Lost In Mob

2006-10-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

God's Gift

For some strange reason, I got reminded of Reddy Sir today. I got my 12^th physics tuition from him. He was a great teacher. He was an expert in his domain and was a fun guy to have as your teacher. In particular, he knew how to relate to his students, most of them in their mid-teens.

Ours was an all-boys batch and we used to have a great time cracking jokes(mostly non-veg). One day one guy was like “Sir I got terrible backache”, and Reddy Sir asks in his inimitable south indian accent “Abe kya yaar abhi shaadi nahi kiya aur abhi se yeh sab”. And another day, it was somebody's birthday and one guy asked, “Sir why do we celebrate birthday when actually we are getting one year nearer to our death”. Pat came Reddy Sir's response, “You duffer! you should be happy, you are one year nearer to your marriage”. Jokes apart, he had this knack of explaining complex physics theories like some interesting story. Thanks to Reddy Sir, I started liking physics which is to date one of my fav subjects. And yeah, I did score 92% in my physics boards much to the surprise of my physics teacher in school.

Great teachers are really God's gifts. Funny thing is most of the teachers you find in schools are there because they need some job and not out of passion for teaching, which is really sad. Its the students who suffer and resort to rote learning and in the process are unable to find out their interests and preferred domains. Thanks to the history teachers and our educational system, through out my entire school life I really hated history. History classes were such a drag. We used to sleep in the back bench while Ms Sashi will just sit in her seat and keep reading from the text. I think she was as clueless as we were. Luckily the national economy opened up and we got to watch Discovery and NGC. But for History in Color in Discovery, I wouldn't have realized that history can be so fascinating.

Same goes for mathematics. We studied trignometry, integration, differentiation but nobody knew why on earth were we doing all this and cramming up all those formulas. That's when Rao Sir entered the picture. (There's something with me and Andhraite tuition teachers). I got maths tuitions from him for couple of years and the fact that the hottest girl in my class and my crush (actually crush of pretty much all the boys in the school) used to sit right across me made maths that much more interesting. He was quite opposite of Reddy in his manners. Shy and soft-spoken, he used to get excited only when he started ranting about the power of mathemathics. The whole world is based on maths, as per him. Well, I dont quite agree with him on that count but he did manage to kindle my interest in a subject which I feared like hell. So much so that half way into the class I used to forget to steal glances of “the love of my (then) life”.

Looking back, its unfortunate that the best teachers I got were not in school, but in tuitions. But that's the sorry state of our educational system. If you get a great teacher, its your good luck, for s/he will surely inspire and motivate you for greater things in life. And you will remember them fondly thoughout your life, like I remembered Reddy Sir today.

2006-10-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

You talkin to me? Well I am the only one here! You talking to me? Oh Yeah?!

Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver is simply awesome!! The movie had been in my to-watch list for far too long. Finally caught it yesterday night. I really dont know how he missed the oscar with that kind of performance. He got into the character with such perfection that after the initial couple of scenes, I just forgot that I was watching a De Niro movie. I was watching the life of Travis Bickle, the lonely insomniac taxi driver who drives all night through the bad, dirty and cruel city. Travis Bickle, in his own words, is God's lonely man! A man who stood up against the scum, the dogs, the filth...

“This city here is like an open sewer, its full of filth and scum. Whoever the president is should clean everything..should just flush everything down the fucking toilet...”

Such perfection!! Now I know why my favorite actor is often compared to De Niro! When these men act, acting simply ceases and the character comes alive.

2006-10-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Why didnt he rub the right way?

Sreesanth rubs his seniors the wrong way says this article on Mumbai Mirror. Now I dont get this. All these years we keep talking about indian players lacking aggression and not showing enough killer instinct. We had guys like Srinath who will apologise to Ricky Ponting if his bouncer hits him on the body. And when Ponting, being the arrogant aussie he is, responds by mouthing choicest expletives, our good man from Mysore meekly turns and walks back to his run up. Why then, should we interpret it as misconduct or shooting of the lip when a young fast bowler shows some spirit and indulges in some good ol' sledging? I thought what he said to Sehwag was quite funny and a nice bit of sledging. The fact that Sehwag went and complained to the umpires shows that it had the desired effect.

And what is this “senior” talk? Would it have been OK had he sledged “juniors”? I mean, come on, this is no army camp that he should stop in his run up and salute when bowling to Sachin or Sehwag just because they are senior to him. By that measure he should show respect to even the likes of Lara and Inzamam, because they are also “seniors”. Once on the field, your opponent is just that. You dont need to know care how experienced he is or about his image or whether you play for the same team otherwise. Actually its nice to see someone being so charged up for a Challenger Series match. I think that speaks a lot about his attitude and being dropped from the Champions Trophy must have also played its part.

I really dont think Sachin, Sehwag or Bhajji would have taken this bit of aggression from Sree the wrong way. They are seasoned customers. As Sree himself says here, its really not an issue. But what I find baffling is the way media is portraying it. Killer instinct anyone? First get rid of that parochial coat, I say.

2006-09-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Vagaries of life...

Have you ever experienced happiness and despair one after another, within a matter of seconds? One moment your heart his brimming with joy and there's a spark in your eyes, maybe even a smile on your face without you even realizing it. And the very next moment, your heart sinks to the abyss of sadness, out of nowhere darkness clouds your eyes and you feel helpless and hopeless about life...

It happens to me at the end of every month, like today morning. The first feeling, that of happiness comes when I open my Inbox and find that the salary slip has arrived. And the second one, that of despair follows as I open and actually read the figures.

These the moments when I feel I was Bill Gates and Bill Gates was me.

2006-09-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Onam Celebrations in Southern California

Yesterday, Onam celebrations were held by KALA(Kerala Association of Los Angeles) at the Sanatan Dharma Cultural Center in Artesia. It was a grand celebration and the Sadya was a real feast. Only problem being you had to have it in a small plastic plate instead of “ela”(plantain leaf), which was available only for the early birds.

Here are a few snaps. (Picture quality is not that great coz my camera is bit old, sorry for that)
Note : Click on images to view full size.

Sadya (The feast), the most "looked forward to" event in Onam for many, including me.

2^nd gen kids on what onam means to them. This one took the cake - “There was this dude called Maveli, like he was really cool king and stuff but some guy squashed him under the ground”. Said in typical yankee accent. And to make the contrast more marked, the guy asking the questions had this typical old fashioned south-indian accent, you know, those crisp pronunciations.

Thalapoli team on their way to welcome Maveli. Now you know why I drove 60 miles in 85F southern california afternoon heat , apart from the lure of the sadya ;)

Here comes the Maveli. Notice the “chanda” guys in the background. They weren't professionals, but hey, something is better than nothing.

Pulikali

Maveli getting the traditional "Thalapoli" welcome. We can't see Maveli in this image though,but he's there, right there in the middle.

Maveli inside the auditorium

Maveli on stage

Thiruvathira Kali. It was quite good.

Classical Dance. Again, very impressive performance. Its a pity I had a battered sony camera instead of a handycam

Little Talents

Folk Dance

Popular song “munthiri padam” from “Kochi Rajavu” being sung. Before the song, it was announced that kids can come on stage and join in and dance along. They didn't need a second invite. This was probably the most enjoyed program, thanks to the enthu kids.

And when malayalees get together, how can mimicry be far behind. Achumaman, leader, Antony and finally Jayan were mimicked by this little girl who did a great job. The audience were in raptures.

That was a great onam. Thanks KALA. Hope to be there next year too. Oh no no, hope to be at home in Kerala next year!!

2006-09-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

He's back.

The little master's back with a bang!

The cherubic face has given way to a “been there, done that” experienced veteran kind of look. Sixteen years of tireless actions has meant that his body is more prone to injuries and break-downs, as evident in the heart-breaking long injury lay offs he's been having these days. But boy aren't these long waits worth their worth in gold when he comes up with jems like this.

The 141 n.o of 148 balls had S A C H I N stamp all over it. Watching it was sheer unbridled joy. The overcast background and a smallish crowd cheering at the top of their voice made the whole atmosphere so romantic and classic in style. And the imposing sixes over long off towards the end overs were perfect finale to a memorable knock. Thanks a ton, Sachin! For giving another memorable day of cricket-watching to remember in the years to come.

Only if Duckworth and Lewis had little more cricketing sense... *Gasp*

2006-08-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Vasthuhara (The Dispossessed)

Spoiler Warning / Note : This is my attempt to understand and analyse Vasthuhara, a touching story about the trauma of being a refugee. Vasthuhara was directed by acclaimed art director G Aravindan, who was part of the new wave of film making of Kerala that started in the early 70s. Detailed story ahead.

Vasthuhara(1991), a malayalam film by late G Aravindan is a social film which takes a look into the lives of partition refugees from East Bengal. At a larger level, its the universal story of refugees, the dispossessed.

The film takes place in Calcutta, 1971. Story begins with rehabilitation official Venu (Mohanlal) coming to Calcutta in one of his regular visits to shift about 35 - 40 refugee families to Andaman Islands. The current rehabilitation plan is only those who fall under the category of schedule caste farmers. People in Andaman too are not happy about taking in refugees. All the refugees have been staying in Permanent Liability Camp in Rana ghat, West Bengal for the past two decades. Experiencing the shattered lives of poor displaced people deeply hurts Venu, who in his silent moments alone in his small lodge room frequently finds himself lost in the thoughts about the lives of the refuge seekers he meets during the day. Living an oppressed life, their only hope being the occasional promises of land, cattle and other grants by the bureaucratic state.

Aravindan takes us closer into the life of a refugee when Venu realizes that the sorrow of one refugee family is his own. One day, an old lady, Arthi Panicker(Neelanjana Mitra) comes to meet Venu in his lodge. She speaks broken malayalam which surprises Venu. She's a refugee from East Bengal. She desperately wants to move out of the wretched Calcutta for a better future of her children, a daughter (who's completed MA but never appeared of the examination) and a son about whom she's very sad. Her daughter Damayanti(Neena Gupta) quit studies and is a communist revolutionary on parole. Venu realizes that they are no one but his own uncle's family, his uncle Kunjunni Panicker whom he admired so much, a poet and revolutionary who left home long back (probably to join Bose's INA) when Venu was a child.

Venu visits home in Kerala, a typical matrilineal nair household, to discuss about his chance meeting with Kunjunni uncle's family and also to secure their rightful share for them. Venu's mother has no sympathies for Arthi Panicker and her kids. Kunjunni uncle's land is in possession of Venu's aunt Bhavani(Padmini), who, as a beautiful teenager had secret affairs with both Kunjunni and his brother Anandan. Venu remembers his childhood days where he used to run secret errands for a young Bhavani played by Shobana. Aunt Bhavani is more sympathetic towards Arthi. Having never met the wife and children of the man she once loved, she's curious about them. She agrees to give them the land or money, whatever is convenient to them. (One gets the impression that at the late time of her life Bhavani is leading a lonely, guilt-ridden life, having destroyed the lives of both the brothers – She married Anandan who commits suicide, probably due to unhappy marriage.)

Venu returns back to Calcutta and reveals his identity to aunt Arthi. She is pleasantly surprised and she and Damayanti finally feel a sense of security and belonging in their lives. But Arthi rejects the financial help from her husband's family who hadn't allowed her to enter the compound of the house when she visited them years back. Arthi narrates the humiliation of having to return back on a hot summer afternoon from the locked gates of her husband's ancestral house, both she and Kunjunni breaking down on their way back. Immediately after their return back East Bengal, the country gains independence and in the consequent partition they seeked refuge in Indian side. Kunjunni dies of cholera in the refugee camp and a pregnant Arthi is left on her own in abject poverty, with two year old Damayanti by her side.

Venu meets Damayanti's brother who is also a communist revolutionary hiding from the police. Venu's arrival into their life brings long lost hope and happiness. But its short-lived as its time for Venu to return to the Andaman Islands with the selected refugees. As the rest of Calcutta celebrates Durga puja, a few bunch of refugee families are packed in the back of a goods truck and offloaded at the harbor. Arthi and Damayanti arrive at the harbor to see him off. Damayanti is not able to control her emotions and breaks down inconsolably as Venu hugs her, himself overcome by sadness. Arthi Panicker looks on emotionless, here face hardened by years of victimization.

The film ends tragically as Venu has to rush hastily into the ship about to depart, abruptly ending his goodbye to his uncle's family. As Venu rushes through the crowded stairways of the ship, a crying Damayanti shouts from behind, “Write to me Dada... Damayanti Panicker, Apilore Central Jail, Calcutta”.

The ship moves towards Andaman, beginning a new journey, a new era for a few Vasthuharas, towards the green shores of a new promised land somewhere in the eastern islands, a land new hope. But even as a handful of them find hope, another wave of exodus begins, which ends in the Indo-Pak Bangaldesh liberation war in Dec 1971.

Displaced from their homes, unwanted outsiders in their land of refuge, doing sundry small time jobs, working in abject conditions as bonded laborers, some wait to return back to their land, some simply give up, and some others like Damayanti and her brother, become rebels.

Vasthuhara won the State Film awards for best film and director in 1990.

Credits:

Direction & Screenplay: G Aravindan

Cast: Mohanlal, Shobhana, Neelanjana Mitra, Neena Gupta, Padmini

Cinematography: Sunny Joseph

Editing: K R Bose

Music: Salil Choudhury

2006-08-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

New Guilty Pleasure for Saturday Afternoons

I dont know how many of you have tried out the new Google toolbar for Firefox Ver 2.0.

It has this cool new feature where as you type your search keyword, the drop-down combo automatically lists popular searches matching your keyword. In case its not working for you, its probably because “suggest popular search queries” option is unchecked in your toolbar options.

Quite a useful feature no? Now try typing “how to” and have a look at the “popular searches” people do that start with “how to”.

Enjoy!

For some other funny popular searches:

-what is
-does
-where is
-will he/she

2006-08-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
-Harriet Van Horne

Excerpts from my Diary:

February 12^th

After one month of initial hotel stay, Me and Sanju just moved into this apartment with Arvind and Pratyush, guys from Cognizant. Arvind and Pratyush also came to US just two weeks back. Finally had some home made food after one month of pizzas and burgers. Besides, when you have come on short term onsite assignments, you can't afford to waste dollars by eating from ouside all the time. Sanju and Arvind are really good cooks. Arvind's sambar tasted just like the one you get at Saravana Bhavan at T nagar. Sanju made great bindhi sabzi. Pratyush didnt know much of cooking, so he cut the vegetables and as for me, well my only cooking experience involves an extremely courageous act of making Maggi Noodles , which ended up in damaging Mom's beloved non-stick vessel beyond recognition. So only contribution I could make was washing the dishes. Need to learn cooking soon, washing dishes is no fun.

March 6^th

Dear Diary, you would be proud to know that I am well on way to become an accomplished cook. Which is a good thing in more than one ways. I dont have to wash dishes all the time and besides if software industry is hit by another recession and I am fired and all, I think I can easily become a Chef at some restaurant. We dont have any hard and fast rules as to who should cook when because basically all of us enjoy cooking and everyday any two of us enter into the kitchen at random. Its fun. I dont miss home made food.

April 25^th

I dont know whats happening to the guys. Nobody has been volunteering to cook these days. All have become very lazy. Last week I had to cook for three consecutive days. Arvind and Sanju go to play tennis as soon as they are back from work and come back late in the night. Pratyush has suddenly fallen in love with his old college mate who's now in the east coast. He's obviously on phone all the time. So that leaves only me to do the cooking duties. Cutting vegetables and washing dishes day after day is getting quite boring. I think its high time to make some “Kitchen Rules”.

May 15^th

Last friday we had a big fight as to who is supposed to cook that night. Finally we had a meeting and decided to bring some process into the whole thing. We pasted a “Kitchen Rules”chart and a calender on the wall. From now on everybody will take turns and sign their initials on the calender on the days they cook. Things have returned back to some sort of normalcy now. Everybody is reluctant though, but rules are rules. Food doesn't taste that good. The less said about Arvind's sambaar, the better. Everybody tries to finish it of in minimum time possible. How it tastes is of nobody's concern.

June 10^th

Ordered pizza tonight. Had dinner from India Cook House yesterday night and made some noodles for myself the night before that. The “Kitchen Rules” has gone down the drain, quite literally. It happened quite fast though I could see it coming. When the kind of food thats being made went from bland to plain inedible, cooking just stopped. It was a mutual decision and everybody were quite happy with that. On the plus side, the camaraderie that was missing in the last couple of months has returned back. The tension in the air that used to be there earlier when nobody enters into the kitchen is gone. Kitchen has now become part of our indoor SCG. If your straight drive lands in the kitchen, it a boundary. A good amount of hard earned dollars is going to India Cook House and Dosa Place instead of my Citi NRE account, but as they say, Health is Wealth.

2006-08-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

I hate monday mornings. Remember that old school essay where they ask you to write “If I were Prime Minister of India”? And we rant on about the usual better education, eliminating corruption yada yada. Well I would like to add one more thing to that - three day weekend.

But I am not Manmohan Singh, and I head to office, body half-willing, mind fully unwilling. I settle down in my cubicle and open my inbox. Reading all those forwards that would have piled up over the weekend should be good timepass. What the fcuk!! Inbox says zero mails!! I frantically click on the Send/Receive button over and over again with the hope that all the mails are blocked somewhere in the way and will come pouring down, flooding my inbox. Not to be. Maybe the company mail server is down. I check my other mail Ids. Yahoo ID has a mail from a nice bloke from Nigeria who wants me to help him transfer his dead uncle's $20m to some european bank and Gmail ID has a concerned lady named Daisy wanting to enlargen my umm... a particular organ. No forwards?! This is so not happening. I turn around to check what Venky is doing with so much enthu on a Monday morning. I should have guessed. Ever since he's got engaged, that SOB has been lost in his own world of Yahoo Messenger, chatting with his fiance. Why the hell should he enjoy on a Monday morning so much? I decide to pester him.

“Hey Venky...Is the mail server working? I didnt get any mails”

“Yeah its working fine, I got mails”, he responded lazily as he kept typing into the chat window.

“Hey come man, lets go have some coffee.. Come on man, give her some rest”

“Yaar actually we are discussing something important, you carry on man”

Important? Yeah I can see that with all those smooching smileys and hearts on the screen. Why the hell am I not engaged to some nice, pretty girl working in Infosys? I figure out this is not the best time to think about it. What I really need now is a strong coffee. None of the other guys are in yet, so I headed for the cafeteria alone.

“Coffee Machine Out of Order. We regret the Inconvienence. Thanks for your Patience – Management”

Could somebody please kill me? I head back to my seat. Now what? God! Its only 10 AM!! 8 more hours!! Ah.. Finally.

Inbox(1)

Damn! Its from offshore. Dont those guys have any homes to go to? Its 10:30 PM in India, for heavens sake!! Loosers!!!

“Hey Rahul, that patch fix that you sent is crashing on Win NT machines if you enter special characters in the Name field. Please fix it and send it asap since we have to update it to the FC3 team right now. We are doing night out here. So send it fast so that we can test and release it”

At this point I had had enough. I closed my eyes and sunk into the chair. Something started ringing. It was very annoying and was not stopping. The alarm sound got louder and I stretched across the table, still sleeping, to switch it off. Pratyush, my roomie is in the bathroom singing “Khoon Chala...”. Good, I can sleep for 10 more minutes.

Did someone just say early morning dreams come true?

2006-07-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Eunuchs!

These are figures of major terrorist attacks in the last five years, not taking into account the countless killings happening almost every other day in the Kashmir Valley.

When	Where	Killed
01-Oct-01	Jammu-Kashmir assembly	35
13-Dec-01	Parliament, New Delhi	12
24-Sep-02	Akhsardham temple, Gandhinagar	39
14-May-03	Army camp, Jammu	30
25-Aug-03	Mumbai	60
15-Aug-04	Dhemaji, Assam	16
29-Oct-05	New Delhi	65
28-Dec-05	IISc, Bangalore	1
07-Mar-06	Varanasi	23
21-May-06	Srinagar	5
25-May-06	Batpora, Srinagar	4
11-Jul-06	Mumbai	200*
11-Jul-06	Srinagar	8

* not final figures

Sadly, these numbers are not mere numbers. They are the count of everyday people like you and me who were unfortunate to be target of terror strikes. There was no war. Life was peaceful and everybody went about their daily lives. Some went to school, some to office, some to visit friends, some to the temple, and some, just to catch a movie. Only, they never returned back. Out of nowhere, when they least expected, suddenly, a blast, a bullet… and its all over. Their lives, and with that, their dreams, plans for tomorrow… Everything. Just like that.

The consistency of these attacks are frightening. And we all know that 7/11 is not the last of these attacks. The next one is just a few months away. It could be anywhere, any city. Maybe a crowded bus, a shopping mall or a busy street. I could be there. Maybe on the way to meet my sister, maybe drinking coffee with my friends, or maybe buying grocery with my mom. Next moment, me, my mother, friends and many others whom I have never known will just become another row in the table above.

What can be done to prevent further terrorist strikes?
Eliminate the terrorist camps (in PoK).

Who is reponsible to do that?
Government of India.

Is the government doing anything?
???

And that, is our biggest tragedy. Our government will do nothing to prevent its citizens from becoming targets of terror. Well, you can’t say that they haven’t done anything. They have asked Pakistan to dismantle the terrorist camps in PoK. So fellow countrymen, don’t worry. Its just a matter of time before Musharraf clears PoK of all terrorist activities and then we all are safe.

The measures largely are reactionary and insufficient. Efforts are on to nab those who actually carried out the blasts. Sketchs have been released of the criminals and cops across the country have gone on overdrive. Mostly they will turn out to be misguided, brain-washed youth from our own country. Will catching them in any way contribute towards prevention of future attacks? Why is the government not trying to eliminate the root cause? How many more attacks, bomb blasts, innocent lives will it take for the government to wake up from its slumber?

On 9/11/2001, United States became target of terrorist strikes for the first time. The US government went on an all out attack on Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Next they targeted Iraq disregarding international opinion. All for safety of its citizens. Result – not a single terror attack since then.

Contrast that with Indian Government’s approach.

Eunuchs!

2006-07-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

Butter Chicken in Ludhiana with 1 Peg Patiala

India is everywhere these days. Particularly on magazine covers. Outside India, India has just started shining. But Pankaj Mishra begs to differ. In his op-ed in NYT titled “The Myth of the New India”, Pankaj Mishra shatters the ‘myths’ surrounding the New Shining India.
He starts of by listing some of the success stories, most of them already repeated countless times in media – both national and international. New found friendship with United States, Software and BPO boom, booming metros with swanky shopping malls. As one would have guessed, these are just setting up the premise for the myth-busting to start.

Mishra argues that Lakshmi Mittal’s success is as Indian as Sergey Brin’s(Russian-born Co-Founder of Google) success is Russian. Mishra conveniently ignores(do you think he didn’t know) the fact that Mittal completed his education in India and moved on to international scene only after starting his career in India whereas Sergey Brin, though born in Russia, grew up in United States and is pretty much an American.

Mishra further enlightens that India is not a capitalist success story because communist parties won state elections and the stock market came tumbling in last two weeks. Firstly, India is not a *capitalist* economy. Even if it is(he is quoting from Foreign Affairs), does voting trends in a few states (highly prone to anti-incumbent voting pattern) indicate the economic system of the country? And since when did a fall in stock market become an indicator of failed capitalism?

Mishra would also like us to believe that the nuclear co-operation deal between US and India is the result of “encouragement” from “powerful lobby of rich Indian-Americans who seek to expand their political influence within both their home and adopted countries”. Had this been a TV show instead of Op-Ed, we could have had laugh-tracks in the background.

This one had me in splits.

“Despite a recent reduction in poverty levels, nearly 380 million Indians still live on less than a dollar a day.”

I can picture an average New Yorker reading this article and exclaiming, “Less than a dollar a day! Geez!”. I got the link to this NYT article from SlashDot. In the comments section there, readers have listed the things you can buy with a dollar in India. If I were Pankaj Mishra, right now I would be rushing to the restroom to clean the egg on my face.

Then he goes on to quote some statistics like poor per capita GDP, HDI ranking, malnutrition, infant mortality rate and poor state of primary education. Same old vicious cycle which we all remember from our 8th standard social studies essays.

“Malnutrition affects half of all children in India, and there is little sign that they are being helped by the country's market reforms, which have focused on creating private wealth rather than expanding access to health care and education.”

“Despite the country's growing economy, 2.5 million Indian children die annually”

Economic progress has no meaning if it doesn’t improve the lives of citizens at all levels. But by saying that half of the country’s children are malnourished in spite of economic reforms is twisted statistics and pessimistic. What was the IMR and level of malnutrition before economic reforms? How much has it changed in the last ten years? Here’s a very impressive detailed study which documents exactly that. The study concludes that there is vast improvement though there’s a long way to go.

Mishra’s myth-busting journey is vast and highly imaginative.

“Feeding on the resentment of those left behind by the urban-oriented economic growth, communist insurgencies (unrelated to India's parliamentary communist parties) have erupted in some of the most populous and poorest parts of north and central India.”

So economic liberalization of the 90s resulted in naxalism in 1967. Patiala peg at work here, I guess.

“Only 1.3 million out of a working population of 400 million are employed in the information technology and business processing industries that make up the so-called new economy.”

Didn’t the “so-called new economy” ring a bell with Mr Mishra? Hello…it’s a new economy. And what about the indirect employments and businesses that the IT boom has generated? As per NASSCOM projections, the next four years will see 2.3 million more direct jobs and 6.5 million indirect jobs created in the IT sector.

Clearly Mishra sees the glass as half-empty, or rather likes others(western world) to believe so.

There is no denying of the fact that our problem are far from over. Illiteracy, unemployment, poverty and abysmal living standards have always been there and are still there. But amidst all this, some things are changing. Growing up, we used to hear that one day India will become a super power like USA. None of us knew how. But it was a school-boyish dream we all dreamt. Now we are slowing moving towards the realization of that dream. We can sense the change. The world media is abound with stories of the new shining India, the second fastest growing economy, success stories of IT sector and Indian entrepreneurs. In the middle of all this, when an Indian writer/journo comes up and enlightens the world that all these are myths and states the obvious failures and short-comings of our country, it sounds sadist and unpatriotic.

To overcome this hang-over I suggest you Good News India.

2006-06-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

Swamiye Sharam Ayyappa

This post is in reponse to a post by blogger Neha Vishwanathan on the latest controversy surrounding actress Jaimala’s claims that she had entered Sabarimala temple.

Dear Neha,

I have read many of your posts and I appreciate your opinion generation efforts against gender-bias through your blog. But I think you have got it really very wrong this time. When you made statements like “Cut state funding” (this year’s revenue was Rs 62.5 Crores, last year 57.75 Crores) it became clear that your knowledge on the subject is very limited(which you have duly mentioned in the beginning of your post). In my opinion, when one is not fully aware of the subject, its custom, history and significance to the people concerned, then its better not to voice your opinion, let alone pass a judgement, more so when it’s a sensitive and personal matter like religion. When you say women should be allowed entry to Sabarimala, you are hurting the religious sentiments of devotees of Lord Ayyappa which (quite ironically) includes women too! And that exactly is why I disagree with your take on it.

Lord Ayyappa is believed to be a celibate hermit. As per the beliefs, proximity of young woman will be detrimental to the sanctity of the place. Even men who are planning to visit Sabarimala should observe a strict regime for 41 days viz. waking up early and taking breakfast only after taking bath and morning prayers, not shaving or taking hair cuts, walk bare-foot, wear only black mundu, follow strict vegetarian diet, total abstinence from sex and sexual thoughts. Here’s the complete list. These are beliefs of believers. And when I say believers, it includes woman also. I don’t remember any of the womenfolk in my family protesting against their non-entry to the temple. In fact the situation is quite contrary. Lord Ayyappa is so revered among malayalees that an average young woman considers the very thought of entering the temple blasphemous. Its not that women cannot worship Lord Ayyappa. There are numerous Ayyappa temples across the world and women are allowed in most of them. In case of Sabarimala, legend has it that Lord Ayyappa himself had ordered King Rajasekara that only those who observe vritham should be allowed to enter the holy sanctum. And as part of that, young women are not allowed in the temple premises.

When I asked my mother if she doesn’t feel like visiting Sabarimala, she said she will after she turns 50. Before that she shouldn’t and she won’t. So even though I appreciate your intention of voicing your thoughts for gender equality, I think this is a case of misplaced enthusiasm. Its not about gender discrimination, it’s a matter of faith. Various religions have their customs. To an outsider, these may seem silly, illogical. But hey, is belief in God logical? Does that stop us from believing in God? I hope you get my point. When it comes to matters of faith, I am of the firm belief that you should find peace in your own faith(it can even be aethism) and at the same time not question others faith. Questioning another person’s religion and beliefs are serious offence, in my opinion.

In case you are looking for more info on Lord Ayyappa, http://www.sabarimala.org/ is a good website.

-Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa-

2006-06-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

The travails of being Devil’s Advocate.

Didn’t we just love Karan Thapar grilling Arjun “Reservation” Singh? He’s been in good form of late, particularly since this reservation thing came up. After Arjun Singh, he makes Kamal Nath look silly. And recently, his nosiness makes Rahul Bajaj loose his cool.

But last week Karan ran into the inimitable Arun Shourie and he finally proved that being Devil’s advocate is not an easy job after all. Up against a well read man of amazing clarity of thought , our own home-grown Tim Sebastian, was found floundering on more than one occasion.

Sample this:

Karan Thapar: Compare it with 2006. Name one village out of India’s 6,00,000 villages where the Dalits are permitted to stay in the centre of the village. Not only are they banished to the outskirts, but in most cases, they are required to live in the south side so that the wind that blows over them doesn’t pollute the village. That is the extent of discrimination they still suffer.

Arun Shourie: And the wind in all of South India comes from the south my friend. I don’t know where you get this nonsense from?

Karan Thapar: Chandrabhan Prasad, perhaps one of the few Dalit intellectual scholars, who can easily confirm the facts to you.

Arun Shourie: Well, maybe. We have all got impressions about India. India is a large country. Almost every statement about India must be true, but the south business is quite silly because if you come to Goa my friend, you see the wind coming form the south. You come to Kerala, you see the wind coming from the south.

There’s more coming:

Karan Thapar: You have answered it in terms of the moral obligation. Let me point out to you the efficacy between ’47 and ’97. In those 50 years alone, the number of Dalits who as a result of reservations went to schools and colleges grew from 1.74 million to 27.92 million. During the same period, the number of Dalit graduates jumped from 50,000 to over 5.5 million. That’s an example of how reservations have helped and you are denying this to them.

Arun Shourie: Just one second. For the total number of persons going to school, what is the statistics from 1947 to 2006?

Karan Thapar: What do you mean the total number?

Arun Shourie: Irrespective of Dalits. The total number of school-going population in India from 1947 and now. Tell me.

Karan Thapar: I don’t know the answer, but the point that I am making is that the percentage of both has increased. I am saying the percentage of Dalits has increased because of reservations. Otherwise the system would have kept them out.

And finally the knock-out punch from Mr. Shourie:

Karan Thapar: Arun Shourie, since you are implacably opposed to reservations for the Scheduled Castes, what is your preferred way of tackling the discrimination they have suffered for centuries?

Arun Shourie: Firstly, I am not against reservations only for the Scheduled Castes, but for everybody. Second point is yes, if they have suffered that kind of discrimination and we have got good records of this kind of thing happening in the South, for instance in many parts of Tamil Nadu, then the best way is social reform and these great reformers who have made an enormous difference to India in the last 200 years as testified to by the Christian missionaries themselves.

Karan Thapar: Is there a second way beyond social reforms?

Arun Shourie: Yes, there is. Second is economic growth and modernisation.

Karan Thapar: Third?

Arun Shourie: Third is to find out what is the real reason for the poor performance of the child. For instance, he cannot retain what he learns in class because of poor nutrition, give him four free meals a day.

Karan Thapar: Individual attention?

Arun Shourie: Yes, absolutely.

Karan Thapar: Is there a fourth?

Arun Shourie: Yes. There are many things. He doesn’t have a place to study, make free dormitories. He needs free textbooks, he needs training and education.

For once, Karan would have felt like tearing his hair apart and screaming. I guess that’s what happens when you are Devil’s Advocate and just have to argue even if you don’t believe in what you are arguing.

Nice try, Mr. Thapar. Stick to Jayalalithas and Arjun Singhs.

Do read the full interview, and here’s the video links – 1 and 2.

Gaurav has blogged on it here, and here’s Confused’s take.

2006-06-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

Can’t digest this one.

Guys, Aamchi Mumbai is 35^th most courteous city in the world. Now before you start jumping up and down with joy, let me add that only 35 cities that were surveyed. That’s right, Mumbai is the least courteous city as per a survey by Readers Digest.

Was a bit surprised that Mumbai, a city known for its zest for life and free spirit can be among the rudest. New York tops the list. More surprises in store in the form of Sau Paulo (high crime rates) at # 5 and Seoul (weren’t they supposed to be very courteous, like the japs) at # 32. But when you read the full article, the reason for Mumbai’s abysmal ranking becomes crystal clear.

So here’s the three “tests” RD reporters did to determine “courtesy index”.

Do shopkeepers say “Thank you for shopping” as you leave the shop
Whether people hold the door open for others following behind them
Drop newspaper in a busy street and see if someone picks it up for you.

Imagine buying groceries from the neighbourhood lala and as you turn back counting the change, lala screams “Thank you for shopping, please do visit again”. Its just not part of the culture in our country. So not saying “Thanks” after shopping does not mean lack of courtesy or disrespect. We just don’t do it. Simple. Now if only someone could explain it to those reporters from RD. By the way I find this “Thanks for shopping” stuff really phoney unless if its in Japan where the salesgirls bend 90 degrees and sing in unison “Aarigato Gozaimaaaaaaaz” in the most nasal tone imaginable (Himesh Reshammiya will be ashamed). In that case, its more funny that phoney.

Now holding open the door bit. This too is not a convention in our country. Don’t the RD guys know that we Indians don’t hold the door open and just stand there, all smiles, waiting for others behind us to pass buy and expect them to say “Thanks you so much”. We just push open the door and get in. If someone is following behind us, we just we push it a bit wider so that he/she can also enter in before the door shuts. No fuss!

If Readers Digest was taking the pain of sending its 2000 reporters to 35 cities in the world, they might as well have put some effort in selecting proper test cases. Atleast they could have chosen tests based on the regional culture and ways of life. Salespersons saying things like “How are you doing?” and “Thank You”, holding the door open etc. are considered as part of good manners in a country like USA but are largely unknown(let alone be followed) in India.

I am not so sure about the newspaper dropping part of the test but looks like you Mumbaikars did a very bad job there. Didn’t I tell you to be on the look out for people dropping newspapers? Now look what your negligence has cost you! Ok now atleast be alert from the next time. The moment you see someone dropping even a tissue paper, dive towards it, like Mohd Kaif and catch it before it hits ground. But don’t appeal, just give it back with a smile. And if the other guy gives you a stare, just ignore it – remember , courteous. If not for anything else, do it as a mark of repect that poor RD reporter, who on a soggy summer afternoon outside Church Gate station, dropped his newspaper, making it look like an accident, and after five minutes had to pick it up himself.

Update : I would like to add that I am not defending Mumbai or saying that Mumbai is a very courteous city. As much as I hate to admit it, we, Indians in general are not courteous when it comes to behaviour in public domain. More than lack of courtesy, its the lack of sensitivity which rankles. This post was just to voice my opinion on the survey and its funny methods, totally disregarding regional sensibilities.

2006-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Comedy Of Errors

The controversial Dhoni dismissal has resulted in ICC issuing a clarification of protocol under such circumstances. Read it here.

Ruchir Joshi at SightScreen points out the silliness of this rule. As per the wise men at ICC, if a Dhoni-Ganga like situation arises, the onfield umpires can refer it to the third umpire. Fair enough. Now the funny part. The third umpire has to first decide whether it’s a boundary or not. In case of inconclusive TV footage, it is not a boundary since there is no evidence of any boundary(Ah Genius!). And since its not a boundary, it a clean catch and the batsman is out (Einstein!). Whatever happened to benefit of doubt being given to the batsman? Why can’t the third umpire first adjudicate on the catch?

Apart from this obvious inanity, another grudge I have is why is it that the third umpire has to make a decision even in case of inconclusive evidence? What if there are no footages of the fielder catching (or saving the boundary)? So we have a situation where the onfield umpires refer it to the third umpire, who has no other option but to make a decision, but he has no help whatsoever in form of replays. What does he do? Still rule that its not a boundary and hence imply that the batsman is out (since it automatically becomes a catch)? Mind you, such a situation is quite possible. I have seen many times (mostly on Doordarshan) when the batsman hits the ball high in the air, cameras point skywards and keep searching for the ball while it has already landed. On other times, the cameraman moves the camera so fast that he sometimes overshoots. Infact something similar happened in this Dhoni dismissal. As you can see in the video here, initially Ganga is in the frame, but as he tries to zoom it, the cameraman looses it and he zooms on to an inflated pepsi bottle advertisement outside the boundary.

In such cases why can’t the third umpire just communicate to the onfield umpires that he cannot make any decision due to lack of proper replays. The onfield umpires can then take the word of the concerned fielder. If he’s sure that he took the catch cleanly, rule the batsman out, else, as per the norm, give the benefit of doubt to the batsman. The fielding captain or any other player should not have any rights to question this decision.

Why this rigidity that the third umpire should make a decision even if he is not in the best position to make the right call? Isn’t the whole idea of having a third umpire to reduce umpiring errors? Then why make such inflexible rules and introduce the possibility of more errors?

As with most of ICC’s other “rules”, one can only wonder.

2006-06-11T00:45:00.000-07:00

That 70s show – Bollywood ishtyle

Ladies and Gentlemen, thodi hi der mein hamara jahaz 1970s ki duniya mein pahunch jayega aur hum aakpo 70s ke kuch dialogues sunanevale hai. Bhagne ki koshih mat karna kyonki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi..oops..kyonki tumhari maa hamare kabze mein hai. Robert, 70s ke dialogues ke tape shuru karo. Mona, hamari godh mein baitho aur dialogues suno.

Khabardaar, varna mujhse bura koi nahi hoga (Vaise bhi tumse bura koi nahi hai)
Dadima aaj mein bahut khush hoon (For the uninitiated, that’s heroine’s way of telling that she’s fallen in love)
Mein tumhare bache ki maa banne vali hoo (Sorry, I need a DNA report)
Ek ek ko chun chun ke maroonga (Patented by Dharmendra)
Kutte, kameene, mein tera khoon pee jaoonga (Patent pending with USPTO, applicant – Dharmendra)
Bhagwaan ke liye mujhe chod do (To which Prem Chopra responds “Itni achi cheez bhagwaan ke liye kaise chod doon?”)
Maa…mein aa gaya maa…
Tumhaare ghar mein maa behan nahi hai kya? (Initially this did the trick but after sometimes eve teasers got smart and started replying “Ma-behan to hai, lekin girl-friend nahin hai”)
Aaj tak maine tumse kuch nahi manga (Mangna bhi nahi)
Bas, isse aage ek lavs bhi nahi bolna (It took 30 years and Baboo Rav Apte to ask the logical question - Ek lavs? Kaunsa lavs? )
Beti tho paraya dhan hoti hai
Bachne ki koshish mat karna, Pulees ne is ilake ko charo tharaf se gher liya hai
Maa, Mera baap kaun hai? (Camera zooms into Nirupa Roy's face who flexes her eyebrows)
Kaan khol kar sunlo (Heroine tries to open her ears)
Khabardaar agar aaj ke baad Vijay se kabhi milne kee koshish ki to (Generally delivered by Pran, though occasionally by Prem Chopra, Vijay enacted by angry young Big B)
Maa…mein pass ho gaya (Bas beta ab ek OBC certificate ka bhi intezaam kar lo)
Aaj se mera tumhara koi sambhand nahi hai
Tum insaan ho ya pathar? (Err..Insaan?)
Mubarak ho, tum maa banne vali ho
Maa ka doodh piya hai tho saamne aa (Umm..sorry horlicks piya hai)
Bhachaaoo
Apne aap ko kaanoon ke hawale kar do
Kaanoon ko hath mein math lo (This line was the most common graffito I have seen in boys’ rest room during school days)
Kaanoon ke hath bade lambe hote hain (hehehe)
Daddy! Mein Vijay ke siva kisi aur se shaadi nahin karoongi
Arre, thijori ki chaabi kahaan gayi?
Tamaam gavahon aur bayano ko madde nazar rakhthe hue, ye adaalat is nathize par pahunchi hai.. ki mujrim ko iss blog ke saare posts padne ki sazaa di jaathi hai

2006-06-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Banning The Da Vinci Code

First censor board clears it, then the I&B ministry (going out of its way) holds a special screening and clears it albeit with some conditions. We then thought that that was the end of it and everybody can sit back and enjoy the most talked about movie of the year. And now various state governments have banned it. Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Nagaland, Meghalaya and counting.

When I read this news, my first reaction was that of anger.

“Our country is intellectually so backward”, I shouted out loudly.

I have seen the movie myself (luckily they didn’t ban it in California) and it just looked like a normal thriller movie to me. Instead of creating all this ruckus, if these guys just had let it play in the theatres, it may run for 2-3 weeks (I don’t think its going to be a big hit) and then make way for “Kabhi Omelette Kabhi Half-Boiled” and then will just fade away from people’s minds and life will move on. Right?

Wrong.

On second thoughts, I feel banning it is a right decision. First of all, it does hurt sentiments of certain sections of the society. It may be a piece of fiction but saying that Jesus was married and had a child, well it sure does sound blasphemous to me. I am not a christian but a little bit of sensible thinking is all that is required to understand how a god-fearing, deeply religious christian will feel about it.

When we see or read something which hurts our religious sentiments, we do act defensively, though the way in which different people react may be different. Some of us are privileged with better education and better judgement and hence react in a peaceful, responsible manner. But that need not be the case with everyone, more so in a country like ours where emotions run high.

In an official statement, Special Chief Secretary (Home) Paul Bhuyan justified the ban, arguing that the minority organisations had pointed out that 'the film's story line attacked the very heart of the Holy Gospel destroying the divinity of Jesus Christ. Its screening might lead to unrest among the semi-literate and illiterate rural folk following the faith.'

I think the above official statement pretty much sums it up.

Secondly, the movie is just not worth the violence that will accompany the protests that would follow its screening. I mean, really, its just an ordinary movie based on a ordinary book, not some great work of art that has to be seen and appreciated by one and all. We have had some really well made artistic movies of our times getting inadvertently embroiled in controversies of all kinds. And one does feel sad and helpless at the bigotry and intolerance shown by a few handful which deprives the rest of the society from appriciating true art – be it a feature film, a book or a painting. But this one doesn’t fall into that category. So the question arises - do we really need all the stone throwing, broken foreheads and destroyed screens just for showing a darn movie?

Let me clarify that I do believe in freedom of expression. My viewpoints are largely libertarian. But freedom of expression ceases to be so when it intrudes into someone else’s faiths and beliefs. It becomes plain “Panga Lena”.

Anway, those who really want to watch it will anyway watch it through CDs and DVDs which will soon flood the markets, if not already. So there you go, rent a DVD, take home and watch it. Enjoy!

Jiyo aur Jeene Do!!

On a funny note, had this movie been released in Punjab, here’s probably how the scene would look outside “Ludhiana Talkies”..

I got it from the internet, all credits to the creator of this (Morparic?)

Update : This cartoon is by Morparia, a cartoonist for Mid-Day in Mumbai. Thanks amit for the info.

2006-05-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

We are Nerds. We are like this only

One friday evening, on his way back from office, Nerd # 1 loses his way and enters a strip club mistaking it for library. After three long hours, he comes out and drives back home – fast and furious. The expression on his face varying between extreme bliss and tragic agony. He rushes in home and finds Nerd # 2 debugging some C++ project on his laptop. Nerd # 1 swaggers up to him and says:

“Dude, you know there’s a world out there?”

Nerd # 2 doesn’t respond, keeps working.

“You asshole! Life is not just about C , C++”

Without lifting his head up, Nerd # 2 replies:

“Yeah I know, that’s why I have started learning C#”

For all you nerds out there, all is not lost yet. There is hope.

PS : Thanks Sankar(Nerd # 2), for this nerdy inspiration.

2006-05-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

My Experiments with Invisibility

When I read Amit asking what I would do if I had a fool-proof invisible cloak, I smiled. This has been right up there in the list of my all time fantasies. There has to be some slight modifications though from Amit’s version. It won’t be a cloak, it has to be some mysterious red potion in a little glass bottle. And after drinking it, I would just become invisible in a jiffy. But I would have to be totally naked or else it will be like a walking shirt and pants. And no wrist-watch, chains, shoes either. Totally stark naked!

There have been quite a few times when I really wished I had that magic red potion with me and the needs have changed during various stages of life.

Earliest memories of the desire to be invisible came after I tasted chicken puffs from K.R Bakery in my home-town. I was ten then. Well what can I tell you about chicken puffs. Now, sitting 15000 Kms away, my mouth can only water. Back then, knowing my little weakness for chicken puffs, mom used to give me Rs 8/- extra when she sent me on errands. But just one chicken puff is really really unfair. How I wish I had my little red bottle with me. Those guys in the bakery might have wondered where all the puffs are disappearing, but who cares!

Exams have always been tough. Exam season meant sleepless nights, tense days and loose motion on the day of the first paper. When you reach the school, you can see two kinds of people. Those who have mugged up the whole NCERT book from cover to cover and can rant the second line in fourth paragraph of page 183 in a moment’s notice. And those who never attended any classes, couldn’t care less and knew that they would flunk for sure. People in both of these categories had one thing in common – peace of mind. Calm, confident, composed and knowing exactly what to expect when they got the question paper. I (and a few others like me) were the exact opposite. Biting nails, cramming up whatever extra we could in the little time remaining. Having covered only 60% of the syllabus, half of which was already forgotten, we could only pray to all the gods we knew. You see, atheism was definitely not an option! How I wish I had my little red bottle with me. All I had to do was to go to Taneja Madam’s (Our Maths teacher) house, drink the potion at her doorsteps, become invisible, enter in, and sit next to her, all naked, as she prepares the question paper. Then run to Murthy Sir’s(Physics) and Bharadwaj Madam’s (English) and Naresh Sir’s (Chemistry) and finally voluptuous Vidya Madam’s (Biology).

After school came college and there have been many instances when I wished I that I had my little red bottle with me. But I will let all that pass by here. Some skeletons are better left in the cupboard.

Couple of years back, India was playing Australia in a one-dayer at Bangalore, and never having been to a one-dayer before, I badly wanted to be there at the Chinnaswamy. But all night serpentine queues outside, police lathi-charge and inability to get a pass meant skipping another chance to watch my heroes from close quarters. As I was watching the match, lying on my couch, how I wished that I had my little red bottle with me. And you know what, I wouldn’t settle for the gallery seat. Would sit right in front of the CM in the VIP enclave. Ofcourse he can see through an invisible man, right? What the heck, I would walk right into the middle of the ground (remember, naked!) and stand next to the umpire. And when I am tired standing, I would go and sit somewhere, maybe at square leg. Occasionally I would look at the screaming crowd all around, wondering what all the fuss is about. When Ricky Ponting tells McGrath to bowl a bouncer, I would run to the batting crease and whisper into Sehwag’s ears “Veeru bouncer aayega”. And when India is fielding and Dravid, Sachin, Kumble and the bowler are involved in a team meeting, I would be right there in the middle! Ah, the joys of being invisible.

It has been almost an year since I moved to US and I am missing my family – Mom, Dad and li’l sis. I can’t even go on a vacation until my visa gets renewed which means a long wait for another six months. But not if I have my little bottle of red potion with me. All I have to do is – drink it, become invisible, hop in a cab to LAX airport, get into a Cathay Pacific flight (no security checks, no immigration queues!) and within 24 hours I’ll be sitting at the dining table with my folks back home in Bangalore! I can become visible in front of them, right? My little invisible secret will be safe with them. Don’t you think?

2006-05-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

If you want to have a good laugh in the morning…

…read news! Don’t believe me? Check these out…

India, Pakistan fail to break ice on Siachen

And we thought the two armies were fighting on world’s highest battlefield. Mind you, breaking all that ice atop those mountains can be quite daunting. Why don’t they try some advanced german ice-breaking machines.

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Baccha log, don’t click on the link below. Others, you need to say “I am over 18” loudly when you click on it.

Neha Dhupia's wardrobe malfunction in Utthaan

I didn’t hear you saying that. Never mind. Now we know those guys at sify.com know how to use MS Paint. Noticed the red circle? Saw anything else? Because I didn’t. Despos!

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Now read this

What cost him a sexy night with actress...

Such a looser of a guy. Now that’s such a stupid thing to do. No seriously!

2006-05-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Wonder Years (Childhood Files – Part 01)

I was in first grade and this friend of mine tells me about this absolutely fascinating thing called magnet. I don’t remember his name, actually he wasn’t a great friend, just a classmate who happens to sit behind me in class. I was totally hooked on to this cool new thing even before I had seen it.

“You mean it can stick onto anything?”

“Yeah! Most of the things, but somethings like wood don’t stick”

“Can I see it?”

“I have two of those, I can give you one”

“Wow! Thanks!”

“But what will you give me in return?”

I didn’t know what to say. Cunning guy, he must be a deal-broker now. I thought for a moment and then said:

“I have a car.”

“What color is it?”

“Its big and blue and red. It goes in circles and lights start flashing. And its foreign.”

“Foreign matlab?”

“I don’t know, but my uncle gave me. Mom said he’s also foreign.”

“O.K come to the park in the evening with the car. I will give you the magnet there.”

Later that afternoon, when I told my parents about my deal, they were visibly upset. I don’t exactly remember what dad said to mom, but it was something to this effect:

“Looks like he’s got your genes”

Mom was more considerate.

“Look Beta, this car is foreign and your uncle has brought it to you from Kuwait. You don’t give away such expensive things for a silly magnet”

Silly magnet? Do they even know what a magnet is? It sticks onto anything! And I am so bored of this car, I don’t need it anymore.

But being the meek that I was, I didn’t protest. Dad said that he’ll get me a magnet but I knew he wont. Two months back he had promised a cricket bat with Kapil Dev’s photo on it. I am still waiting.

But surprise of surprises! He did bring one! The next afternoon, I was just lying on the bed. He came into the room with a smile on his face, took something from his pocket and threw onto the bed. It was big, black, round and it had got dad’s keys stuck on it. Wow! It really can stick things.

I stuck it on the iron rod of the mosquito net above and Voila! It stuck up there!
Magnet really sticks!

2006-05-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

If you don’t vote…

While driving back from lunch, this interesting bumper sticker caught my eyes:

"If you don’t vote, people like Bush become presidents"

Bumper stickers are not that popular in India yet. Wonder which neta’s name would be there when that happens. Manmohan? Naah…he’s too nice to be hated. Keeping in mind the current mood, there’s one and only one candidate – Arjun Singh! What? You already guessed it? Sorry no marks for guessing that.

2006-05-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

The Da Vinci Code - Strictly OK

Watched The Da Vinci Code last Friday, yup, caught it first day – first show! I am not gonna do a full-fledged review here but will just pass my thoughts on it. I havn’t read the book and all the popularity, best-seller tag, hype and hoopla associated with it definitely increased my curiosity in the movie, and coming from Ron Howard who has given wonderful movies like Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Far and Away and with Tom Hanks as lead, I knew I was not gonna miss this one.

I have to say, the movie disappointed me. Its not that bad, but its not that great either. I felt like I was watching a treasure hunt game with a few villains thrown in. For those who havn’t read the book, the story goes something like this – The opening scene shows the murder of the curator of the Louvre Museum (the one with Mona Lisa) in Paris and Dr. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University is summoned to solve this murder mystery. Before dying, the curator has written some cryptic text and numbers on the floor. His granddaughter, Sophie Neveu(Audrey Tautou) is a cryptologist and she is also in the case. The rest of the story is how Langdon and Sophie go about solving the puzzle left behind by her grandfather. The links leads them to Scotland and England .They are chased all the way by cops, who suspect Langdon for the murder, and enemies trying to prevent them from finding out the secret which they believe will have deep impact on the standings of the church.

In my opinion the basic problem is the attempt to squeeze in the long series of clues into a two-and-half hour movie. There were quite a few missing links(or did I sleep in between :-D) and the ease with which Langdon solves some of the puzzles was just not convincing. Performance-wise I think Tom Hanks was simply too good. His part was very convincing. Paul Bettany as Silas also deserves special mention. The rest were just OK. Jean Reno(Yes, how can he not be there in a movie set in France) didn’t have anything significant. French actress Audrey Tautou is so and so.

All in all, go watch if you loved the book or really wanna watch it. You wont miss anything even if you wont.

2006-05-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hmm…Then finally I have created a blog. Took a long time to get a URL. I wanted a unique, different sounding name which kind of stands for what I intend to write here. Well right now I have no idea what exactly I am going to blog or even whether I’ll have the time or rather will power to regularly put my thoughts into words and post it here. Put my thoughts into words.. yeah that’s what it will be.

So I will just ramble along about the stuff which amuse me and that I feel will interest others. Kinda weird thought considering the stuff that goes through my mind at different times. Anyways, here we go…

Happy bloggin to me and hope you enjoy reading…