Adventures of a Traveller

Dubai

2012-02-04T13:43:00.002+05:30

The traveller's first international holiday and, as it happens, first post from outside the country. I'm in Dubai on a company sponsored holiday. Will post details of the trip in a subsequent post.

My latest love affair

2012-01-31T16:10:00.001+05:30

From Blogger Pictures

One small step for Mom

2012-01-22T00:40:00.004+05:30

Mom barely knows her way online.

Imagine my surprise then, when yesterday out of nowhere I receive an e-mail with the subject line "now I am learning email in computer"

Here is the mail body:

Shekhar have you had your lunch? Take care of your health. Always go to the gym.

Gotta love her enthusiasm to learn new things. First SMS, now e-mail. What next, Mom? Facebook?!! ~shudders~

Treat each day...

2012-01-20T21:18:00.003+05:30

...as if it were your, not last, but first.

If you think it is going to be your last, there's a chance you might feel demotivated and sad or worse, morose. What would be most terrible is if you laid to waste whatever good had been achieved thus far.

On the other hand, if this were your first day at something, there's always a sense of excitement and wish to achieve something you've never achieved before. What would be most amazing is if you were able to lay the foundations of something that either you or your peers can take ahead to greater heights so that it is of benefit to a larger group of people and to society at large.

Joy in the afternoon

2012-01-20T09:55:00.000+05:30

Ishq

2012-01-18T14:24:00.004+05:30

Random thoughts on love that I stumbled across in the last few days.

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I came across this in the latest Anoushka Shankar CD that I blogged about earlier.

ISHQ - by Jami (15th century Farsi poet)

Yeh ishq kya hua hua hai

Khud ishq ho gaya hoon

Khud mein hee ram gaya hoon

Khud mein hee kho gaya hoon

Tan saaz ho gaya hoon

Mann raag ho gaya hoon

Kabhu kar ke koi dekhe

Jo ishq ho gaya hoon

I am in love,

I have become love,

I am engrossed in my self,

Oh, I am lost in love.

My body is an instrument,

my heart is a melody.

Those who tread this path

can cherish the touch of purity.

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I went to the Iskcon temple the other day. Have you ever been there? It is fascinating!! While I stood there among the crowd of devotees, I couldn't help but smile. And why? Just because I was surrounded by people who were happy. I had nothing to be happy or sad about. But simply looking at the exuberance and the happiness that flowed around me, I repeat, I couldn't help but smile. The positive energy was contagious.

But I just didn't get it. Why were these people, aided by those singing the kirtan on the mike (in the tradition of that great devotee Chaitanya), so joyous for no apparent reason? All they were doing were throwing their hands up in the air, swaying from side to side and loudly chanting 'Hare Ram Hare Krishna'. It was like a rock concert for religious folks!! And to imagine that this happens almost every weekend, not to mention the smaller gatherings everyday.

In the one hour that I spent there, these folks just didn't stop. They continuously danced, jumped and sang to the Lord. Agreed, their tempo changed from time to time but they were having such a great time that most people were not leaving the crowd. Imagine, when a guy like me who was there more because he was interested rather than any particular devotional reason could spend an hour, what the others could do?

Perhaps they had dipped into the so called "ocean of happiness, of peace and serenity" that surrounds us; that same energy that gurus and yogis have told us is waiting for us to smile and experience it. Perhaps....

Anoushka Shankar in concert

2012-01-15T20:04:00.005+05:30

Day before yesterday, I was at St. Andrews auditorium in Bandra to attend a concert by Anoushka Shankar.

The evening began well. Rahul reached Bandra earlier than expected and since it would take HS some time to reach, we decided we needed refreshments. Rahul was more thirsty and I was plain hungry. Since 5 Spice hadn't opened their doors for the evening yet and I didn't want to go in to Toto's so early, we just bought a couple of KF Draught cans and waited outside the Bengali eatery 'Bong Bong' while our egg rolls were prepared.

Since HS also announced that she was hungry, we decided to get her some sandwiches from Cafe Andora (a must visit place if you're in Bandra; loved the seating outside). Psst.... I couldn't resist a chocolate doughnut while we waited for her to arrive.

About the performance, well, what can one say. It was an amazing concert. The theme wasn't purely Indian classical but a fusion of Indian classical and flamenco music. I was surprised to find out that flamenco has its origins in India. All the artists on stage were brilliant. Anoushka Shankar was obviously the centre of attraction but the artist who played the south Indian percussion instruments was no less brilliant. His mastery over the mridangam and the other two instruments he played was breathtaking. Also, there was a flamenco percussionist and a lady vocalist whose clapping to the beats from time to time added to the magic (completely different discussion that HS said she hadn't noticed her since she, HS, wasn't gay ~sighs~).

After the concert got over, both Rahul and I purchased the Anoushka Shankar album where she has collaborated with the said flamenco artists. And as luck would have it, the name of the album was 'Traveller'.

Rage

2012-01-10T04:04:00.003+05:30

Shiva has two extreme aspects attributed to him.

One is the quiet meditating sage.

This post is not about that.

This post is about when Shiva dances the Tandava. Rage or fury is one of the purest forms of emotion. It courses through your body with unimaginable force; a force which unleashed can scorch anything which dares stand in its path. The full blast of energy that Shiva's third eye can generate cannot be put into words. Simply put, nobody survives it... not the innocent, nor the guilty; neither the angel nor the the devil.

Na punyam na paapam

Na sukhyam na dukhyam

Na mantro na tirtham

Na vedam na yagya

Aham bhojanam naivya bhogyam na bhokta

Chidananda roopa Shiv-o-ham Shiv-o-ham

Beyond the concepts of 'paap' and 'punya',

Beyond the concepts of 'sukh' and 'dukh',

Neither to be found in 'mantras' or 'tirthas'

Nor to be attained by 'vedas' or 'yagyas'

I am THAT Shiva.

Originally meant in a very different sense, the above couplet ironically also applies to Shiva when he is angry. Sometimes, it is just necessary for the world to burn. Forests of pleasure which no longer promise fruits of happiness must be burnt down. Deep, very deep love signifies unquestioning passion. And the more energy and love that was invested in building the forest, the more anger and fury required to burn it down.

But it is a necessary evil. Without it, one just cannot go on. Not because one looks to a brighter, better future (that will inevitably follow) and certainly not because one wants to get rid of the rage, but just because there is rage right now which one must live. Right now is the time to clench one's fist and smash through every stone, every obstacle which either stands in your way or has been foolishly hurled in your direction.

Yes. Shiva is also about peace and prosperity.

Someday, I hope I shall be able to write about that too. Amen.

Have you ever

2012-01-07T03:58:00.006+05:30

Have you ever woken up in the dead of the night and made yourself a cup of honey, lemon green tea and sipped it and soaked in the silence and the peace of the world?

Have you ever danced with abandon in your empty house?

Have you ever bought a flight ticket on a mere whim?

Have you ever gotten a tattoo done?

Have you ever climbed a mountain?

Have you ever jumped into a rushing ice-cold river for a swim?

Have you ever just picked up your car keys and driven off not knowing where you want to go but just because you want to travel?

Have you ever "created" something; a piece of pottery, a painting, a small handicraft item, a blog post?

In other words, have you ever done something for no other reason but because your soul would feel more complete if you did?

For, what fun is the world if you're not crazy enough to live it?

-- inspired by a midnight chat with SP. Thank you, girl, for reminding me of the importance of craziness in our lives. :)

Quantum of Solace

2012-01-02T22:39:00.009+05:30

You're not married, but I think it's the same with all relationships between a man and a woman. They can survive anything so long as some kind of basic humanity exists between the two people. When all kindness has gone, when one person obviously and sincerely doesn't care if the other is alive or dead, then it's just no good... I've thought about this and I've invented a rather high-sounding title.. the Law of the Quantum of Solace.

- Ian Fleming in the Quantum of Solace

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The two friends sat down for the meal at the edge of the forest. It had been a long, arduous journey. Both had made their way through difficult terrain. Equally gifted, both had begun the adventure trusting Her. She had been kind to them, showing Her gracious, generous nature even though they encountered cuts and bruises. But in one critical aspect, she had favoured one over the other.

This alone saved him from descending into the darkness which all but enveloped his friend. He continued to have a cheerful, hopeful look in his eyes as he playfully unpacked the meal while his friend just stared. All the silence in the world couldn't drown out the sweet sounding cruel promises which rang like little bells in his ears.

He just continued to stare. Dark skinned and with a body as taut as an athlete's, he was the exact opposite of his more fortunate friend. "You know the difference between you and me?" he asked, suddenly breaking the silence. The jolly one shook his head. "Deep down below you're a nice guy," and after a pause he added, "and I'm not."

"You sure you want to do this?" asked his friend.

The dark one nodded. "I must do what She wants me to become." He looked towards the sky which had suddenly become dark with the shadow of the giant eagle which came towards them flapping its wings. "The Quantum of Solace has been lost. I must push myself over the edge to survive."

The fair one hesitated. "There will always be good within you, you know."

The dark one just gave him a look. Not even a nod nor the batting of an eyelid as an acknowledgement. With a short run and a swift jump, he got on to the back of the beast.

Just as they were about to soar away far, but into the depths of the doomed yet colourful valley, the fair friend asked him, "Will I see you again?"

With his face partially turned towards his friend, he said, "You know my name."

And with that, he was off...

Happy New Year - 2012

2011-12-31T08:52:00.002+05:30

So, another year goes by.

A year when the winds of change blew hard. Tough times were followed by even tougher times.

But you know what? I roughed it out.

I might have taken a couple of blows along the way but that only makes the will and resolve stronger.

And so here I stand at the start of another year.

Firm.

Resolute.

Willing to take on whatever destiny has in store for me and doing what I do best: being me.

Happy New Year everyone.

Kabuliwallah Stories - Rabindranath Tagore

2011-12-24T20:17:00.002+05:30

I'll be honest, the only reason I bought the book was because of the story which is the centerpiece of this collection: Kabuliwallah. Anybody who has read it or seen either the Bengali or the Hindi film adaptation will understand the emotional tug that the story has.

Kabuliwallah tells the tale of a migrant trader from Kabul who befriends a little girl in Calcutta. The mismatch is most accentuated by their physical appearance: the dainty 5 year old Mini, a non-stop little motor-mouth who has a question ready for everyone she meets and the giant Afghan trader in his huge robes, carrying a giant sack on his shoulder, bemused by this little girl's frankness and jovial nature.

But this book does have other short stories worth mentioning too.

The Living and the Dead is the unfortunate story of a widow who must prove to the world that she isn't dead yet herself. Skeleton is a fun ghost tale that has been thrown into the mix. Fury Appeased is the tale of a beautiful wife who must deal with her husband's negligence in her own way. Guest is a wonderful story about a young man and how he doesn't wish to be tied down to the world's understanding of love. The character of Tarapada, a pleasant young man who strangely moves away from all relationships which tend to hold him back, reminded me somehow of Krishna. Wishes Granted is a funny little story of a father and son wishing that their roles be reversed and kaboom, it so happens that a Goddess decides to grant their wishes. The hillarious results which follow form the rest of the story. The Hungry Stones is another ghost story with a slightly unconventional end. The Gift of Sight is about the insecurities and the tribulations of a woman who loses her eyesight because her husband's negligence.

All in all, a decent book to read if you don't mind sad endings.

Guests for Christmas

2011-12-24T18:19:00.001+05:30

Books I read in 2011 - Part 3: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

2011-12-20T20:03:00.005+05:30

I have just finished reading Steve Jobs' biography written by Walter Isaacson. Like I had mentioned to a few of my friends, no biography / autobiography had gotten me this interested since I read Jack Welch's "Straight from the gut" when I was in college.

My one word review of this book: awesome.

Agreed, the author had an interesting subject. An adopted child, a Silicon Valley whiz-kid, an entrepreneur who over the span of two and half decades revolutionized not just the computer industry but also the music, retail and animation industries.

What makes Isaacson's effort spectacular is that after reading the book, you feel you've been witnessing Steve Jobs' life unravel right in front of your eyes. The creation of magical products, the frustration at doing things wrong, the fights and the celebrations... all come alive.

The book does not intend to be a publicity gimmick for the hero who has passed away (it would've been had they stuck to the title 'iSteve: The Book of Jobs') but an honest narration of one of the most amazing CEOs of the modern era. Jobs was no saint and he knew it. He threw tantrums and hurled abuses at people. But all of this stemmed from the fact that he was a perfectionist. The same passion for excellence that led him to sometimes delay product launches also led him one time to take eight weeks to decide which washing machine to buy. There is no doubt about it: the man was a genius. Albeit, slightly flawed, but genius nonetheless.

Another great feature about Isaacson's book is that it is honest. Not only are there conversations with people who revered Jobs' but also from his troubled past. Mona Simpson, his biological sister; Lisa Brennan-Jobs, his illegitimate daughter; Tina Redse, his one-time girlfriend; and of course, Bill Gates, the man who grudgingly accepted that Steve Jobs had a habit of pulling off the impossible.

This book is a great read not only for those who wish to read the biography of one of the best CEOs but also who want to find out more about a fascinating man who had an incredible passion for excellence in business, just as in his personal life.

(image courtesy: Little, Brown book group)

Throw your past out of the window

2011-12-18T16:26:00.018+05:30

Sometimes, life just seems mundane. People and places pass you by in a blur. Daily events become a punishing routine which become a matter of going through the motions. You are expected to live, work and perform based on how you have lived previously. In other words, people expect you to conform to the world that you have always pretended to conform to.

It is at moments like these when you need to step back, take a deep breath and analyse which direction your life is headed in. Maybe you need a break. Maybe you need a cup of tea. Maybe you need a hot shower. Maybe... all you need is a clear head.

Sometimes, all you need to do is throw your past out of the window. The past got you to where you are now. Great! But what next? The destination you choose to achieve tomorrow is decided by the path you decide to take today.

My mind has been pretty occupied with similar thoughts this past one week. Its as if the mind decides to numb the body and instruct it to go through the daily activities, all the while trying hard not to focus on the past and peer into the future.

Interestingly, today I came across something which appealed to me on similar lines.

I'm currently reading Steve Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson. Here's an excerpt from an interview that Jobs gave in February 1985 around his 30th birthday (Bear in mind, his 30th birthday was a milestone for him as it signalled that he had grown older. Also, it was around this time that Apple started facing real trouble on a grand scale and Jobs began having major difference of opinion with the CEO, John Sculley. Soon after this, Jobs had to quit Apple and start over at NeXT):

"If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you've done and and whoever you were and throw them away.

The more the outside world tries to reinforce an image of you, the harder it is to continue to be an artist, which is why a lot of times, artists have to say, "Bye. I have to go. I'm going crazy and I'm getting out of here." And they go and hibernate somewhere. Maybe later they re-emerge a little differently."

Books I read in 2011 - Part 2

2011-12-16T16:02:00.006+05:30

There is special joy reserved for "discovering" books; books which you wouldn't have normally read. These are the ones that you stumble across unexpectedly at a bookstore, at a second-hand book shop or are a recommendation from a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time.

The Goodreads suggestions section has become one such source of joy for me. I was searching for good novels in the detective genre when I came across "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins.

By the time I reached the end of the prologue, my nerves were already tingling as the build-up for a great mystery novel had been set.

The book is set in 19th century England, although the events in the prologue take place slightly earlier in the faraway exotic country of India. The prologue, ominously titled "The storming of Seringapatnam", describes how an officer of the East India Company comes in possession of a valuable diamond through thievery and murder right after the fall of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. The diamond, originally placed in a statue of the Moon God (hence the name) at Somnath, was sworn to be protected and restored by the priests of the temple at all costs.

Cut to half-a-century later when the said officer has been alienated by his family. To get back at them, the ailing old man leaves the diamond in his will to his niece on the day she turns eighteen. As it happens, the birthday party is also visited by three strange Indian gypsies. Later that night, the diamond mysteriously disappears. The theft, the search for it and the ultimate recovery of the diamond forms the rest of the novel.

Apart from the spine-chilling narrations at various parts in the book, the most interesting feature of the novel is the manner in which various chapters have been narrated by various characters in the book. The author's brilliance in eliciting humour and suspense from the narrators who speak in different styles is one of the highlights of the book.

Widely considered as one of the first mystery novels ever written, "The Moonstone" is a classic which you must read if you like reading Poe, Eliot and Doyle.

The debonair duo

2011-12-15T10:09:00.011+05:30

One had an impish grin, the other had a cherubic smile. The one with a slim frame swayed as if his moves were inspired by the wind, the other jumped about with his full weight on shikaras while wooing the love of his life. One had a hair style which people said was inspired by Gregory Peck; at the same time, girls across the nation screamed for the other since he seemed to emulate Elvis' style of dancing.

They redefined suave. No, let me rephrase that. For the newly independent India, Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor did not redefine suave... they defined it first-hand.

What I liked most about the films of these two gentlemen was their light-hearted nature. Not for them the pathos-filled heavy films of Dilip Kumar or the look-into-society Raj Kapoor films. These were two young boys about town, looking for a good life and a great life-partner (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Jewel Thief, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris to name a few).

Their songs remain etched in our memory. Whilst most of Dev Anand's famous songs were sung by Kishore, Shammi Kapoor and Mohammad Rafi complimented each other perfectly, right from that old black & white film "China Town" (remember 'Baar baar dekho'?).

One is spoilt for choices when trying to choose *that* one song by which one would like to remember each of these princes by. For Dev Anand, although 'Hum hai raahi pyaar ke' (Nau Do Gyarah) comes very close, the prize shall definitely go to 'Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya' (Mohd. Rafi singing for him in "Hum Dono").

For Shammi Kapoor, while most would remember him with 'Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra' in "Kashmir Ki Kali", my personal favourite is him singing 'Aasman se aaya farishta' in "An Evening in Paris" (interesting how both "Kashmir Ki Kali" and "An Evening In Paris" are Shakti Samanta films). The madness of the romantic lover-boy suspending himself from a helicopter asking his lady love for another look while she is water-skiing in the lake below is exactly the kind of exuberance I would always like to remember Shammi Kapoor by.

RIP sires.

(image courtesy: The Hindu)

The magic of S D Burman

2011-12-14T11:58:00.014+05:30

Brilliance need not always jump to the rooftops and shout in order to draw attention to itself. Sometimes, and as in this instance, long after the creative minds have left the world of mortals, it peeks out from the surrounding clutter to remind us of the sheer magic of simplicity.

Take for instance this ad for cooking oil which has been playing on TV lately.

For some reason, the voice of S D Burman kept playing over and over in my head. I inquired about the origins of it on Twitter and Mish was kind enough to tell me the song was from Talaash, a 1969 Rajendar Kumar film.

The song is 'Meri Duniya Hai Maa' (lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri) which plays over the opening credits of the film.

But wait! Hadn't Dada Burman sung another song which also played out during the opening credits?

The film is Dev Anand's 'Guide'. In the opening credits, as we see Raju "guide" leaving his known world behind and walk towards his transition to a 'spiritual guru', you hear S D Burman's lilting voice singing 'Wahaan kaun hai tera musafir jaayega kahaan' (lyrics: Shailender). The song has been sung which such pathos that you can't but have a moist eye when Dada Burman sings the words "koi bhi teri, raah na dekhe, nain bichaaye na koi... dard se tere, koi na tadpa, aankh kisi ki na royi".

But it isn't always that his voice will reduce you to tears... it is there to soothe you too just when you begin to lose hope. Remember the title track of "Aradhana"? As the mother's soul gets tormented over having lost her husband and then being separated from her son, S D Burman's soulful voice assures her... "Banegi aasha ek din teri yeh niraasha, kaahe ko roye? Safal hogi teri araadhana" (lyrics: Anand Bakshi).

Brilliance does that, you know. It can reduce you to tears as well as show the way ahead.

The yin-yang of self-confidence and humility

2011-12-08T10:16:00.005+05:30

The other day I had an epiphany about the yin-yang of self-confidence and humility.

On one hand we have self-confidence. Too little of this and you end up being a mockery of the potential within you. Instead of dictating your own destiny, you end up being a pebble in the warpath of strong-willed neighbours. Self-confidence requires you to be convinced of your own arguments and reasoning; of being able to decide on the path that you wish to pursue.

Yet, too much of this virtue and the dangers of over-confidence and hubris can start ringing the death knoll of success. Let being overtly cocky be left to your so-called larger than life figures; they will see the light soon. Being "too full of one-self" and not being able to see the faults in one's own schemes is perhaps one of the most short-sighted things to do.

Which is where the beauty of humility sets in...

By learning to have a patient ear and listening to the opinions of others we gather the wisdom of the world. It is an attempt to acknowledge that the universe is a sum of many parts and you are just a part of the grand puzzle, a brush of colour on the master-stroke that is life.

However, too much of humility and you have the trap of not being able to listen to your own thoughts, drowned as it were in the multitude of voices that you've opted to surround yourself with. To be able to drink in the wisdom of the opinions around you and yet make your own judgement is the way of the wise.

Which is where the self-confidence sets in...

Songs of the "black & white" era

2011-12-06T22:40:00.005+05:30

Mom loves listening to the radio.

Not FM. Radio. For her, that means Vividh Bharti.

I credit my love for old (and when I say old, I mean OLD... as in, '40s and '50s stuff) Hindi songs to Mom's habit of listening to 'radio' before going off to sleep each night. It is this habit of hers which made me fall in love with the golden voices of Rafi, Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar long before I knew who they were.

For a generation which will grow up to Himesh singing 'Tera suroor' (Aapka Suroor) there was one which grew up listening to Hemant Kumar sing 'Bekarar karke hamein yun na jaiye' (Bees Saal Baad); today we think Mika's 'Main tennu love karda' (Desi Boyz) is fun.. some of us thought nothing could beat Kishore's madness in 'Jhoom jhoom kauva bhi dholak bajaaye' (Half Ticket).

This post is not to ridicule or challenge the 'like' factor of today's songs. Just to remind myself that the kind of music that I will hum ten years from now will most probably not be the ones that are recorded today.

Here are the top 20 of the most played songs from my 'Hindi B&W' playlist on my iPod:

1. Khoya khoya chand - Kala Bazaar (1960)

2. Chalat musafir moh liya re - Teesri Kasam (1967)

3. Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan - CID (1956)

4. Haal kaisa hai janaab ka - Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

5. Bekaraar karke hamein yun na jaiye - Bees Saal Baad (1962)

6. Aaiye meherban - Howrah Bridge (1958)

7. Honton pe sacchai rehti hai - Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960)

8. Gore gore o baanke chhore - Samadhi (1950)

9. Dil deke dekho - Dil Deke Dekho (1959)

10. Maana janaab ne pukara nahin - Paying Guest (1957)

11. Tadbeer se bigdi hui - Baazi (1951)

12. Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si - Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

13. Jiya bekaraar hai - Barsaat (1949)

14. Cat maane billi - Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

15. Hum to mohabbat karega - Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

16. Hum bhi hain tum bhi ho - Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960)

17. Chhod do aanchal - Paying Guest (1957)

18. Dil ka haal sune dilwaala - Shree 420 (1955)

19. Babuji dheere chalna - Aar Paar (1954)

20. Jaane kahaan mera jigar gaya ji - Mr. & Mrs. 55 (1955)

Books I read in 2011 - Part 1

2011-12-04T19:17:00.012+05:30

Over the next few posts, I shall be putting up short reviews of some of the books that I read this year. Here is the first in the series.

The Ramayana Series by Ashok Banker: This 6 book series (a 7th book titled 'Vengeance of Ravana' was later added by the author) is a retelling of the great Hindu epic. Everyone has read / heard the story of the Hindu God Vishnu's avatar in human form battling the great demon Ravana. As I have noted previously on this blog, I was a sceptic when I started reading the first book 'Prince of Ayodhya' since most of my memories of Ramayana were tinged with the Ramanand Sagar produced TV series that we grew up watching on Doordarshan.

However, this series is a far cry from the soap-opera that I remembered. The book presents Rama, Lakshman and Sita well versed in martial arts and not shying away from taking up sword and spear to defend their land. Also, the country is not a "soft" state; it is a modern nation with highly evolved politics, military warfare and trade.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this series is that Ravana hasn't been reduced to a caricature. He truly emerges as a champion who won over the Gods with his devotion and defeated the humans in combat; an emperor who ruled a prosperous nation and a general who was brilliant at warfare. The sheer brilliance of his character lends a great deal of weight to the hero who must champion against all odds.

There are portions towards the end of the series where one feels the author hurries along and the narrative stumbles. Important battles within the great war seem to have been suddenly won without much explanation.

The reason why I loved this series is because it has renewed my interest in the Ramayana as an epic. It is all too easy to get carried away by the majestic Mahabharat, what with all the wars being waged and dynasty politics. But it took this version of Banker's Ramayana to remind me that this is also the story of a simple prince who loved his princess.

Being grateful

2011-12-02T23:42:00.003+05:30

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the soul demands that one be thankful and grateful.

To that Force that is Life.

For everything. And I mean... EVERYTHING.

For the simple pleasure of being able to breathe day after day.

To feel the joy of waking up to the sun shining in the morning when just the previous night it seemed there would be no end to darkness.

One can't be thankful enough to one's parents for shaping one's character.

Being grateful to our friends who are ever ready to share a laugh or eager to lend an ear in times of trouble.

Thankful to the world where there is music, song and laughter.

For EVERYTHING.

I am thankful.

May there be peace.

Affection

2011-11-30T19:05:00.003+05:30

"Anyone who brings up someone else's son becomes specially devoted: there are no rights, no social claims - nothing but ties of affection. Affection cannot prove itself with a legal document; nor does it wish to. All it can do is love with doubled intensity, because it owns so uncertainly."

The Living and the Dead by Rabindranath Tagore

(trans. by William Radice)

Here's to the crazy ones

2011-10-28T20:55:00.003+05:30

Before I lose this image again...

Tiger tiger burning bright

2011-09-22T23:54:00.002+05:30

As someone who enjoys hearing and reading cricket anecdotes, specially those of Indian cricket, it was impossible for me to not come across the trail the Tiger had left.

My earliest memories of hearing about the Tiger was when Mom (Pataudi Jr. was charismatic enough to draw her attention to cricket) told me India once had a captain who only had one eye. Apparently, this bloke had had a terrible accident and yet was good enough to play for the country with just one good eye. "Must be one heck of a fella," I thought.

It was much later when the legend of the Nawab of Pataudi started swirling around me. Everywhere I looked, article after article praised this handsome prince whose debonair style of batting suggested he was much better than the record books suggested. The phrase "his record doesn't do him justice" seemed to have been made for him.

I remember watching an interview of him on "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" (hey, I was *very* young, ok?) and remember her asking him "Is it true that when you appealed for an lbw and if the umpire thought it wasn't out, he would politely tell you 'Not out, Your Highness'?". The impropriety (to him) of asking the question on national television seemed to have caught him by surprise as he paused for a couple of seconds and then without batting his eyelids said, "Yes."

In many ways, that interview told you a lot about the personality that this man had. Quiet, dignified, straight-laced humour, maybe a little snotty (he was a Nawab after all) but very certain about the opinions he had.

Before Pataudi came along as captain (at the age of 21, he was the youngest captain the game had ever seen at that point of time), it is believed that the Indian cricket team were still reeling from a sense of inferiority complex towards their ex-colonial masters. Test matches were played with the objective of somehow eking out a draw. It is to Pataudi Jr.'s credit who walked in with an attitude that said, "Hang on a minute, we should be playing to win and not draw matches." It is to him that the credit goes for bringing steel and grit into a side which once only knew abject surrender.

Not that we won too many matches under his captaincy. But the mindset had been changed. Here was a man who "with one eye and one leg" played a fighting innings at the MCG when India were, I think, 25 for 5. Indian cricket had found its Spartacus.

To him also goes the credit for introducing the spin attack of Chandrashekhar, Bedi and Prasanna. I am sure tomorrow morning's newspapers will be full of better praise from these fine cricketers than I could muster up.

But I will leave you with two quotes about the Tiger which for me epitomize what he meant for Indian cricket.

Asked to describe Pataudi's leadership style, Prasanna once mentioned "He wasn't the kinds who would have to shout at you to tell you what to do. Pataudi led by his eyes... he would just look at you and then look in another direction and you knew what had to be done."

Bishan Singh Bedi, the graceful magician Sardar, said that the greatest contribution of the Tiger to Indian cricket was that he was the first captain to forge an "Indian" team. He was the one, Bedi says, who taught us to think beyond Madras, Bombay, Punjab etc. You're playing for the country, he would say, so play as one.

RIP Nawab Sahab.

From Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

2011-07-20T03:10:00.001+05:30

Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya
Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Duniya mein yunhi hota hai
Yeh jo gehre sannaate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi namm hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai

Pighle neelam sa behta ye sama,

neeli neeli si khamoshiyan,

na kahin hai zameen na kahin aasmaan,

sarsaraati hui tehniyaan pattiyaan,

keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,

bas main hoon,

meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,

aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan, aur main... sirf main.

Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya.

Meditation

2011-07-20T02:48:00.003+05:30

For me, meditation is a moment in which I have quietened my mind.

Meditation need not be religious, although it can be. If you have by repeatedly saying a name or a chant emptied your mind to only one thought, and that one thought alone, you have meditated.

I have found the best form of meditation to be sitting down quietly for ten minutes anytime between midnight to five in the morning and just breathing slowly, calmly. The choice of the odd hours is only because I'd rather meditate in a quiet, peaceful world than when the energies of people rushing about is colliding with my energy field.

There are other ways of meditation too.

Swimming underwater can be a very peaceful experience. It gives you the feeling you are alone in the world. Alone. No one reaches you there. Not your parents nor your friends or even the people you dislike. It is just about you. That moment is about being one with yourself and realising that you're immersed in and one with Nature.

Running long distances is also therapeutic. I often found that after I'd run a couple of laps and when it had started registering in my mind that my legs were tired, the simplest way of going on was by reminding myself of just putting the other foot ahead of the current one. Simple. And repeat. And keep repeating. Keep doing that and before you know it, you've finished another lap.

However, the simplest way of meditating is perhaps while drinking water. Pick up the glass of water, close your eyes and drink. Feel the water gushing down your throat. Feel the joy in the simple happiness of your thirst being quenched. Let the feeling tingle over you for that split second. Open your eyes. And smile. You've meditated.

One Cup at a Time

2011-05-21T11:45:00.002+05:30

I came across this brilliant piece while browsing through my inbox yesterday. Instantly wished to share it with as many people as I could. Here goes:

My vision is to change the world one cup of tea at a time.

How? Consider where you are right now. In your body. In your heart. In your life. I’m guessing you’ve got dreams that you are striving for, and challenges to overcome. Somewhere, on paper or in your head there’s a list of projects that you chip away at day by day. Some projects are old and stagnant, and others are fresh and urgent.

For those of you not reading this, if you are not getting what you strive for in life then now is the time to do something different. Shatter the routine. Just stop and wake up and change. If you are reading this, then you are probably used to getting what you strive for. Continue on as you have been and chances are good that sooner or later your dreams will come true and your current challenges will yield to your efforts. What then?

When you achieve “it,” will you have more money? A bigger house? Flatter abs? More friends? Happier kids? A more loving partner? More leisure time? More happiness?

Now, imagine for a moment that everything is perfect right now, just as it is.

Imagine that, miraculously, all your dreams have come true and all your challenges overcome. You have arrived. Look around. Notice your body. Listen.

Breathe in.

And then out.

When all of your goals are hit and all of your challenges overcome, where will you be? Here. Now. Of course the future hasn’t happened. That means all your worries and what-ifs are just illusions and totally bogus. Tomorrow will always be tomorrow. And the past is past. Yesterday is forever gone. Whatever. Good, bad, or indifferent, it’s over and it will never happen again. All we have is now. This singular moment.

This is the gift you get for being alive.

If you can slow down enough to pay attention to the details of this moment then the basic goodness and raw joy of being alive is impossible to ignore.

For me, drinking tea is a reminder. The ritual preparing, serving, and drinking tea reminds me to slow down, to let my senses take over, and to let this moment flood the Now. The clatter of tea ware. The warmth of the cup. Hot steam swirling in the early morning sunlight from a cup of brilliant green sencha.

This ritual is a reminder I try to carry with me throughout the day. This is it. This one cup. This one moment. This one life.

Perfection.

Four men and a funeral

2011-05-16T01:32:00.011+05:30

I love browsing through posters that Landmark stores puts up on display for sale. Of course, most of them are about comics / cartoons / football clubs / movies. In fact, I have bought a couple of them to be put up on the walls of my house whenever I finally can. Till then, the black and white image of Marlon Brando as the Godfather and the poster of the Batman logo shall stay in a corner of the house for me to muse over every time I steal a glance.

Coming back to the post at hand. On one of my recent visits to Landmark, I really loved this one particular poster of the Beatles where they're simply walking across a zebra crossing. I loved the free-wheeling 70s look and especially the fact that Paul McCartney is walking barefoot, giving the image a "let's just take a walk" feel.

I don't know what it was about the image which came back to me yesterday as I was about to hit search on Google for a new wallpaper for my laptop.

These four just look so relaxed taking a walk on a sunny London morning.

However, this wasn't it. I just *had* to find out more about when this picture was taken. Was it a promotional photograph? Or an album cover? Or just some newspaper photojournalist who landed the coup of the decade by getting The Beatles to pose for the Sunday morning edition?

So I searched and expectedly came across the answer on Wikipedia.

The picture is the cover image of the final album The Beatles did together, "Abbey Road". The picture is one amongst the six that photographer Iain Macmillan took during the ten minutes that he got with the legendary four on the morning of 8th August 1969. The four are walking across the Abbey Road crossing to the then EMI Studios (later renamed Abbey Road Studios).

I also found out why I had to take the trouble to search for the image; apparently this is the only "original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover."

Expectedly, the image has achieved cult status. There is a website where people can send pics of themselves as they walk across the zebra crossing. Not to mention the website of Abbey Road Studios themselves who have a page simply titled "The Crossing" for their 'Visit' page and which has live video feeds of the crossing.

I was also unaware that back in 1969, an urban legend did the rounds that Paul McCartney actually died in a car crash in 1967 and was replaced by a look-alike. Of the various clues that the supporters of the rumour used was the cover image of Abbey Road, which they said symbolised a funeral procession and Lennon dressed in white symbolising a preacher.

Whatever the truth may be, one thing I'm sure of. I like this picture and would have never thought there was so much history attached to the image which is now my wallpaper.

Ardhanareshwar

2011-05-03T02:33:00.003+05:30

Just couldn't go to sleep without sharing this awesome visualization of the Ardhanareshwar that I came across on Twitter some days ago.

Would you like a drink, Sir?

2011-05-02T18:54:00.007+05:30

Who wouldn't love the concept of a manservant who took care of all the nitty-gritties of daily existence?

For a single bachelor living in Mumbai, I sure would love to have some extra time on my hands during the weekends, not to mention evenings after office on weekdays. Clothes to be washed, put out to dry and then ironed, meals to be prepared, dusting the house... I could clearly do with some help.

And if one is getting help after all, why not in style?

Why not have someone who not only ensures the book-shelf is always neatly arranged but also knows how to stir up a perfect Long Island Iced Tea as you come back home after a long day at the office? One who is there not only to offer a word of advice when requested but also to take care of the work on Saturday and Sunday mornings so that you can get happily sloshed the evening before.

Now, I haven't had the privilege of watching a live butler / valet (What's the difference? Read on...) in action but here are the three best fictional ones I have come across:

3. J.A.R.V.I.S. - At no. 3 is the artificial intelligence system which serves Tony Stark in the Iron Man films. JARVIS stands for Just Another Rather Very Intelligent System. Of course, the original Jarvis is Edwin Jarvis, manservant to Tony Stark and who later serves members of the Avengers Initiative (not to mention, also has a mildly romantic relationship with Peter "Spiderman" Parker's aunt, May Parker).

What I really liked about the film version of JARVIS was the spunk that the character has, the slight sarcasm in it's words as it serves Tony Stark with the coolest looking gadgets.

2. Alfred Pennyworth - Losing out the top spot very closely is "Batman's batman", Alfred Pennyworth. The man the Dark Knight trusts is obviously no ordinary mortal. Not only is he the caretaker of Wayne Towers but also keeps everything running smoothly in the Batcave in the absence of Batman and Robin.

A father-figure to Bruce Wayne, Alfred's continued jibes at him for not eating, sleeping and resting enough is the perfect wry-smile earner in a series which would be even more sombre were the Dark Knight left to fend for himself. An ex-actor, a military man, a self-taught surgical man and often the voice of reason to the various young boys who donned the mantle of Robin over the years, Alfred is the champion at home Batman cannot do without.

(Trivia: In the Pre-Crisis Batman series, Alfred's father's name is revealed to be Jarvis, a hat-tip to the very same gentleman at no. 3 on my list)

1. Reginald Jeeves - Now, there's a man! He's not a butler, but a valet, i.e. he serves a man and not a household. However, were the need to serve a family arise, as Bertie puts it, "he can buttle with the best of them."

Personally, no other fictional character has accounted for as many hold-your-stomach-laughing-bouts as Jeeves has. The inherent quality of being unperturbed by whatever Bertram Wooster throws at him is bound to charm even the coldest reader. The ability to out-think the cleverest machinations of an entire generation of cheats, scoundrels and aunts makes this man an enigma.

It is argued it must be all the fish that he consumes that gives him the legendary problem solving brains that he has. But wouldn't you kill for a valet who knows the recipe for the perfect get-me-up drink when you're suffering from a terrible hangover? What would you not do for a saviour who rescues you when you're stranded on an island and an angry goose is hell-bent on attacking you?

As the caption in the picture above reads, if everyone had a valet like Jeeves, there would be no wars. But just in case there is a war, I know I want Jeeves on my side.

IT Helpdesk

2011-04-17T13:54:00.003+05:30

Office laptops are one of God's peculiar creatures. They give up on you when you least expect them to.

A couple of weeks ago, I was back home in Calcutta. I was using my wireless USB stick to connect to my official mail server. I had used it to check a few mails on Saturday and so was relatively relaxed on Monday morning when I tried to login again, living in the false belief that the IT gods were still smiling on me. Little did I know, they were just getting started.

For some reason, the laptop wouldn't recognize the USB modem no matter how many times I put it back in the slot. After doing this a couple of times, I realized the problem: my admin rights had been removed and hence, also, the rights to the modem.

"Damn," I said, and called up the IT helpdesk number at my Mumbai office.

IT: Good morning, IT helpdesk. How may I help you?

S: Yeah, hi. Listen, my laptop isn't recognizing the USB modem, because my admin rights have been revoked. Can you do something?

IT: Hmm.. right sir. What is your desk no.?

S: ~mentions desk number~

~Furious typing sound~

IT: No problem sir. I have taken down that complaint. I'll have somebody sent to your desk in 20 minutes or so.

S: Arre?!!! I just told you, I'm in Calcutta, not in Mumbai leave alone at my desk.

IT: Oh !!

Here, there comes in a very, very long pause. I can almost hear the guy's mind slowly moving into first gear.

IT: Oh, ok sir. Just give me a minute.

~some scrambling and hollering in the background~

IT (new guy): Yes sir. How may I help you?

S: ~sighs~ ~repeats problem~

IT: Sir, no problem sir. Why don't you bring the laptop here to the IT room and we'll resolve the problem.

S: God have mercy!!

IT: Sir ???!!! Sorry, I couldn't hear you.

Needless to say, I couldn't get my modem's functionality back till a week later when I joined office. Such are the mysterious ways of the IT helpdesk.

Credit belongs to the doer

2011-04-12T13:20:00.003+05:30

Hat tip to the Sporting Edge for the following quote by Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

The Sixth Verse of Lao-tzu

2011-04-12T12:54:00.003+05:30

The Sixth Verse of Lao-tzu

The spirit that never dies

is called the mysterious feminine.

Although she becomes the whole universe,

her immaculate purity is never lost.

Although she assumes countless forms,

her true identity remains intact.

The gateway to the mysterious female

is called the root of creation.

Listen to her voice,

hear it echo through creation.

Without fail, she reveals her presence.

Without fail, she brings us to our own perfection.

Although it is invisible, it endures;

it will never end.

Be wary of the Lankans

2011-04-02T02:33:00.003+05:30

Got this as a BBM forward via Kushan and it is by far the best forward regarding the World Cup that I have read, including from the ones that I received before the India vs. Pakistan match.

Here goes:

India waalon, zara sambhaal ke rehna...

Tumhari Munni badnaam hai, aur Sheela jawaan hai

Aur yeh Lanka waale saale Raavan ki aulaad hai.

Yamla Pagla Deewana: The Review

2011-01-25T00:00:00.004+05:30

Couple of things:

*Dad is much better ~touch wood~, discharged from the hospital and back home. Heartfelt thanks and gratitude to every one who helped, prayed and was there for us.

*Have linked my blog to Facebook notes; so many friends who comment there don't really know that they're actually reading stuff that I put up on my blog at http://adventuresofatraveller.blogspot.com

*The blog crossed 20,000 hits !! Yeah !!!

*Recently spoke to a friend who hasn't really commented on the blog or on FB. But felt nice when he said he liked reading what I wrote from time to time.

*With that, onto a film review, 'coz I've really had it with writing / thinking serious stuff

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Yamla Pagla Deewana: My thoughts

*Doing a bullet-point review 'coz really, that *is* the theme of this post (haven't you noticed already?)

*The idea of opening the film with Ajay Devgan's voice-over with the choicest of clips from Yaadon Ki Baarat / Amar Akbar Anthony set the theme of the film pretty well, telling the viewer that the film-makers were here to have fun

*The second half, where the action shifts to Punjab, is definitely more fun than the first half

*What the hell were they thinking when they got the clothes for the item girl in "Tinku Jiya"? Sorry, but she ended up looking cheap.

*What the hell was Bobby's stylist smoking ? (a jacket which was half green-half purple, another which had three different shades of yellow, printed floral shirts with a 'gamcha' around his neck and finally, a red kurta with golden, yes, GOLDEN pyajamas) Not that it didn't bring a lot of laughs.

*Loved the bit where the trio are getting away after looting an ATM and Dharam paaji goes "U-turn kyun li? Gaadi ki doosri side to paint hi nahin ki" and what appears to be a security van on one side turns out to be a stolen ambulance on the other !!

*The "Chadha De Rang" song is actually pretty hummable once you've heard it a couple of times

*Loved the fact that the film took pot-shots at the Deols:

- Dharam paaji did almost *all* his signature dance steps and don't even ask about the number of times the drinking habits were alluded to

- Sunny Deol did *that* hathoda-chaap dance step from 'Yaara o yaara' (Jeet)

- When Sunny isn't able to draw water from a hand-pump, Bobby goes "Abbe chalayega ya ukhadega?"

- Even Abhay Deol wasn't spared: "Aaj kal to Devdas ko bhi Dev-D banna padta hai"

*The new girl, Kulraj Randhawa, looked really pretty but could've definitely done with less make-up

*The whole 'Caneda' (not a typo) angle with the Poli character was ROFL

*Watch out how 'Chori chori jab nazrein mili' from Kareeb is used to hillarious effect when Bobby rescues Anupam Kher from villains by swinging on a rope ala Tarzan

All in all, a good comedy film. Leave your brains behind, but as if you didn't know about the movie already.

Lessons from the last couple of days

2011-01-20T17:10:00.001+05:30

The last couple of days have been a test. You can't go through life without expecting some knocks, and SOS calls at 4:30 AM are as good as knocks can come (I wouldn't want to know worse, thank you very much).

Here are some things I learned in the last 72 odd hours:

* For any given situation, you can either get stressed and worried or you can determinedly keep re-focussing on the positive side of things. Keep doing the latter and be a positive influence on those around you.

* Many people say "This too shall pass" is a good way of reminding oneself of the ephemeral nature of troubles. However, I prefer telling myself "This too shall be overcome" to remind myself of the strength of spirit and undying positive energy each one of us carries within ourselves.

* Have you ever been part of or have observed how a *team* of people walk out into a competition as opposed to a single person? The sense of camaraderie and "I got your back, brother" attitude is what, in my opinion, creates the effect of the sum being greater than the parts. I have never felt more relieved than I was when 'my gang' of college friends just stood by me in the hour of need.

* Dunno, but I feel nobody understands a woman's pain like another woman. Thank heavens my paternal aunts were here when Mom was so disturbed. Having them around helped Mom greatly and I stand indebted to them.

A Prayer

2010-12-12T08:38:00.002+05:30

1991

"Repeat after me," Mom said, "Om Mrityunjay Mahadev..."

"Om Mrityunjay Mahadev...," I repeated like a parrot.

Calcutta (as it was known back then) had still not shrugged off the days of "load-shedding" and it was during one such evening during a power failure that Mom decided I was old enough to start learning Sanskrit shlokas.

I still remember the dark room, Mom sitting on a sofa and asking me to repeat the shloka aloud. After about 5 times, I confidently declared that I'd memorized it completely. Like all mothers, Mom knew that it would take a lot more than just five repetitions for me to "know it by heart". She made me repeat the shloka a couple of hundred times over the next few weeks for it to get firmly embedded in my consciousness.

2008

I was in Bangalore (as it was known back then ~sighs~) and staying alone in my one room apartment in Koramangala. I haven't ALWAYS been regular with my daily prayers, but do get curious about religion from time to time. Add to that, I've always been fascinated by the personality that is Shiva. I don't remember where, but I chanced upon Neelima Chitgopekar's book on Shiva.

Whilst browsing, I was merely reading aloud the many shlokas which were scattered through the length of the book when something strange happened. One particular shloka, which I hadn't ever heard in its entirety, let alone memorized, struck a chord somewhere. As I went back and forth over it, I realized that I started singing the shloka in a particular metre.

I was puzzled. Where was this coming from? How was I being able to anticipate the next few verses of a hymn which had never been taught to me?

It took me a while to figure out that I had known this shloka since my childhood. All my growing up years, I had heard Mom repeat the shloka while doing her morning and evening puja. And yes, the shloka was repeated in the exact same metre that I was repeating it in now. I had never paid any particular attention to her while she prayed; I would be reading a book or running around the house like any normal kid. But somewhere, the shloka had stuck inside my head and today it was all coming back to me.

I realize I have been very fortunate in my life to have some fantastic teachers. I keep bumping into new ones even today, and boy am I grateful I do.

But the one teacher who I owe it most to is my Mom.

"Guru Govind dono khade, kake lagu paaye?

Balihaari guru aapki Govind diyo bataaye."

The Lord and my teacher both stand in front of me,

I know not whom to offer obeisance first.

The answer to which is, dear teacher,

You were the one who showed me the path to the Lord.

Mom, you continue to inspire me.

A Vagabond's Realisation

2010-11-29T19:31:00.002+05:30

Something I wrote a couple of months ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------

He felt he had everything in the world.

He smiled, laughed and danced with the wind, the moon and the stars. He roamed the villages, towns and forests and met others like him. He looked at them incredulously, amazed and astounded at their display of emotions. He was so much like them, and yet, so different.

"Or does everyone feel that way?" And with that, a smile descended on that clear face and he let the question and the thought drift away. Just like that.

That was him. Not a care in the world.

He hadn't seen a mirror in months. He had occasionally seen his reflection in the flowing water of the stream but the ripples on the surface always made it difficult for him to see his face properly. That never worried him much. He knew the world would accept him just as he was. Just as he had accepted the world as it was.

He would walk, sometimes mindlessly rush, in a general direction all day. A motley crowd was indeed headed somewhere in the same direction as he was but none were certain about their destination. They often paused during the day wondering which way they should go. It would sometimes lead to some of these fellow travellers deciding they needed to head elsewhere.

They passed him by on their journey.

He never disliked them; never said a harsh word. He couldn't. That wasn't him. All he would do, is sometimes allow himself to look at the departing friends with a smile and with a sigh tell himself it was perhaps all right to envy them. Sometimes. Perhaps.

Hopefully, someday, somewhere...

In another lifetime, maybe...

He loved his band of vagabonds. Bound by the invisible cord that often bonds carefree spirits, they were a joyous bunch who shared food, drink, laughter and love.

He loved listening to ballads. The great pathos in the voices of the untrained countryside singers filled his heart with great sorrow every time he heard them. The emotion of the songs moved him like nothing else could, not even like some of the greatest of literature he'd read.

He had fallen in love with nature. Mountains of all sorts and wide-open beaches were his playground. He climbed rocky mountain surfaces and swam in the deep blue ocean with equal fervour and joy. Sometimes, he would just run on the beaches with his hands spread out, like a kite in the wind.

He would look up at the skies when it would rain. He would try to decide whether the heavenly droplets were fore-bearers of grief or joyous moments. He tried not to be judgmental, but it was difficult. He would strain looking at the skies as if waiting to hear the graceful music of the gods.

Indeed, one day, he just broke down and cried his heart out. "Why?" he asked himself. "Idiot," came the impish reply, "you never asked 'why' when you laughed out loud... Just feel the moment and flow with the rhythm of the universe."

Yet, he now knew what they meant when they said you might have everything and yet have nothing at all.

Adieu

2010-02-24T22:42:00.001+05:30

You will be missed.

Random Midnight Thoughts - Episode 1 (?)

2010-02-22T23:55:00.004+05:30

Random Midnight Thought (RMT) # 1: I get more SMSes from bots telling me about Minutes Of Usages (MOUs) clocked on my service than from friends telling me the latest gup-shup in their life.

RMT # 2: I'm listening to 'All Izz Well' from 3 Idiots in a desperate bid to induce myself into thinking that all is indeed well.

RMT # 3: I just realised why older people don't get drunk easily; the more the pain, the more alcohol necessary to heal the wounds... albeit temporarily

RMT # 4: When friends know your secrets better than your parents, it's easier to hide things from your parents than your friends

RMT # 5: "Agle mod pe, maut khadi hai.... marne ki bhi kya jaldi hai?"

RMT # 6: I wish I could just drive a car at full speed across a highway all through the night so that I could ultimately see the sun rising at dawn

Sleep with a smile

2010-02-21T13:31:00.002+05:30

The long day has come to an end. Silence surrounds you. The gentle warmth of the blanket engulfs you.

Try smiling as you close your eyes and drift off to sleep. It is a happy feeling.

Remind yourself of whatever brings a smile:

Mom's cooking

A baby's laughter

A loved one's gentle touch

Pride on your father's face

A guitar strumming the first strands of your favorite song

Tiffin breaks in school

Bunking college classes

Steaming hot kulhars of chai in chilly winter nights

The first drops of monsoon

~ Dear Reader, add your own list here :) ~

Give Me Some Sunshine Redux

2010-02-20T17:38:00.004+05:30

I guess one measure of how popular a Hindi film song is in public conscience is by the number of avatars the general public invent for it.

The earliest such song that comes to memory is "Tu tu tu...tu tu tara... todo na dil hamara". Apparently, roadside Romeos in Gujarat used to call out to girls by the opening words "Tu tu tu...tu tu tara..." to which the girls used to retort with a rhyming "Tara karta kutra sara" (dogs are better than you are).

Cut to present day, it is no secret that the song "Give Me Some Sunshine" from 3 Idiots is a rage, especially among the college and the young office-going crowd. Hence, I wasn't surprised when I found this version of the song in my inbox the other day:

Give Me Some Sunshine - The Office Crowd version

Saari umr hum
Office mein mar gaye
Ek pal to ab humein jeene do...jeene do.

Give me a flight
Give me a train
Give me another chance
I wanna go home once again

Kandhon ko laptop
Ke bojh ne jhukaya
Client se jhoot bolna tho khud
Manager ne sikhaya

4.5 ya 5 rating laaoge to chhuti, varna kismat futi
Kaam kar kar ke pada ungaliyon pe
REVIEW, SCREEN aur REWORK ka chaala

Is Project ne to sala poora..
Poora bheja pakka daala

Career to gaya
Girlfriend bhi gayi
Ek pal to ab humein
Jeene do jeene do

Career to gaya
Girlfriend bhi gayi
Ek pal to ab humein
Jeene do jeene do

Saari umr hum
Office main jee liye
Ek pal to ab humein jeene do...jeene do

Perhaps encouraged by this, the Drunkards Anonymous Association of India have started forwarding the following as a 3 part SMS:

Give Me Some Sunshine - The Drunkard's Version

Saari umra ham
Mar mar ke ji liye
Ek glass to ab hame
Pine do... pine do.

Give me some white wine

Give me some red

Give me another chance

I wanna get drunk once again.

Kandhon ko kitabon ke bojh ne jhukaya

Daaru pina to khud doston ne sikhaya

99% laoge to whisky

Warna beta yeh le desi

Pi-pi kar bana hatheli par whisky, rum, vodka ka chaala

Cocktail-Mocktail ne pura bachpan jala daala

Bachpan to gaya,

Item bhi gayi

Ek pal to ab hame

Pine do.. pine do

Saari umra ham
Mar mar ke ji liye
Ek glass to ab hame
Pine do... pine do.

Give me some white wine

Give me some red

Give me another chance

I wanna get drunk once again.

The roar at Eden

2010-02-18T23:34:00.003+05:30

It is a very tough climb to the top… it is even tougher to stay there.

Ask the Indian cricket team; they did exactly that today.

What’s more, they almost faltered owing to one bearded gentleman who played a defiantly heroic knock.

To think that this thrilling Test series almost never happened… ~phew~

I was in office and even caught a couple of deliveries of the match on a colleague’s laptop who was watching it thanks to the wonders of wireless broadband technology. “Only 9 more overs to go in the day and Morkel and Amla don’t seem to be budging,” I told myself. Resigned, I returned to my desk.

A couple of minutes later, a whoop of joy was let out by the group which had crowded around that laptop. Even as I rushed with a grin towards them, I knew that Eden had once again worked its special brand of magic.

The sight of Harbhajan charging towards the stands like a warrior who has just won a battle will stick in my mind forever. He knows this ground reserves special love for him: the Eden crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed with every delivery of his that went past the edge of the bat or dropped just short of the man at forward short leg, they celebrated with the turbanned warrior with every wicket that he took. Bhajji knows how big a factor the crowd is at Eden and this was his moment of acknowledging his most vociferous teammates who sat in the stands.

Not to be forgotten is Laxman, the VVS in whose name Chappel says must stand for Very Very Special. 1000+ runs on a particular ground is no mean feat, but then, Laxman is no ordinary batsman and Eden isn’t any other ground. Ever since that Test match in 2001, Laxman has taken on the mantle of making this his home away from home, much like his fellow Hyderabadi Azhar did before him.

All those who fore-casted the death of Test match cricket... beware!! Test Matches have shown the sheer nail-biting excitement it is capable of delivering: first there was the England vs. South Africa series, then the Pakistan tour of Australia, and now, the roar at Eden Gardens.

What kind of a kid are you?

2010-02-17T23:09:00.000+05:30

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was crooning “Dil To Bachcha Hai Jee” on my laptop while I was speaking to Motee on the phone.

“How much of a kid am I?” I asked.

“Umm…”, followed by a slight pause. “You are a spoilt, tantrum throwing, nerdy, geeky kid !!”

Strangely, I LOVE that description.

My blind date on Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T03:18:00.005+05:30

I thought I'd quickly write about what has been happening in my life lately.

Well, not much has been happening in my life lately.

~ducks~ (Pardon the silly attempt at humour, but I'm really spaced out here.)

Oh !! Except for the fact that I happened to have an impromptu blind date with a charming lady on Valentine's Day (now that I'm sure has gotten the audience attention).

Before you fall off your chairs of surprise, let me tell you that the lady in question happens to be my 87 year old, 4 feet 5 inches tall neighbour who I happened to meet on Sunday evening. From the manner in which she spoke to me, it was pretty evident that she is pretty lonely and doesn't get much to speak in front of her children who, she tells me, consider her a pest. And so, when she realized she had in me a guy who patiently kept standing at his front door listening to her stories of how Calcutta was in 1941, she decided to make the most of it.

The old lady spoke non-stop for almost 20-25 minutes and she covered a range of topics and a timeline which was mind-boggling. Knowing that I was from Calcutta, she started by telling me that she too had spent her initial years in Cal.

She narrated stories of the terrible riots that blazed through the city soon after the partition of the country in 1947 as if it were just yesterday. Later, her family set up an achaar-chutney-paapad manufacturing unit in the city. Business prospered and she settled down into the regular Indian middle-class housewife routine of caring for her family.

A couple of decades down the line, one of her sons moved to Mumbai and she came along with his family. Some years later, this old lady travelled to America to assist one of her daughters who had married and settled there and was pregnant. The old lady told me how thankful she was for having been educated by her family in an era when education for the girl-child was more the exception than the norm (is it a norm today yet or am I just looking at my country through metropolitan-tinted-glasses?). This education came in handy when she went abroad and had to communicate with citizens of a country she had never ever met earlier.

She told me she had studied Sanskrit and literature when in college around the year 1941. She said she loves learning new things and given an opportunity would love to learn German and Spanish even today. Here, the conversation (I smiled and nodded politely right throughout) took a different turn and she started discussing Hindu mythology. And no, not Ramayan or Mahabharat, which I'm so fond of. She began at the beginning of time!! She started quoting from the Vishnu Purana about how the creation of the world came about and the significance of the Holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

On my part, it began simply as an exercise in being polite. To be honest, at the start I was only wondering when she would cease so that I could go back to the Domino's which I'd ordered and was getting colder by the minute lying on the dinner table. But then, something struck. I got completely engrossed in the old lady's life-story... it was like watching a small history of India unfolding right in front of my eyes.

Anyway, so much for a Valentine's Day blind date. ~grins~

The fun vids

2010-02-05T07:36:00.002+05:30

A quick post on a couple of fundoo videos I stumbled across.

First of all, this really fun way to make more people take the stairs instead of an escalator. Watch as people hop, skip and jump (literally) over the stairs as it makes those piano sounds. Courtesy: Sayesha's blog.

Next, this awesome wedding dance tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Loved the spontaneous and unannounced way in which the dancers begin.

The wedding dance obviously reminded me of this (don't remember having put this up over here). Like I commented on this video some time ago, if ever you decide to make a grand entrance to your own wedding, let it be an inspiration from this.

Ishqiya

2010-01-31T16:54:00.003+05:30

Last night was a washout. Herbert and I met up looking for a watering hole. We were thinking Toto's but then decided on Adda near the Andheri Sports Complex. Only on reaching there did we realise that it was a dry day owing to Gandhiji's death anniversary.

We shrugged off our disappointment and went off to Juhu Beach. Over chanachur garam and a very very long walk, the two friends discussed life as it is now, the work scene and obviously, what life was like in Calcutta (Herbert told me of this funny anecdote about a friend of ours who once dodged Herbert's mom's mindful eye to play Holi even though he had fever and had just gulped down a Crocin). The long walk over, we settled for kala-khatta and then headed off to Shiv Sagar for paav-bhaji and masala dosa.

Today morning, caught up with Motee and the Apsara on the phone before heading off to Infiniti to catch up with the Panda and a couple of other folks for a showing of Ishqiya. It is a brilliant movie. Vishal Bhardwaj's films seem to have perfected the art-form where they excite the hardcore movie-buff as well as entertain the mango people. Ishqiya is as good as any Western you'll see. Full marks to debutant director Abhishek Chaubey. Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan are a treat to watch as they capture the look and feel of Uttar Pradesh not only in their costumes but also in their language. The three-way showdown at the climax of the film is as good as the one in Kaminey. I have already mentioned Ibn-E-Batuta and Dil To Bachcha Hai Jee earlier on the blog, but there's also this Rekha Bhardwaj number called Badi Dheere Jali which you must watch out for. Also, the use of old Hindi songs as pointers throughout the film are a treat.

The film was followed by lunch at Masala Mantar. Had a Caipiroska for the first time. Looks a lot like Mojito, but is different and ah! very refreshing. Good food, good conversation and also caught up on the first two sets of the finals of the Australian Open between Federer and Andy Murray. Federer was making Murray run to all parts of the court and the Panda couldn't help commenting that the match would be over in 3 sets (he turned out to be correct, after all).

Oh and yes, we went off to Landmark after the movie. I caught up on my monthly budget of a Batman graphic novel (Hush) and a Wodehouse (Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit). Also, stumbled upon a Rough Guide to the Lord of the Rings. Over at lunch, Kunal (the Panda's friend) told me to search YouTube for 'The Hunt for Gollum'.

True to Kunal's word, this is a brilliant film. All Lord Of The Rings fans would love this. It is so well made, you'll find it hard to believe that these are just amateurs who've made this movie without help from a big budget studio or any huge funding.

Three day break

2010-01-27T11:03:00.002+05:30

Righto. That was pretty quick. As it turns out, three days turned out to be quite a short stint in Cal. (Must figure out a way to take a long chutti; haven’t taken one in 3 years since I joined this company and I think me system needs it… pretty soon!!)

Attended a rocking sangeet party at the Park Hotel followed the next evening by the wedding itself. Felt awesome to catch up with oldest of friends from school times. The fact that it was a hard-core Punju wedding wasn’t lost on anybody – the dulha atop the ghodi had the first swig from a bottle of whisky to kick-off the baraat celebrations! Fir kya tha? The bottle was handed from one eager baraati to another till we’d downed most of it neat. What’s more, I even found the answer to why for some unknown reason baraat-bands play “Yeh desh hai veer jawanon ka” on such occasions. Old friend Doc explained, “It takes a lot of courage to sit atop a ghodi and gallop towards what is inevitably going to be the end of your happy life.” Go figure.

I must admit, though, that I spent most of the time in Calcutta just catching up on sleep. Slept like a log on Sunday afternoon and also most of today. But that was a given. Last night, after the wedding, I headed off to Lambu’s place with Bulla and Budhau. God alone knows why Horse didn’t make it.

Lambu’s place in Salt Lake has now become special for me. Our gang has now spent quite a few merry hours there just doing the college-gang like thing; eat Maggi or order for pizza, have a beer or three (no, that wasn’t a typo) and generally just catch up on each other’s lives. Last evening was no different. Of course, all the neat whisky from the shaadi got to me and I dozed off at the first given opportunity (I’m sure these folks, especially Lambu, must’ve abused me to hell and back for being a spoilsport) but not before introducing Lambu & Budhau to the pleasures of The Big Bang Theory. This was the first time they saw a couple of episodes of the said sitcom, and I think we might have new followers. As for me, I was just very happy to have caught a glimpse of Penny after a long time!! ~evil grin~

By the way, I was on radio today evening!! A senior friend who knows a RJ in Mumbai messaged me that I must be ready to speak about a patriotic film that I really like. I said cool and promptly decided upon Lagaan (I was planning on saying how it was a non-violent version of patriotism and showed India’s unity in diversity beautifully in the rag-tag cricket team that Bhuwan put together). Only later in the evening did I find out that the RJ herself was going to speak about Lagaan!! Thank heavens I was prepared with a back-up plan and blurted out Border as my second favorite. When I did finally go live on air, the phone line was pretty noisy but I managed to strain and hear the RJ. I hope I sounded decent on live radio… don’t know whether it would match up to my “Hindustan Ki Awaaz” bit from Nirma though (I had done the voice over as “Hindustan Ki Awaz” in a spoof on Mughal-E-Azam that our juniors had done. The fact that it was my voice which had a slight baritone timbre had surprised all. Damn!! How I wish I could get my hands on a copy of that audio file).

Power of the Secret anyone?

2010-01-24T14:09:00.003+05:30

Like I said on Twitter, blogged at 3 in the morning about Ishqiya and bumped into (from left) Abhishek Chaubey (director), the producer of Ishqiya and Arshad Warsi at the Mumbai airport.

@Nvavi on Twitter says he's gonna blog about Angelina Jolie tonight. All the best dude!! :D

Mixed Feelings

2010-01-24T02:02:00.006+05:30

After a good 6 months away from home, I'm now just a couple of hours away from taking a flight to Calcutta. I return with a mixed bag of emotions. A childhood friend is about to embark on the grand adventure called marriage. On the other hand, my eldest maasi passed away yesterday and I don't know how to face Mom.

Still, I look forward to sharing in the joys and sorrows of near and dear ones and what better place than Calcutta, a city I shall always call home, no matter where life takes me.

Biscuit called today evening and it was a joy, like always, to speak to her. I love the fact that she's again involved with theatre, albeit in a little way, and living her passion from one Sunday to the next.

Biscuit reminds me of her so-called-sweetheart (ha ha ha) Herbert. It's been more than two weeks since I met him. I wish I could beat the fellow into a pulp. A couple of months ago when we went to Ahmedabad, Dipan bhai had given me a saree to give to Mom. I asked Herbert to keep it for me since I didn't have space in my bag then. The idiot has been forgetting to give it to me ever since. Hmph.

I have the Ibn-e-Batuta song from Ishqiya stuck in my head. Really started liking Dil to Bachha Hai Jee too, now that I've heard it a couple of times. I just love the music of Vishal Bharadwaj. It has this rustic "desh ki mitti" mahek to it which is just incredible. Of course, one can't forget the great Gulzar for bringing the tale of Ibn-e-Batuta to a whole new generation. From Kajra Re to Beedi Jalai Le to Ibn-e-Batuta. Wow!!

Have finally finished reading Volume 1 of the complete adventures of Feluda by Satyajit Ray (blame all those Batman graphic novels in the middle for the delay). I became a fan of Satyajit Ray's writings when I read "Indigo" way back in school. Feluda mysteries just confirm what a master story-teller Ray was. He wrote these detective stories & novels for a very young audience and hence (much to his chagrin, as he often confessed) had to leave out much violence or crimes of passion. If anything, the lack of such instruments only add a certain boyish charm to the stories. In any case, these characters and situations are so gripping that they very naturally attracted adults as well. Who could blame them? To share an example, if the story has the detective and his young assistant (who does the Watson bit by being the narrator of these tales) spending a night in a dak bungalow in a forest in the North Eastern part of the country, ruminating over the murder of an occupant the previous evening and suddenly they hear the roar of a Royal Bengal Tiger... boy, that makes for one good story!!

Coming back to the Batman graphic novels... they were freaking brilliant!! Having read a couple of these graphic novels now, it is so exciting to see the manner in which the tale is told by the artists. No doubt you have good story writers writing these gripping episodes, but so much goes into the art work and "showing" these to the reader. Batman punching the Joker can be shown from four different points of view (Batman's, the Joker's, a bystander's or a bird's eye view) but which one of these will have the maximum impact on the reader?

I have now read The Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Batman: Year One. Still have The Dark Knight Strikes Again to read. I have also been making visits to the Landmark at Infiniti Mall at Andheri in the hopes of getting my hands on The Killing Joke but have been returning empty-handed thus far. Must thank THE big fat Panda for all his recommendations on the graphic novels. Every time I'm in a conundrum as to which graphic novel to buy, I immediately call him and he is always glad to help.

I went to see Sherlock Holmes on the opening weekend with the Panda, a couple of his other friends and G&G (Granpa & Granma). Absolutely loved the movie (so much so that I went and watched it again last week). I told the Panda how thankful I was that there are hard-core "commercial" film makers like Tarantino, Guy Ritchie & Vishal Bharadwaj (there goes Ibn-e-Batuta in my head again) who have such a stylish way of making films. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was good and does justice to his role by not playing a version of Holmes as that which must be trapped inside the purists' head. But what I felt must also be applauded was Jude Law as Watson, an ex-army doctor who doesn't believe in holding back his punches. The action sequences were good, especially the boxing match where Holmes goes through visualizing exactly how he is going to floor his opponent and then proceeds to do so with precision. Rachel McAdams is good as the mischevious and cunning Irene Adler, but frankly, did her role have much to do beyond introducing the intriguing character of Professor Moriarty (who remains in the shadows in this film so that he may make a redux in the next installment)? Must also mention that I loved the background score by Hans Zimmer. I thought this guy was good in Batman Begins and bloody brilliant in The Dark Knight. Here again, he works his magic and brings a very English-Irish touch. Oh, and don't miss out on the Dubliners singing The Rocky Road to Dublin in the background of the aforementioned boxing match.

Okay, enough for now. Gotta scoot and pack my bags. It's already 3 in the morning and must leave house at 7:30. Be good, say your prayers and drink lotsa milk. Cheers!

Jai Shri Krishna Maasi

2010-01-22T23:59:00.005+05:30

One distinctly gets the feeling that life is a bizarre on-the-edge journey.

I sometimes wonder whether we’re really awake during what we consider our “waking” hours. Or is it all just a dream, a clever elaborate illusion that we live in, and that we’re actually going to really just wake up and find out the truth when we at last close our eyes to shut out the chimera that surrounds us.

It must take courage, a lot of it, just to get up and take that next step forward. I salute every champion who does. I salute them because they aren’t super-heroes who’ve descended on earth and are a different being – they’re flesh and blood… like you and me.

Here I am, missing my aunt who passed away today afternoon. I hadn’t met her many times in the last couple of years, but yes, I was fond of her. Her passing away is a part of childhood gone which now I shall only cherish in my memories. My fondest memory will be that of her watering the tulsi plant on the terrace of her 2 storey dilapidated building in Bada Bazaar, a teeming market-place cum residential area in old Calcutta, while I ran about desperately, a 5 year old looking for a place to hide in order to win a game of hide and seek from maasi’s daughter. Maasi being the eldest of Mom’s sisters shared an almost mother-daughter relationship with Mom, so you can imagine the kind smile she gave me whenever I would touch her feet.

May God bless her soul and may She rest in peace.

Bas ek hi dua hai

2010-01-09T02:48:00.003+05:30

Na poochiye kahaan kahaan khuda ka ghar bana diya

Jahaan woh yaad aa gaya wahi pe sar jhuka diya

Main khaali haath aaya aur khaali hath chal diya

Kisi ko maine kya diya, kisi se maine kya liya

Dance Pe Chance

2009-12-23T23:53:00.003+05:30

Hat tip to Prem Panicker for this video. Guaranteed to make the nostalgic bug in you smile.

Being YOU

2009-12-06T12:24:00.002+05:30

Sometimes in life, you gotta follow your intuition.

I don't think life can be completely based in cold, hard logic. Of course, there are times when these are necessary (some would argue that this is necessary almost all the time). Sometimes, it is the same bull-headed cold logic needed to drive an idea to fruition that was based out of an intuitive initiative.

But, boy oh boy, there are times when you just need to let everything go and just follow your heart. It might seem foolish, it might seem idiotic. Trust me, nine times out of ten, in the near future you'll look back and smile at what a crazy thing you did.

But at least you did what you felt what you knew had to be done. And that is what matters.

And doing what you think is right is what ultimately matters. Not because a greater percentage of humanity doesn't believe in doing what others say is right. Not because there is an entire world out there ready to shout down your thoughts and opinions with their own. Not because the few people in your life who matter the most at times decide to step away when you are looking at them for support.

It matters because only when you follow your instinct, you know you've taken another step towards being YOU.

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

As my fingers gently tap on the keyboard...

2009-11-29T14:05:00.002+05:30

Yeah, Twitter really has made me ignore my blog.

And I hate that.

But sometimes, 140 characters are just not enough.

Twitter vs. Blog.

T20 cricket vs. Test Match cricket.

McVeggie (extra cheese) & McFries vs. Dhokla, Puri, Shaak, Dal, Bhaat, Kadhi, Aam Ka Achaar, Shrikhand and Chaash.

Hmm.. I think I might be back to blogging.

An Ode To Beer

2009-10-25T21:43:00.003+05:30

Beer.

The very mention of it makes you roll your tongue. Thirst suddenly hits you.

Beer was the first alcoholic drink that I ever had. The thrill of breaking the "good boy's code" who don't drink was first broken when we had a swig from a glassful of beer.

We were in school then, and in our innocence, even a single glass of beer was equivalent to more than just a drink... it was an expression of freedom; of breaking the rules... of setting off and taking our very first steps towards manhood (something we'd seen our dads do) and that was... to have an drink. "That's how you know you're now a grown up... you can drink !!"

Ever since then, you've had the most amazing of memories associated with that magical drink. Of course, some other friends have joined mid-way; there's the rum & coke, there's the ill-fated "too many vodkas in one night", there's the whisky which you hated the taste of initially...

But there's always been beer... and thank goodness for that!!

Of your most special memories (since you turned 18, that is), quite a few are those when you held a tinted bottle of beer in your hand. There was that late Friday evening when you wished to greet the beginning of a weekend with a couple of pints at the local watering hole with your closest buddies, there was the fine silent night when you wished to drown the pain of being separated from your loved one with a bottle of the finest brewed and then there was the night when you celebrated with ordering for a bottle of beer for each of your friends.

There's also nationality involved here. On my recent trip to Goa, it was an Australian I met up with who loved his cricket and his "Foster's" (completely different matter that he was showering more heaps of praise on Bishen Singh Bedi than Shane Warne before we were through). And that is how we made friends...out of our love for beer. He loved his Foster's and I just would NOT give up praising my beloved Kingfisher.

You might love all the different types of liquor my friend, but if what you're looking for is a good ol' friend from your college times... someone like the first love you ever had... it's a bottle of beer that you're looking for.

Main Khush Hun Aaj... Kha-ma-kha

2009-08-12T07:08:00.002+05:30

Yes. I know it has been long since I've blogged.

Also, it has been ages when I've woken up in the morning...and smiled at the ceiling wall.

Why?

Just like that. I felt like it. No particular reason.

Go on... do it. You owe it to yourself. Just... smile... for absolutely no reason at all. You deserve it.

Be a rock

2009-05-29T09:08:00.001+05:30

I came across this astounding bit while reading 'Siddhartha' by Herman Hesse.

When you throw a rock into the water, it will speed on the fastest course to the bottom of the water. This is how it is when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolution. Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. His goal attracts him, because he doesn't let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal... This is what fools call magic and which they think is effected by demons. Nothing is effected by demons, there are no demons. Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.

Aila !!

2009-05-26T23:06:00.003+05:30

Hataa saawan ki ghata, yeh raha Aila !! Rafi Ahmed Kidwai road on Monday afternoon.

In your dreams

2009-05-21T22:33:00.003+05:30

The moment my eyes opened today morning, I shut them tightly so that I might grasp at the last bits of the dream that I was having. However, as is the norm, the moment was gone and so was the dream.... ~sigh~

Reluctantly, I stepped out of bed, stretched, looked at the sleepy world coming to life... and smiled a broad smile to myself. I couldn't stop gushing...

Why??

Well, what else do you do when you realise that you were dating somebody who looks like this...

Morning image

2009-05-01T12:45:00.001+05:30

How is this for a sight first thing in the morning everyday when you wake up? :)))

To the forbidden land

2009-04-16T13:38:00.002+05:30

You've seen stuff like this on TV and you've always wondered "How I wish..."

How I wish I was on a bike...

How I wish I was on a cross-country trip...

How I wish I would be riding along with a gang who shared my passion...

Wake Up !!!

Get off that chair... and get onto a bike. Turn the ignition on and set off on a journey.

Click here.

Long before...

2009-04-10T20:46:00.004+05:30

Part 1: Long before a buck-toothed Darsheel did a 'Taare Zameen Par' at the behest of an actor-turned-director Aamir Khan, Master Raju had done a film titled 'Kitaab' at the behest of a brilliant writer/director Gulzar.

And though there was no Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy around at the time, there still was the brilliance of R.D.Burman who made background music out of banging wooden school-tables together. The result? "A-aa-e-ee... a-aa-e-ee... master-ji ki aa gayi chitthi".

Note, this was also long before 'Pass-Pass mouth freshener' appeared in Subhash Ghai's 'Yaadein'. Although un-intended, 'VIP underwear-baniyaan' got a free in-product placement in the song. Enjoy.

Part 2: Long before one particular Mr. Shahrukh Khan showed us the dancing styles of actors of yesteryears while swaying to 'Hum hain raahi pyaar ke... phir milenge chalte chalte', there was a Kishore Kumar (or Swami Kishoreanandam, if he had his way) who went "Guni jano...bhakt jano". Have some patience and watch the clip post the 3:40 mark where, in his words, Kishore Kumar "chal-chitram ki katha sunaaye".

Note: There isn't even a mention of Amitabh in the song, 'coz of course, its only 1970, 3 years before 'Zanjeer' hits the big screen. :D

Hat-tip: Diptakirti's blog for the video links.

I am a Gujju-Bong

2009-04-10T19:43:00.003+05:30

Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking. "Here he goes again, the Gujju chokro who often disguises himself as a self-confessed Bengali bhadralok."

No, but I'm serious. I actually identified with most of the bullet points in these "You must be a Gujju/Bong if..." lists. Have a look (and a laugh), the lists are actually pretty well compiled.

If you're a Bong, click here.

If you're a Gujju, click here.

And if you're neither...well, what the heck; click both the links anyway.

Who goes there?

2009-04-10T17:37:00.002+05:30

An innocent looking "kya haal" scrap from a friend on Orkut led to this as a reply from me...

I roam the forest
I know not what I'm looking for
And along my journey
I meet fairies and demons
Friends and foe..
Halt!! Who goes there??

~shrugs~ Don't ask me what inspired me to write that.... It just happened. ~grins~

A really cool Hindi film trailer

2009-04-03T08:32:00.001+05:30

Apologies for not posting anything here for a while. Have been terribly caught up. I had come up with a few posts but they, unfortunately, remain as drafts on my dashboard.

In the meantime, here's one kicka*** trailer of 'Dev D'.

The marketplace

2009-03-24T23:35:00.003+05:30

I know the last couple of posts have become dedicated either to quotes or couplets, but trust me, it is not so by design.

Take for example this post. All I want to do is to share what happened yesterday.

I was walking back home yesterday evening when, from absolutely nowhere, a doha (couplet) of Sant Kabir (Saint Kabir) came back to me from my school-going days and just repeated itself over and over in my mind. The doha goes:

Kabira khada bazaar mein, maange sabki khair
Na kahu se dosti, na kahu se bair

Sayesha translates it well on her blog in this post:

Kabir stands in the marketplace, and wishes for everyone's well-being. He doesn't seek anyone's friendship, nor anyone's enmity.

[P.S. Ok, so I did make a mistake and message the doha to a couple of close friends saying that it was a doha by Rahim instead of Kabir. But so what, cool doha nonetheless.]

Discipline

2009-03-20T09:11:00.001+05:30

Read this somewhere a long time ago:

Make discipline your friend, not your enemy.

A long delayed post

2009-03-16T00:20:00.006+05:30

For the last couple of days, the mind has been in a state of turmoil. It can be guessed by this post that I'd written on the 15th of last month but has been in my 'drafts' folder till now. Trust me, the thoughts running through my head are still more or less the same.

---------------------------

My mind is full of so many thoughts right now that I feel it might be a good idea to jot some things down before I hit the sack.

I have just come back from Horse's reception. Feels nice to know that friends and family are now slowly settling down to the humdrum of "family-life". We as a generation are rapidly advancing towards the end of our bachelorhood days and life ahead seems both, exciting and challenging.

Work-wise I think we're quickly entering into the most productive phases of our careers. We're young, have a lot of energy and can introduce new ideas to the workplace. A decade or two down the line, where we end up (professionally speaking) will depend a lot on today's learnings.

Socially, this is one of the trickiest periods of our lives. Our parents still treat us as little children (do they ever stop?) and yet expect us to behave like adults. Work-life permits little or no time for any kind of a social life (I've just learnt that the more you try and make space for your work-life, it just expands itself and dumps a little more work on you). And souls like me who from time to time need to spend time with friends just so that I can hear myself speak and get some clarity of thought keep getting frustrated at the apparent lack of personal time.

Here...We.....GO !!

2009-03-15T18:14:00.002+05:30

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain"

Baap(u) of all ironies

2009-03-07T12:27:00.002+05:30

Maheep puts the idea across succinctly in 26 words:

It takes a flamboyant liquor baron to buy the memorials of the man who believed in simplicity, and in whose name liquor is prohibited in India.

A nice man to know

2009-03-06T01:26:00.001+05:30

(image courtesy: www.wildmind.org)

Like a friend once told me: Sometimes, just sometimes, it isn't a bad idea to read testimonials people wrote for you on Orkut.

Childish? Impractical?

Maybe, but I guess from time to time we all need to remind ourselves that we're more or less decent folks.

Dev D

2009-03-01T15:37:00.002+05:30

(image courtesy: www.glamsham.com)

Last night, I was asked what exactly it was about Dev D that I liked so much.

The answer is difficult to put into words, but I'll try nonetheless.

First, I really liked the concept of the film. The film has captured the essence of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel 'Devdas' and has yet managed to introduce a freshness to the storyline. At no point do you feel that this is an antiquated love story. The presentation made you feel that this could even be your next-door neighbour's story.

Second, I loved the fact that Dev wasn't portrayed as a "loser". Previous versions somehow gave me the feeling that Devdas was a spineless lover who relied on alcohol just because he needed support. Here, however, Dev drinks and dopes not because it is an outlet of his anger and frustration but because it is a part of his regular life... just that he does it a little more often now given the 'emotional attyachar' being meted out to him by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Third, a lot of credit goes to the way in which Anurag Kashyap directed the movie and how Abhay Deol acts. They have made the Dev on screen so much more believable and identifiable. Like I said, Dev's story pans out so smoothly that it could have been your neighbour's story, or heck, even your own. Dev doesn't haunt pubs and bars because he wants to "drink, dope and forget" but because he wants to spend time somewhere where he wouldn't remember her.

Finally, I loved the film because Abhay Deol rocks!!! If films like "Manorama Six Feet Under" and "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!" told us about the promise in this actor, "Dev D" brings forth, I dare say, the best in him. He proves that you don't need six/eight-pack abs to give a brilliant performance.

Sample this:

*spoiler* This deleted scene is just after Dev has been told that Paro is nothing more than a loose village girl who sleeps around with anybody who cares to share her bed. Throughout the one and a half minutes of the scene above, Abhay DOESN'T SPEAK A WORD but emotes his anger and frustration just through his eyes and his body language.

The movie, my friend, is awesome. I can barely wait to get my hands on the DVD of this film. If you have missed it, I recommend you buy tickets for the next show available or wait for the DVD like me.

East meets West videos

2009-02-28T00:34:00.001+05:30

Today evening, I saw this short film by Siddharth Sikand filmed on Dido's song "Let's do the things we normally do". Really liked the film. Here it is.

An East meets West concept for a music video reminded me of a video "The Whale" had shown me in Nirma. The song is "Afterglow" by INXS featuring the Indian singer Sona. Not much to speak of in terms of the video here, but really love the way the song plays out.

Enjoy.

Slumdog? So what ??

2009-02-24T08:43:00.002+05:30

Okay. The world is raving like mad about "Slumdog Millionaire", the Oscar panel of elite film reviewers definitely think it is the best thing to happen since sliced bread or, as Great Bong reminds us, since "Gandhi" trumped "E.T." at the 1982 Oscars (ironic that the Best Picture award this year was announced by Steven Spielberg? Did he go "Damn," as he opened the envelope, "Kingsley then, Boyle now... why the hell do the Brits have to be so fascinated by their former colony?")

Anyway, I haven't seen the film in its entirety, but whatever little I saw on Sunday gave me a headache. Sorry guys, there are more chances I'm gonna agree with the "Slumdog is poverty porn" brigade rather than "Oh! What a great uplifting film this is". Agreed, Frieda Pinto is gorgeous (hey, I'm still a 26-year old bachelor :D ) but I don't consider this to be India's greatest moment under the Oscar sun. That would be (fingers crossed) when an Indian director directs a film on an Indian subject and shoots the film in India using Indian artists and that wins an Oscar (just so that I leave out space for confusion for a Shekhar Kapur or Deepa Mehta film based abroad to win an Oscar).

Of course, Danny Boyle must feel proud. He has every right to. But as an individual who's fairly patriotic (and not in a jingoistic, "uproot hand-pump and bash up scores of Pakistanis" way), I am more excited about the two Oscars that A. R. Rahman won and the Oscar that Resul Pookutty won.

Broaden your horizons

2009-02-17T00:29:00.003+05:30

(pic courtesy: www.jackenhack.com)

Entrepreneurship ka apna khud ka hi ek nasha hota hai.

Sample this.

Horse and me, sharing chips and a sandwich and discussing business. In the midst of an engrossing discussion about finances, he very matter of factly goes "What are the first quarter numbers we are looking at?"

And I just paused.

Bang in the middle of it all, I realised how entrepreneurship had suddenly broadened our scope of thinking.

"Just listen to that statement again," I told Horse.

Horse couldn't help but smile.

And that very moment, where I realised that I'd broadened my horizons, was in itself a big reward for me.

Of marriages and emotional attyachar

2009-02-16T09:12:00.004+05:30

Hi folks. Sorry for the unintended break from blogging. Quick post on a Monday morning before I head off to work.

1. Bulla got married !!! Wrong to say that the fact hasn't sunk in yet, but the very fact that on Saturday night (the day after his wedding), he said that maybe we all (Mrs. Bulla included) could go out for coffee and then backtracked owing, I guess, to "family concerns" tells me that things are obviously NEVER going to be the same. ~sigh~ But what the hell, the guy deserves a wonderful life ahead and I wish him and his sweetheart ALL THE BEST !! :) [Separate post on the pre-wedding bachelor bash coming up!!]

2. No ! Don't even dare ask me how I spent Valentine's Day. Last Valentine's Day, I was roaming around the dusty streets of Ramnagar (a town in Karnataka) and this year, I was sitting at office and figuring out various field-sales reports. Grrr !!

3. Caught up with Motabhai (Gujju talk for 'elder brother'), my cousin bro, at a cousin's wedding last night. After the wedding, we decided we could go for a movie and ended up going for 'Dev D'. I'd heard mixed reviews about this film. My review? 2 words... "Mind-blowingly fantastic!!". Abhay Deol rocks !! Anurag Kashyap is brilliant !! And the music.... WHOA !! If you thought 'Emosional Attyachaar' was charmingly street-side band-baja waala music, wait till you hear the rock version of that song. Plus, keep an ear out for Amit Trivedi in 'Nayan Tarse'. I have a feeling the next couple of days it's just gonna be 'Dev D' and 'Delhi-6' on my iPod.

New business venture

2009-02-03T01:14:00.003+05:30

Horse has just left my house a couple of minutes ago and we were on the phone speaking to Ridhi. We're planning on starting off something of our own and the excitement is really visible every time we start discussing 'work', even though it comes at the end of a long tiring day at office. More on this soon. Keep your fingers crossed and wish us all the best. :)

A game of lexulous

2009-01-29T08:59:00.001+05:30

An incredibly satisfying game of Lexulous, considering the back-from-nowhere story that the graph tells you, no matter what the final result will turn out to be.

Bring it on

2009-01-28T01:58:00.003+05:30

1:45 AM --> Come to a heartbreaking realization

1:50 AM --> Spent 5 minutes thinking about how different things could be

1:55 AM --> Get out of bed; drink a glass of water

1:57 AM --> Prepare Maggi and a cup of tea; listen to 'Yun hi chala chal raahi' on iPod

2:03 AM --> Consume

2:15 AM --> Hit the bed. Tomorrow is another day. Bring it on!!

A photo blog back in action

2009-01-27T08:53:00.002+05:30

After a 3 month hiatus, Fotosia is a blog back in action. January has seen the blog flooded with a number of breathtaking pictures.

Check them out for yourself.

The President Is Coming

2009-01-25T11:35:00.004+05:30

Saturday night and I was dead tired. I needed a break and wanted to watch a film. Only problem was that I was too tired to even step out of the house. So, when I saw that I could watch 'The President is Coming' on the Showcase feature of TataSky, I gladly jumped at the opportunity.

The film is about George W. Bush's 2006 visit to India. Among the many things on his itinerary is a meeting scheduled with a young Indian who will be responsible for shaping the face of the country tomorrow. The movie traces the Survivor-style elimination of six young Indians who want a chance to meet Bush. We find out more about the personal lives and expectations of these six candidates and the two judges through the 24 hours in which this contest takes place.

The film is a directorial debut and it is very evident in the manner in which it is executed. Add to this the fact that the film's script is based on the director's own popular play and you realise why you sat upright halfway through the film and said to yourself "Wouldn't stage actors do much better than the present crop on screen?"

The movie is fun to watch and brings out many typical Indian eccentricities. The script is light and there is no overwhelming dosage of "being Indian is better than being American".

My favourite episode in the film is when a US diplomat walking down a corridor with pictures of past US presidents on the walls realises that a broken photo frame, displaying the picture of George Bush senior, has been sent for repairs and has been replaced by a picture of Dharmendra. The tongue-in-cheek replies that he gets from the security guard and the peon are absolutely hillarious to watch.

The cast does its best to impress. However, the one person that stood out in his effort was Anand Tiwari (remember the guy from the Tata Tea 'jaago re' election commercial?). Not only does he act brilliantly as the scheming Gujarati stockbroker but is also the Assistant Line Producer and Assistant Director of this film. Watch out for this guy.

My rating for the film: 6 out of 10

The Book of Ram by Devdutt Pattanaik

2009-01-24T23:21:00.006+05:30

I briefly mentioned 'The Book of Ram' here. That a book about a mythological religious epic should remind one of a modern-day fiction screen villain should itself should tell you that this is a very interesting book.

It isn't a retelling of the Hindu epic, if that is what you're thinking. The book very briefly outlines the story of Ramayan, but is mainly a study of the various 'versions' of what is essentially the same story. There are various anecdotes from the Ramayan which are extremely popular today which however are missing from, say, Valmiki's Ramayan. For instance, the reader would be surprised to find that although Shabari was mentioned in Valmiki's Ramayan, her offering of berries to Ram "is a later addition that appears in the Padma Puran traced to around the eleventh century".

Even more surprisingly, 'Lakshman rekha' (the line that Sita was not supposed to cross) is nowhere mentioned by Valmiki yet today, Ravan's trickery of Sita to step outside the Lakshman rekha, "forms an integral part of any Ramayan narration".

The chapters of the book are interestingly subdivided into exploring the various stories about the Ramayan from different points of view. Hence, the chapters have titles such as "Sita's Husband", "Ramayan's Protagonist", "Ravan's enemy" and so on and so forth.

What impressed me most about this book was that it often made me think about the Ramayan from a fresh perspective. This is a good book if you like reading about mythology.

I'll leave you with another interesting snippet from the book, taken from a chapter where the author compares Parshuram, Ram and Krishna, the three avatars of Vishnu in three different Yugas:

It is said that as Krishna, Vishnu balances the imbalances created by Ram. Ram created an imbalance by killing Vali, son of Indra, by shooting him in the back while he was engaged in a duel with Sugriv, son of Surya. To balance the score, when Vishnu descended as Krishna, he had Arjun, son of Kunti by Indra, shoot and kill Karn, son of Kunti by Surya, while the latter had his back turned and was busy pulling out his chariot wheel that had got stuck in the ground.

Chances are that you, like me, had always known of these stories separately but had never put these particular associations together. And this is precisely why I recommend this book.

A knock on the door

2009-01-24T10:45:00.003+05:30

It has been a long time since I read fairy tales / mythological texts / magical epics. This video, that I first saw a couple of years ago and totally loved, reminds me that I must start reading them again.

Do check out the video. It is simply amazing. And yes, turn up the volume. :)

Ahead of the curve?

2009-01-23T21:24:00.002+05:30

Remember the Joker saying "You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

Guess what?

I was reminded of the Joker's words at the most unlikeliest of places...while reading "The Book of Ram" by Devdutt Pattanaik. Here's what the book says:

Dharma or the code of civilization will constantly be in conflict with our animal urges of sex and violence.

Hmm... interesting.

Obama's inaugural address

2009-01-20T23:39:00.005+05:30

I have just finished watching the live coverage of Barack Obama's oath taking ceremony. Like I mentioned, Obama brings a new world of anticipation (I will not use the word 'hope' lest I be mistaken to be a Democrat supporter; I am merely an interested bystander) to the international stage.

I really liked his inaugural address. Some highlights:

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

I loved the fact that here is a leader who doesn't just ask his countrymen to stand and ponder over what's wrong and what's right and worry about what is possibly the correct way ahead. Action is the need of the hour.

There was plenty of talk about co-operation; no talk about dividing the world into 'axes of evil'.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity

Sceptics and critics would've been waiting to pounce had he left an ambiguous message to the Muslim world. Obama never game them a chance.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

Imagine the pride he must've felt when he said the following words:

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

Reminded me of the opening statements he made immediately after the election results were out ("If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer").

My favourite part of the speech came when he spoke of the founding values upon which ANY success, let alone American, depends.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

All said and done, the United States of America is still one of the most prosperous and powerful nations on Earth right now. Let's hope that God gives its newest leader the gifts of wisdom and courage.

[Full text of Obama's speech here]

A hillarious short story

2009-01-20T15:33:00.003+05:30

Gaurav has just finished translating a hillarious Marathi short story about Sakharam Appaji Gatne written by the Sahitya Akadami Puraskar winner Pu La Deshpande.

I absolutely loved it.

Part 1

Part 2

Barack Obama

2009-01-17T15:38:00.002+05:30

Less than 100 hours remain before Barack Obama takes oath as the 44th President of the United States of America.

He has already pulled off two amazing victories; first, by winning the Democratic Presidential ticket against tough competition from Hillary Clinton and then, getting more votes than the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain.

But now, does he have in him what it takes to become a leader who galvanises a nation out of economic turmoil and a visionary who accepts his nation's strengths and weaknesses and plays the role of a responsible diplomat on the world's economic and political stage?

Billions are waiting for an answer to that question.

He has already stated that tough steps would be required to get out of the trap in which modern America finds itself. Indeed, the situation couldn't be trickier. The Iraq War, the economic collapse, the public-bashing that most political leaders' image has taken, the public health system which seems to be on the verge of collapse and an environmental problem which threatens the world, just some of the top topics that the dossier of the next American president would be filled up with.

However, given this moment in time, Obama seems to be the best chance that America has. The first black President of America, a person with an upbringing across the globe, a President-elect who has not surrounded himself with cronies but has put together a team of performers (Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates being perfect examples)... Barack Obama certainly seems to have the necessary qualifications.

The world waits with bated breath as one man walks out to the centre to assume office and brings with him an 'Audacity of Hope'.

Finally, a lazy Sunday

2009-01-11T11:18:00.003+05:30

And I'm so thankful for it!!

December was a turbulent month at work and January promises to be more so. But then, I guess it is expected when you are going about starting up new businesses. And the work that is entrusted to me is all the more challenging because I'm trying to kick-start 3 business units simultaneously. ~wipes his brow~ And that brings with it its own share of management problems and skills to be learnt.

And these are lessons that can never be taught in any b-school; you only get a sneak preview on campus. For example, I've already picked up these management learnings:

* I need to be superb at time-management skills if I have to be at three places at once, all of them spread across the metropolis

* To be up-to-speed on all business activities, I've started using a log book like never before. I now have a list of customers being served simultaneously by all three business units, whether the payments by these customers were paid by cash or cheque; if cheque, when these will be cleared, so on and so forth

* In the midst of all this hectic work, one must not forget that one is a team-leader as well. Hence, I need to be calm and in control of the situation and also motivating my guys to move quickly and aggressively on the field

Anyway, moving away from work...

I'm pretty happy that I'm back to reading. I've been wanting to finish 'Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories - Volume 2' for some time now. And now that I'm back to committing myself to reading for at least 15 minutes before I go off to sleep at night, I'm feeling good about it.

Sunday morning also brings with it the promise of a good 'Lexulous' game (Lexulous being the 'renamed' form of Scrabulous). I have already started a game and thus far, I'm in the lead by 23 points. Let's hope things remain that way.

I'm looking forward to a lot of reading (books and blogs) and writing my diary today. If I do find the time, I'd also like to catch up with 'The President is coming', a movie I've been waiting to hit Calcutta theatres. That reminds me, 'The Dark Knight' is supposed to be re-released in Cal at the IMAX theatre. I definitely want to go for that.

Have a lazy Sunday folks! Cheers. :)

Have a rocking 2009

2008-12-31T22:15:00.003+05:30

Life has been EXTREMELY busy this last month. I promise to be more regular on my blog in the forthcoming year.

And with that, I draw a close to a personally very-eventful 2008.

Welcome 2009 !!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!!! :)

Boys will be boys

2008-12-16T08:31:00.004+05:30

After a late lunch (5 o' clock in the evening) yesterday which consisted of a samosa, a masala dosa and a sandesh (dude, I'm in Bengal... sweet is a part of every meal), I really wasn't very hungry at dinner time. So, I was more than glad to take up Horse's suggestion to go to Ordnance Club for a drink and snacks.

Over a couple of beers and a few plates of dal pakora (me) and chilly chicken (him) and a club sandwich (both), we lounged out at the bar and watched the highlights of India's epic victory over England at Chennai yesterday. Personally, this match to me seems a watershed in Indian cricket history. The authority and clinical approach with which India did this echoes what Sehwag said after the match about "this team believes it can achieve anything".

I told Horse that this was a perfect evening. Work till late and then hit the local watering hole for a couple of beers and watch a brilliant test match unfold on the telly. Life could barely get better on one of the "regular" days.

Horse laughed. And said, "I agree but I must say, this reminds me of that ad which went: BOYS WILL BE BOYS".

The case of the missing cell phone

2008-12-15T00:05:00.003+05:30

The last week was action-packed with a promise that the next week is gonna be even MORE action-packed. Let's see how things pan out.

Couple of interesting things about last week:

1. My laptop was with Bulla, he needed to work urgently on some stuff.
2. I worked, I worked and I worked some more. ~grins~ I can work under pressure.
3. My phone got stolen.

:(

Now, that's the real sad part. I was travelling in a bus back home at the end of a long day, only to realise once I reached my destination that my phone was missing. I'll have to buy a new phone tomorrow and will be getting my old number back by tomorrow evening. Folks, do please message me your number by tomorrow evening.

Blogathon 1: Part 4

2008-12-08T01:22:00.003+05:30

Well, I promised you a lazy day and it was one. With Mom and Dad away from home and friends out with their respective better halves, I had the Sunday all to myself. I must congratulate myself for I spent it well... I slept through most of the day.

Bulla called up in the evening and we decided to go out for dinner. Before dinner, however, inspiration struck us and we decided to go to the Gurudwara to which we used to go to as college-kids a couple of years ago. Must say, visiting a holy place lifted me up entirely after the extremely lazy day I was trying to shrug off.

Dinner was brilliant!! Makki ki roti and sarson ka saag at Balwant Singh's dhaba. It has been quite a while since I had enjoyed this amazing combination and the onset of winter was just the perfect time to get back into the rhythm of things.

Dinner was followed by "Maharathi".

My two-bits about the film:

* I thought I'd placed my bets on another dud after "Oh, My God" when I realised there were only 6 people at the evening show for this film

* Within 5 minutes of the beginning of the film, I knew that my doubts were unfounded

* Naseeruddin Shah in his limited role is damn good

* Paresh Rawal was also very good. However, I did feel that he was too old for the role. Perhaps, as suggested by Bulla, Neil Nitin Mukesh would've been a better choice. In fact, if this had been his follow-up film to the successful caper "Johnny Gaddar", he would almost be bracketed in the league of actors who do good crime/caper films.

However, I doubt whether Neil would have done as good job at the comic bits as Rawal.

* Neha Dhupia does exactly what was expected of her: look stunningly HOT. Period.

* The movie is AWESOME. It has a chilling note to it ever since we step inside the world of Jaichand Adenwalla (Naseeruddin Shah), a successful movie-producer of yesteryears who is now out of luck and, by his confession, has more whisky than blood in his veins. Subhash (Rawal) is a petty thief who gets employment at his house as a driver. Mallika (Dhupia), Adenwalla's wife, would love to see her husband dead 'coz that would mean a bounty of 24 crores of insurance money. Adenwalla, however, tells her that he's instructed the insurance company not to pay a penny to anybody if he commits suicide. And, to throw spanner into her works, Adenwalla promptly points the gun at himself and goes 'BANG'.

How Mallika must utilise the wit and resourcefulness of Subhash so as not to arouse the suspicions of the family lawyer (Boman Irani), the ACP chief (Om Puri) and the house-nurse (Tara Sharma) forms the rest of the plot.

The execution is almost Hitchcockian in nature. All in all, this is the second movie after Johnny Gaddar which deserves to be called a good Hindi suspense thriller in recent years. Two thumbs-up.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, my first blogathon ends. Not many posts during the course of the weekend but it has been fun. Cheerio, folks. Have an awesome week ahead.

Blogathon 1: Part 3

2008-12-07T11:16:00.001+05:30

Good morning !!!

Very very lazy morning and afternoon in prospect here.

Got a phone call at 7:30 in the morning. It was a member of Dad's office staff who has been with us for more than two decades now. He called to ask if I was ok and having my lunch and dinner on time since my parents have left for Mumbai. I said I was fine and thanked him for his concern and hit the bed again. I usually keep tossing and turning around if my sleep is broken mid-way, but today was an exception. I dozed off right away and did not wake up till 8:30 when the maid servant rang the door-bell. I must have been dead tired.

All thoughts of catching a morning show of 'Maharathi' have disappeared as of now. I think I'll just read the e-book which I've been pursuing for the last couple of days. See ya. :)

Blogathon 1: Part 2

2008-12-06T22:58:00.004+05:30

Oh My God !!! (literally)

I got my day off relatively early today. Grabbing the opportunity, me and Bulla went off to watch the 8:50 PM show of 'Oh, My God'.

The movie wasn't quite what I expected. I walked into the cinema hall thinking I was about to enjoy a light-hearted comedy about the common man and how Saurabh Shukla (playing God) messes up the said common man's humdrum existence. However, the distinct feeling I got at the end of the film was that the director was confused about whether he wanted to direct a comedy or a preachy-emotional tale.

The first casualty of this error is Vinay Pathak's performance. At times he is funny and at times he is dead-serious with the overall effect that he seems weird. Rarely does it happen that another actor steals a scene when sharing screen-space with Pathak. In this film, however, Saurabh Shukla's performance lights up, albeit in bits and pieces. I thought Divya Dutta, as the faithful wife, was wasted in the film.

The editing is frayed at best and there are glaringly bad examples towards what I guess the director wished to be the climax of the film. The music is good in parts but nothing as dazzling as what we saw in 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' or 'Khosla Ka Ghosla'.

Overall, avoid this film. Let's hope I have better luck with 'Maharathi' tomorrow.

Blogathon 1: Part 1

2008-12-06T13:07:00.003+05:30

Hmm. I'm in the mood for my first Blogathon (taking a leaf out of Rashmi Bansal's blog).

The idea is to
* post as often as the desire to do so pops up in my head
* post raw and uncut, without too much polishing up
* post even about things which might be relatively insignificant (waise bhi, what else do you expect when a post is labelled 'random musings')

So, here goes....

I was reading about Plato's 'Parable of the Cave' today morning.

From Wikipedia:

Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of the cave entrance, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

During the course of the morning, my thoughts wandered a bit. I realised that it can be argued that a human being is a sum-total of thoughts and ideas. What he / she experiences during the years of their lives just adds to the bank of ideas floating in their head. Hence, each one of us is nothing more but a vessel of ideas. The body is just an instrument which carries out experiments through daily living which enriches our 'idea-bank'.

PS 1: This is just a train of thought which ran through the mind of a 26 year old sales executive who had nothing better to think about during a taxi ride. (Nobody dare bring up 'Taare Zameen Par' here.)

PS 2: Shouldn't the theory of an 'idea-bank' also be applicable to animals, since they too experience, learn and adapt (although at a much slower pace)? Hmm...

Weekend # 49

2008-12-06T07:50:00.003+05:30

Four weeks away from New Year's. Just a scribble before I leave for office.

Mom and Dad have gone to Mumbai. The train bogey that they were travelling in had barely 6 passengers in it. Many last minute cancellations owing to the Mumbai terror attacks.

Life has become extremely busy of late. Owing to the nature of work, I keep shuffling across the city. Nice work, but since the business unit that I'm a part of is almost as good as a new business venture entirely, it takes all that extra effort and more at the initial stages.

Chalo, off to work. Hope to catch up on some movies over the weekend. On the hitlist:

a. The President is Coming (has it been released in Cal yet?)
b. Oh My God!
c. Maharathi

T-shirt Idea #3

2008-12-04T00:00:00.003+05:30

Spotted a guy in the Kolkata Metro wearing a shirt.

The front side read:

WOMEN ARE PERFECT

The back of the shirt read:

I AM A LIAR

Oye Lucky-aa....itthe aa

2008-12-03T23:43:00.005+05:30

* It is a GOOD movie

* It isn't as good as Dibakar Bannerjee's debut-vehicle "Khosla Ka Ghosla"

* But it is still good enough to be seen

* Those who have stayed in / visited Delhi are in for a treat

* The soundtrack of this movie is brilliant (special mention must be made of the rap portions in the song "Superchor")

* After "Manorama Six Feet Under" and now "OLLO", I'm now absolutely convinced that Abhay Deol has talent... lots of it

* I thought Paresh Rawal in a triple role was a bit too much

* 'Bangaali', Lucky's sidekick, has some awesome lines in the film

* The Sardar who played the young Lucky was a surprisingly good actor

* Remember what I said about Vinay Pathak? Add Abhay Deol to that list.

* Go watch this film if you like the zara-hatke kinda movies...