What is with English?

English was my favorite language in childhood. When was just 2 years old, I would go up to my dad and ask him to teach me English. This was a story that my father would proudly tell, for a long time, to anyone who cared to listen. That aside, there was something about English that attracted me. And now it pains to see it butchered.

Consider the SMS language - have is spelt hv, ur is your, d is the, 4 is for and many more. Then there are the new acronyms - 2G4Y is too good for you, LOL is for laughing out loud, etc.

This kind of writing is not just used in SMS but sometimes also in official letter. I was appalled to see a official letter for my junior filled with the 'SMS language'. This was not just my experience, a lot of others in office faced this. This prompted the management to conduct a training on letter writing and email etiquette's for the freshers in the company.

Sad state of affiars for English. A English and Communication Skills program has been added by a few universities for the engineering students. I don't know if the same is done in othwer streams too. Good step to solve the issue.

Aaja Nachle

With great expectations I walked into a movie hall on Saturday evening to catch Madhuri Dixit's comeback movie, Aaja Nachle. Aaja Nachle is written by Jaideep Sahani, of the Chak de India fame and hence the expectation bars were raised a little further. Does it live up to the expectations? Yes, Madhuri does and No, Jaideep doesn't.

The movie is about the home coming of Dia (Madhuri Dixit) who returns to her town Shamali when she gets a call from her dying Guruji. He has left her the daunting task of reviving the Ajantha Theatre, where she learnt dance, which is now in shambles. The MP of Shamali Raja Saheb (Akshaye Khanna) has decided to build a mall by destroying the theatre. He challenges Dia to either generate interest for dance in the people of the town in 2 months or allow the mall to be built. The rest of the movie is all about how she gathers the people of the town and choreographs an extravagant Laila-Majnu dance drama.

The ups of the movie - Madhuri Dixit, Madhuri Dixit and more Madhuri Dixit. She is the life soul and everything of the movie. You keep searching for her in every shot. Remove her and her dances and the movie falls flat. Not only does she look drop dead gorgeous, she dances like as always - with ease and grace. She is, without doubt the best dancer in Bollywood. She looks a old, but then she plays her age in the movie so thats ok.
The last Laila Majnu sequence is visually amazing. Well shot and choreographed. Kudos to Vaibhavi for her choreography.

The downs - The script is a little boring. There is no mention of how exactly do the characters of the play or even the people of the town start liking and respecting dance. The story is too predictable and some songs are little out of place.

The support cast is good. Ranvir Shoery deserves a mention. Irfan Khan is wasted. Kunal Kapoor and Konkana don't have much to do. The transformation of Konkana is shot well. Music, except for the title track isn't nothing to write about.

All in all, if you are a hard core Madhuri fan like me, you'll like the movie. Else you can skip it.

Cough - Home remedies.

Cough has been my loyal companion since childhood. After having tried many different medicines and remedies, I met a Ayurveda doctor who prescribed some simple diet restrictions for me. The day I don't follow the restrictions, the cough is back, but leaves in a couple of days.

As a result of my long association with cough, I have had a lot of people give me different remedies. From auto drivers to maids, from college lecturers to bus drivers, from aunts to neighbors, all have advised me. Most of them have helped. Below is a list of some of them which helped me.

• The best home remedy for cough is gargling and steaming. Gargling with warm salt water or even with mouth wash helps. Steaming with a little eucalyptus oil added to the water does wonder for both cough and cold.
  
• Tulsi-Ginger tea soothes your throat and clears chest congestion. In two glasses of water add generous amount of tulsi and some squashed fresh ginger Boil till water becomes 1 glass. Add jaggery if needed. Drink hot.
• Fresh ginger juice mixed with honey is good to clear chest congestion.
  
• Honey with freshly ground pepper powder gives relief from throat irritation.
  
• A piece of clove or some sugar crystals suppresses the cough. Not a cure though but helpful nevertheless.
  
• A glass of milk with honey/turmeric in the night is also a decent cure.

Make sure that you have warm liquids only.

This is just a compilation from my experiences. Hope it helps.

Om Shanti Om

Its the 1970's. Subhash Ghai is shooting the now hit and classic song Om Shanti Om. Rishi Kapoor flings his jacket and it land in the audience right on Shah Rukh Khan. This is the opening sequence of the latest Shah Rukh Khan movie - Om Shanti Om.Shah Rukh plays Om Prakash Makhija, a junior artist. He, like all junior artists dreams of making it in the big league some day. His dreams are asserted by his filmi mother Bela (Kirron Kher) and his side kick Pappu (Sheryas Talpade). He also is deeply, madly in love with super star/dream girl Shanti Priya (Deepika Padukone). One day in typical Bollywood style he saves her from fire and gains her friendship. He also learns that Shanti is already married to the producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal). Mehra once gets Shanti to the set of their new movie and sets it on fire with Shanti trapped inside. Our hero attempts to help but is killed in the process.Now he is reborn as Om Kapoor to a super star Rajesh Kapoor. All the dreams of his past life have come true. Thanks to some cancelled shooting, he remmebers his past too. Now he wants to avenge his and Shanti's death. Deepika is also back as a fan of Om Kapoor.

There are some enjoyable sequences in the movie. Watch out for the Tamil super star sequence, the first sence between Kirron Kher and Shah Rukh, the references to Sooraj Bharjatya and Govinda, most of the comic sequences and many more.

Shah Rukh is a super star and plays one. He is great in the movie, but looks old in some of the 70's sequence. Deepika is good in her debut. Half of Bollywood make special appearences in the movie.SRK and FK have half of Bollywood in the movie. Missing noteable are the 70's heroines.

The story is cliched and you know whats happening next. No suprises come your way. The comedy is good but nothing compared to the one in Main Hoon Na. The music is enjoyable.

The movie is total masala and paisa vasool only if you leave your brains and logic at home when you watch it.

Madhuri is Back!!!!

The million dollar smile is back on big screen. Yes, the gorgeous Madhuri Dixit is back!!!!!
The promos of the new Madhuri Dixit movie Aaja Nachle are all over the small screen. And she looks drop dead gorgeous - a little old but yet gorgeous. And from what I read about the movie, she plays her age and a dancer in the movie.

The movie is releasing on November 30. I might not be able to catch the movie for at least a week after the release. (We are moving houses that weekend) Will surely catch it as soon as possible.

Another 'After a long time...'

I'm back after another sabbatical. The sabbatical was wonderful as it was filled with my Master...I attended Navrathri completely, almost all the homas, did seva during Navrathri, assisted and organized an Basic course in Kaggadaspura after that, then went for an Advanced course with Guruji during Diwali. I also had the house warming ceremony of our new apartment in between all this.

The advance course as usual was amazing and its timing couldn't have been better. I had a lot of doubts, apprehensions and botherations and all of them were taken care by Him in His own unique way. Bhakti, Seva and Knowledge were reinforced.

The house warming ceremony went well. We over estimated the guest count and so some food went waste. Also Arvindh was at his elemental best - present only for the important part of the function and absent for the 'back-stage' work. My patience was tested again.

Work front - nothing much. Work isn't as interesting as it used to be few months ago. Looking for some options.

Jab We Met...

There were many reasons why I picked up a ticket for Jab We Met - I loved the promos and songs, I loved the previous movie from its director, Imtiaz Ali, it had been quite a while since I watched a movie in a theater, etc etc...I did enter the movie hall with some expectations and the movie lived up to all of those and more.

The story is simple. Dumped by his previous girl friend and lost in business guy, Aditya (Shahid Kapur) meets an overtly talkative and bindas gal Geet (Kareena Kapoor) on a train. She irritates him to the core and he makes her miss the train. She insists he drop her home - 'Sikhni hoon main Bhatinda ki'. Their road trip to reach Bhatinda is filled with many enjoyable sequences - like the 'Decent Hotel' one. Family is overwhelmed and arrange wedding bells for Geet with her childhood love Manjeet. Geet loves another guy and plans to run away. Aditya helps her and returns to his life, with new found enthusiasm. Months later, family comes to Aditya asking for Geet. Now our hero has to find her and get her back home.

What makes the movie wonderful is the script and the direction and the actors and the characterization and the chemistry and just everything. Even the ending has no rona dhona, its just simple and lovely. Some memorable scenes include - the Decent Hotel one, the badbad of Geet in the train (Mujhe bachpan se he na shadi karne ka bada shauk hai by God), the way Anshuman is treated when he reaches Geet's place, Geet acting that Aditya is her boy friend and many more.The music also is great and all songs are lovely. My favorite is Tumse hi and Yeh Ishq hai.

Kareena for once is lovable. Shahid is great. The only chink in the armor is Tarun Arora. He is a pathetic actor, but I laughed at his stupid looks on screen.

I put this movie among the sweetest love stories made by Bollywood. The list now is - DDLJ, Maine Pyar Kiya, Jab We Met, Love Story and QSQT.

Significance of Navaratri

Navaratri is beginning tomorrow. I got this mail regarding the significance of Navaratri. Sharing it.

Navratri, Navaratri or Navaratra is a festival of worship and dance. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava - Nine and Ratri - nights. The festival is celebrated for nine nights twice every year during mid-March and the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the Hindu lunar calendar, the festival may be held for a day more or a day less depending on the calendar.

The nine days represent the nine months spent by the baby in the mother’s womb. It represents the evolution of the consciousness toa heightened awareness.

In life, there are positive and negative qualities that affect us. Navaratri represents how the negativity can be conquered by the inherent positive qualities in an individual so that one emerges as a divine being.

Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess or goddesses. On the first three days, the goddess is invoked as a powerful spiritual force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects.

During the next three days, the Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees the inexhaustible wealth.

The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the wife of Brahma as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, we need the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence, the worship for nine nights.

During Navaratri, some devotees of Durga observe a fast and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property. A period of introspection and purification, Navaratri is traditionally an auspicious time for starting new ventures.

On the tenth day of October Navratri, the holiday of Dussehra, an effigy of Ravana is burnt to celebrate the victory of good (Rama) over evil.

In our Art of Living Bangalore Ashram, when such a celebration happens, it is done for the benefit of all of humanity. It is done with an intention that all the people should be happy; there should be good rainfall, prosperity in the country and so on. Many 'homas' are conducted with the chanting of 'mantras' creating an atmosphere of positivity and celebration.

Garba during Navaratri
A Hindu religious, traditional festival of goddess of power - Amba or Durga for the first nine nights of the month Ashwin of the Vikram year. The word Garba comes from the sanskrit word Garbha deep. The closest meaning of Garbha in the English language is "inside" or "womb", as inside of an earthen pot which people still use to store drinking water. The word Deep means lamp (diya), a burning cotton wick in oil in a small earthen vessel. People in western India do
Ghat Sthapana, which is an earthen pot with holes in it, and decorated with colors, patterns, mirrors, etc, with a diya inside.

Traditionally, Navratri was celebrated by Hindu women only, in the honor of goddess Amba/Durga. Amba/Durga is believed to be a Shakti, originating from Lord Shankara.

Women would put this Garbha deep in the center, as a symbol of shakti/goddess. And at the rhythm of prayers/bhajanas they will be dancing with clapping in concentric circles around the Garbha Deep or Garbo. Although dandiya raas is also somewhat associated with garba, it is originating from a totally different root. Dandiya raas was traditionally performed by men only.

This dance/art originated in western part of Gujarat state in India. The dandiya is actually a pair of bamboo or any wooden sticks of the length 1.5 to 2 feet (45 to 60 cm). Men would hold these sticks in hand, and start with a circular formation. Traditionally, this was a pseudo practice of the sword fight with footwork, you can call it as in poomse in Tae Kwon Do or Kata in Karate. And that is the reason it was performed by men only. It is a highly energetic sort of exercise. You will still find these traditional movements and forms of Dandiya raas in Saurashtra (Western Gujarat). This was an excellent social tradition of incorporating goddess with an art of
swords and also with entertainment, when there were many invasions happening on small kingdoms and almost every man in society was responsible for his region's and community's safety.

Significance of 9 Nights
1st - 3rd day of Navratri
On the first day of the Navaratras, a small bed of mud is prepared in the puja room and barley seeds are sown on it. These initial days are dedicated to Durga Maa, the Goddess of power and energy.

4th - 6th day of Navratri
During these days, Lakshmi Maa, the Goddess of peace and prosperity is worshipped.

7th - 8th day of Navratri
These final days belong to Saraswati Maa who is worshipped to acquire the spiritual knowledge. This in turn will free us from all earthly bondage. But on the 8th day of this colourful festival,
yagna (holy fire) is performed.

Mallik's comments

During the presentation of the 20-20 final, the first few words said by the Pakistan captain showed how narrow minded they are. These were his exact words

“First of all I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and wherever Muslims live all around the world. I'm sorry, we didn't win, but promise, we gave our 100%. And I want to thank my teammates. They gave their 100%, I want to thank them."

Beware Mr.Mallik, not all Muslims living around the world were praying for your team's victory. There were two in the Indian team and many more in India praying for an Indian win.

I wondering if no one noticed his words, but found this article.

Anyway, re-reading HP n DH.

100 not out

My hundredth post.

Its been a great journey so far. And I have enjoyed every bit of it. Writing has been my love for quite some time and this blog has given me a platform for the same.

Yeahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Misbah's mistake

Got this hilarious forward...

T20 FINAL - MISBAH'S MISTAKE!!

MISBAH THOUGHT HE WAS SENDING THE BALL TO A PLACE WHERE THERE WAS NO ONE.

HE DID NOT KNOW THAT THERE IS A MALLU IN EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD!!!

World T20 Champions INDIA

India won the final but just. It could have gone either way. I think India were lucky to win. But its a win nevertheless. And India are the champions...

The game was swinging like a pendulum. When it started India lost 2 quick wickets and Pakistan were on top. Then the partnership of 64 between Gambhir and Yuvraj, and India were sneaking back, but the quick wickets of Dhoni and Yuvraj, and Pakistan were back. The last 2 overs India did get some quick runs, but a target of 158 for Pakistan was very much get-able. By the end of Indian innings, Pakistan were surely on the top.

In the second innings the pendulum swung like it was possessed. India had a dream start with a wicket in first over. But Sreesanth gave away the advantage with the 21 run over. RP again got it India's way with Akmal's wicket. But Nazir carried on. Then the brilliant throw for Nazir's wicket and India were back. Some smart captaincy, good bowling by Pathan and reckless batting by Pakistan and the pendulum stayed in India's court till the 16th over. Then Misbah decided to win the match single handed. Harbhajan and Sreesanth were the sufferers of this decision. But Sreesanth did get a wicket and Pakistan were 8 down. RP bowled another great over with a wicket. Joginder was given the last over 13 to get from 6, 1 wicket remaining. Wide first ball, 12 to get from six. Dot next ball, 12 to get from 5. Misbah swung his bat, 6 second ball. Pakistan were on the brink of victory. 1 wicket to get. Then Misbah goofed up and gave the cup to India in a platter. He tried to scoop the ball over the keeper, but ended up giving a catch to Sreesanth. India are the champions.




And the winning moment...

Saas Bahu out, reality show in...

Its finally happening. The TRPs of Kyuki has fallen and it isn't the numero uno show for 4th week in running. Its Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which is ruling the roost. Check out this article.
Finally!!!!!!!!!

The Dream Final

The dream final is here - India vs Pakistan. The dream will be complete when India wins. The Indians are on a roll but so are the Pakistanis. Both of them have a illustrious list of 'Teams defeated to reach final'. As always, India's batting and Pakistan's bowling are the highlights. This doesn't take anything away from India's current bowling attack or Pakistan's batsman, but its just that we are know for our batting and they for bowling.

So, the peak hour traffic jams will be shifted to 4pm from the usual 7pm. The movie halls, malls and roads will wear a deserted look. And every Indian will be offering prayers to their choicest Gods.

Go India...Chakde India...

Sixy Yuvi

Yuvraj Singh extracted sweet revenge for the five sixes with six sixes. Its a nice watch...

Heyy Babyy...huh

I know men too have emotions. You don't have to make an excuse for a movie to prove it. But director Sajid Khan felt otherwise. His only intention, according to me, was to prove just that.

Three men, Aroush (Akshay), Tanmay (Ritesh) and Al (Fardeen) live like there is no tomorrow. But there life takes a u turn when a baby lands at there doorstep. They don't know who the father is and make a list of all women they slept with in the past year. They don't care for the baby and drop the baby at a church. But their conscience pricks and they go back to see that the baby is seriously ill. They rescue the baby from there, a miracle saves the baby and turns the 3 men into dotting fathers. Out goes daaru and in comes doodh. Then when they are really attached to the baby, bang comes baby's mom Esha(Vidya Balan) and takes her away. The 3 men try different antics to get the baby back. And oh ya...Aroush is the actual father of the baby.

The story line seems ok, but the direction isn't. Sajid Khan makes his actors do the same antics that he does on the small screen. The songs are fine and enjoyable.

The best thing about the movie is Ritesh's Marathi. I loved the way he sprinkles Marathi inbetween dialogues.

Not recommended for a second watch.

SRK's bod

SRK's newly acquired abs is the talk of the town. Honestly he looks more like a devil than anything great. There are somethings that are better not opened and one of them is SRK's shirt.

IFA Berlin

While flipping channels last night I caught some part of the show Gadget Guru on NDTV. I like this show mainly because it helps me lengthen my wish list. They were showing products from IFA Berlin. Some things that I added from the show to my wish list are the 5.1 ch tall tower speakers, a sleek MP3 player(forgot the brand name), the digital photo frame (loved the concept) and the Mustang with the music system that he showed. Wow!!!!!

Its been long since I wrote. Lots of things have been happening.

At work, there was appraisals held. There was a minuscule salary revision. Its like management hum pe taras kha raha hai ya phir hum pe ehsan kar rahe hai increment de ke. If you have seen that timesjob ad "Working for peanuts", then you know exactly how I'm feeling. Contemplating on a shift. The only thing thats stopping me is that too many shifts don't look good on a resume. Also MS1 got accepted. Finally!!! Lets see what are the incentives that they'll give us.

At home, the apartment is almost done. We might start the woodwork soon. We are even discussing the grahapravesh date. The options are October 26th or November 15th. I like the 26th. Depends on the carpenter.

Papa Kehte hai

There are many movies which have vanished without a trace in the box office, but there music lingers around. One such movie is Papa Kehte Hai. This Anupam Kher, Mayuri Kango and Jugal Hansraj starter was a much hyped movie with some great music. Music was by Rakesh Roshan and lyrics Javed Akhtar.

The most famous song from the album was Ghar se nikalte he. Nice song but if you have seen the movie you'll realize that there is no connection between the situation and the lyrics of the song. The other song that did well is Pehle pyar ka pehle gum, sung beautifully by Kavitha Krishnamurthy.

There are other nice songs like Mujhse naaraz ho to ho, Ye jo thodese hai paise, Jadoo bhari aakho wali suno and Pyar mein hota hai kya jadoo. Pyar mein is my favourite. You can listen/download the songs here.

Chake de India

I watched Chake De India last night. And I loved it. Here are some of the reasons why

• Its a sports film where the sport isn't cricket.
• The sport is the forgotten national sport of India - Hockey.
  
• Shah Rukh Khan is great. He looks smart, subdued, isn't romancing anyone and acts. The only other movie he has acted is Swades.
  
• The range of emotions - patriotism, sportsmanship, team work and a bit of cricket & male bashing. (Shah Rukh saying, "Hamare hockey mein chake nahi hote hai")
  
• The hockey looks real. The players aren't some models trying to play hockey. Some are models and some are actual players. It seems they all underwent a 3 month rigorous hockey training before shooting the movie.
• Screenplay & dialogues are great. It not that you are at the edge of your seat but it doesn't bore you in any way.
• Makes you wish you were a sports person. Wish you too could represent your country.
  
• Pretty realistic.

A must watch movie. I wouldn't mind another watch.

Great site

I found this great site BTIS about Bangalore traffic. It gives you live traffic situation in the city. It also gives you directions around the city with the auto fares also. There is also a car pool club.
BTIS is a partnership of Mapunity, Airtel, and Bangalore Traffic Police .
Browse around the site (http://www.btis.in/) and know more.
I've added an widget from the site which gives live traffic situation in Bangalore.

Weather & Savings

The weather is very inviting, so is the hot cup of soup, the warm cozy couch at home, the TV remote and a romantic movie on the TV. But I have to spend my day with a piece of code and a computer, shivering in an AC room. Life!!!

I have been shopping a lot now-a-days. I bought a new mobile - Nokia 5300. After almost a year, I'm using a brand new mobile. Its pretty decent. Has a 1.3 megapixel camera, a music player, radio, and some other stuff. You can read the specifications here. Then I bought a 512MB memory card for it. I bought a pen drive (misplaced my previous one during Women's Conference), a jacket and some clothes. For the house I bought an iron board, a ladder, a clothes dryer and a steam cooker. All this in 2 weeks. All my careful saving of the past few months, disappeared in 2 weeks.

Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows

July 21, 6.30 am...Like all Potter-maniacs, Sowmya and me joined the long queue in front of Strand Book Stall to collect our pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows. It felt like waiting at the gateway of King Cross station, waiting to cross the barrier and enter the platform 9 3/4, out of the Muggle world, into the magical world. It was a good 15 minute wait before we laid our hands on our copies. We quickly got out of the store, and on the way back, I read out the first chapter for both of us. We had breakfast together, discussing the first chapter and what might be in store for us in the book. We parted promising to message (but no spoilers) when we finish the book. I couldn't spend much time reading that day. Decided to spend the night with Harry ;-)

Finally finished it at six in the morning on Sunday. Sowmya and me had the following discussions...

Me:
Great...
Book is a little disappointing in-between...esp when they are hiding....and some questions are unanswered...also not too much humor in the book...

Sowmya:
Till around page 400 or so, I was really disappointed in Harry. Always
thinking of something else instead of the task in hand.. he says the name
'Voldemort' because of which Dobby ends up being killed. Neither harry nor
JKR seems to have noted that point..

I was thinking that he isn't anything special then, Hermione did most of
the work.. this guy didn't really do much. Only after Xeno tells them about
the horcruxes does harry actually start acting. I was impressed with the
deduction about the ring and all that from there on.

The end was a little typical that all the magical creatures are finally in
Hogwarts finally fighting one side or the other.

Rowling shows a liking for the big stage here. When the castle calls war
with Voldemort it was likely that somebody would die. I didn't like Fred
dying. Actually Harry dying would have made things nicer. We all would have
hated it but the book would have been nicer :). And the end where they are
all old and married to who they wanted to get married to was very
Bollywood-ish.

There are a few things unclear still. About the connection between wands
and then the fact that Harry says to Voldemort in the end that he died to
save the people in the castle and that's why Voldemort was not able to
effectively put a spell on anyone.. if just dying for somebody would do the
task and protect people again Voldemort, then Dumbledore could have done
that himself instead of asking Snape to kill him, that way he would have
protected the people...

I liked the first 3 books on the first read. The other 4 I didn't know what
I felt after the first read, only after reading 2 times did I appreciate
them.

Me:
I actually liked that Hermione did all the thinking...it
justifies that she is the cleverest witch...all the other books JKR kept
claiming that but HG didn't have anything to do....
I agree with u for the last chapter...I don't think it was needed...
I would have liked more coverage on Snape...there was so much on him in HBP
and he just comes a bit in the beginning and in the end to die!!!
I'm a little confused with the explaination that Dumbledore gives Harry as
to y he survives (the love thing)...my deduction is he survives because at
that time he owned all the hallows with him...so death can't take him. I
agree with that protection thing that Harry gives..
I felt that too much of Dumbledore's past was a little
unnecessary.....there are 4/5 different versions of it...
and instead of thinking about the horcrux....Harry keeps thinking about
Dumbledore's past....

Ya, even I'm going to read it again maybe some of my doubts will be
cleared...

Sowmya:
Yeah I felt that too about the insight to Dumbledores past. Till now we
have always thought of him as this extraordinary old man, they did much to
show that he was only a normal man with extraordinary powers.

Snape too was a little suprising. The fact that Dumbledore tells him to
kill him if Draco fails and that Snape's cool with the idea, and actually
executes the task.

Harry says in the end that the wand was taken by Draco. Did he pick it up
when Dumbledore fell? Then who put the other wand in his hand in the grave?
Then don't say that.

And this diadem thing. Voldemort thought that only he knew about the room
of requirements. When harry had gone in the first time to this room, many
books back, rowling had indicated that this room held the artifacts of
thousands of people who used the room to hide some stuff. When voldemort
hid the diadem there he would have seen all these things too. Didn't it
occur to him that there were other people using the room?

My brother had said when the 6th book was out that harry was a horcrux. I
scoffed at the idea. Thought it was interesting but still scoffed. God save
me when he reads that part and starts gloating. He'll keep saying 'see I
was right' for days..

Me:
Arvindh had already guessed about Snape...so same here...when he finishes the
book, he'll start gloating...
About Snape...I don't think Snape was cool abt killing Dumbledore...I think
he understood...Dumbledore was anyway dying of the poison from the
ring...by killing him Snape would become close to Voldermort and also
fulfill his Unbreakable vow...
I re-read HBP ending...didn't find anywhere that Draco had taken
Dumbledore's wand when he disarms him...
Also the ending reminded me of Lord of the rings...where all creatures come
together...

And Happy Birthday Harry Potter & JKR...

SIRI 777

The build up to the event was amazing. There was a positive buzz, an enthusiasm bug had suddenly bitten all (almost all) Sirians. One of the side effects of the bite made the creative side of our brain work overtime. There were thought provoking slogans, fascinating logos, absorbing poster designs and intriguing T-shirts. The whole office resembled like a college during its annual fest.

On the the-day, we arrived at Club Cabana by 10am. After welcome drink and group meetings, we finally started dodge ball by 10.45pm. The first game was between us (Ravens) and Hawks. There was some confusion regarding the rules and this lead to one of those arguments where no one knows whats the right thing to do. Finally we agreed on a 1 min rematch after the Bathawks and Falcons game. JS made sure that there was no confusion in the rules and Falcons won that game. In the 1 min rematch, we won easily thanks to the strategy by Mahesh and Radhakrishna. In the final, the Falcons steamrolled us.

Then came the Stock Market. By the end of it, there were more people with sore throats than partners. We headed straight for lunch. After lunch, all teams were engrossed in last minute rehearsals for their presentations. The presentations were the most amazing part of the day. There is such immense hidden talent in the company!! All of us were good, but the Bathawks were a class apart or should I say society apart. They were just too amazing. You could easily mistake them to be pros.

Then came the points distribution. By the end, all teams except for Hawks, were tied. Hawks were a point behind the rest. So the final event, Tug-of-war would decide the winner of the day. Raven lost to the Hawks and Bathawks to Falcons. The final between Hawks and Falcons ended when it had started becoming interesting. The Hawks proving too good for the Falcons. Their slogan Born to win, justified.

Parting notes, hope we have many more events like this.

Here are a couple of lines I wrote...

A day most awaited, a buzz in Siri,
For fun, frolic and merry.

Hawks, Bathawks, Ravens and Falcons,
Logos, T shirts, posters and slogans.

Will complete it sometime...

Angoor - Confusion Unlimited

Willam Shakesphere's work has been a favorite with many film makers, in all the 'woods' - Hollywood, Bollywood, etc. One of the best adaptations of his work in Bollywood is Gulzar's Angoor, based on 'Comedy of Errors'. The plot is so convincingly modified to suit the Indian social setup, that it feels original. The plot, if you haven't read Comedy of Errors, is a little complicated. Let me try to explain.

Raj Tilak (Utpal Dutt) and his wife are on their way to a holiday with their twin sons, both of them are called Ashok (bada & chota Ashok to differentiate). On their way they adopt an abandoned set of twins whom they call Bahadur. Raj Tilak thinks once both sets of twins grew up, the Bahadurs will serve the Ashoks. During their sea travel, they meet with an unfortunate accident in which they are all separated. One pair of Ashok-Bahadur are with the mother and the other with the father, but in a different town. Soon the father dies and the pair are raised by one of the town's businessman.

Now to understand the plot, lets name the father's pair as Ashok1(SanjeevKumar) & Bahadur1 (Deven Verma), and the mother's pair as Ashok2 & Bahadur2. Fast forward a couple of decades, Ashok1 is married to the ever-nagging Sudha (Moushumi Chatterjee),the elder daughter of the businessman who raised him. Sudha, Sudha’s sister Tanu (Deepti Naval) and Bahadur1 and his wife Prema (Aruna Irani) complete Ashok1's family. Ashok2, single and a detective novel buff, decides to buy a grape yard. So, he and Bahadur2, single and a bhang lover, come to Ashok1 & Bahadur1's town.

The day Ashok2 and Bahadur2 land in the town, Askok1, tired of Sudha's nagging for a necklace, wows not to return home until he gets the necklace. Elsewhere, Ashok2 goes to the grape yard after instucting Bahadur2 to take care of the money he has got for the deal and not to leave the hotel till he returns. Sudha sends Bahadur1 to the market where Ashok2 sees Bahadur1 and asks him about the money and why he left the hotel. Bahadur1 thinks his master is mad and tells his mistress. Tanu, thinks its all because of her sister's nagging and sends Bahadur1 to find Ashok1. But she meets Ashok2 and Bahadur2 at her concert and gets them home. Elsewhere Ashok1 is worried about the necklace and spends the night waiting for it to be made. But, after the necklace is ready, it lands in Ashok2's hands, and the jeweller is asking Ashok1 to pay up. Finally the pair of twins meet and the confusion is cleared.

The plot is made more confusing by the clothes of the characters. Both the Ashoks wear a long white kurta and white dhoti and both the Bahadurs wear a grey shirt and white dhoti.

Gulzar saab as the writer and director is simply superb. The dialogues are rib tickling and witty. The screenplay never looses its grip and Gulzar saab extracts flawless performances from his artists. He has also used small characters aptly. Like there the goldsmith and his assistant, the diamond cutter, the taxi driver and the inspector - all of them take the movie to a classic level.

Angoor is SanjeevKumar’s masterpiece. His expressions and voice modulation make the movie a must watch. Deven Verma as both the confused servant and bhang lover is excellent. Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma share brilliant on-screen chemistry as twin duos. Deepti Naval and Moushumi Chatterjee though having small roles leave you impressed.

But the chink in the armour is the music of Angoor. Though it is composed by the genius R.D. Burman, its disappointing. Except for the song Roz Roz, the others are mediocre and halt the proceedings.

This is the 'baap' of all one of Bollywood most trusted formula in the 70s and 80s - 'bichde hua bhai'. Enjoy the fun ride.

Bugging or Debugging....

For the past few days I've been trying to identify memory leaks in the application we developed. And the debugging is bugging me. First there was Just-in-time debugger which would always launch itself at the wrong time or rather when I don't want it to launch. And one called Dr Watson refused to share my computer with it. It took me an entire day to throw JIT out and make way for Dr Watson. Now Dr Watson is living happily in my computer. He is also giving me some 'Greek-n-Latin' stack trace. Actually he is pretty helpful.
Chalo Dr Watson ka bulava aaya...

Cheeni Kum...

It had been a few months since I watched a movie with Arvindh. I was cribbing for the past week, more on Sunday, and of course, he gave in. I had 2 movies in mind - Pirates of the Caribbean or Cheeni Kum. Then we heard that Pirates is pretty boring, so decided for Cheeni Kum. The promos looked good, so expected it to be at least an OK movie.
But I was in for a pleasant surprise. The movie was really good. Its a mature love story, with absolutely no 'cheeni'. Amitabh is cool, and Tabu is better. Then there is the colgate/'zafrani pulav' and the kid called Sexy who make the movie a must-watch.
More on the movie when I have time. I want to do full justice to the movie with a nice long review sprinkled with appropriate adjectives.

Rang Birangi – Hrishida's Pati Patni aur Woh

Last year Bollywood lost one of its acclaimed directors – Hrishikesh Mukherji. Hrishida, as he is popularly known as has made many well known movies like Abhiman, Golmaal, Chupke Chupke - to name a few. I have choosen a lesser known Rang Birangi for the review.

The film is a take on BR Chopra's Pati Patni aur Woh. The story begins with showing us the life of two couples, first Ajay Sharma (Amol Palekar) and Nirmala (Parveen Babi), married for seven years and second Jeet Saxena( Farooq Shaikh) and Anita Sood (Deepti Naval), who are seeing each other for a long time. Anita is Ajay's secretary. Nirmala is unhappy because Ajay spends most of his time at work and doesn't give much attention to her. Jeet and Anita are waiting for Jeet to get a good job to get married.

In this comes Ajay's friend, Ravi Kapoor (Deven Verma). He wants to spice up the life of Nirmala and Ajay. He asks Ajay start flirting with Anita by telling her that his wife has been paralyzed for 6 years and there is no one to take care of him. Anita becomes sympathetic and starts taking care of him. The guilt in Ajay makes him give more attention to his wife.

One day Anita, comes to meet Nirmala and gets to know the truth. Nirmala requests her to carry on with the drama. Nirmala gets to know that Ravi is behind all this drama and joins him in plotting against her husband. On Ravi's instruction, Nirmala tells Ajay that she wants to work. Nirmala then plays the same trick on Ajay – she says that her boss's wife is paralyzed and her boss needs some sympathy. Jeet poses as Nirmala's boss.

Jeet poses as Dhurender Bhatavdekar, a private detective and blackmails Ajay with photographs of Ajay and Anita. The plot further complicates when the actual Dhurender Bhatavdekar (Utpal Dutt), a police inspector, turns out to be Nirmala's uncle and promises Ajay to capture the blackmailer. And this shatters plans of Ravi – perfect recipe for chaos.

Other characters in the movie include Mr. & Mrs. Bannerjee (Om Prakash and Chaya Devi) with whom Anita stays.

The comedy created by all confusion and chaos makes it a laugh-riot. The movie has great performances by all the actors – Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval, Parveen Babi and Farooq Shaikh. The dialogues are witty and the script has a plethora of aptly placed film references.

Music for the movie is by RD Burman. It has a classical number which is shot on the Bannerjees. The other song 'Kahin kuch pal jeevan ke' is a nice soft number.

Some scenes to watch-out are:

1. The hotel scene where Jeet poses as Nirmala's boss.

2. The actual Dhurender Bhatavdekar chases Jeet.

The movie can be watched over and over and you will always have a good laugh.

Sehar

I'm not a big fan of gangster-cop movies, but I loved Sehar, mainly for its simplicity and honesty. There is no over-the-top dialogues, no unwanted bloodshed(or should I say tomato sauce!) and there are no songs to stop the pace of the movie. Its like a like watching a compelling gritty documentary on a gang of cops who decide to eliminate organised crime from Uttar Pradesh.

The movie, set in the 90s, begins with the murder of a gangster by another rival gangster Gajraj (Sushant Sharma). SSP Ajay Kumar(Arshad Warsi) is asked to investigate the murder. As he goes about investigating, he figures out that the crime world now headed by Gajraj is very well organized. A deep nexus runs between the gangsters, local politicians, the builders, the railway contractors, student union leaders and of course policemen. He also gets to know that Gajraj has a lot of well wishers in the political circles.

To counter this, he proposes a Special Task Force(STF), which has special powers and is answerable only to the SP. Initially there is resistance for such a force. But when the CM’s friend's kin is kidnapped STF is given a go ahead with state wide power. The STF now goes about systematically eradicating crime. When they realise that the goons are using mobiles for their communication, they get a telecom professor Prof. Tiwari (Pankaj Kapur) to help them understand mobile communication technology. Tiwari soon becomes an important part of STF's working and success. The rest of the movie tells us how STF is able to eradicate Gajraj and ruin his nexus.

There are also a couple of deviations in the movie - the short and sweet love between Anamika(Mahima Chaudhary) and Ajay and a story about Ajay's father. These give us an insight of Ajay's character and don't affect the pace of the movie.

Writer and director Kabeer Kaushik has done a fine job in all departments. The editing is crisp and you never feel like taking a break. The background score is excellent and maintains the tempo of the movie.

In the acting department, the movie belongs to Arshad Warsi. He gives memorable performance and proves that he is truly an underrated actor. Sushant Sharma's character is a little sketchy, but he does a good job of that. Pankaj Kapur and other are fine.

A movie definitely worth a watch, even if it has a documentary feel to it.

Einstein, The Bird

I got a forward of this video long ago. Its an amazing bird and calls itself 'Superstar'. Today, while reorganising my folders, I found it and wanted to post it. Did a quick google in YouTube and found it. YouTube zindabad!!!

Finally they are married!!!

Finally Abhishek & Aishwarya are married. So finally we won't see "Breaking news" on TV announcing their wedding guest list or caterer or flower decorator or dress designer... Please give me a break!!!

And looks like their marriage has rubbed a lot of people including the Indian media the wrong way. Check out this Hindustan Times article and another one I found on Google News. And yes...I'm tired of getting forwards of their wedding photos. I got 7 forwards in a day!!! Nrutya got 3 in 17 mins!!!!

A walk down the memory lane...

I had written this a couple of years back. Its my memories of my college life. Found this when I was cleaning my yahoo inbox.

Gone are those days when we used to sit in parking lots around Bangalore...
Gone are those days when we drove around Bangalore in our bikes...
Gone are those when we used to be chucked out of canteens...
Gone are those days when we had lunch in Tatha's class...
Gone are those days when we played DC in class....
Gone are those days when Sowmya would sigh in DJ's class...
Gone are those days when we set our timetable and also the portions...
Gone are those days when fought for marks...
Gone are those days when we would go to canteen at 8.30 in the morning...
Gone are those days when we experimented in Sweta's kitchen...
Gone are those days when we would go for boating in the rain...
Gone are those days when Aamir Khan was more important than some experiments in the lab...
Gone are those days when we whistled our heart out when Aamir came on screen...
Gone are those days when we could talk for hours on phone after college...
Gone are those days when Nrutya was the only one attending Bullet's classes...
Gone are those days when Sumana used to decorate our names in our books...
Gone are those days when Sneha used to correct our English...'tonight'...
Gone are those days when Sweta would be the 'teacher' for all of us...
Gone are those days when Aparna would score 25 even without studying...
Gone are those days when Sowmya would enter the a class instead of the loo...
Gone are those days when you all kidnapped me to Benergatta...
I can go on writing...but my vision's blur now...having tears in my eyes...
Hope you all have taken a walk down the memory lane.

Welcome Back!!!!!

After the disastrous return of the Indian team, there have been a lot of spoofs on TV. The best of them all is this Appy Fizz ad. I have been hearing this ad a lot on the radio. Finally found it on YouTube. Video quality isn't so great but audio is good and thats what matters in this ad.



Just loved it!!

Lage Raho Munnabhai was the best inspirational movie of last year. Lot of people would put Rang De Basanti also in this category. RDB was inspiring, but preached violence as the way out, not non-violence. Anyway, thats a long debate and don't want to get into that.

I just wanted to post the wonderful message that LRM starts

Shaher ki is daud mein daud ke karna kya hai?
Jab yehi jeena hai dosto to phir marna kya hai?

Paheli barish mein train late hone ki fikar hai
Bhul gaye bhigte hue tahelna kya hai?

Serials ke kirdaaro ka saara haal hai malum
Par maa ka haal puchhne ki fursat kise hai?

Ab reet pe nange pao tahelte kyun nahi?
108 hai chanel phir dil bahelte kyun nahi?

Internet se duniya ke to touch me hai,
Lekin pados me koun raheta hai jaante tak nahi.

Mobile, landline sab ki bharmaar hai,
Lekin jigri dost tak pahuche aise taar kaha hai?

Kab dubte hue suraj ko dekha tha yaad hai?
Kab jaana tha shaam ka woh fasaana kya hai?

To Dosto Shaher ki is daud me daud ke karna kya hai
Jab yahi jeena hai to phir Marna kya hai?

How true!!!!!

Stamps

Did you know....

Got this interesting forward today from Prathiba...Sharing it...

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb".

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language .

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the USTreasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The average number of people airborne over the USany given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand

Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

My new Honda Dio

For the past few weeks I have been having a lot of issues when travelling by bus. So, we decided to buy a 2-wheeler. I looked at some models - Kinetic Nova, Bajaj Kristal, Honda Activa, etc. Arvindh was adamant on buying a Honda Activa. After some research, I was convinced we should buy a Honda Activa. The only problem was the 40-day wait period for the vehicle.

My father-in-law gave us another option - Honda Dio. It has the same engine as the Activa. The difference is in the styling and the Dio has a fibre body as against metal of Activa. And it was available off the shelf. On Wednesday I was convinced we'll go for Dio. On Thursday I wanted a Activa. On Friday morning, I went for a test drive of both the vehicles. I found the Activa a little bit more comfortable than Dio. My resolve for Activa deepened. My father and father-in-law were still for Dio. My FIL said that Activa looked like a scooter ("Something that your father has driven for 15 years") and Dio was stylish, something that I should drive at my age. Hmm...good point. My resolve was slightly shaken.

In the evening, Arvindh also took the test drive. He too felt the same. After some discussion, we decided we'll go for the Dio. The prospect of having a bike the next day was too tempting. Moreover, my FIL's words had affected me. So, by Saturday evening I had a black Honda Dio with me.











More details on Honda's site

SRK and Tag Heuer

We all know the Shah Rukh Khan is the brand ambassador for Tag Heuer watches in India. And he is taking that job seriously. He keeps distributing Tag Heuer at the drop of a hat. So much so that when Boman Irani came to KBC, he didn't wear a watch, assuming that SRK will give him one. And of course SRK didn't disappoint. Just yesterday I was read somewhere that he gave watches to Amitabh Bachchan and Amar Singh when they went to invite him to the Abhi-Ash wedding.

Hmm...looks like SRK is distributing the watches like pamphlets. I now would love to meet him - only for a Tag Heuer. And I wouldn't say no to a Santro!!!

Long Time....

Its been a long time since I posted. I have been very busy at work. And the work is getting more and more interesting and challenging by the day. It feels nice to be productive after 6 months on bench.

Sports events are being held at work. And it gives me immense pleasure to announce that I was the finalist in Scrabble. Thats something - because I have been teased by people for my bad spelling. So much so that Nrutya had once said,"You don't teach spellings to your children. Call us and we'll teach them".

If you are talking about sports and don't mention the debacle happening in Indian cricket,I'll be doing injustice to my interest. Well, India is out of the World Cup. I am a Indian cricket fan, but I cann't but help being happy about their exit. The players were given demi-God status and the amount of hype surrounding them was too much. This should get them back to their two feet.

This World Cup will be more remembered for the shock death of Bob Woolmer than for anything else. The circumstances of death look straight out of a mystery novel. May his soul rest in peace and hope his killers are brought under the hammer.

We had been to Kemmangundi a couple of weeks ago. I'll post more about that when I have the time.

Time to get back to work...

Check the tata out...

glumbert.com - Laughter is contagious

My dad in The Hindu

A few months back, a reporter from The Hindu had interviewed my dad about his custard apple variety 'Arka Sahan'. Today the article is published. You can read it here.

World Cup round the corner...

Cricket world's biggest extravaganza is here in about two weeks. And with Australia showing that they are not invincible(losing their last 5 games), the contest is wide open. But Aussies still start as my favorites.

Nike has finally arrived in the world of cricket. They first sponsored the cricket gear for Indian cricket and now have come out with a ad on cricket. And unlike their other ads, which are centred on sportsman, this one is centred on cricket in India. I loved this ad. Also there is a making of the ad on rediff.

Filmfare - rigged

While surfing, found an interesting blog about Filmfare awards being bought....something that I always felt was true. I shall write more on this when I find time.

Too hot to handle!!!

Yes, these tiny little chillis are the hottest chilli in the world - Bhut Jolokia and Bih Jolokia. Bih is poison, Bhut or bhoot is ghost and Jolokia is chilli in Assamese. (Thanks to Surajit for these translations).

The Guinness Book of World Records has awarded these chillis as the world's hottest. Bhut Jolokia comes in at 1,001,304 Scoville heat units, a measure of hotness for a chilli. It is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the variety it replaces as the hottest. By comparison, an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000. More on this here.

Since these are from Assam, I asked Surajit for more details. He says that 1 chilli is finely cut and used by a family for 3-4 days!! He has promised to get some of these chillis when he goes home the next time. I shall share my experience when I eat them.

I had posted a few days back about the goverment's proposal for earmarking 6% of loans given by banks to the minority community. The good news is that the banks and RBI have opposed that proposal and said that its not feasible. More on that here.

There is a article in rediff about the truth of Aurangzed. Time to incorporate this in our textbooks. We need to stop glorifying Aurangzeb, stop making him a saint.
Read the article here

I would like to buy a hamburger

This is a excerpt from Steve Martin's Pink Panther. Totally hillarious.


ROFL

India has had two contrasting days in the a week. Last Sunday was disaster as India snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And when they were 94/4 yesterday, I was pretty sure there will be a collapse. But then there was Dravid, how could I ever discount Mr.Dependable and Dhoni. Dhoni is now also becoming another Mr. Dependable, quickly adapting to the need of the game. He can change gears with ease and runs hard between wickets.

If India has to reach a respectable total in world cup, Dhoni will surely play a big part.

Piyu's musings on our names

This is a mail that Piyu sent me. That lady has really put in a lot of thought...

Dear One,
I was just thinking – you sisters are Pooja and Aarti.. you are with Arvind – obviously lotus is a means for pooja.. so Aarti can get married to someone with name having 'Deep' in it.. any Deep will do..Sudeep, Dipankar, Dipak, Diptarup, Ujjwal etc

Your children can be Prasad, Prasanna, Trupti, Stuti, Stawan, and so on..

So..we can build up on this ;-)

Hehehehe

Piyu

Hmm....when I have kids, I'll surely think on these lines...

Today my sister turned 24. And she is feeling that she is getting old. I was sort of spared of the feeling. I was studying during that period of my life and had little time to ponder on such things. And also in a place like Manipal, you'll always feel young. And now I have accepted the fact that I'm, well not young - body wise, but will always be young at heart. This mainly thanks to the YES+ course I did with Bawa and Dinesh. They are the second most amazing and witty people I've ever met, first of course is my Master. Here is my encounter with Bawa or Bau as he know now-a-days
Myla: This is Pooja, she is a great volunteer, you can use her for YES+ in Bangalore.
I: I'm already volunteering for RDP.
Fhatak...came the reply, delivered with his usual mischievous smile.
Bawa: When will you move up in life

Ha ha ha...guess its time to move up!!!!

Breaking News?????

The exponential increase in the number of news channels, has resulted in an exponential decrease of quality.

Breaking News or News Flash - these are terms that you see splashed across news channels. And 9 out of the 10 times, the so-called 'Breaking News' will not be worth being called 'Breaking News'. Abhishek n Ash going to temple is 'breaking news'?? One cartoon to sum it up all...


This, perfectly describes my feeling...I needn't say more. But...I haven't broken my TV.

TV Soaps

Found this really true article about TV soaps and their abysmal quality. Read it here

Masoom

Most of us have grown up listening to Lakadi ki kathi – the best children's song that Bollywood has produced. Shekar Kapur's directorial debut Masoom (inspired by Eric Segal's Man, Woman and Child) is a sensitive masterpiece. A movie which touches your heart without any melodramatic gimmicks.

DK Malhotra (Naseeruddin Shah) is a successful Delhi architect with a happy family comprising of his lovely wife Indu (Shabana Azmi) and two sweet daughters Pinky (Urmila) and Minni (Ardhana). His picture perfect life is torn apart when he gets a letter from his old school master in Nainital, informing him about his illegitimate son Rahul (Jugal Hansraj) born out of his one night stand with Bhavana (Supriya Pathak). Bhavana, on her death bed had entrusted Rahul to the retired school master. DK confesses to his wife and their lives are shattered.

In the meantime, the schoolmaster sends Rahul to DK as he is unable to look after the boy. All hell breaks loose in DK's family. Rahul bonds well with Pinky and Minni. Indu is understandably hostile towards Rahul. Rahul tries his best to impress Indu. But she is unable to forget her husband's infidelity.

DK decides to send Rahul to the boarding school in Nainital, much against Rahul's wishes. The day before Rahul has to leave for Nainital, he gets to know that DK is his father. He runs away from the house and this brings about a change in Indu. Indu realizes Rahul's trauma and the movie ends in a happy note with Indu accepting Rahul.

The other people in the film include Chanda (Tanuja) as Indu's friend and Suri (Saeed Jaffery) and DK's friend and confidant.

Now with a story like this, the movie could have easily turned into a melodramatic tearjerker if it didn't have Gulzar as the writer and Shekar Kapur as the director. The screenplay is flawless, the emotions handled very delicately. The movie depicts the emotions of a child and an adult with wonderful sensibility and sensitivity. The internal turmoil in every character is handled in a sensitive and subtle manner.

Watch out for these amazing scenes -

• When DK tells Indu about the adultery
• Indu's birthday scenes
• Rahul, after knowing the truth says sorry to Indu
• Mini showing Indu Rahul's sketch book.

With impeccable actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, justice to the script is ensured. They are both mind blowing. The confusion and complex trauma that both their characters undergo are portrayed with perfection. Jugal Hansraj as the insecure, hapless kid is outstanding. He is so cute and innocent that your heart goes for him. Urmila and Ardhana enliven the screen with their chirpy presence.

Another winner in the movie is the music. RD Burman and Gulzar team up for a memorable musical score. Apart from Lakadi Ki kathi, there are three more songs. Tujh Se Naraz Nahin Zindagi has two versions sung Lata and Anup Ghosal – both versions are wonderful and apt. Do Naina is soft and soothing lullaby. Huzoor Is Kadar is a teasing ghazal.

Last word - a superlative movie which excels in all departments.

My Top Score

Yesterday I had a top score of 2715 in Snake (Level 9).

More on the vote bank

Just read this article in Economic Times. So for the minority vote bank, the government is now getting them loans. So we'll have 6% of the total loans given to the minority section. I would like to know how much exactly is this so called minority community. What percentage of Indian population are they?

Humming...

Today when I was walking to work from the bus stop, the song Signal was playing in one of the shops. I started humming it. And since the road was sort of deserted my voice was very much audible. When I was crossing the road, I was still singing. There was a guy next to me and he heard me singing... Signal Pyar ka Signal, he stared at me and I realised that I was pretty loud. I stopped singing and the signal went green. He smiled and went away.

I have had many moments like this. This is the least embarrassing of all. Most of the time when I'm humming something, I am usually at the wrong place or in front of the wrong people.

The Aishwarya Rai Marketing Model

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai got engaged finally on Sunday. But lets look at Aishwarya as a marketing 'model'...yes you read it right marketing model. I know she is a model, (I would call her a model and not insult the institution of acting.) but where does marketing fit here?

Well, the west considers her to be the biggest star in Bollywood, a diva. Oh! give me a break, she has had just three hits in her 7/8 year career. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - This is the only movie where I liked her, Devdas - ShahRukh and Madhuri were the stars there, she was just a there (Just see the Dola Re song and you'll know) and Dhoom2 - I must agree she looked great, but Hrithik was better and more sexier. Guru is doing well and the critics have loved Ash in the movie, but I haven't seen it so - no comments.

So, with three hits in her kitty, madam heads west, markets herself very well and lands with projects there, which also incidentally flop. And she still is a star. Well this is marketing at its best!!

One thing she has done right is to be associated with the right people. When she came in movies, Salman was big, she became his girlfriend. He was too much to handle, and when he went down, she went around with Vivek Oberoi. Vivek wad then considered to be super-star-in-waiting. He flopped and she broke-up with him. Now Abhishek Bachchan is the new superstar- she is Abhishek's fiancee.

I may be wrong, and have made Ash as a manipulative lady, but thats what I see. All Ash fans please excuse.

Radio stations in Bangalore

Sometime in mid 2006, there was a exponential increase in the no. of radio stations in Bangalore. For nearly 4-5 years, Radio City ruled the roost and they were or are still pretty good. There was just the government run FM Rainbow for competition. Well, I wouldn't call that competition.

And then all of a sudden you had radio stations sprouting like weeds everywhere. It was good news for sometime because I had a lot to choose from and at that time I owned a mobile with inbuilt radio. If I didn't like the song playing in one station, I would shift to another. But after sometime, they really got on to my nerves. What with that fake accent and rowdy Kannada, the slogan competition - they were fighting like cats and dogs. Consider this - one channel calls themselves the coolest, the other the hottest, another one bindas, and yet another mast!!!

The most irritating part of all the new stations are the RJs. Radio Mirchi started the trend of RJs speaking in Kannada. Good idea, but why put in the fake kannada accent!! But they are bearable. But there are a couple of new stations (BigFM and SFM) that went overboard. Their Kannada is really horrible - horrible is a soft word for them. And these people try to teach Kannada to the non-Kannadigas in Bangalore. Oh please!! stop doing it. Stop murdering the wonderful language. I'm no great lover of Kannada but I do respect the language.

India Poised

This is a Times of India campaign. They have renamed 2007 as Year of India. 2006 laid a good foundation and 2007 can surely be the Year of India. Yes we have to make it the year of India. More on their site. The site also has some good common man cartoons and old editions of TOI.

The video of the campaign is below. Its also in their site. It features Amitabh Bachchan. He sounds really commanding. Perfect person to for the campaign.

2006 - The year gone by...Part 2

I spoke about the year gone by in my life. Lets have a broader vision. A overall look at the important events in 2006.

In my opinion, the biggest thing that rocked India this year was the reservation issue. The AIIMs doctors are still waging a lone battle. The ridiculous reservation was introduced by Arjun Singh to win the minority votes. There were numerous demonstrations and there was some modification in the bill, but the reservation based on caste still exists. If reservation is needed, have it based on economic status, not caste.

The other thing was the nuclear deal with US. I don't know much about it. It just didn't generate enough curiosity in me to read/follow the whole story. From whatever little I understand, US had to have this more than India. It gives them an alliance with India now. Something in my humble opinion, they need more than we do.

Then there were protests - Jessica Lal murder case, Singur issue, Narmada dam issue and many more. Jessica Lal case needs a special mention. This was the first time that the decision of the court had to be revised based on the public power. This year also saw the verdict of 1993 Bombay blasts and the Parliament attacks(This reminds me of the ongoing protest against hanging of Afzal.). Talking about blasts, there were more blasts in Mumbai on July 11th. Pray that no such things happen this year.

The sensex touched the 14000 mark this year. Narayan Murthy retired. The industrialist India did a lot of expensive shopping. Lakshmi Mittal bought Arcelor, Tatas have almost got Corus.

In sports, rather in cricket, India started with a high but ended disastrously. Hopefully their fortunes will change this year. With the world cup in a few months, they better pull up their socks. Elsewhere Shane Warne continued his battle with Murlitharan for the maximum scalps. Glenn MacGrath and Shane Warne announced their retirement. India did pretty well in the Asian games. Jeev Milkha Singh became the 1st Indian eligible to play in Masters golf.

Movies - there was pretty good variety this year. It was the year of remakes and sequels. The movies that stood out include Rang De Basanti , Lage Raho Munnabhai, Krrish, Pyar Ke Side Effects, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Dhoom 2 and Omkara. My awards will go to Hrithik Roshan (Best Looking and Best Male Actor) and Kareena Kapoor (Best Female Lead - Omkara), Saif Ali Khan(Best Villain), Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose (Best Onscreen couple) and Bipasa Basu (Best Item no. - Beedi song).

These are the events that have left an impression in my limited memory. I may have missed out a quite a few significant ones, but hey, this is my blog!!

Art of Living Marketing Model - Study Link

In one of my earlier posts I wrote about the Art of Living marketing model. Well, there is a formal study on this. For more read this.

Its a nice study but for a layman who reads this will just know that AoL or Guruji is just making loads of money and will not understand where the money is used. When I discussed this with Arvindh yesterday, he said that AoL and Guruji are way beyond people's thoughts. Yes, when you are at that level where He is now, there will surely be people who think negative about Him. But the important thing is that He loves all and accepts them as they are!!