Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

I am sure no Indian from my generation would ever forget the "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" song that was first televised on Independence Day of 1988 on Doordarshan immediately after Rajiv Gandhi's address to the nation. The film was produced by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, an initiative by the Ministry of Rural Development to promote public awareness. This first-of-its-kind film featured popular Indian achievers from all walks of life from musicians to sports persons to artists to film personalities. The film portrayed a beautiful amalgamation of diverse Indians and successfully captured the imagination of Indians at that time.

That gives me reason enough to feel excited when I heard the news that the song is now being recreated in 2010 as part of Republic Day celebrations. The Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad has since been disbanded and the initiative has been taken up by television channel Zoom TV (which IMHO is quite strange, given that I consider Zoom TV nothing more than a Bollywood gossip channel). Apparently it seems to have gotten the blessings of I&B ministry given that I&B minister Ambika Soni will unveil the song on 25th January.

I have read reports suggesting that the video would feature Indians of the new era.

Sports persons that have made the cut are Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal, Baibhung Bhutia. The film would be rather incomplete if it did not have any cricketer feature in it. At a minimum, I'd like to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid/Anil Kumble (both from Karnataka), Mahendra Dhoni and perhaps Saurav Ganguly. Representation from Hockey (Dhanraj Pillai is the only one that I can think of) is also a must - after all it is our national game.

On the acting front, Amitabh Bachchan stamps his authority by being the only individual to be featured in both versions of the song. He'd now be joined by his beta Abhishek and bahurani Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Not to be left far behind, best friends Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are in. Soha Ali Khan will snatch away the glory from Bachchan Sr. if she makes it to the video - Not many people know that little Soha featured in the original version alongside father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Representing the youngistan generation are Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and apparently even Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Anuskha Sharma (Wonder why?!?!)


Artists would be represented by AR Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Shreya Ghoshal, Shiamak Dawar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sivamani, Gurdas Mann, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and more.

On a personal front, I would have loved to see achievers from other walks of life, like business, media, social workers, politicians also to have featured in the video. That would have served a holistic purpose of the song. Another idea would have been to give the composition of the new song to AR Rahman considering the magic that he has worked with Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram.

Here's hoping that the new version is one up over the older one albeit these being big shoes to fill in.

Leaving with a few video links courtesy youtube.





And this is the "Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasveer" Ad. I am including it here since indigenously manufactured at the time of license raj era, Bajaj Scooters really was a case study. BTW, Bajaj last month announced that it would no longer be manufacturing Bajaj Scooters.

2010, India Vacation, Small businesses

Another year goes by. There wasn't much happening in 2009 apart from the move to Seattle and all the add-ons that come with a move. Spent a better part of the year in office given that the workload was heavy. Hoping against hope that 2010 will be a better year at work - It will only get crazier.

Have resolved to be a bit more regular at blogging. Will try for sure. Much like the risk that T20 poses to test cricket, I must concede that the 140 character microblogging at twitter has caused a loss of words and thoughts many a time.

Vacation in India was very good. Remained in Bombay almost throughout the 5 week period except a 3 day trip to Mahabaleshwar. The weather in Mahabaleshwar was pretty awesome (ranging from 10 to 20 celcius throughout). However I have now decided that from next time onwards, there wont be any more outings. Spending the same amount of money and energy, there are many ways to enjoy within Bombay itself.

Another noticeable aspect that I observed this time (although it isn't anything new) is the way in which small homegrown businesses run and flourish. Having seen the markets in the US where customer-is-the-king mantra rules the roost, it is shocking to see the apathy with which many businesses treat their customers. It appears as if "I dont care for you because I have too many other customers waiting in the queue waiting to buy from me at my terms"

Although it may be an oversimplification or exaggeration of market state, it does get really tempting to start and run a business in such an environment; all the more so because starting up a small business in the United States is no easy deal and the odds of succes IMHO are pretty low given the risk involved. I am not discounting the fact that starting up a business in India is also with risk and as the owner of the business, you are expected to, at times, run the show 100% i.e. do all that it takes to keep the show running. And when I say, all-that-it-takes, it means an all encompassing role - Do the most basic grassroot or mundane task with complete devotion, fervor and sometimes even ending up doing it more frequently that you'd like.

But what you can make-do without is a complete lack of innovativeness. Given the size of the market in India, you need not have a totally unique idea that no one else has implemented. You can start a business with exactly the same idea. As long as you get your implementation right odds are that you will end up having a good business; and if you are that lucky son-of-a-gun then you get volumes at a price point higher than your competitors.

Enough said for now. Will try to post more often this year. Lets see.

Mirabelle and Ray

Nice one:

"Some nights alone he thinks of her.
And some nights alone she thinks of him.
Some nights these thoughts occur at the same moment.
And Mirabelle and Ray are connected without ever knowing it..."

I get such kind of thoughts all the time :-)

Movie Updates

Feels like it has been a while since I posted a movie update. Watched a number of movies in the last few weeks/months. Here is a summary:

• Slumdog Millionaire - Nice. Nothing extraordinary. Rahman won so many accolades for this film. To me this was very ordinary work by the maestro. But, what to say, he won it because "It was written"
• Luck By Chance - Not Bad. Expected more based on reviews. Didn't get boring even for a second. So I'd pass it by.
• Dev D - Pathetic. Not sure why people are raving about it.
• Oye Lucky, Luck Oye - Disaster. Could not figure out whats going on in the movie.
• Billu Barber - Agree with the box office collections. This one is a dud.
• 13B - This is a decent flick. Wasn't expecting much from it but it is not bad after all. Can watch it at home on a DVD at night when no one is around and see the results.
• Halo - This 1996 children's movie is a neat watch. Arbit and arty. Little girl Benaf (Shasha) was sweet.
• Raaz 2 - Ordinary. Don't even remember how it was. That speaks.
• The Other End of the Line - Bring on the mush. Aah! I loved it. The best of the entire lot of movies. Mush. Dark chocolate. Watch it when in that kind of a mood. Saran girl is impressive. If someone ever knows if it is her voice in the film (in the American accent) or if it is dubbed, please drop me a line. That would be very important for Saran.
  
• Outsourced - Funny in parts. Some of the scenes are downright hilarious. Though such scenes are few and far between. On the whole it is just about passable.
• The Laws of Attraction - More mush. Decent lovey dovey movie. Easily watchable.
• Dil Kabaddi - Exceed expectations. It is better than the title.
  

Come to think of it 11 movies in 2-3 months ain't that bad after all.

The great Indian election tamasha

What is going to be the story of general elections 2009?

They say that it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. The dilemma that faces Congress is that Sonia isn't fat enough. The fat ladies that are going to sing (and make the bad boys sway to their tunes) are from the so called "Third Front" - Behenji Mayawati, Jayalalitha et al.

NDA looks stale, sounding like a broken record and playing the Jai Shri Ram card ever so often. Whats even worse is that the party seems to be dilly-dallying on the true stand and come out with a set of issues it wants to contest the elections on.
Even before we get some preliminary inkling as to which way the "Janaadesh" may be going, BJP seems to be in damage control - Attacking the prime minister, attacking Sonia, backing Varun Gandhi but not backing his statements, Jaitley fighting Rajnath, blaming Congress for the IPL fiasco (Moving IPL to SA IMHO was a smart move - In special times when tackling terror is a global nightmare, Chidambaram had every right to be as cautious as he did)

The UPA is in utter disarray - It has almost vanished. Perhaps they lack a deal clincher like Pramod Mahajan or Arun Jaitley adept at tough bargaining, winning regional allies and ending up with a seat share agreement that makes all parties happy. Going by the current scheme of things, the Congress would consider itself lucky if it were to win more than 15 seats in UP + Bihar combined. With the cowbelt gone from under its belt, it would take a miracle for UPA to reach anywhere close to even 250 seats.

More threatening is the situation with the so called allies of NDA and UPA. Power hungry netas from NDA/UPA regional allies would be willing to make a quick buck and get ministerial berths by supporting a Third Front government lead by someone like Maya or Jaya or Sharad. Our comrades from left would be more than willing to lead a helping hand in order to prevent "anti national" forces of BJP or Congress from ruling the country and plunging it into any further darkness. Parties like Shiv Sena, MNS may very well be won over by Pawar playing the "Marathi Manoos" card. Of course defections could be manufactured within BJP and Congress as well. But in the current day scenario, the third front jokers are running ahead in the race.

What emerges out of this great Indian election tamasha may not be known well until a week after the counting ends on 16th May. And inspite of this post, I am a firm believer that there is nothing that can be predicted in Indian General Elections.

In an emotional electorate like India, an assasination or a terrorist strike or a single master stroke from one player may turn the tide for or against it. Its getting interesting. Just that I don't want to see a situation where Pawar is the PM and he is being fed grapes by Maya and Jaya. A nightmare that would be!

Cream Centre

Undoubtedly one of my favouritest restaurants in the whole wide world. The Chana Bhatura that you get here cannot be had anywhere else in the world.
Been there thrice last month. The same quality and the same taste. It keeps getting better. The menu becomes more and more tongue tickling. Aaaah .. the mere thought makes me crave.
Thanks Cream Centre!!
Superb Food. Highly highly highly recommended. Branches in Chowpatty (best one, if you ask me), Bandra, Chembur and Mulund.
And if you ever go there on my recommendation, pay me back appropriately! :-)

(Before some stupid soul does my 'dhulaai'. The person pictured above in blue is not me)

Experience of flying from Atlanta to Bombay on the day of the attacks

Sapna and I were embarking on a 6 week long vacation to India. All excited. Day before thanksgiving, sitting in Kansas City Airport about to board the flight to Atlanta in 10 mins. Suddenly the phone rings; it was Dad. He says that Bombay is on siege and that terrorists have taken the city hostage. It is chaos and that he is calling so that we are not surprised by what we see when we land in Bombay.

Strange. I said to myself. Hard to believe. Checked a few websites. But very little information coming in. However, one thing that was imminent was that something not-so-nice has happened and happened in a big way.

Somehow we spend the 2.5 hours trying to solve Sudoku. As soon as we get off the plane in Atlanta, all the LCD television screens (generously placed everywhere throughout the airport) were beaming live pictures of the scene in Bombay through CNN (inset CNN-IBN - The channel that I unfailingly watch each morning with my cup of tea).

We were quite unsure if our 18 hr flight from Atlanta to Bombay would take off in such circumstances. There was chaos and confusion and people were frantically on their cell phones trying to get a first hand report from families in Mumbai. ATS Chief Karkare and top cop Salaskar had already been slain by the time we got our eyes on the TV screens.

*Confession* The first (and perhaps the only) thing that struck me was "Gosh! I can't be missing the TV coverage of such an event. Such a loss. There was a sense of deprivation". Sapna couldn't fathom how such a thought could even be on my mind. But it is what it is.

Meanwhile, the airline (Delta) had already contacted the US State Dept, who had checked with their counterparts at the Foreign Ministry (GoI). We had been cleared to take off. However the American crew with us would have to fly back to the US on the same flight i.e. They fly 18hrs from Atlanta to Bombay serving the passengers; a new set of crew boards the aircraft which flies back after a 4 hr break in Bombay back to Atlanta; the crew of the first flight fly back rightaway. Sounds pretty tiring!

On a separate note, Delta scores a 3 out of 3 in my book. Awesome aircraft, awesome crew, awesome food, awesome masala tea, awesome personal entertainment system. In short, fly Delta. It is one of the best experiences. If possible, book your seats online in an exit row and you won't even realize that you've spent 18hrs on the plane. (You would be longing to get back into the aircraft for your next flight ........ That was an exaggeration!)

So all the passengers (not sure about the crew) were frisked like crazy by special task officers and some by sniffer dogs before we boarded the flight. All carry on baggage for each and every passenger went through tremendous screening using machines that I had never ever seen in my life. In short, they did everything to make sure that the right security measures had been taken at their end and that the passengers felt secure (At least, I did. Just that I was missing the coverage :( )

Upon landing in India, immigration was funny. The lady at immigration asks me where is your visa. (FYI - It had expired and I had an AP and a visa revalidation appointment at the US Consulate). I gave a terse reply to her question, "Madam, Indian Passport hai". Why on earth does immigration require people entering their own country to produce a visa of the country they are coming in from is beyond my understanding. Now that utterly confused her. Unsure as to why an Indian passport holder does not need to have a valid visa to enter India, he asked his counterpart sitting next to her. Thankfully he asked the lady to let us go since we had Indian passports. Welcome to India :-)

Side Note ... Bombay airport may have been recently listed on Forbes worst airport in the world list. But it has become quite slick. Clean restrooms, plenty of restaurants, lounges (e.g. IIFA lounge), duty free and so on. I wouldn't rate it as world class by any standard. But ya, definitely quite decent. No free Wi-Fi btw. Not too good. Strangely, not sure if it was even available for purchase.

So we got the baggage very quickly. At customs, one of the Pandus ask me what flight I have taken. I replied "Delta" and he goes "Kuchh hai kya duty ke liye?". I said no and simply headed out. The day when Bombay was on siege, anyone could have entered the city without any checks on the luggage via international airport.

Jai Hind! Jai Maharashtra!

No wonder then that: "Bade shahron mein aise ek adh hadse hote rahte hain. Woh 5,000 logon ko marne aye the lekin humne kitna kum nuksan hone diya."

Bas Do Minute

If you are like me, you would likely have binged on Maggi 2-Minute Noodles oh so often.

However one thing that I have always wondered is how can this product be marketed as a 2-Minute noodle. I haven't found a single soul (and trust me, I know a lot of Maggi eating people around the world) who has been able to prepare the noodles start-to-finish in anywhere close to 2 mins. In fact, most people that I inquired need anywhere between 5 and 10.

No wonder then, that Nestlé does not market this product in the American market. Because if they did, I am sure some lucky soul will get a chance to become a very rich man.

Here's throwing an open challenge to one and all -- Go prepare your 2-minute instant noodle in 2 minutes.

Witnessing a Live Session at US Capitol (Same day as Indo-US Nuclear Deal was voted in!!)

Suspecting that we won't be living in Washington DC for too long, I, after a years effort woke up in time (read 7am) yesterday to visit the US Capitol from the inside.

It was a good day and the 30 min drive was well worth me waking up in the morning. Anyways, as it turned out, it wasn't absolutely essential for me to have woke up so early since entry passes were available well into the afternoon. We were told that in order to visit the gallery of the house of representatives we would need a letter from our senator or some congressional representative of our area. So that was a kind of a disappointment.

So we collected our 11:45am entry passes at the kiosk and had to spend a good couple of hours until our tour commences. Thats when we identified the US Botanic Garden, which we anyways were intending to visit. It was a well worth experience. One of the best such places I've ever seen. We were fed with fresh Raspberry-Basil & Strawberry-Mint smoothies. Quite healthy and therefore equally difficult for me to complete. To think that they were serving unlimited amount of smoothies to all visitors throughout the day, it is quite an effort.

Anyways, the tour did commence at 11:45 sharp. We were made to walk quite a lot on the periphery of the huge building. The security was good enough - Not as intrusive as at the airports but quite stringent none the same. Right before entering the building, we were handed headphones by our guide and these were wirelessly connected to a collar mic that he sported. Quite neat. And, BTW, all these tours are completely 'phokat'. That is one good thing about Washington DC - Nearly all museums and buildings are well maintained and yet have free entry as well as guided tours.

Remarkably grand and with an old world European architectural feel, the dome from the inside was stunningly magnificent. Our guide was quite knowledgeable and his antics were amusing. We saw the chamber that housed the offices of ex-presidents and how the acoustics of the room were so horrendous. We saw the office of speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chamber of the old supreme court. It was my first ever experience of seeing a court actually bearing some resemblance to the courtrooms that we are so used to seeing in American movies. The courtrooms that I have seen in Bombay (High Court and Sessions Court) have been quite an anti-climax to what I had expected to see (as depicted in umpteen Bollywood movies)

From there we headed to the gallery of the upper house of United States Congress, the Senate. Unfortunately photography wasn't permitted but we did witness the senator from Louisiana Mary Landrieu debating the financial bailout solution being proposed by the White House. It was a bit disheartening to see that only 10-15% of the seats were occupied in the house.

Much to our surprise, we were able to go about within the Capitol building (most of the areas) without anyone kicking us out or asking questions on why we are in the building. And we actually asked a lady from the staff if we can visit the gallery of the House of Representatives (Lower House) and she gave us the passes to enter the gallery of this august house. Of course, it was preceded with one more round of unintrusive security scanning but at least they allowed us to enter the gallery while the house was in session. We saw representatives from NJ, OK and VA heatedly debating on some health care legislation. It was a great experience to catch the house in session in person. The number of representatives actually paying attention to the session was very low. There were numerous side conversations going on - seemed like a general socializing session. Although it was heartening to see that the speaker had good measure and control over the house (unlike India where the hapless speaker can do very little to control the unruly MPs).

What we did miss, and by very little, is the voting that the house of representatives went through over the Indo-US nuclear deal. I think we must have missed it by a couple of hours at the most. I feel proud just to think that I was witnessing the session of the US House of Representatives the day when they voted in favor of the Indo-US nuclear deal. It would have been an icing on the cake had I seen them debate or vote on the matter. One of those things where I cannot say to myself "Better luck next time"!

War of Words

For the last seven years I have been very regularly reading Vir Sanghvi's Counterpoint on HT. I have been a great admirer of his style and the subjects he chooses to write on each Sunday for the readers.

In this age of 24 hour news channels there won't be a single day on prime time television where we don't get to see politicians taking potshots at each other; at times their fights are reminiscent of the fights, we as kids, used to have when debating a controversial run out decision while playing box cricket in our building compound. And the journalists are like those kids who gain sadistic pleasure as the discussion leads to a physical cat fight.

What we also see with great regularity (and which I agree is very annoying as well as amusing) is the way in which all these news channels (more markedly the one's in Hindi) stake claim that a particular piece of news is being bought exclusively to the viewers by their channel (e.g. Aaj Tak - Sabse Tez, Hum apne darshako ko bata de ki Harbhajan Singh ki mataji ki pratikriya sabse pehle apne darshako tak keval Zee News lekar aaya hai). The hilarious news being televised these days on news channels merits an entire post, if not an entire blog in itself.

However, and surpringly, we have never quite seen senior journalists confront each other in open and question each other, say the way in which Karan Thapar grills his prey each week on CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate. That is the reason it shocks me today to read noted political commentator Ramchandra Guha's dissection of Sanghvi's Counterpoint column from the previous week in the same newspaper.

Guha begins his spell of bowling with a well directed boucer -

"Sanghvi’s one-sided approach is (as I shall presently show) at odds with the historical record. But it is also at odds with his own record as a political analyst"

To Guha's credit, the content of the column does make very interesting reading and it provides a different dimension to Rajiv Gandhi's years in office. That being said though, one can't but gets a feeling that the article is being written with a primary motive to take on Sanghvi than to drive home a point on Rajiv Raj. Why else would you find names being taken so openly by such senior journalists?

This does open up a can of worms in my mind. Is the newspaper trying to purposely create a war between two of its own journalists? I don't think this has ever been tried at this level (journalists of very high stature and repute) in India. While it may not augur well for quality journalism, but it may certainly bolster the sales of newspaper (hits on website). It certainly would be mouthwatering to see two such journalists wrestle it out week after week - Very interesting prospect.

And if not, then well, why don't try the approach. It would bring out some very interesting news items which the people may have never ever seen. As it is, our nation seems to love dramas of this kind - Be it the gossip on Bigg Boss or be it The Big Fight on NDTV. We, as a nation, just love the big bang, don't we?

Go Sanghvi Go!! Let the game begin!

California Pizza Kitchen

Visited this place after a gap of over 4 years. Still remains as good as ever.

Had a Pesto Cream Penne (Asked them use Pesto very liberally so that there is a good flavor of Basil and that the Pasta doesn't feel dry) followed by Italian Tomato and Basil Pizza.

Both items were superb. Enough to fill two people just perfectly. Didn't feel like I had over eaten.

Human Mind Album

Beyond doubt our human mind is a huge album of images. Thousands and thousands of them, and all of these keep getting pulled up randomly with auto generated patterns.

For instance, on listening Axl Rose sing "Sweet Child O' Mine", there is an image of me standing in RAIT (my college of engineering in New Bombay) ground floor near the Chemistry Lab. I am not even sure if I have ever stood in that place listening this song. But it has stuck. (Music)

Or on seeing one of those golden orange evenings it quickly transcends me to one such evening in Bombay. I do have a complaint that such evenings are really hard to come by so frequently in any place other than Bombay. (Weather / Nature)

Sometimes we meet or see people who have a strange resemblance (not necessarily in physical appearance, but maybe the style of talking, the content of discussion, mannerisms, etc.) with someone that we know. That occasionally causes us to lose focus on what the person is talking about because the mind just digresses into a different tangent. (Meetings / People)

If I were to go on a drive at the night, one of the images that unfailingly appears in front of me is the drives we used to go on in Cyprus. That internal route from Limassol to Larnaca via Zygi by the sea. One Lane on each side of an undivided road - No streetlights - Mountains to the left and sea on the right - Moon rising from the sea with a tubelight reflection to behold. Beautiful!! Serene!! The picture is perfect in the mind that I literally can feel myself being right there. So every time we go on a drive by night, my wife has to hear go through this vivid description again and again and again. (Activities)

Whats sets it further apart is that the brain can construct images on complete imagination. Images that the eyes has never seen. Images about things that have never been described or may not even exist physically. I bet that every person has an image(s) of a ghost or a monster in their minds. And they also very clearly remember a nightmare that they had seen even if it was many years ago. (Dreams)

Words are powerful. And as usual, as strong a thing as words, cannot be left behind in the image generation model of the brain. Even a slightest utterance of the words "Shiv Sagar" actually brings up the image of a Pav Bhaji in my mind; which is odd since Shiv Sagar, when taken literally would mean the ocean of lord Shiva. (Words)

Try this on yourself. Ask someone to just name a place to you. Your mind will most likely automatically bring up an image of that place immediately in front of you. Example: Colaba brings up Taj Mahal and Gateway of India, New York brings up an image of me taking a boat ride encircling Manhattan, Formula 1 brings an image of Red Ferrari driven by Michael Schumacher and so on. (Places)


Music, Nature, People, Activities, Dreams, Words and Places are a few instruments that aid in retrieving pictures from human brain album.

Fascinating.

I wish to capture such associations (Song-Image, Words-Image, Event-Image and so on) on this platform. Lets see how successful I'd be.

Back

Back after a hiatus of 20 months. Feels great. Will try to be more regular on this space.

 

Several events of great significance (like my marriage) have occurred during this period that I am not going to touch upon. At least not for now.

 

Will (attempt to) make a fresh start.

Chal 'Guru' Ho Ja Shuru ...

Watched Guru today at a very crappy movie theatre - A dollar theatre to be precise. The screen was very small and sound quality abysmal.
The film manages to be true to my high expectations.

Read the complete review here.

Rest in the Next.

What's going on?

I flew to Dallas on Friday (birthday) evening to meet friends. (Managed permission to work from home for a few days - So, was in Dallas till new year).

Friday morning was going to be quite crazy at work - Decided to call up home on Thursday night - Spoke with Mom and Dad, B and K called up at 11 pm ET. Meanly turned off my cell only to realize that there have been quite a few missed calls. Felt guilty :-(

Received calls all day on Friday from quarters least bit expected. That I started writing this post on Friday evening from the airport but could barely write a para is a testament to this. It was really very sweet of so many people to actually think about me and about making my day special. Though, what's scary is the responsibility of reciprocation. I perhaps am not good enough or particular enough to wish everyone back on their respective birthdays, which would make me feel guilty and would be a moral infraction and all that ....

Dallas was super cool (Well not literally ... The weather was awesome for someone like me traveling from Kansas - I could go out wearing shorts at 11 in the night - What else can one ask for?). What with we celebrating two birthdays in as many days. My friend AKS's birthday falls one day after me (Saturday)

Had another friend of mine V based in India and was coincidentally visiting Dallas this time. 4 people - 1 apartment - Loads to talk - Tons of fun ... Performed the usual Bigg Boss jig where we nominated people to be thrown out of the apartment. To my dismay AKS was not kicked out by a landslide. In fact it was even stevens between V and him. Just an example how these people from UP play nasty politics!! :-)

Anyways, holidays were cool .... didn't go anywhere too far. New Year Party was at Hotel Intercontinental. Some desi party that had Bally Sagoo as the DJ. Music was rocking. Heard such phenomenal music after ages. Felt good. Hopefully the 'feel good' will continue through the new year as well.

Now that I am back and after having posted the birthday and new year blog as well as this one, it feels good ... I'll try to be more regular in posting ... (Sounds so much like a new year resolution ... but it isn't ..!!)

Birthday & New Year

22nd December 2006 - "27 gone!"

It is funny in a nice way that my b'day falls in the end of December. I can summarize a year of my life in parallel with the gregorian calendar year.

The past year has by far been the most learning of my life - Not because of incident(s) in my life - In fact it has been quite far from being eventful. So weird that at the threshold of a new year there is so much of hullabaloo within you and how it all fizzles out as the year goes by - But still year after year, this zealous feeling stays put. That said, I am quite excited and so looking forward to the Year 28 of my life (and in essence CY 2007) - Lets see how ordinarily special it turns out to be! Isn't it the beauty of these unknown variables in the equation of life that make it so interestingly difficult to crack ...!

The happenings in the lives of a few friends over the past year have been incredibly tragic and traumatic - To see them live with it, face it and overcome them did enable a new vision within me - The process instilled that sense of helplessness and courage, both at the same time. Interesting how tough times teach a person so much so soon. But whats even more interesting is how tough times from some friend's life teaches you things that you could never have imagined learning from him/her. It has just been that kind of a year. When irony and metaphor have turned from figures of speech into expressions and parts of life.

The past year saw me wear the writer's hat in blogosphere after having been an avid reader for a fairly long time. It presents an instrument for expressing myself - A manifestation of my thoughts, joys, frustrations, prejudices, opinions, expectations, dilemmas, dreams, dreadfulness, weaknesses and perhaps much much more or a lot lot less. It is a reflection of the contradictions and the paradoxes that occupy my mindspace.

On the spiritual side, the ingestion of ideas and the assimilation of thoughts might have been worthwhile. But like each year, it somehow felt (hurt) that action and implementation of the same is not complete. Status quo on this front as compared to the last. Hopefully this new year I will be able to do better - At the least, I hope to try (make an effort) in spite of a guaranteed failure (since attaining a 100% is not a matter of a year ... but stepping stone it can be)

But this year has been special in the way of finding friends or perhaps more than that. Seldom do you come across people with whom there is this instant bond. Where words fall short to describe the special kinship that is beyond the realm of ordinary. And then again there is this enigma (remember those unknown variables) as to if and how long and to what extent will this last. I'll let time be the judge (Don't even have a choice!). All this becomes so pertinent when I assess the status of relationships with a few friends that appeared so ever-lasting not so long ago and going cold within no time. On the plus side, I joined a community created by this gentleman by the name Orkut Buyukkokten. It helped me re-establish ties with so many long lost friends. It has been quite a splendid experience so far. And, this is my official thank you to him. Thanks Orkut!!

Alright, what else?? So it was a year:

• Where I think I became wiser by the day. The thought process (but not the thoughts) became more and more incisive and aggressive.
  
• Where I presented myself with those new gizmos.
• Where I continued to envy people who write so well and dance so well and think so well and act so well and behave so well and ... And how I wish to be like them but cannot.
• Where I enjoyed so much but maybe could have enjoyed so much more.
• Where I went to India for a fortnight and had a blast.
• Where I traveled a few places and met friends and family
• Where I was treated by some extraordinary music and movies and some way below par.
• Where the sheer disgust on the shameless performance of our cricket team faded away to pave way for indifference.
• Where I felt really sorry for the state of affairs in our country - That the brightest brains (doctors) were lathi charged and teargassed in front of the media eye and outside the residence of our Hon. Human Resource Minister by the police of the country.
• Where it became hard for me to understand how media termed the compulsiveness and helplessness of Bombayites returning to work a day after the blasts as the 'Spirit of Bombay'. Common media, you are a lot better than that!!
  
• Where my professional and personal life both did fairly well, but just like everything else, I hope for them to do even better in the coming year. Ya, for a change I do have a hope that this new year will be 'happening' in more ways than one.

Looking forward to the interesting times ahead ....!! Lets see whats in store ....!!


Belated Happy Birthday to me and Happy New Year to All. Hope you have a wonderful 2007.

Birthday Post Removed

For reasons unknown to me and all, I have removed the earlier post on my birthday. I am editing what I had posted earlier. The content of the earlier post (for those who have read) would be split into two distinct posts. Watch this space for updates.

E-Mail of The Day

Saw this e-mail first up today morning:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rutwij Diwanji
Date: Dec 17, 2006 7:53 AM
Subject: Holy India!!!

There are two groups belonging to the higher caste that are currently on strike in India.

• One is group of priests of Jagannath temple for allowing Dalits to enter the holy temple.

• Other group of fledgling IIT Kanpur students for allowing Dalits to enter the holy institution.

What a travesty..............

Super Thought!!! Way to go RDX!!!

Kabul Express

Watched it on Saturday Morning at AMC. Decent Flick.

My Complete Review: Click Here

Nothing too much more to write on this.

* Dialogue Spoiler Warning *

A dialogue from the film that got me thinking (Not in exact words) --

Pakistani Talib: Hum hamesha se bola hai 'Madhuri Dixit do, Kashmir lo'
Arshad Warsi: Par Khan Saab, Madhuri to shaadi karke America chali gayi hai
Pakistani Talib: Sala, yahi to problem hai apne mulko ke saath. Hamaari saari acchhi cheezein America chali jaati hai!!!

Vivah Apna Sapna

Straight to the point, "Apna Sapna Money Money" is a nightmare of a film, the sorts that would work only if it were a horror flick. This one's so ridiculously pathetic that I wonder how on mother earth can people like this film.
It does not deserve space on The Review Point. A real shame. I wouldn't have wasted time posting this one, had PP not coaxed me into writing this. (How giving of me :-))
Ritiesh "Dittu" Deshmukh was decent and that's about it. I couldn't finish the entire film.

Another film I watched yesterday evening is "Vivah". Could manage just 25 minutes of it before the inevitable ... Am tempted to ask you lovely people to multiply the description above by 2 (minus Dittu) - But, then I remember my Class 2 Math - Anything multiplied by a zero is a zero.

That's Time.