

Continuing with my tryst with game reviews, here is a fresh one. Elixir of Immortality is a Hidden Object Game developed by Vogat Interactive and published by Big Fish Games.

Before moving towards the story line, the technical essentials:

* OS: Windows XP/Vista

* CPU: 800 Mhz

* RAM: 256 MB

* DirectX: 8.0

* Hard Drive: 198 MB

Fortunately, this game is available in the MAC version too.

The game starts off with a video where a potion is being tested on a man and when it doesn't work, a cloaked person kills the helpless man. As a result, you as a Detective are sent to investigate the disappearance of every handyman employed at a castle on a mysterious island. This castle is the residence of five people: A magician, a alchemist, a physicist, a botanist, and a mysterious castle master. You are to carry out this investigation as the next appointed Hired Hand.

In the duration of the game, you are required to carry out the various tasks assigned to you by various scientists, and keep your investigation going in the midst of all this. All this tasks are aimed towards the development of the most sought after Elixir of Immortality, and this project is headed by the mysterious castle owner. As you complete the major tasks assigned by each of the scientists, you find that each of the scientists are killed and placed on ice blocks in the Freezing Chamber. Towards the end of the game, you expose the castle master and the crimes committed by the castle master.

There are two modes of playing this game: Casual Mode and Advanced Mode. The Casual Mode is easier to play as the hints gets recharged very fast and the puzzles give you an option to skip, whereas the Advanced Mode does not recharge the hints as fast as in the Casual Mode and not all the puzzles allow you to skip them. The puzzles in the game are quite interesting and mind-teasing. The storyline is good. The graphics are quite intricate and smooth.

The cons of the game lie in the navigation of the game. After each task, it is difficult to guess what, and where, is the next step of the game. As a result., you end up exploring the whole premise of the game again and again. At first, you might take it in the spirit of adventure, but as the game progresses, the repetitive navigation gets on your nerves.

That said, Elixir of Immortality is quite an enjoyable game. I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

Picture Courtesy: http://www.gamezebo.com/

Mortimer Beckett: Picking Up Where We Left Off

2010-08-26T20:34:00.000+05:30

So, we have left Mortimer with a machine created by his uncle. Here's where the second part of the series picks from the Secrets of Spooky Manor. In the Secrets of Spooky Manor, although Mortimer was able to evict the ghosts from the Manor, they have posed a whole new problem by opening a time portal and throwing different objects through various eras. Now Mortimer has to travel across different ages, collect those objects, and return them to their rightful eras.

Before we move further into the game, let's get the technicalities out of the way. Just to refresh your memory, here are the technical requirements for installing the game:

- Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista
- 500 MHz or faster Processor (800 MHz for Vista)
- 128 MB RAM (512 MB for Vista)
- 16 MB Video Card with 3D Hardware Acceleration
- DirectX 8.0 or better (9.0 for Vista)

Coming back, this game offers you 8 different historical eras to explore - from Vikings to French Revolution to Robot Age. Also each age has different scenes to offer where you can search for all objects in the list. Just like the Spooky Manor, this game does succeed in stumping you for some time but you are never stuck enough to lose interest and abandon the game. As in the previous game, some objects you find will help you find other objects, and once their use is done, they disappear from the objects list.

The graphics in this game are definitely better than the previous one. There are nuances like a petrol pump in the reign of Cleopatra, London Underground sign in the Caribbean Age, and so on, which make the premise of the game very interesting.

If you thought that you are done with reassembling the pieces of Machine for the Uncle, you are wrong. The end of the game meets you with a cliffhanger. When Mortimer assembles the machine, he uses it to return home. But... no story is complete without "but"... he is transported somewhere else. Where? For that, play the third part of the series.

Adventures of Mortimer Beckett: Part I

2010-08-02T20:47:00.006+05:30

My latest obsession for almost a year now has been computer games, especially the genre of Hidden Object Games (HOGs). The biggest source of HOGs so far is Big Fish Games. One series of games that I really enjoyed playing was the Mortimer Beckett series. This game has been developed by Paprikari Productions and published by Gamehouse.

Let's get technical and go into the system requirements for installing the game:

- Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista
- 500 MHz or faster Processor (800 MHz for Vista)
- 128 MB RAM (512 MB for Vista)
- 16 MB Video Card with 3D Hardware Acceleration
- DirectX 8.0 or better (9.0 for Vista)

Unfortunately, this game is not available in the Mac version.

The game starts off with an introduction to what Mortimer Beckett is up to. He tells the story of his adventure in comic book style. You, as Mortimer, can create a profile to store your game so that you can come back to it later. This game is a single player game, as in only one player can play this game at a time.

Mortimer Beckett is a three part series, the first of which is Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of the Spooky Manor.

In the first game in the series, Mortimer Beckett, a young smart adventurer, is summoned by his scientist uncle to help him rid of the ghosts that are haunting his manor and have disrupted his pet project, a mysterious machine hidden somewhere in the Manor.

This game involves an investigation in a ghostly setting where you are supposed to look for broken objects scattered in various parts of the manor and return them to their original position. It has 30 rooms to explore and test your object-searching skills. There are also quite a lot of mind bending puzzles, which are not too difficult to put you off the game and not too easy to be taken lightly.

The graphics are very good, there are minute details that have been taken care of in the premise of the game. The spooky manor is really spooky and also very messy, adding challenge to finding the objects. You can leave a room if you get stuck in it and get back to it later. If you find an object in a room, it is not necessary that it will be used in the same room. Each level offers you 10-12 hints. The best part of the game is that there is no time limit to the game. Take as long as you want.

All things said and done, there are some things to keep in mind while playing this game:
- Use the hints carefully, because, though it may seem there are many hints, they can get over pretty quickly.
- Do not click unnecessarily too many times as this may lead to ghosts disturbing your search.

All in all, it is quite an enjoyable game, suitable for all age groups. It is scary, but not too scary for children. If I were to rate it, maybe I should do that too...I would give it a 4 out of 5.

Summerhouse Chronicles

2010-07-27T19:50:00.007+05:30

I would have written this a long time back. But I wanted to finish reading the whole set. I am talking about the Summerhouse Series by Jude Deveraux: The Summerhouse and Return to the Summerhouse.

The Summerhouse is the story of three women - Leslie Headrick, Madison Appleby, and Ellie Abbott - who meet by chance in the Dept of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and strike a friendship with each other. They then meet again on their fortieth birthday in a summerhouse in Maine to take stock on the years gone by, with each woman finding out that all of them have changed for the worse and none of them were able to fulfill the dreams they had shared when they met each other for the first time at the DMV.

A chance discovery of business card offering them to rewrite their past, gets them thinking "If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?" and leads them to the mysterious Madame Zoya. She offers them a chance to relive three weeks of their past sends them on a adventure to change their what-might-have-beens into reality. After this, they are offered a choice: Keep the old life or go with the new one?

The sequel to this book, Return to Summerhouse, has three new characters - Amy who is suffering from a pain which she hides behind a perfect marriage, Zoe who is an artist and is facing the hatred of the whole town for doing something she doesn't remember after an accident erased her memory, and Faith, a widow who is thinking of a man she once loved. This book ups the adventure by having Madame Zoya and her sister Primrose send all the three of them back to the eighteenth century to change Amy's ancestry.

Both the books are connected to each other by a common character, Jeanne Hightowers, Ellie's therapist in the first book and Amy's therapist in the second one. The way the story unfolds in either books and the descriptions are so well written that I am almost waiting for a movie adaptation of these two books. Can someone please make a movie out of these two books? This I say with the complete knowledge that movie adaptations never do justice to the original books.

Wow... Rewriting your past. Isn't that a fascinating concept? I read this book again and again only to satisfy my appetite for happy endings. It makes you think that every little thing you do, any person you meet is instrumental in shaping your life and making it what it is today. Then that leads to you to take stock of your own life. Mind you, most of the time what you have is really good, because it took many little events, some painful some enjoyable, to reach what you have today. One important lesson I learnt from this book is you and you alone are responsible for making or breaking your life as it is.

What would you do if given a chance to rewrite your past?

You Are Officially A Parent When...

2010-04-30T21:10:00.004+05:30

... you think the world is very noisy and everyone is conspiring to not let your baby sleep.

... you think that your baby pooping is actually an event worth celebrating.

... you think your baby not pooping is an issue serious enough to stop all your chores of the day.

... you have no problem staring down your baby's butt waiting for her to finish pooping.

... you wait for your baby to sleep when she's awake and wait for her to wake up when she's asleep.

... you start revising all your bedtime stories (although your baby is still an infant).

... suddenly you are mentally attaching PG and PG-13 labels to every program that comes on the television.

(I think that's enough for now. Will add more when something more comes up)

I'm Back!!!

2010-04-23T15:08:00.002+05:30

It's been quite a time having been on the blogging scene. A lot of things have happened since my last post (Wow, November!). From the last post to now, I have become a mommy of a sweet little girl. She's two and a half months old now. All this time is being spent in catching up with the overwhelming feeling of motherhood. Finally I am now settled. That said, I will soon be back in the blogging scene as and when the li'l one permits me to. Meanwhile, here's a snap of our Little Princess.

It's Time To Take These Ads Seriously

2009-11-06T17:44:00.007+05:30

Seen the latest ads of Hindustan Times? Aren't they just wonderful? The most amazing plots, and important lessons to learn from. The trend anyway today is really good ads with good stories and messages.

To summarise, here are a few plots and the messages they carry.

1. Man and pregnant wife stop to pray at a temple, where the man is praying to God, "Oh God! Let it be a son this time! Please please!" Priest walking out of the temple hears and whacks him with a bundle of HT* newspaper.

Message: It is time to stop indiscrimination.

2. Traffic has stopped at a railway crossing, but a man is adamant on crossing the tracks irrespective of the risk. Girl in the neighboring two-wheeler alights her vehicle and whacks him with HT.

Message: It is time to use your head.\

3. A boy is serving tea to to girls at a tea stall, where his employer is cursing him away to glory on how lazy the boy is. A girl hands over the HT to the boy, who goes and whacks him with the newspaper, eventually shutting him up and causing the girls to laugh.

Message: It is time to stop child labour.

4. Four people are enclosed in an elevator, when one of them starts coughing. Another one immediately puts on a face mask. The third person whacks him with a HT.

Message: It is time to stop being paranoid.

5. Few young people are looking at and appreciating the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. One of them comments cynically, "This is nothing! China took lesser time than this to buid a bridge longer than this." Friend whacks him with an HT.

Message: It is time to stop being cynical.

6. TV reporter, rather insensitively, interrogates a woman who has just lost her husband to fake medicines. Cameraman whacks the reporter with an HT.

Message: It is time for better journalism.

7. Two guys are sitting at a cafe when one of them spots a gay couple cozying up with one another and sniggers at and mocks them. Friend whacks him with an HT.

Message: It is time to open our minds.

*HT=Hindustan Times

CID - My Latest Obsession

2009-11-05T22:15:00.004+05:30

I have been watching this serial forever now and more frequently now. So I thought to share some thoughts on this program. CID was, and has always been, one of the most popular running crime series. I still watch it whenever I have time (I have lots of time). CID has the very famous team, ACP Pradyuman (Shivaji Satam) and his two kinsmen - Abhijeet (Aditya Srivastav) and Daya (Dayanand Shetty). They all have a history together and the latter two are almost like sons to ACP Pradyuman. His most brilliant officers. The only time he didn't have these officers at this side was in the CID Special Bureau season. During this season, he had a batch of officers specialising in various areas of crime investigation such as forensics, ballistics, criminal pyschology and so on. This team mostly functioned around solving cold case files that came to them through some or the other personal ties that the team member(s) shared with the victim's families.

What interests me in this program are the cases. I must give it to them. They have some of the most interesting cases. Although, sometimes it seems like something was just cooked up for the sake of keeping the serial going, but then this is me, and I like the cases.

But what let me down are the procedures that are followed in the duration of the cases. Some of the points that I see deviating from the land of believable event are:

- There is at least one person in the general public who happens to possess the personal phone numbers of the CID officers. Whereas, as far as I know, first any crime scene should be handled by the local law enforcement that is the Police. In the police’s defense, Mumbai police is one of the best law enforcement forces.

- The equipment in the forensic lab of the CID is next to magical. They make weird noises and are huge 1950-sque.

- The interrogation techniques. As far as common sense goes, a officer is not supposed to discuss evidence, suspects or any other investigation procedure in the presence of another suspects. The only interrogation technique that these officers seem to know is Intimidation. What happened to the age old technique called Good Cop/Bad Cop or even other subtleties? Try any.

- No matter how interesting the case is, the motive is same. I wish the CID Production team made some more episodes about some other motives - Psychopathic killers are also welcome ;)

An interesting outlook into the CID team are the interpersonal relationships between the members. Some that interest me are:

- The paternal affection that ACP showers on his two pet officers, Abhijeet and Daya, in unguarded moments.

- The irritation that ACP displays towards Officer Fredericks, but also believes that it is Officer Fredericks whose prayers are answered when any officers’ lives are in danger.

- The playful relationship between Officers Fredericks and Vivek, where Fredericks always wants to prove his seniority to Vivek, and Vivek, knowing it, playfully teases him.

- The fraternal chemistry that Officers Daya and Abhijeet share, when they understand each other without exchange of words.

- The sometimes playful and sometimes serious confrontation between ACP Pradyuman and Dr. Salunke.

One point to notice is that the ACP is very intolerant of any near romantic relationships between the male and female officers. He also seems to have an awkward relationship with all the female officers in his team, except maybe Dr Anjalika (once a forensic doctor in the team, played by Mona Ambegaonkar) and Officer Muskaan (one of the most recent additions to the team along with Officer Vivek, played by Alka Verma).

There is only one thing I wish to see is how Abhijeet and Daya joined the team and their beginning days.

Coming up next. Character Intros of the CID team members. Something I have been itching to do for some time now. Keep watching this space.

Right Parents, Wrong Child

2009-10-28T12:06:00.003+05:30

If you want to know the worst parenting example, you must watch this serial called Uttaran on Colors channel. I must tell you that I didn't immediately take to this serial, as the title of it sounded quite forboding to me. But as TV serials are nowadays, it just takes you just one episode to get you hooked to a program. And so the same happened to me.

Before I present my review, let me just summarise the story. The story is basically of two girls who begin with being good friends. One being the employer's daughter, Tapasya, and the other being the housekeeper's daughter Ichcha. Tapasya is a spoilt kid who is very possessive of her parents. She also loves her friend, Ichcha. Events take a turn when Tapasya's father, Jogi Thakur, is responsible for the death of Ichcha's father. In order to pay penance for his "sins", The Thakurs, Jogi and Divya, take over the bringing up of Ichcha. Obviously, to a kid as old as Tapasya, the change is evident when she finds that she no longer is her parent's pet and the attention she wholly deserves as a kid is divided. The love for her friend now lessens enough to be replaced by envy and consuming jealousy. How she managed to veil it from her parents and Ichcha is a testament to the control over her emotions. She tries various methods to get rid of Ichcha but is stopped by her own parents, resulting in the increase of hatred towards Ichcha.

Time passes and the girls grow up. The housekeeper is actually well provided for, thanks to her late husband's insurance policy. She could have shifted out of the Thakur's mansion to live in her own modest home. That would have saved a lot of angst. Anyway, she has been with the Thakurs long enough out of gratitude (for what?). Tapasya is the same spoilt rich one, with her lifestyle revolving around discos and latenight parties. She has no value for virtues like sanskar, family and so on. Love comes in the form of Veer, son of another richer family. He has come as an alliance for Tapasya. But, as predicted, she finds him boring and Mr Goody-Two-Shoes. Naturally, she has no interest in him and in that vanity, she "hands him over" to Ichcha on knowing that Veer and Ichcha are attracted towards each other. But with time, she realises what a mistake she has done by doing so. She has lost the chance to be called "thakurain", the riches, the rights of the daughterin-law of the Bundela family. She has lost out on the expensive gifts that Veer showers on Ichcha like a car, diamond jewellery.

So she decides to get him back. This is where she gets twisted in her mind, and plot various cheap tactics to ruin every ritual that comes Ichcha's way like replacing Ichcha mehndi troussoue with one of her cheap dresses, ruining the chunri that Ichcha's mother woven since Ichcha's childhood, pretending to trip from the stairs so that Ichcha's mehndi is ruined, and so on.

This is the last straw and I would like to commend the writers to bringing this moment of stupidity in everyone's life at the same time. It is miraculous how people can be so stupid is beyond my understanding. How can the whole gathering not think, "why is the bride taking so much time to come down? Surely, no bride takes so much time! Also, how come whoever went to fetch the bride has not returned.. for almost half an hour" (I am talking serial time). These guys spent two and a half episodes just upstairs with the whole gathering waiting for the bride. In the meantime, why didn't Veer say anything to anyone about the conversation between himself and Tapasya?

One important lesson in parenting should be taken from this serial is always tell your kid about the changes that are going to take place in their life, specially as serious as semi-adopting her friend. Prepare her for such an event. That is exactly what the Thakurs didn't do. Instead, they handed Tapasya over to her Nani who did nothing but poison her mind against Ichcha. Sure, you may realise how important a grandparent to a child, but that doesn;t make your responsibility any less. You must see the what the kid is going through, keep a close watch on the mood changes in the child.

So, if Tapasya is going through a twisted time in her life, how come her parents didn't notice? Did it ever occur to them to ask her why she rejected Veer? Did they discuss her ambitions, her wishes? No. They were busy planning Ichchha's kanyadaan, more for their own sake than for Ichchha's.

All in all, they were good parents to Ichchha. Sadly, they are not Ichchha's parents. They are Tapasya's parents and in being that, they failed in their duty.

The Story of a Tired Father

2009-10-08T21:48:00.011+05:30

This week, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Marathi) telecast an episode celebrating Dr Saleel Kulkarni's birthday. This episode ended with a song sung by Dr Saleel Kulkarni. MIL gave a strong recommendation about this song with the fact that this song had the entire auditorium crying. It was performed in a concert called Ayushyavar Bolu Kaahi (Let's talk about life) and the song was Damlelya Bapachi Kahani (the story of a tired father). It is actually a poem. This song hit us close to home, esp the Mister, as we are also standing on the threshold of parenthood. Here is the poem and an attempt to translation.

Here's hoping to present the side of a father who is sad and apologetic that he cannot spend enough time with his kid as he is busy toiling to provide all the comforts to the same kid. Hope you will be able to forgive your father for doing the same as in this poem.

कोमेजून निजलेली एक परी राणी
उतरले तोंड,डोळा सुकलेले पाणी
रोजचेच आहे सारे काही आज नाही
माफी कशी मागू पोरी मला तोंड नाही
झोपेतच घेतो तुला आज मी कुशीत
निजेतच तरी पण येशील खुशीत
सांगायाचे आहे माझ्या सानुल्या फुला
दमलेल्या बापाची ही कहाणी तुला....
ना ना ना ना ना.. ना ना ना ना ना....

आटपाट नगरात गर्दी होती भारी
घामाघूम राजा तरी लोकलची वारी
रोज सकाळीच राजा निघताना बोले
गोष्ट सांगायाचे काल राहूनिया गेले
जमलेच नाही काल येणे मला जरी
आज परि येणार मी वेळेतच घरी
स्वप्नातल्या गावामध्ये मारू बघ खेळी
खर्याखुर्या परीसाठी गोष्टीतली परी
मांडीन मी थकलेल्या हातांचा झुला
दमलेल्या बापाची ही कहाणी तुला....
ना ना ना ना ना.. ना ना ना ना ना....

ऑफिसात उशीरा मी असतो बसून
भंडावले डोके गेले कामात बुडून
तास-तास जातो खाल मानेने निघून
एक-एक दिवा जातो हळूच विझून
अशा वेळी काय सांगू काय-काय वाटे
आठवासोबत पाणी डोळ्यांतून दाटे
वाटते की उठूनिया तुझ्या पास यावे
तुझ्यासाठी मी पुन्हा लहानगे व्हावे
उगाचच रूसावे नि भांडावे तुझ्याशी
चिमुकले खेळ काही मांडावे तुझ्याशी

उधळत खिदळत बोलशील काही
बघताना भान मला उरणार नाही
हसूनिया उगाचच ओरडेल काही
दुरूनच आपल्याला बघणारी आई
तरीसुद्धा दोघेजण दंगा मांडू असा
क्षणा-क्षणावर ठेवू खोडकर ठसा
सांगायाची आहे माझ्या सानुल्या फुला
दमलेल्या बापाची ही कहाणी तुला....
ना ना ना ना ना.. ना ना ना ना ना....

दमल्या पायाने जेव्हा येईल जांभई
मऊ-मऊ दूध भात भरवेल आई
गोष्ट ऐकायला मग येशील ना अशी
सावरीच्या उशीहून मऊ माझी कुशी
कुशी माझी सांगताहे ऐक बाळा काही
सदोदित जरी का मी तुझ्या पास नाही
जेवू खाऊ नाहू माखू घालतो ना तुला
आईपरी वेणी फणी करतो ना तुला
तुझ्यासाठी आईपरी बाबासुद्धा खुळा
तोही कधी गुपचूप रडतो रे बाळा
सांगायाची आहे माझ्या सानुल्या फुला
दमलेल्या बापाची या कहाणी तुला....
ना ना ना ना ना.. ना ना ना ना ना....

(संदीपचा आवाज) गद्य:
बोळक्यामध्ये लुकलुकलेला तुझा पहिला दात
आणि पहिल्यांदाच घेतलास जेव्हा तोंडी मऊ भात
आई म्हणण्याआधीसुद्धा म्हणली होतीस बाबा
रांगत रांगत घेतलास जेव्हा घराचा तू ताबा
लुटू-लुटू उभं रहात टाकलंस पाऊल पहिलं
दूरचं पहात राहिलो फक्त,जवळ पहायचंच राहिलं

असा गेलो आहे बाळा पुरा अडकून
हल्ली तुला झोपेतच पहातो दुरून
असा कसा बाबा देव लेकराला देतो
लवकर जातो आणि उशीरानं येतो
बालपण गेले तुझे-तुझे निसटून
उरे काय तुझ्या-माझ्या ओंजळीमधून
जरी येते ओठी तुझ्या माझ्यासाठी हसे
नजरेत तुझ्या काही अनोळखी दिसे
तुझ्या जगातून बाबा हरवेल का गं
मोठेपणी बाबा तुला आठवेल का गं
सासुराला जाता-जाता उंबरठ्यामध्ये
बाबासाठी येईल का पाणी डोळ्यामध्ये
ना ना ना ना ना.. ना ना ना ना ना....‍‍‍

--- संदीप खरे.
(Lyrics courtesy: http://ketki20.blogspot.com)
Read the translation below (translation is not necessarily literal, some of the meanings are implied)

There's my princess sleeping like a withered flower,
She sleeps with a fallen face and dried tears.
This is a story of everyday, just not today.
But I don't have a face to ask for forgiveness,
I take you in my arms in your drowsy mood,
and you still come to me
My little flower, I wish to share with you today
A story of this tired father.

There was a lot of crowd in this Kingdom Far Far Away,
And this King was caught in the crowd, dripping in the sweat,
Every morning the King would say
I wanted to tell you a bedtime story last night
But could not because I was late
But, even if I couldn't tell one last night,
I will surely come home in time tonight to tell you one
Then we'll play around in our fairyland,
A fairy tale for a real little fairy,
I'll swing you in my tired arms,
This is the story of a tired father.

When I sit in my office deep in my work,
my head spinning with a lot of turmoil
I spend hours bent on my work,
every light in the office goes off one by one
How can I tell you what I feel as such a time?
My mind crowds with memories, and my eyes with tears,
I want to just leave my work and come to you
Return to my childhood just for you,
Fight a childish fight with you
Join you in your childish games

You would say something to me in a careless manner
I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off you (as I think how right you are)
Then we would laugh out and shout out loud
You mother would watch us from afar
Yet we would create a ruckus
And mark each moment with a new mischief
I want to tell you my little one,
The story of this tired father.

When you yawn on your tired little feet,
And your mother feeds you with milk and rice,
Then would you come to me for a story
Into my arms which are softer than your pillow,
Listen, my baby, my arms wish to tell you something:
Even if I am unable to be with you every moment of the day,
Even if I don't feed you and play with you,
Even if I don't tie your hair in pigtails like your mother,
But my child, remember that your father is as crazy for you as your mother
He too cries silent tears for you at night
Listen, my little flower, I want to tell you
A Story of this tired father

(Recited by Sandeep Khare)
The first little tooth in your tiny mouth
Your first bite into softly cooked rice
Even before you said Aai (Mum) , you said Baba (Dad)
You conquered the whole house by crawling all over the house
You stood shakingly on your feet for the first time
But I saw all this standing afar, when I wanted to see it all up close

Just like that, my little one, I am stuck in an everyday rut
All I can do is watch you sleep from afar
What sort of a father the Almighty has bestowed on you?
The one who leaves early and comes home late
Now your childhood slips away from me
What else is left in our hands?
I see you smile at me every now and then
But there is something in your eyes for me, that I don't recognize
Is your father going to be swept away from you, forgotten
Will you remember your father?
On your way to your in-laws and your new life
Will you shed a few tears for your old father?

Aajkal Tere Mere Love Ke Charche

2009-08-01T18:22:00.012+05:30

Recently I had the pleasure of watching a movie on a First Day, and since his opportunity had come after a long time, I was very excited.

Another film from Imtiaz Ali. The same guy who gave us fresh film like Jab We Met. Imtiaz Ali has come up with this new film Love Aaj Kal, a love story of yesterday and today. A wonderful concept, in my opinion.

The film Love Aaj Kal compares the mindset of the youth in the yesteryears (70s) and the current times, when it comes to romance. It describes how the innocent youngsters of the yesteryears relied wholly on their heart and instinct when it came to the matters of the heart; and how the highly informed and career-driven GenX are equally ignorant and do the mistake of using their head when it comes to love.

Jai (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera (Deepika Padukone) are hip youngsters who are a q"together" for a long time but still do not identify themselves as a couple. So much that they willingly break up when it is time for them to pursue their individual careers as architect and restoration artist respectively; where Deepika leaves London to continue her career in Delhi. A chance conversation with the coffee shop owner Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) introduces Jai to the world of romance. Soon Jai finds solace in Veer's narration of his own love story. A lot of angst and heartbreaks later, Jai and Meera realise that they are soulmates and live happily ever after.

The main con of this film is that it takes some time to get into the mood of the film. But the advantage of the film is the fresh look and innovative dialogues. The shifts between the modern age and the 70s are smooth. Saif Ali Khan plays both the roles of Jai and Veer (that is young Rishi Kapoor) very well. Also, Rishi Kapoor's narration of his own love story has been managed so well, that till the end you are left thinking, "Was his love story a failure or a success? Is he advising Jai because he doesn't want Jai to make the same mistakes as he did in young age? Or is he advising Jai because he knows what to do to make his love story a success?" But the end is very pleasant. Actually, if anything, you find that you like Rishi Kapoor's love story more than Saif's and this discovery leaves you wondering where are those simple days of romance.

Coming to the music, it is very refreshing. I loved all the songs but my favourite is Dooriyan. Aaj Din Chadheyan is also a soulful track with amazing lyrics. The rest are all peppy songs like Chor Bazari and Twist. I must say that this film does create history in a way. Never must you have ever heard a song where the characters are celebrating their break up and the fact that how well they have moved on, by bringing in a song like Chor Bazari.

It was a great experience watching the film. I will give one credit to the film, it inspired my watch-a-movie-only-once husband wants to watch it again. ::Keeping my fingers crossed::

One of Favourite Things

2009-06-04T19:17:00.003+05:30

I've been on a Marathi soap high lately and I must say I do enjoy them a lot. The most enjoyable part of these serials is their title songs.

Here is one, my most favourite. The title song of the serial, Kulvadhu:

"Majhi doli chalali ga, door deshi navya gava,
tithe sobati la yeyi majhya sapnancha rava,
tithlya chaukhatit shodhin majhe nave-se abhal
tithle oon paus bhartil majhi onjhal

swapna aahe maage aata vyatha satat urat
navya umbrya chi aas, jaage tarihi manat
ek nadi sarkhi vahate mi janu
paaul punha thevun maage chalale mi - kulvadhu."

Rough translation:

There goes my wedding palanquin, to a new country, a new place
And with me is the man of my dreams,
In that courtyard I will look for a new sky for me
and fill my hands with the new sunshine and rain.

With the dreams behind me, I carry a sadness in my heart,
But still I constantly yearn for a new home
It's like I am flowing like a river,
With a step behind, I move ahead as a the bride of the family.

Scintillating Conversations and Intelligent Answers

2009-04-15T12:07:00.002+05:30

Mum: It's a good thing all of us slept in the afternoon.
Me: I didn't sleep...
Mum: Then what did you do?
Me: I slept for some time

Earth Hour Update

2009-03-29T00:18:00.002+05:30

Well, I made it!

But I wonder if switching off the lights only for one hour is going to help, especially if most of the city has not followed Earth Hour.

Happy Gudi Padwa!

2009-03-27T10:32:00.003+05:30

Happy New Year!

Spread the Message....

2009-03-23T10:43:00.011+05:30

In the honor of Unsuni Awaaz's 100th post, here is a request to all of you. Do observe the Earth Hour. To do this, switch off the lights for 1 hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on March 28, 2009.

For details on this movement, watch the video below:

and visit this site: Earth Hour India 2009.

Let's See What Happens...

2009-03-18T15:46:00.002+05:30

And I Am Back....

2009-03-12T12:26:00.003+05:30

I though it'd take longer than this, but it didn't.

I have set up this place as well as it used to be before, or better or worse.... I don't know, you decide. There are some new lists, some new list items and there are some of the same of old lists, with the same old information.

Well, some new things are in the coming... So let the magic begin.

----------------
Now playing: Jawad Ahmad - Bin Tere
via FoxyTunes

Issued in Public Interest

2009-03-09T10:10:00.003+05:30

Hi All! Please excuse the messiness and the ambiguity in this page. The blog is under renovation and since I am doing it alone, I am going to take some time. I will come back with a new look, a glimpse of which you are currently seeing.

So if you are a regular visitor to my blog, first of all, Thanks (with a capital T) for sticking by and visiting my blog regularly and second, sorry for the inconvenience. You can drop in every now and then to check on it.

If you are not a regular visitor to this blog, sorry you caught me at a bad time. Hope you will drop in again. Meanwhile, take a look around and visit the previous posts. Hope you enjoy them.

Ciao and wish me luck!

It's Coming...

2009-03-06T11:57:00.006+05:30

I like this trailer only because it is indicative of the fact that the film is coming soon. Otherwise, in my opinion, I find it very dark, both feeling-wise and picture-wise.

----------------
Now playing: Roopkumar Rathod - Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai
via FoxyTunes

Smart, Isn't It?

2009-03-04T11:21:00.004+05:30

Heard in the train today,

"Your kind attention please! This is an Andheri-bound train. It will go to Andheri."

(As for the tag, not much of a Chronicle this is, but still...)

What Exactly Is Expected Here?

2009-02-27T15:15:00.002+05:30

Get what I mean?

Oh No!

2009-02-25T12:58:00.005+05:30

For about years now I have relied on Yahoo's Briefcase functionality. For me, it was the web version of the Flash Drive. I had my first and only fanfic stored on it, whole and chapter-wise (15 chapters, coll, isn't it?).
And now, Yahoo announces that the Briefcase functionality is closing down. Noooooo!!! Why???? It was uuuuusefuuulllll!!!!

Ok. I am done lamenting. Does any expert out there know the reason behind this? Did this really not work for Yahoo? And was I the only person using it?

For those who haven't checked their Yahoo Mail yet, Yahoo is closing its Briefcase from March 30, 2009 onwards. If you haven't cleared it up yet by downloading or deleting your files, please do so by March 30, after which the files will be cleared anyway.

Any Math Wizard Here?

2009-02-20T10:15:00.004+05:30

Can someone tell me the value of this?

Na Rahega Baas, Na Bajegi Baansuri

2009-02-20T10:07:00.004+05:30

If you know what I mean. For more see below.

Found on the wall near place where I work, the person responsible seems to be well acquainted with the fact that just prohibition of spitting the paan might not be enough.

Smart person, I’d say!

Brilliant, But Scary

2009-02-18T12:15:00.002+05:30

As Ron Weasley once said to Hermione Granger commenting on her skills.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

BIllu Not-So-Bhayankar

2009-02-16T10:47:00.005+05:30

So after a lot of protests from the barbers all over the.. city?, Billu (formerly known as Billu Barber) finally came silently into the theaters. A film with the mark of Priyadarshan is based on the legendary friendship of Krishna and Sudama. For the uninitiated, a brief relation of the tale. Krishna and Sudama were classmates in their childhood and received the same education. They were also good friends. Apart from that, Sudama was greatly devoted to Krishna. Despite the common education, fate plays a game and showers extreme poverty on Sudama and the kingdom of Mathura on Krishna. After witnessing a lot of struggles and the ill state of his family, Sudama swallows his pride and decides to visit Krishna. Krishna receives him warmly and enquires of his health. Sudama being a very proud does not mention the poor state of affairs and leaves after thanking Krishna for his hospitality. All the while Krishna knows how proud his friend is and respects him for it. However, he arranges for Sudama to be well-off such that when Sudama reaches his village, he finds his ramshackled hut replaced with a well built house and his family well provided for.

So basically this is what the story of Billu is based on.

Billu (Irfan Khan, at his usual best) is a simple barber married to Bindiya (Lara Dutta, outcast village girl wearing designer backless blouses). Billu lives in a village in UP called Budbuda and is an upright barber whose barber shop is going to dumps because of his rival, Modern Hairdressers. At the other end of the world is this really popular film star, Sahir Khan (SRK, looking good) who is very modest at heart. Fate has Sahir recommend Budbuda for shooting a portion of his film. Here is where Billu's life takes off for a roller coaster ride. Why? Because, he reveals to his family that Sahir Khan was his childhood friend. Word spreads soon and no matter how much Billu denies and resists the fame as Sahir Khan's friends, he is loaded with lots of perks - free education for the children, a new modern saloon with modern amenities, ample food at home and respect amongst the neighbors. All with the condition - they all want him to introduce him to Sahir Khan. In spite of not wanting any share of Sahir Khan's fame, he is forced into it. A series of cominc incidents take place.

FInally the shooting is winding down and people realise that Billu hasn't done his part of introducing them to Sahir Khan and he along with his family is ridiculed. The school manages to convince Sahir Khan to spend some time with the village school. This is where the whole plot unravels.

The film has a feel-good quality to it and it is the same team from the Priyadarshan's camp, mainly Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani and so on. There are a few moments that just move you to the core, such as the time when Bindiya asks Billu, "do you really know Sahir?" Just the answering look has her regretting question. And only Irfan Khan can have carry off that look. Shah Rukh Khan looks dignified in the role of a modest star. Yes, he enjoys his stardom but he also knows that he owes it to his friend. He doesn't talk more than two lines in the film except in the speech at the school, where he acknowledges his friendship to Billu.

Here Billu leaves the gathering without listening to the entire speech, just satisfied with the knowledge that "at least he remembers me." One more thing, I would like to mention here is the role of a star played here gives you a refreshing new perspective on the job of a film actor and the hard work it demands. I realised that film stars get glamour, money, fame, but the one thing an earnest actor would crave for is respect for their profession which is seemingly lacking in the very audience which claims to be crazy for them.

The music is alright, my favourite track being "Khudaya Khair". A soft song. It has a hip-hop version featuring Priyanka Chopra, "You Got Me Rockin' and Reelin'".

To end it with a question, what exactly in this film offended the barber community?

Marathi Version of “Hum Do Hamare Do”

2009-02-16T10:39:00.002+05:30

Seen at the back of a tempo

“दोन कार्टी सुखी पार्टी”

This should help you...

2009-02-09T10:11:00.004+05:30

..lend an active hand in stopping Global Warming. Read carefully and you'll know what I mean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7868588.stm

You Know You Are Reading Too Much HP (Canon and Fanfiction) When...

2009-01-21T16:51:00.003+05:30

You start thinking of your writer’s block and attempts to cure it as failed attempts at producing a Patronus and wonder when was the last time you ~~produced a corporeal Patronus~~ wrote a decent blog post.

Your result for The Sorting Hat Test...

2009-01-12T23:23:00.003+05:30

Huffledor

You scored 47% Order/Chaos, and 63% Moral/Rational

Morality with an orderly/chaotic split. You've got a fixed idea of morality, you know that for sure, but your view on regulations waffles. Rules are rules, but you're also able to see when it's really more of a guideline. Your strengths arise from your balanced view of order that allows you to carefully choose strategies for furthering your causes; your weakness is the fact that, given the success your strengths are likely to give you, you may not be receptive to the idea that you are not absolutely in the right.

The 4-grid I used to determine this is as follows:

	Chaotic	Orderly
Moral	Gryffindor	Hufflepuff
Rational	Slytherin	Ravenclaw

Take The Sorting Hat Test at HelloQuizzy

Here a Check, There a Check, Everywhere a Check Check

2008-12-06T21:41:00.007+05:30

What is so great about being an Indian that Indian people have to be so short with security checks? Doesn't anyone understand that this is for our own good? After all that has happened, there still some...people... who have no patience with security checks. Look who's speaking. These are the same people who will curse the security system and the law enforcement forces for being lax when something untoward happens. These are the same people who will not throw waste on the streets of USA or Singapore but will not think twice before doing the same in Mumbai. The same again who will desperately look for a urinal while in USA, but will not looking before peeing on free wall while in India. Hmph! Why? I want to address such people and ask them, "What makes you so special that you have to be exempted from security checks?" Even the most influential of the people have to be checked thoroughly before being let into any public place.

Haven't we learned anything from all this? We are all talking about joining hands against terrorism. Then why aren't we doing anything? Every big venture begins with baby steps. We have to really help our system because we build it. It is by us and for us. If we are strict in our principles, if we follow the traffic rules properly and not have the traffic police babysit us all the time, they would be able to concentrate on the more important aspects and the more serious aspects of law enforcement. If we don't frown at security checks and let them follow their processes, we might be able to prevent huge disasters. If we are alert on the streets and help the police instead of interfering in their work, it would be much easier on the system to help and it would be an incentive. Why does the system need an incentive you ask? You tell me, would you do anything... even your civic duty... without looking for an incentive? No. Then why should the system do anything for you? You be an ideal citizen, the system will become an ideal one.

Next question. How does only one achieve this? Well who says only one has to do this? Can't everyone do this at a time? It makes me so happy when I see that I am not the only one who puts waste paper in my bag if I don't find a bin around.

Just little more awareness and bit of initial inconvenience, we can go miles ahead in combating not just terrorism but so many more problems.

Speaking of Dostana...

2008-12-04T13:11:00.002+05:30

Seen at the back of a bus:

Either someone hates John Abraham or really loves Kangana Ranaut.

Disjointed Dostana

2008-11-16T22:49:00.006+05:30

The much hyped film, Karan Johar's latest "offering" to the audiences of Hindi movie, has been released. Dostana. A tale of friendship. Karan Johar has come out of the mould of the K movies and finally made a film. It is about loving your friends...again. But this time there is a triangle between two guys and a girl.

Okay, the story is set in Miami, where Samir aka Sam (atrociously dressed Abhishek Bachchan) and Kunal (deliciously built John Abraham) keep bumping into each other in various situations and finally they both land into a flat (on my my what a flat that is) which is in need of tenants. But the problem is that the landlady is not in favour of having two strapping young men living with her sexy niece, Neha (not out of Fashion wardrobe Priyanka Chopra) hence jeoparding her "honor". So they decide to present themselves as gay to the landlady and the niece (while deciding that sooner or later they would confess the truth to both of them). With time, the three develop a close friendship amongst each other. Sam and Kunal start falling in love with Neha and in their own ways try to woo her. Enter Neha's new boss, Abhimanyu (ordinary looking Bobby Deol), who actually manages to capture her heart. New competition causes Sam and Kunal to join forces to play dirtiest games to win Neha back. But things backfire on them and how forms the rest of the story.

Story? Yeah well, it was a very simple plot. But the film was so patchy and the scenes were so disjointed that you lose focus of the story. The feeling that mainly came through was "Yeah okay, so they are trying to prove they are gay. Enough already!" Also, the growing friendship - transition from newly introduced roommates to close friends - was not smooth. One moment Sam and Kunal move in and the next moment they have pillow fights. I was actually bored and I was looking forward to the intermission. The second half was a tad better than the first half. An amazing actress like Kirron Kher who plays Sam's mother, is not used properly.

What is with Abhishek Bachchan's wardrobe? Oh. My. God. He has worn the gaudiest clothes. Ever. He had a better wardrobe in his films like Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya. And I don't think I have seen either of them, John or Abhishek, who have dressed properly, except in a few shots here and there. And the dirty games they play! I mean what are we trying to prove here? That it is okay to poison someone's mind because you can always tell the truth and then redeem yourself? It doesn't work like that! Once you say something bad, the damage is done! Specially when you say something like that to a child as young as five.

Enough trashing. There are a few good things about the film. Priyanka Chopra's wardrobe, specially her sari in Desi Girl; the music - Desi Girl, Khabar Nahi, Desi Girl - some of my favourites; John Abraham.

If you haven' watched the film, you haven't missed anything. I think Karan Johar should returned to his K mantra, because K is really lucky for him.

PS Pranju, if you are reading this, I know you are shocked. You know how much effort it takes for a movie maker to actually bore me and Karan Johar unfortunately achieved with no competition.

Sad News

2008-11-07T16:36:00.002+05:30

Author Michael Crichton dies of cancer in LA. Sad to hear that. Just this morning I saw his picture in the newspaper and I didn't know that it was published because he died.

More here.

Fashion Ka Jalwa

2008-11-07T14:09:00.008+05:30

Jalwa indeed. Madhur Bhandarkar strikes again. You know what, Madhur Bandarkar sort of reminds me of Arthur Hailey, who creates a storyline while capturing one whole industry (Airport, Hotel, Wheels, Detective, and so on). So we had Chandni Bar (the "true and as-is" life led by the bar dancers), Page 3 (life of a journalist), Corporate (life in the corporate industry), Traffic Signal (life led by the urchins at the city's traffic signals), and now, Fashion (a model's life in the tough industry of Fashion).

As usual, synopsis. Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is a small town model who aspires to make it big in on ramp against her parents' wishes (Raj Babbar and Kiran Juneja) and where else can she achieve this goal, but in Mumbai. With a few lucky turns of fate, she comes in the line of sight of many biggies of the fashion world. All this with the help of her contact and fellow designer, Rohit Khanna. Here she makes some friends, some foes and is manipulated by the rest. One major competition comes to her in the form of Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut), a successful but haughty model, in the throes of smoking, drugs, and attitude tantrums. Soon, Meghna replaces Shonali as the brand ambassador of the agency run by Abhijeet Sareen (Arbaaz Khan) and Aneesha (Kitu Gidwani). As time passes, she is involved with the biggies of the fashion industry and in the headiness of her success, loses sight of the very people who helped to that level of success- Rahul Arora (Samir Soni as a gay designer), Janet Sequira (Mugdha Godse - who later marries Samir Soni in the film), Manav (her roommate, boyfriend, and fellow struggling model). Pride comes for a fall, they say and that is what happens to Meghna. Like Shonali, she is also replaced as the brand ambassador of the agency and is soon surrounded with controversies (drunken driving, attitude problems with designers). Luckily, before going too wayward, she takes stock of her life and returns to her home, albeit broken and depressed. The rest of the story is about how she reenters the fashion industry with a renewed enthusiasm and a new sense of maturity.

Well. Priyanka Chopra played every phase of her career as Meghana with excellence, even the grey shades. However, her transition from modest to haughty did not seem very convincing and was instead very forced and sudden. Basically, it was not justified. If you watch carefully, Shonali and Meghana led similar lives. The only difference in them was that Shonali didn't anyone to turn to in times of crises in her life and neither did she have the guts to do so, until Meghna inspires her to live (later in the film). But Meghna... she has the courage to return to her home and ask (even if silently) for help. She has the courage to accept help and regain her confidence to walk on the ramp. Another notable message passed on by this film is what we learnt long back in her primary classes but forgot when we grew up: Pride Goes Before a Fall. Don't be too proud of what you have today, you may lose it. There is also one more quote by Meghna herself "The people you meet on your way up to success are the same ones you meet on your way down. So be careful how you treat them."

Whether what is shown in the film is the whole truth of the industry or not, I don't know. In any case, I think this film is surely an eye opener for the aspiring models to look out for potholes in the road to success. For some reason, I always liked Indian fashion than the Western fashion. This film reminded me why. The designs in this film are just great. The music was not all that great, except for the theme music. The other characters play their roles well. Personally, I like Mugdha Godse. Her role was not much, but her transition from model to a designer wife and able support to Rahul is very smooth and seamless, and most of all, endearing. The most eye catching performance is that of Harsh Chhaya. The body language, the accent.. really commendable.

Whoever said that this film is a copy of Devil Wears Prada should get their facts right before spreading such misleading rumours.

Kids These Days!!!

2008-11-04T13:49:00.002+05:30

Let this be a lesson on how you can't get away with telling just anything to kids around you. They take you seriously. Of course, it is cute.

Snippets of The Jeffersons

2008-10-17T14:19:00.014+05:30

The Jeffersons is one of the sitcoms I grew on (we had recorded episodes). It is the longest running comedy (or series of any genre) with a predominantly Black cast in the history of American television.

For updates, click Read More.

The show focused on an upper middle-class, Black couple, George and Louise Jefferson.
Before I start off with the snippets, let me introduce you to the characters:
George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley): An ambitious African American entrepreneur who started and managed a successful chain of seven dry cleaning stores in New York City called Jefferson Cleaners. George Jefferson was frequently opinionated, rude, bigoted and prone to scheming.

Louise Jefferson nee Mills (Isabel Sanford): Often referred to as "Weezie" by George, she is kind hearted and is a calming influence in the household compared to George's temper tantrums and over-inflated ego.

Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs): She is Jeffersons' sassy, sardonic, wise-cracking, yet painfully lazy maid. Although her job is supposed to take up most of her time, she is flat-out slothful, using very little energy or effort to clean the Jeffersons' apartment. She regularly bickers with George and teases him about his height and speech. George, who pays Florence's salary, repeatedly complains about her laziness (and cooking), and he gives her a very small paycheck. Several times he was on the verge of firing her, but Louise, who thinks of her as one of the family, forces him not to. Over the period, she grows a close friendship with Louise.

Tom and Helen Willis (Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker): Helen Willis nee Douglas is Louise's best friend and George's worst nightmare. She has been married to Tom Willis for 34 years. Helen works with Louise as volunteers at a service facility called "The Help Center".
Tom Willis is an author and president of his publishing company, Pelham Publishers (which is never seen in the series). He lives a content life with his wife Helen. Tom is white, and Helen is black, which was a renowned aspect of the show. Because of this racial mixing, they are often the butt of George's insults and jokes. Tom and Helen, however, both learned to ignore the bigotry of their neighbor.Tom is a caring person, but often dominated by his wife. He also is ridiculed occasionally of his weight. He is known to be a horrible dancer, as indicated in a few episodes. He also occasionally goes along with George's constant schemes reluctantly, but for the most part prefers to be left out of them.
Harry Bentley (Paul Benedict): is the Jeffersons' eccentric, British next-door neighbor. Bentley works as a Russian language interpreter at the United Nations. He is known to everybody as a kind, gentle fellow, but George mostly finds him a complete annoyance, especially when he shows up at his door, complaining of back spasms (which could be cured only by George walking across his back) or to borrow a household item.

Here are a few amazing dialogues:
(Note: Please don't look at the controversy. Look at the comedy. No offense to anyone.)

George: Look, I got a responsibility to give those jobs to men. Men have families to support.
Jenny: What about women who have families to support?
George: They oughta get a man!

George: Women ain't fit for tough jobs.
Mother Jefferson: A woman raised you, George.
.
.
.
George: I can't swear to a woman
Mother Jefferson: George, you are talking like a damn fool.

George: ...You've been writing since you was a kid.
Louise: So has Helen
George: But you're older than her!

George: What's Helen got that you ain't got?
Louise: Well, for one thing, she's got a college education
George: College education, that don't mean nothing!
Louise: That's not what you keep telling Lionel
George: Well, that's different
Louise: What's different about that?
George: We are not talking about becoming an engineer, we are talking about editing a newsletter. Any dummy can do that!

Florence: Were you this excited when you first heard I was coming?
George: Sure
Florence: What happened?
George: You showed up!

Bentley: When my oldest sister married a sailor. she married a sailor and they moved away from home for a long time. When she returned to the house after all that time, nobody recognized her
Florence: She changed that much?
Bentley: Oh no we didn't live there anymore!

Florence: This woman (about Louise) is saint. Look who she married.

Florence: That's your problem. You only know the words and not what they mean.

UPDATE:

George: You cook like a dog.
Florence: That's because I cook for a chihuahua.

That's all I have for now.

Hello? What's on Your Mind?

2008-10-10T12:48:00.006+05:30

Whatever is on your mind, please leave it behind when you watch this. Especially the part that remembers reading the book, One Night @ The Call Center. Leave it at home.

If you haven't understood what am I talking about, let me clear it. I am talking about Hello, the movie adaptation of the bestseller, One Night @ The Call Center written by Chetan Bhagat.

Well, for the uninitiated, let us first have a synopsis of the film. The protagonist of this film is Shyam (or Agent Sam) played by Sharman Joshi (please ignore the squeeing). He along with this team - Vroom (Sohail Khan), Priyanka (Gul Panag), Esha (Eesha Koppikar), Radhika (Amrita Arora), and Military Uncle (Sharat Saxena) - work in the night shift at a call center. This film is about this one particularly bad night where nothing is working properly. The systems are down, everybody's job is in danger, and their own personal demons are in full force this particular night.

Shyam is dealing with a boss who spouts management talk for everything but is a good-for-nothing and the chipku girlfriend Shefali. Varun aka Vroom has trouble with a broken family and his guilt for having left a job which he enjoyed for a job which gave more money. Radhika is facing a torturous mother-in-law and an uncooperative husband. Esha faces failure at her yet-to-start modeling career. Priyanka is yet to face the remnants of her breakup with Shyam while her mother pressurizes her for accepting an alliance with an NRI software engineer. Last but not the least, Military Uncle misses his family who he has left in USA.

That said, this is a story of this group of people and how they face their demons after having a face to face with death and a conversation with God.

First of all, the actors look too old for the characters they portray. Especially Sohail Khan who plays Vroom. This character is actually a 22-year-old and, more importantly, younger than Shyam. Fine, ok, small changes can be excused. But what's with the 5-star set for the Call Center bay? I haven't been in a call center, but as far as I know, they certainly don't look like this.

Secondly, the director doesn't give us time to feel anything for the characters completely. The screenplay is too hurried. It is as if the director has decided that "okay, Shyam-Priyanka scenes - check. Radhika's issues - check. Irritating boss- check, and so on." C'mon, let us sink in the scenes. The comedy was rushed too. No time to even laugh. Here is an example to clarify what I mean. Let us talk about the boss, Bakshi (Dalip Tahil). This character is really supposed to make you feel angry and frustrated and incredulous. You begin to think " Bhagwaan dushman ko bhi aisa boss na de" But before you feel anything like that, the scene has already shifted and you are left wondering what just happened and why. Shyam, as a character, is actually a loser who doesn't stand up to himself. And since the original book is in his point of view, he has some excellent dialogues. While casting Sharman Joshi in this role was a good decision, his talent and excellent comic timing has not been utilised properly.

It is not easy converting a book into a movie. There is limited time to put a lot of monologue in one scene. There are some scenes which need not have been in the film but some scenes were actually vital. I would have loved to see Priyanka's outburst at the family in the restaurant while posing as a "CBI Women's Cell" officer. I would have done without the song before the car accident. Instead, I would have preferred seeing a longer conversation with God.

Enough with the flaming. Let us talk about the good thing (yes singular). Sharman Joshi. I don't know if it's me or is he really cute in this film? Even if it's just me, I don't care. I find him really cute. Best choice for the role of Shyam. If only, he was utilised properly.

I hope that, should there be a movie adaptation of "The three mistakes of my life", Chetan Bhagat thinks twice before giving the rights to anyone. Not these makers, please.

Recapitulation... II

2008-10-06T17:13:00.003+05:30

I just remembered a few things more, so I thought to write a part 2 for this post.

1. I read One Night @ Call Center just because I was intrigued as to what could be in that book that led to the creation of the film. It is good book. What I like about Chetan Bhagat's style is the beautiful way he writes the guy's line of thought.
2. I just realised I am really excited about watching the film mentioned in the above point. For some reason, I realised that what I am eager to see is Sharman Joshi and I didn't even know that I totally adore that actor. I think he plays Shyam (spoiler warning), the protagonist of the book.

Ok. That's it. I think I don't remember anything else. In case I do, it will be put in as an independant post. Meanwhile, consider yourself tagged by this post.

A meme

2008-10-03T18:53:00.000+05:30

Rules:

1. If you're on my friends list, I want to know a few things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... you're on my list, so I want to know you better. You don't even have to answer all the questions, because some of them are lame and some just hard to think up.

2. Comment here with your answers and repost the questionnaire on your own journal if you'd like me to respond to it.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite fruit?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any tattoos and/or piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottled or tap water?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe in love at first sight?
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) In one word, how would you describe me?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Recapitulation...

2008-10-03T17:28:00.001+05:30

Oh my my. It has been a looooooooong time on the blogger. Trust me, there is so much to tell and as usual, some things are hurriedly escaping my mind. So let me capture all the events since the last time I blogged, into a list (in no special order of preference):

1. The month of Shravan came and went. And behold the festive season in Mumbai. It seems like just yesterday that Ganesh Chaturthi ended and the streets of Mumbai had calmed down, that now Navratri season has begun. The streets are busy again. Not to mention Eid.
BTW, Belated Eid Mubarak!
2. We sold our desktop PC. Whatever price we got, it cannot be more valuable than the space we have emptied in our home.
3. We finally convinced our landlady to empty our home of some old furniture. So Yay!!!
4. About movies, yes, I have watched quite a few movies lately. To name a few, A Wednesday, Blossoms in the Dust (an old classic movie, which I am bursting to talk about. Watch this space), Kung Fu Panda.
5. Hmmm... what else... what else... Diwali is coming up... of course, you know that.
6. Oh yeah, sometime back, I lost my way in the city as I boarded the wrong bus. I was not very worried, but I was just wondering where to get off so that I can reach my actual destination with least discomfort. Then I met this old lady who must have thought that I have panicked. Now this lady made sure that I got to the right destination. How? She practically held my hand and led me to the place where I was to go. We spoke as we went to the place and when we parted, I gave her a heartfelt thanks when I actually wanted to give her a hug. I hope she got what I meant with that Thanks. It's such incidents that make me feel warm in the inside and remind me that the everything is not lost in us. Angels are still here.
7. We bought a laptop. Lenovo. Don't ask me the details, I don't know which ones to tell.
8. Lately I have been exploring Youtube. I have found some great videos of Friends, The Hogan Family. Basically it started with looking for some videos of the Comedy Circus (season 2), mostly the gags by Shakeel Siddiqui.

Ganapati Bappa Moraya

2008-09-04T15:48:00.002+05:30

Ganapati at my home:

We Will... We Will.. Rock You!!

2008-09-04T13:40:00.004+05:30

Nah, this post has got nothing to do with the song (cuz I don't know anything about the song. At this moment, I don't even remember the singer(s)). The only common word between this title and the actual subject of my blog is the word Rock. You guessed it, Rock On!!! Oh my my... what a rocking film! They seriously rock!

So this is a story of a band called Magik. Why Magik? Because each member of this band is passionate for music and has a their own magic with it. Aditya (Farhan Akhtar) is a poet and the lead singer - magic in voice; Joe (Arjun Ramphal - ghane mulayam kaale baal) is the lead guitarist - magic in fingers; Rob (Luke Kenny) is at the keyboard - magic with the notes and last but not the least, KD (Purab Kohli - life of the band cuz he has some of the best dialogues) is the drummer - magic with beats. This is a story of how they find their way back to each other and to Magik after 10 years. Why 10 years? Because something happened 10 years back which had broken the band.

The beauty of the direction of the film is the way the story unfolds. It begins with the song, Aasman hai neela kyon, created by Aditya and then turns to Aditya the investment banker - cold and professional. Huge Difference! But why? This thought chases you throughout the film. What happened 10 years back that brought such a huge change in Aditya's life? Farhan Akhtar's face shows very perfectly that there is something in Aditya's mind that he is neither able to accept nor able to let go. He is married "happily" to Sakshi (Prachi Desai debuting, and oh my my does she look heavenly or not!). It has been a mundane life for Aditya and Sakshi, with he shutting out everyone from his life and she trying to get in and understand what he really wants.

The story takes a decisive turn on Aditya's birthday party when Sakshi surprises him with his friends, KD and Rob. Joe was supposed to come, but he refuses. Finally, after a lot of flashbacks, you get to know the reason behind the breakup of Magik. How they get over that past and get together to recreate the Magik (pun intended) forms the rest of the story. There are so many reasons why Magik should not have performed after 10 years: Joe's financial crisis, being one. The others? Find out for yourself. :P

What I like best about the film is the editing. The seamless shifts between past and present keep the suspense in the film going. The big question: What happened 10 years back? Sometime during the middle of the film, I felt the pace of the film drop but then for the rest of the good things in the film, this minor setback goes unnoticed. Also, it did not surprise me or bother me that at certain parts, this film reminded me of Dil Chahta Hai. I guess Farhan Akhtar will not be able to live that effect down.

Do they perform after the huge gap? Yes they do perform, and as it always happens in Hindi films and should always happen in real life, everything ends well. A Happy Ending. And they all lived happily ever after. Well, not all and not ever after.

A movie about music and no mention of its music. Gross unfairness! The music is really good. Some really good guitar work. Some of the songs have silly lyrics, but you don't mind them as they lighten the mood of the song. All in all, good music. Farhan Akhtar has a really good voice.

Prachi Desai, as I said before, looks heavenly. She carries out her role with such grace and elegance. Sweetness, of course, but not sickening. And their home? Man, which part of Mumbai do these people live to have such a beautiful home?! Then we have Shahana Goswami playing Debbie, Joe's girlfriend turned wife. She displays perfectly her stressful life running the family fish business after giving up on her dream of dress designing and her disappointment at the way Joe is carrying on with his life. You sympathise with her, and identify with her to a certain level.

Rest assured, this is a must watch. I sure had a "rocking" Ganesh Chaturthi!

You Gotta Be Kidding!

2008-08-27T17:43:00.003+05:30

Dear Mumbai Police,

For being one of the most efficient law enforcement agencies of the nation, this has got to be the silliest move ever- banning music in the motor vehicles. This has probably got to be the most Tughlaq-sque move. And why? To avoid accidents? How is banning music going to prevent accidents? Of course, unless, you are keeping a watch on the decibel levels. If that is the case then yeah, it will work. How else are you expecting the car driver to commute on Mumbai roads and preserving his sanity at the same time? If you want to avoid accidents on the roads, here are a few things you might want to look at:

Check the decibel levels of the music. How will you know if the music is too loud for your liking? Dude, if you can hear the music outside the car and are able to match your heartbeat (or skip your heartbeat) with it, it is loud. Slow soothing music is not a problem to the car driver or the car passing next to it.
Improve the roads so that you can reduce the time a vehicle spends on the road because of a jam and that way reduce - if not avoid - the accidents.
Continue your stringent drive to check drunken driving. Good job there. Keep up with it. Make it more strict if you can.
Be a little more sensitive to the accident victims even if they are not injured. Help the victims anyway you can, and you might just end up increasing the goodwill for the police department. Trust me, it goes a long way.

Do you realise what will be the result of banning radio/other music from playing in the vehicles?

Cutting off of the road-travelling public from the goings-on of the city. Today radio is the most effective medium in transmitting messages about road blocks due to traffic jams, water logging, political rallies and all that jazz. Banning the radio is going to increase the problems and finally result in your move backfiring.
Would you rather have people driving their cars with the earplugs on? Because, if you ban stereos, people will be people and they will find a loophole around it. Maybe not the brightest loophole, but a loophole nonetheless. People are going to think, "I am not allowed to play loudly? Fine, I'll just play it on my cellphone and plug it in my ears. That way, the police won't know. Not to worry, it is not going to bother my driving." Isn't that worse that the car stereo playing? At least, you can control the volume of the car stereo. Whereas you are not going to be able to control the volume of the radio that is playing inside the driver's ear and that might just block out all the traffic from his hearing. Would you rather have that?

Think about it.

Sincerely yours,
Concerned Citizen of Mumbai

Every Soul Is Special

2008-08-12T21:53:00.005+05:30

I was just watching Ramayan and the part where Hanuman crosses the ocean in search of Sita. Now you must be wondering what could be so special in this event that inspired me to write a post. There sure is. That is why I am here.

Before that, here is a legend with some Hanuman related background information. Hanuman is known to be the partial reincarnation of Lord Shiva. He was also the godson of Lord Pavan, king of the winds. So you can expect the effect of the extreme physical and magical powers on a mind as young as a toddler. What's more a toddler who has complete knowledge of the powers possessed by him. You guessed it. Extreme precociousness. This precocious nature almost caused him the loss of the knowledge of his powers as a result of a curse by a powerful sage. Later it was modified that he would forget about his powers till someone reminded him about them. Once he remembered his powers, he would be able to use them to their full effect.

There, that is the point of my post. There is something I want to attract your attention to.

I believe there is a Hanuman in everyone's heart. The plain and modest Hanuman. The one who knows not the limit of his powers. Who knows not that there is no limit to his powers. It took him inspiration from his friends that made him fly across the ocean, all the way to Lanka to find Sita, console her and assure her that now it will not take longer to free her from Lanka.

Not everyone is aware of the power that resides within the soul. Every soul is special. Those inspirational messages that you get in your sms's and emails are not to be scoffed at. They are modest attempts of reminding you of the power you possess within you to inspire yourself, to achieve what you want to. It is up to you to inculcate those messages within yourself.

Look at the other side now. If you think someone around you who has a special talent, inspire that someone. Not with empty flattery, but with true belief in their ability. Don't be jealous of their talent, because just like that someone, you are talented too. So you have no reason to feel jealous or defeated. If Hanuman had the power to fly across the ocean, then Nal-Neel had the power to build a bridge long enough to enable the whole monkey army to cross the ocean. That is not a small feat wither, is it?

Bottomline, recognize yourself and the spark in you. Once the spark is ignited, fan it. You are special. If you don't believe it, nobody else will. If Hanuman would have not accepted that he was indeed powerful and would have stayed modest about it, he would have never crossed the ocean and that would have changed the whole course of the war.

Do Saas, Do Bahu

2008-08-07T14:49:00.005+05:30

About a month back, I had been to my home town to help out my MIL attend to my SIL's delivery. The good news is that

So one afternoon, we bring the mister's grandmom to visit my SIL. Can you imagine that lady's luck that she gets to see the fourth generation!

What makes me sit and write this post is the co incidental seating arrangement as below that brings one and only one title to my mind. Think about it before you click Read More.

Any guesses on the title?

Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi!

Happy Harry Potter's Birthday to All of You!!! Hee Hee...

2008-07-31T15:44:00.006+05:30

On the occasion of the Harry Potter and JK Rowling's birthday, here is something that I have been waiting for quite some time now.

The trailer of the Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince film!!!!!!

Watch and let me know if this sounds exciting to you.

Boy o boy am I excited or what? Can't wait for November 21!!!! *rubs hands excitedly*

Qawwali Passion

2008-07-31T15:35:00.002+05:30

Here is a song which is my current craze, the reason for arousing the dormant craze for qawwalis. I have always had a passion for qawwalis, for the clever penmanship, the teasing, the competition, you name it. This song makes me think of the crazy things people do for true love. For a change, I have not put in the lyrics. But if you want, drop in a comment, I will do so.

Unspectacular Quirks

2008-07-23T15:11:00.004+05:30

Gacked a tag from this blog and the blogger was kind enough to get gacked. I found it interesting, hence it is here.

Rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs, letting them know that they have been tagged.

Hmmm.... my unspectacular quirks.. in no particular order... are:

1. I read a magazine, only magazines specifically, from end to beginning.
2. I always split the round Crocin tablet and only then do I gulp the halves separately (the capsule shaped tablet I can gulp easily). Point being, I am scared of Crocin.
3. I cannot walk on a straight road. I have to make lots of turns. Even if I am walking on a straight road, I keep crossing the road.
4. I get very upset when someone does not watch a film recommended by me with the same enthusiasm as I do.
5. I cannot sleep on my right side, I have to sleep on my left side.
6. I cannot follow dictation. I have to substitute at least one dictated word with some other word (read as better word)

Whew! Done. I tag the following people: Pranjal, Sagar, Anki, Nitya, Satya, Jayashree.

I Am...

2008-07-07T14:27:00.000+05:30

I am: re-posting this from LJ
I think: too much, according to the Mister and that is why I am not putting on any weight.
I know: I think too much
I want: to recreate the Hum Saath Saath Hain family dynamics in my family.
I have: to get to work as soon as I finish this tag!
I wish: I could speak my mind to the best of my friends and tell them how pissed I am at them
I hate: being able to see both the sides of a case; thinking less of myself
I miss: Bangalore
I fear: losing my loved ones
I hear: my colleague speaking on the phone and a song playing in the background
I smell: nothing as of now
I crave: for chocolate ice cream
I search: solace and haven't found any yet
I wonder: why I have no girl friends as of yet
I regret: nothing
I love: everything. There are few things I don't love
I care: even for the people who don't care for me
I am not: an angel yet, and I don't want to be.
I believe: that Love turns the world around.
I dance: to all the tunes that make me dance
I sing: never!!
I cry: in every movie I see and for no reason at times.
I don’t always: shout at people.
I fight: calmly and in a very sarcastic manner, when I am truly fed up of the situation
I write: for my living
I win: a heart every now and then
I lose: a friend due to my own mistakes
I never: smoke or drink... for the lack of a better answer
I always: talk about Harry Potter to my Mister
I confuse: nothing with nothing
I listen: to any music that appeals to my mood at a particular time
I can usually be found: on the Internet, tweaking my facebook profile
I am scared: of dogs
I need: the people I have lost contact with back in my life
I am happy about: what I have now

Ebooks, anyone?

2008-07-07T12:48:00.004+05:30

So here I am walking in the corridors of Google search engine results, when I came across these two wonderful sites that offer you books, really famous books, to read online.

I am posting two of the links here:

Read Book Online
Read Print

These site offers the works of some of the best authors known to the history of literature such as The Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and so on.

There might be many more (such sites and books in them). Feel free to post a comment and suggest many more such sites.

I am off to check these sites out. Hope you like them too!

Whether You Know It...

2008-07-06T00:04:00.011+05:30

... Or not. Isn't that what Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na means?

Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi,
Yun hi nahi dil lagata koi,
Jaane tu... ya jaane na
Maane tu... ya maane na

This is what Jai sings - or wants to sing - to his Ms Right. This is what Jai and Aditi are identified with. This is what which sounds the most unappealing when the "gang" sings it around Mala , but when she knows the story around it, it is an anthem.

Mala? The "gang"? Jai? Aditi? Who are these characters?

This is a story of Jai Singh Rathore (Imran Khan: Freshness personified), also called Rats by Aditi (Genelia: Cute), who is called Miaow by Jai for her incessant love for cats. This is a story of the gang - Rotlu, Jiggy, Shali, Boms - narrated by the same to Mala when they are waiting to receive someone at the airport and the flight is late.

Jai and Aditi are the friends. The best friends. So close that everyone except them can spot the chemistry between them. Jai and Aditi are true examples of "opposite attract" principle. While Jai is a non-violent and calm personality and a perpetual good boy, Aditi is a violent and aggressive girl. Jai is always available for Aditi. Further in the story you know that Jai is actually a Rajput brought up by his journalist (?) mother (Ratna Pathak Shah) to follow a path of non-violence, much to the disappointment of his late father, Amar Singh Rathore (Naseeruddin Shah in a special appearance as a portrait). While dispelling rumours on their marriage and on Aditi's parents' counsel, they realise that it is time they look for love. They honestly try match making for each other, despite the distances that almost succeed in breaking their friendship. The rest of the story relates how they come to terms with the fact they are and have always been in love with each other.

As I said before that Imran Khan is freshness personified. He does resemble Aamir Khan in some places, but otherwise he holds his own. I wouldn't say that the chemistry between Imran and Genelia is astounding but yes, it is good. You can see a few sparks. The dialogues are fresh, something picked out after listening to a real life group of friends talk which is good. You identify with these people. He's not strikingly handsome, but has a confident air around and his face grows on you. I knew that, I just didn't expect the "growing" part to happen so fast.

There are some great surprise guest appearances. Should I tell? or Should I not? Maybe not. Let me not spoil it for you. Watch it yourself. A special mention goes to Ratna Pathak Shah as Savitri, Jai's mom. She is the new age mom. Who is more like a roomie, cooking in turns, terasing each other, confiding in each other... even about girlfriends. My favourite moment is the conversation between her and her friend - "Isn't that your son?" "Nope that is my husband's son." Didn't understand? You'll know when you see. Bottomline, the thought that first crossed my mind when I saw Savitri was, "I want to be a mom like that to my child(ren)." The mother son bond is very touching.

Speaking of touching bonds, so is the sister-brother bond shown between Aditi and Amit (Pratiek Babbar s/o Smita Patil and Raj Babbar- interesting debut). I think all of us have had this moment with our siblings when we wonder, in mind or aloud, "We used to be best friends. What happened?" and this question arises when one of us are undergoing a change in our lives. My favourite quote is "I thought you hated Jai." "Of course I hate him, he's the kind of guy that Mum and Dad wished they had instead of me." Hating the sister's guy friend - Isn't that brotherly?

In other roles, Naseeruddin Shah adds a wonderfully comic touch to the film as Jai's late father, who often argues with Savitri on the "unmanly" upbringing she has provided for him.

The music is alright, with only a few songs hitting the charts now: "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi"and "Pappu Can't Dance". The rest are good. The title song is soulful. AR Rahman's music is as usual soul stirring but a special mention does go to the lyrics. Easily memorable lyrics.

All in all, a good film. I'd give it 4/5, cutting one point for the tempo of the film suddenly slowing in the second half.

Watch it. You too, Pranju!

Maruti Suzuki Touches Hearts

2008-07-04T11:40:00.002+05:30

Manzilein nazdeek hai
Pairon tale hai raaste,
Ghar aa gaya Hindustan.

Kuch Pyar, Kaafi Magic

2008-07-03T16:26:00.004+05:30

So it is a Friday night and the mister and I are planning on doing a little bit of shopping. Again as usual, we ditch the shopping in favor of movie, specially when I make a puppy dog face convincing the mister to watch Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic. Specially when I see Rani Mukherji in person (Squee!) in the same theater complex. So I am on job now - show availability check, tickets check, time to have dinner check.

Now, time to watch the film.

I am a pro-kids movies and I am used to seeing theaters filled with kids (being a Harry Potter fan and all that). So a theater full of kids to watch this movie doesn't surprise me.

In short, Ranbeer Talwar (Saif Ali Khan) is a lonely winner. Winner because he has won every competition in life and is a successful businessman who has risen on his own. Lonely because that's what he is. He has lost everyone he has ever attached himself to. So he becomes stone. Once such winning night, he meets with an accident as a result of which he is responsible for two deaths, Mr and Mrs Walia, rendering their four children - Vashisht, Iqbal, Aditi, and Avantika - parentless. For one year, the orphans are transferred from one relative to another.

In a decision that will be known as "one of the most unique decisions in the history of Indian Judicial System", the court (aka the judge Sharat Saxena) appoints Ranbeer as the court-appointed legal guardian to the children till the youngest, Avantika, is 18. To win the children's approval to live with him , he has only three months, failing which he will be sentenced to a non-bailable lifer.

Just to satisfy the court, Ranbeer and Malaika (Amisha Patel in a special appearance - why?) arrange to make the children comfortable. Obviously, the children hate Ranbeer. Fair enough. They do not want to like the arrangements made for them. Result: They are all sad and confused and angry.

Enter the technicolor heavens where, God (Rishi Kapoor) - Hi-tech God and very cute - is on his everyday rounds of the world. It is now he comes across this emergency situation on earth and decides to send his pet angel, Geeta (Rani Mukherji) despite the protests raised by the rest of the angel staff.

The rest of the story is how Geeta succeeds in building a bond between the children and Ranbeer (bonus success: manage to get Ranbeer to ditch Malaika).

The beginning of the film is a bit slow as it has you wondering who is this mother and son pair and what is their role. But as the kid advances in his life, you understand why child Ranbeer has become a cold person - someone who doesn't shake hands with the person presenting him an award and walks away. Obviously he has noone to celebrate his success with.

The children are cute. In character, the unity among them is mentionable. They gang up together. What impressed me is - for the lack of the better word, power - Vasisht has over his younger siblings. It is not surprising that even Ranbeer is scared to bond with the rest of the kids without Vasisht's knowledge. The accusation in the kid's eyes is powerful. The actor, Akshat Chopra, performs this role with finesse. The other kids do a good job too.

Saif Ali Khan has done a decent job in this film. His transition from a cold businessman to Ranbeer bhaiya is almost seamless. Although his wardrobe in this film deserves a mention. A wardrobe worth oohin and aahing. Rani Mukherjee, as Geeta, is cute as an angel, what with the expression of curiosity on seeing Ranbeer's tears. She doesn't know what tears are! She wonders why people cry and if crying is bad, why humans find pleasure in it. Her costume is a trademark of the film. Her introduction, in the form of the song Bulbula, almost reminded me of these lines:

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"

- Sound of Music

Rishi Kapoor makes an appearance as God, and he brings a freshly modern perspective to the concept of God. He uses GPS to make his rounds into the world. He appears whenever someone says "Hey Bhagwaan!" What that concluded to me is that God is around to help you in many forms, all you have to do is look.

What I mainly felt judging from the general opinion of the public is that the release of the film could have been timed better. The vacations have just ended and, in this frenzy, most of the children must have not seen the film. If the film had been released a month before, it would have grossed more in the box office and become a hit.

The music is alright, with one theme music playing whenever a character or two reach a milestone in the bonding process. The song, Lazy Lamhe, is not very important to the plot and could have been done away with. But I guess they needed something to show that Amisha is really there in the film. If it were not for this song, parents would have not thought twice about taking their kids to this film. I'd say that there is no harm in taking the kids, this song can be ignored. Again, that is my opinion.

What I didn't like about the film are the loose ends regarding the fact that Geeta is actually an angel. Till the end, it was not clear if Ranbeer did come to know that Geeta is actually an angel and that is exactly the reason why she couldn't cry. Technical problem, dude Ranbeer, not denial.

What I like about the film were the messages put across in the film, the most important being a lesson in forgiveness.

Ego Issues

2008-06-19T10:58:00.003+05:30

Enter. The scene. A ladies compartment, not crammed, just filled. Enough place for a poor vendor to walk around selling her goodies, like clips, bands, earrings, anklets and so on. Obviously she has to walk around. Not to mention the petite little woman was seven months along in her pregnancy. At the such a time, two women block her way and do not let go across. They insist that she get down and come from outside. Why? Because "she has already gone up and down so many times, and it is not comfortable". Not comfortable? The ladies were sitting and they were going to get off the train and sit in their work place every now and then. But this vendor has to do this walking up and down and across proabably all throughout the day.

What is the point in fighting, pettily if I might add, for the little bit of comfort at the cost of someone's day's earnings? How insensitive can someone get? This woman cannot go up and down and that is why she is going across the compartment from inside. It is only her poverty that has made her take this step of going from one train to another selling these minor goodies at such a condition. What really was the point in arguing with her? Did that comfort matter so much that this lady had to actually fight with her? Who lost her respect in that petty argument? The passenger or the vendor? The passenger of course.

The vendor got off and this ensued a debate-argument between this lady and another passenger defending the vendor. I was in the side that defended the vendor. I could clearly see the prosecution was immature. Cuz her argument was "She was going up and down three times. If she wants to sell in some other compartment she should enter through its door, not the aisle connecting it" I was like, "Hello? Isn't that what an aisle is meant for? To go between two doors? Not for resting your feet as you were doing." The final argument? "This is just not right." Oh yeah... very mature.

Oscar Gems

2008-06-06T15:45:00.003+05:30

This is the list of all 80 films that have won an Oscar for Best Picture. Bold the ones you've seen.

Wings
The Broadway Melody
All Quiet on the Western Front
Cimarron
Grand Hotel
Cavalcade
It Happened One Night
Mutiny on the Bounty
The Great Ziegfeld
The Life of Emile Zola
You Can't Take It with You
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
How Green Was My Valley
Mrs. Miniver
Casablanca
Going My Way
The Lost Weekend
The Best Years of Our Lives
Gentleman's Agreement
Hamlet
All the King's Men
All About Eve
An American in Paris
The Greatest Show on Earth
From Here to Eternity
On the Waterfront
Marty
Around the World in 80 Days
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Gigi
Ben Hur
The Apartment
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
Tom Jones
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
A Man for All Seasons
In the Heat of the Night
Oliver!
Midnight Cowboy
Patton
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Sting
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Kramer v. Kramer
Ordinary People
Chariots of Fire
Gandhi
Terms of Endearment
Amadeus
Out of Africa
Platoon
The Last Emperor
Rain Man
Driving Miss Daisy
Dances with Wolves
The Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
The English Patient
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men

You Gotta Listen to This!!!

2008-06-06T14:19:00.003+05:30

Yes.

JK Rowling addresses the Harvard Graduates of 2008 at their Commencement.

Check out the speech.

In Times of Stress

2008-06-05T17:22:00.003+05:30

Someone once very wisely said: It is in the times of stress that you get to see someone's true colors. Or something like that. Words aside, let us get into the meaning conveyed here. True, don't you think?

And if you want to see the higher levels of stress, travel in any packed vehicle during the peak hours, you will know. Stress levels in the same time duration rise to ridiculously high levels when the said vehicle breaks down. All you can think of at that time is "Frowns and Curses Everywhere, Not a Smile to Crack".

Some people rise to the occasion and take the onus of being the Little Miss Sunshine of the crowd. They make jokes, really silly ones sometimes, they start conversations and keep them light. It really is a tedious job. Someone also said: Comedy is not a joke. True. As true as it can be.

There are some more people who manage to keep the atmosphere around just by their mere presence. They may not be very great to look at, but the vibes they exude just simmer like sunshine. They talk like they want, not bothering of what people think (Their say would be: Hey it's my business what I talk, not for someone to judge); they dress like they want and they just make you smile at their...er...carefree nature.

Mind you, these are real people I am talking about. People I meet day in and day out.

I salute these people who manage to keep the cheer in their heart in times of stress... which means all the time actually.

What Can You Expect From This? :D

2008-06-04T17:03:00.012+05:30

Seen on a wall while traveling to work, advertising coaching classes in Spoken English.

"Speak Flunt English. ABC Coaching Classes. Contact phone nos"

What sort of English is anyone expect to learn here?

Note:

Please read disclaimer.

ABC Coaching Classes is not the right name, just so you know.

I do understand that a photo would have been great in such a situation. Will try to get one when possible. Till then, make do with this.

Little Joys of Life

2008-06-03T14:14:00.003+05:30

Check out this video with all your heart and let me know if you felt all fluffy by the end of it.

Kuch khaas hai hum sabhi mein,
Kuch baat hai hum sabhi mein,
Baat hai, khaas hai,
Kuch swaad hai,
Kya swaad hai Zindagi mein!!!

Circle of Life: The Lion King

2008-05-23T17:09:00.001+05:30

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba [Here comes a lion, Father]
Sithi uhm ingonyama [Oh yes, it's a lion]

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama

Siyo Nqoba [We're going to conquer]
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala [A lion and a leopard come to this open place]

[Chant repeats]

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

Circle of Life: Elton John

2008-05-23T16:56:00.004+05:30

From the day we arrive on the planet,
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do that can ever be done
Some say, eat or be eaten
Some say, live and let live
But all have agreed when they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

It's the circle of life,
It's the wheel of fortune
It's a leap of faith,
It is a band of hope
To find our place on the path unwinding
The circle... circle of life

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles,
some have to live with the scars
There's far too much to take in here,
More to find that can ever be found
But the sun rolling high on the sapphire sky
Keeps the great and small on the endless round

It's the circle of life,
It's the wheel of fortune
It's a leap of faith,
It is a band of hope
To find our place on the path unwinding
The circle... circle of life

Umar Pachpan Ki, Dil Bachpan Ka >:-(

2008-05-23T12:55:00.006+05:30

Mumbai is a very busy city. So I have heard, and it's true. People bustling about here and there, rushing about. The advantage: respect for reach other's time and the consequent efficiency in life. The disadvantage: frustration and the consequent stupidity and childishness. How do I say so? Take a look at what I came across while on the way home.

So the bus stops and everyone boards it in a hurry - pushing up the slow boarder, pushing away the people following. I get in too (without any scratches or bites) and see two men - actually one man and one boy - argue over something really trivial.

What happened is the boy and his friend were separated in the rush and this one got in the bus before his friend and wanted to sit with him. As a result, he did what anyone in his situation would have done: caught a place for his friend. A man came in and sat in the place reserved for his friend. This boy politely told him that this place is reserved for his friend. Now note that this man is in his late forties. He could have maturedly moved away and sat in some other place. The bus was reasonable empty. He could have somewhere else comfortably. But no... he wants to sit in that place (personally i think, because he was forbidden not to) and he did, rather stubbornly if I may say so. Moreover, he even argued with this guy telling that there is nothing like reserving a seat in a city bus. Agreed, Mr Grouchy. But was there a need to point out this technicality? I don't think so. So a boy wants to sit with his friend. Anything wrong with that? I think not. Bet you have done things like that before.

Now, my point is how immature was it for such a grown man to behave in such a manner. Don't you think it as childish? Did he really feel good about fighting over a petty thing like that?

The boy was not very mature either. He could have gone and sat next to his friend too. But ego surfaces here on both the sides. The man thinks, why should I listen to a boy half my age, who is he to order me? The boy thinks, why should I get up from here.. I caught the seat first.

Trust me people, self respect is another thing, this is plain ego and that is not going to help. Choose what you want, and at what cost. Are you willing to throw away your self respect and throw tantrums? Or would you rather act dignified and earn your respect?

Bet what you the reader is thinking. What did I gain by writing about a petty matter like this and making a huge fuss about this. Well, I wouldn't say it is a huge thing. It is not. It is a very small thing, it is these thing that matter. In the world today where there is so much frustration just waiting to burst out, what we need is conversion of energy: From negative to positive or from frowns to smiles.

Dil mein bachpan zinda rakhna ho to bachpan ki muskurahatein rakho, bachpan ki nadaaniyan nahi.

Another mindless rambling done, you can please go on with your work.

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-21T17:41:00.005+05:30

Khwabon ke is ghar ki khair kari o rabba
Door pralay kalesh aur bair kari o rabba
Naazon se badi maine kari hai taiyyariyan
Din raat pyar diya, nazara utariyan
Ye mohabbat hai ibadat, kabhi ho na kam
Jaane man

Let's See How Much You've Read

2008-05-06T12:45:00.004+05:30

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as ‘unread’ by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish. Here's the twist:

Add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you read 'em for school in the first place.
Add (<--) if the book is in your wishlist.

Addendum
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22<--
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights<--
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre*
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife<--
The Iliad
Emma<--
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged<--
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility*
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything - SorryMr. Bryson.
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaghterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves<--
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye<--
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame<--
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

I tag you, the reader of this blog. Drop in a comment acknowledging that you have been tagged.

Only Sometimes.....

2008-05-02T16:05:00.008+05:30

Golden Jubilee!!

On the occasion of my 50th post in this blog, I would like to say something. And what I want to say has been said perfectly in this song.

Milti hai zindagi me mohabbat kabhi kabhi
Hoti hai dilbaron ki inayat kabhi kabhi

Sharma ke muh na pher nazar ke sawaal par
Laati hai aise mod pe kismat kabhi kabhi
Milti hai... ||1||

Khulte nahi hai roz dareeke bahaar ke
Aati hai jaaneman ye qayamat kabhi kabhi
Milti hai... ||2||

Tanha na kat sakenge jawaani ke raaste
Pesh ayegi kisi ki zarurat kabhi kabhi
Milti hai...||3||

Phir kho na jaye hum kahi duniya ki bheed me
Milti hai paas aane ki mohalat kabhi kabhi
Milti hai...||4||

For Meaning...

Only sometimes do you find love in your life,
Only sometimes does life shower kindness on seekers of love

Don't shy away from the questions in my eyes,
only sometimes does life present you on such a turn of life

The doors to heavenly bliss do not open everyday,
Only sometimes does such a rare event occur

The life of youth cannot be spent in solitude,
there will be times when you will need a companion

There will be a time when we'll be lost in the crowds
Only sometimes do we get a chance to come closer to each other

Chronicles of Mumbai: Introduction and Disclaimer

2008-05-02T14:09:00.005+05:30

"Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan
Zara hatke, zara bachke,
Ye hai Mumbai meri jaan!"

"Ee hai Mumbai nagariya tu dekh babua"

Mumbai. Previously known as Bombay. The Financial Capital of India. The City of Dreams.

I am one of the latest addition to the population of Mumbai amongst the millions of people who crowd the Mumbai streets in search of a mode to fulfill their dreams. Some want to be a part of the prestigious and demanding industry of film making, some want to pursue their literary fantasies, and some others in pursuit of their Financial Fairy.

I am neither of these. I was tugged here with the strings of matrimony. Not that I am complaining. Despite all its fame and defame, in my opinion, Mumbai is a highly interesting city. Lots to see and write about. Lots of people to observe.

So much so that I have finally decided to pen all my observations here. And hence the series, Chronicles of Mumbai: From the Eyes of a Mere Citizen.

I would like a post a disclaimer before I go ahead with posting more.

Disclaimer: All the posts in this series are to be taken in good humor. No offense is meant at anyone. No incidents mentioned here are meant as an infringement in privacy.

PS If you wish, I can paste this disclaimer in every post of this series, just to prove my point. :-P

Coming Soon....

2008-04-28T17:12:00.001+05:30

A new series called Chronicles of Mumbai: From the Eyes of a Mere Citizen.

Watch this space!!!

Pehli Nazar Mein

2008-04-25T14:11:00.003+05:30

Pehli nazar me kaisa jadu kar diya,
Tera ban baitha hai mera jiya
Jane kya hoga kya hoga kya pata
Is pal ko mlke aa jee le zara
Mein hoon yahaan, tu hai yaha
Meri baahon me aa, aa bhi ja
O janeja, dono jahan meri baahon me aa, bhool ja (2)

baby i love you

Har dua me shaamil tera pyar hai
Bin tere lamha bhi dushwar hai
Dhadkano ko tujhse darkaar hai
Tujhse hai rahatein, tujhse hai chahatein
Tu jo mili ek din mujhe
Mein kahi ho gaya lapata
O janeja.... ||1||

Kar diya diwana dard e khas ne
Chain chheena ishq ke ehsaas ne
Bekhayali ki hai teri pyas ne
Chhaaya suroor hai, kuch to zarur hai
Ye dooriya jeene na de
Haal mera tujhe na pata
O janeja...

Coming up: Translation

My First Gudi Padwa

2008-04-09T12:20:00.007+05:30

So we had our first Gudi Padwa, which was successful as we mounted the Gudi on a steel rod (the modern times have come). Check out our first Gudi after marriage.

I am Good!

2008-04-03T11:06:00.002+05:30

How Are You Good to Yourself?

My Result: Get Positive

Is the glass half empty? Not as far as you're concerned! So while others get down in the dumps, you know the best way to pamper yourself is with a big dose of optimism. Going for a walk with your dog, paying attention to your skin, or giving your body a break by reading a book — there are a million ways to spark a smile. That enthusiastic attitude really improves your life (not to mention the lives of people around you!), and makes every day something to look forward to.

That isn't to say you never have occasional down days. Nobody could smile their way through absolutely everything — not even you. You're just happier when you're taking care of number one (that's you!) while you're taking care of business, and you don't need a lavish lifestyle or fancy clothes to do it. Keep shining!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=goodtoyourselfogt&c=50652

Latin? Dead? Not for me!!!

2008-03-14T17:30:00.002+05:30

Lately I have been very fascinated towards the famous dead language, Latin. One reason being my craze for the Harry Potter Universe. For the uninitiated, the Harry Potter universe is a universe of magic where all the spells are known to created ages ago. Ages ago, the only language available was Latin. Let me give you an example

Lumos: Lighting spell. Remember all the words related light such as Luminous, Illumination, and so on? So is it any surprise that uttering the spell Lumos will provide light.

Moving away from fantasy to fact, here are a few Latin phrases that have captured my attention lately:

Carpe Diem: "Sieze the Day"
Docendo discimus: "By teaching, We learn"
Dum spiro spero: "While I breathe, I hope."
Ex astris, scientia: "Knowledge comes from the stars."
Experto crede: "Believe one who has had experience." Also loosely translated as, "trust me", "trust the expert", "Have faith in experience".
Mea Culpa: "My fault"

I guess this is it...for now

Kya Aap Panchvi Paas Hai? Mein to Hoon Baba..

2008-02-28T11:32:00.000+05:30

Could You Pass 5th Grade?

My Result: Excellent

You did so well you might actually be in 5th grade right now! Or are you a 5th grade teacher? Either way, you've definitely got what it takes to make the grade in the classroom — and beyond! Book smart and motivated, you're probably the type to make sure you're always on time for class or work (or even that hot date!), and can't wait to read the new book that everyone's been talking about.

That's not to say you're a brown-noser. Not even close. You just love to know stuff — whether it's relevant or not. Who cares if you'll never have to know that a dolphin sleeps with one eye open or that a sneeze can travel at over 100 miles per hour. So if you don't mind, can we copy your test answers from now on?

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=fifthgradeogt&c=50652

Where Am I From

2007-12-05T20:38:00.001+05:30

This I got from a forum thread where I post my views regularly.

Each of us is from a place that is more than a dot on the map. Every experience that we can recall has left its mark on who we are. You might be surprised what you find as you rummage around in those dusty old trunks--your personality, your family history and traits, and the places you've called home--as you complete the poem with your own memories and facts.

This may be a silly idea, but always worth a shot!

Try say something like this too. To make things easier, maybe you can follow the pattern below:

I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.

I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)

I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).

I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).

From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

My Version?

I am from the Television set, the stereo system that is almost ancestral now,
(After all, 20 years for my children is ancestral, do you not wonder now?)

I am from the shell like life in a quiet colony away from city swarm
Where everything was a stone's throw away
I am from the sweet morning and secure evenings
When you could walk on the street anytime without fearing harm
I am still from the quiet colony away from the city swarm

I am from the gooseberry trees,
which we climbed to taste the best ones
I am from the jackfruit trees
that we guarded with our life
I am from the Hibiscus flowers that
took me through my Botany classes at school

I am from training in Hindustani Music
that comes from my mother and my father
I am from the witty sense of humor that
has not left me ever and will always take me further
I come from the awesome combination of Hindi, Urdu and Marathi
and the poetry that I weave in my Mum's guidance

I am from the insatiable appetite and taste for food
that does not die away no matter what the age, physique or mood
I am from the open lines of expressing feelings
and from the resulting sweetness and respect in the bonds

From not leaving your seat at the dining table till the last one is still eating
From never standing while eating because the food goes to your legs
The midnight fairy tales and mythological stories at our beds
The lesson I drew from them, from that's where I am

I am from the grandeur of Diwali, the new clothes and the lights
worshipping the books and geometry box as they take us to heights
I am from the colors of Holi, the greens and blues and reds
the festival of coloured faces and foes turned friends

I am from the warrior state of Maharashtra,
the city of Nagpur, city of oranges,
the city where it doesn't take to become friends from strangers
the city of gola bhaat* and kadhi*

I am from not picking up a pen from the floor just because you know it's lying there
Should you pick it up, you will lose it

Now, your turn!

Remember this?

2007-11-15T15:34:00.001+05:30

5 Simple Pleasures

2007-11-10T17:06:00.000+05:30

Tagged by Pranjal:

My Simple pleasures would be (in no particular order):

Cuddled up with my fiance and talking about anything and everything (Including Indian economy. What can I say? Commerce waala aadmi hai. ::wink::)

Playing with babies

Channel surfing to heart's content

Girl talk

Talking about (if not, eating; Sometimes eating) food

The Importance of Being Cheerful

2007-11-01T18:29:00.000+05:30

It is not new anymore, it has seeped into our lives and taken away the peace of our minds. It is the bane of our existence, the cause and effect of noise pollution, traffic jams.

What am I talking about? Stress.

Yes, stress. It makes its presence evident in every step of our life. When is it the most prominent? Evening peak hour traffic. Every person on the road has gone through pretty much similar pattern of work life. Right from a construction worker to CEO: Answer your boss, fight for your pay, prove yourself, face the competition, plan your family budget... blah blah blah... Doesn't everyone face that?

I am like everyone.

Like everyone, I too have had stressful days (No, this is not for the Ripley's). And it is on such an evening, I am struck with epiphany. The solution to all this stress lies in a very tiny exercise. It needs more of emotional preparation than physical. Do you get what I am talking about? No? Well... I am not surprised. It is too simple.

Smile.

Yes, I am talking about a smile.

What made me reach such a conclusion? Well, that's a story and this story is exactly why I am posting.

I travel by the public transport bus, and evenings are the times when the bus staff (I mean, the driver and the conductor) are at their cranky best. Giving them a tough competition is the bus load of passengers behaving like a mix of three-year-old Montessori kids and goats (No offense meant to kids and goats). At such a time, it is always a pleasant surprise to find the conductor or the driver, or both, capable of handling the crowd with a bit of humor and genuine, though tired, smiles on their faces. When I see such staff, all the tension and stress from my day just wears off.. Just like that.

I genuinely appreciate these people who go through their duties with a smile on their face and humor on their tongue. If they can do it, why can't we?

Is it so difficult to enlighten someone else's day by smiling at them (a nice smile, I mean. Don't have to creep that person out)? Is it that difficult to forget about your own tension for a moment and relieve someone else of theirs by performing a very tiny deed like offering to hold their bag while they stand, letting an elderly person sit while you stand?

Try it. The effect is seen on the face of the stranger, and my dear friend, it sure is dazzling.

Some of My Favourite Heart Touching Melodies

2007-09-30T18:31:00.000+05:30

This is in response to Pranjal's post in Sand Dunes.

1. Songs that bring me to tears:

Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon : Lata Mangeshkar
Tere Liye : Veer Zaara
Babul Jo Tumne Sikhaya: Hum Aapke Hai Kaun

2. Songs that make me feel at peace:

Jeevan Ke Din : Bade Dilwala
Mein Yahaan Hoon : Veer-Zaara

3. Favourite Songs (Hard to choose, but never mind)

Tere Jaisa Yaar Kahaan : Yaarana
Aaja Ve : Sona
Din Saara Guzaara Tore Angana: Junglee

4. Songs that bring in the feeling of love

Tumse Milke : Parinda
Ek Din : Naqaab
Channa Vey: Kunal Ganjawaala

5. Songs that make feet go tapping

Kachchi Kaliyan : Laaga Chunari Mein Daag
Meter Down : Taxi No. 9211
Do You Want a Partner: Partner

PS: I must admit this took some thinking and are not really on top of my head.

Lessons of Life

2007-09-25T13:01:00.001+05:30

This song always perks me up when I am down (plus the movie is AWESOME!! and Rishi Kapoor is just too cute in this movie)

Jeevan ke din chhote sahi, hum bhi bade dilwaale
Kal ki humein fursat kahaan, soche jo hum matwaale

Jeene ka rangeen mausam, ye khoobsurat zamana,
Apne yahi char pal hai, aagey hai kya kisne jaana,
Jeena jise aata hai woh ismein hi mauj manaa le,
Kal ki humein fursat kahaan, soche jo hum matwaale,
Jeevan ke din...

Ye zindagi dard bhi hai, ye zindagi hai davaa bhi,
Dil todna hi na jaane, jaane ye dil jodna bhi,
Is zindagi ka shukriya sadke mein uparwaale,
Kal ki humein fursat kahaan, soche jo hum matwaale,
Jeevan ke din....

Meaning:

The days of our life are numbered but we are people with a huge heart
Who has time to spare for tomorrow, as we are busy enjoying the day here and now

The colourful season of living and the beautiful times now
We have only these few moments to live, who knows what lies ahead
One who knows how to live should enjoy these moments at hand
Who has time to spare for tomorrow, as we are busy enjoying the day here and now

Life is pain, but life is the healer too
It know not only to break hearts but to mend them too
I thank the Almighty above for giving this life to me
Who has time to spare for tomorrow, as we are busy enjoying the day here and now

The days of our life are numbered but we are people with a huge heart

Apparently...

2007-09-21T13:01:00.001+05:30

You could have been a famous Artist

Who Were You in a Past Life?

Brought to you by Tickle

Spreading a Word....

2007-09-21T12:25:00.000+05:30

Just couldn't help it, but please see this page to get more information:

http://three-gees.blogspot.com/2007/09/please-share-your-home.html

Dil Mein Baji Guitar

2007-09-13T16:02:00.000+05:30

This is the song that keeps strumming in my heart. In other words, aaj kal mere dil ke guitar me ye gaanaa baj rahaa hai:

tere savaalon ke vo javaab jo main de naa sakoon
pighale-se armaan hain, do pal ke mehmaan hai
aankhon ke aalon men chaahat kii lou jalane do

kah rahii hai jo nazar tujhe hai khabar kii nahii,
kah rahii hai terii nazar too bekhabar to nahii,
tere binaa zindagii hai adhoorii, tere binaa kyaa hai jiinaa

tum kaho to main rok loon, tum kaho to nahiin,
siine men hai kaisii khlish terii kashish to nahiin
tere binaa zindagii hai adhoorii, tere binaa kyaa hai jiinaa

- Manorama: Six Feet Under (Roopkumar Rathod and Mahalakshmi Iyer)

Stand By Me

2007-09-13T15:55:00.000+05:30

When the night has come and the land is dark
And the moon is the only light, we will see
No, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand by me
Darling, darling stand by me,

When the sky, that we look upon, should tumble and fall
All the mountains (should) crumble to the sea
I won't cry,
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand by me

And darling darling, stand by me,
Come on and stand by me,
Just as long as you (will) stand by me

Are You a Hopeless Romantic?

2007-09-12T15:34:00.000+05:30

You're a hopeless romantic
for Sweet Nothings

Are You a Hopeless Romantic?

Brought to you by Tickle

Social Networking

2007-09-11T16:56:00.001+05:30

You're a Secret Keeper!

The Social Networking Test

Brought to you by Tickle

I Am Here

2007-09-03T16:27:00.000+05:30

This song has been echoing in my head and banging on the walls of my head for translation. I haven't written the original song here. That is easy for you to guess. This is after all the most amatuerish translation: (Brownie points for guessing the right song)

My love, look at me, as all the distances vanish,
I am right here
Now what do limits and obstacles mean to us (when)
I am right here

I am the secret you cannot hide
I am the style you cannot forget
Why does it surprise you when I echo in your heart?
When I am, after all, the voice of your very own heart
Listen carefully and you will know (that)
I am right here

I, and only I, reside your thoughts
I reside in your answers and your questions
I am in every dream of yours
and I am in every sparkle of your eyes
You will see me wherever you look
I am right here

Something that Has Been Echoing in My Mind...

2007-08-29T10:54:00.000+05:30

Chaar paavalaan varti vaavar, adakhalatana mazala saavar ,
bhadbhadtya zakhmi padravar themb themb aasuche...

Woh Ek Mulaqat

2007-08-21T14:22:00.000+05:30

This is dedicated to my fiance after a very special date:

Woh ek mulaqat dil chura gayi,
woh ek mulaqat chain chura gayi.
Bhatak rahe the hum zindagi ke viraane mein,
woh ek mulaqat humein kaaravan dikha gayi

What Renews Your Spirit?

2007-08-21T12:57:00.000+05:30

Spending Time with Loved Ones renews your spirit

What Renews Your Spirit?

Brought to you by Tickle

The most heart wrenching lullaby I have known

2007-08-09T14:10:00.000+05:30

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine.
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine.

If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The chance to hold you.
From your head to your toes
Your not much, goodness knows
But your so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine.