Fiction or.....?

The first time she fell in love, she thought she would die of a heart attack because of the number of times her heart skipped a beat on seeing him.

She could tell him anything. She wanted to. She wanted to do everything possible to make him feel special. And why not? He was indeed very special. He loved her, but conditionally. There were times when he would realise that there are better things to do than to just fall and remain in love. She failed to understand. It was against her principles. Against her nature. Against the picture that she had of love in her mind. Damn Bollywood!

She took it as a passing phase taking each one as an obstacle to a higher level of togetherness. Before she knew, he confessed that he no longer loved her. Left heartbroken, she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that there could be anything wrong with her. What could possibly be wrong? Didn’t she love him truthfully? Didn’t she put her self-respect aside to boost his? What did she not do? What went wrong that he didn’t love her anymore? Half a year and 50 sad songs hence, she returned to her original, rational self. Life seemed simpler now. The clouds of hope and despair had cleared out from in front of her eyes.

She realised that he hadn’t stopped loving her. One needs to be in love in order to get out of it. Something was definitely wrong with men.

However, love didn’t seem to leave her path. It came again. Several times. But she didn’t get herself involved. She thought the best way to be in a relationship was to not be in love. Ironic and silly as it sounded, although she didn’t believe in it herself, she thought it would be a successful formula. Can’t blame her - she was living on survival instincts now.

Then came another beautiful rainy evening. Once again, she would blame the Rain-Gods for the increase in the testosterone level in man and woman. Her boss, whom she secretly adored, offered to give her a lift home. Was it the first step towards a relationship, she thought. A shy grin and she got into the car with him. Traffic jams, honking cars, water splashing, street fights – nothing bothered her. Her trip home, which usually lasts for ages, seemed so pathetically short that day. For she was having a wonderful time chatting with her love (apparently she was too mature to have a crush). They spoke and laughed and exchanged their views. He loved the fact that she thought the same way as he did. She loved the fact that he loved something about her.

She couldn’t wait to reach home and tell her best friend how her dreams were taking shape. The next day in office would be so awkward for her boss and her to meet eyes. Blushing at the thoughts, she stupidly gazed into nothing. When it was time to get off from the car, she thought of wishing him good night in the sweetest of tones and what not.

Pop!

What was that?

Did a balloon burst? Oh no, it was her dream bubble. Because he asked, “By the way, what’s your name again?” She never knew that such an innocent question would ever make her want to scream out loud and tear her hair.

Damn the male species!

Distancing herself from men, from love, from relationships – she found solace in friendships and non-committal relationships. It was better that way, she realised. Earlier, she needed convincing but now she was herself okay with the concept of non-commitment.

Life was easier. Relationships lasted longer. Sometimes forever. Lesser fights. More love (not that kind). She started enjoying the different forms of love that can exist between two people in general and man and woman in particular.

She started seeing more clearly how fragile men are, how inconstant, insecure, indecisive and surprising they are. It took her time to get over the shock but now she knew that’s just how men are. It’s not their fault. It’s their quality. That’s what differentiates man from a woman.

Love (or the lack of it) was turning her into a philosopher.
Well, at least love was doing something good to her.

Then he came. The love of her life. Whom she loved since the time when she didn’t even know the meaning of the word. Her first crush. The crush that lasted for 6 years. The crush that she had sidelined after growing up. The crush that had envisaged all her senses. No arousal. No lust. No dreams. Just plain want. She just wanted him for he was the idea of the perfect man.

Tall and adorable. Handsome. Eyes that made her fall in love. Hair that made her want to caress him. Lips that made her forget her next sentence. Voice that made her want to shut up for the rest of her life.

This was not infatuation. This was no crush. These things last for maximum a year, so her friends had said. Then, was this the dreaded feeling? No. She turned her back.
Or did she?

Why did he have to come back? Life was good when she knew that she was surely not going to get him. Why did he have to come and complicate things by presenting a possibility?

Everything told her that she was about to make the wrong decision but what did the world expect of her? Did it not want her to take any risks? To say ‘no’ and deny the one single opportunity that could go right?
She said yes.

Once again, she welcomed love with open arms. Once again, she surrendered herself to this one man who was the owner and occupant of her dreams. Now she was handing him the ownership to reality too.

Keeping passion at bay or surrendering blindly to it – which of these two attitudes is the least destructive?
She didn’t know.

Big risk. Her soul shrieked out to her. Her heart couldn’t take another bruise. But she was not to listen....

She let herself go with the flow convincing herself that even if it doesn’t work out, she will not break her heart. She will take the outcome in the most detached manner. But why was she thinking all the negative stuff? Did she know what was impending?

Mornings started with each other. They went out for dates together. Meet after meet, they opened up their book of life to each other. There was no need to keep any secrets whatsoever. They were each other’s now. They loved each other’s company. Joked. Laughed. Talked forever. He said things that told her that this was it. Whenever she would see him, hold his hand, rest in his broad arms, feel safe in his hug, find heaven in touch, melt in his kiss, she would let out a silent prayer to the Lord.

Things weren’t the way she had imagined all these years. They were better.

Howmuchever she wanted to believe him and his love, there was something that always bothered her.

Why did he come back to her? When one is as handsome as he was, there wasn’t a chance that he would have no girlfriend. Why would he come back to a girl who was foolishly in love with him 6 years back? Why would he settle for less when he can settle for the best? Not that she underestimated herself, but she was another pretty face in the crowd. Why her? Why now?

If she continued at this rate, she would surely die of a heart attack.

Girls! Even if things work well, they manage to find something fishy in it.

Was she wrong this time?
Or was he wrong?

Where is the Music???

MTV originally stood for Music Television Videos. However, I am not too sure how relevant the name is in today’s times, for there is hardly any music! And the credit goes to the numerous reality shows that are telecasted on the channel.

Splitsvilla, Splitsvilla re-runs, Teen Diva, Roadies, Roadies re-runs, the Fast and the Gorgeous, Stunt Mania and MTV Connected – all these shows have hijacked the channel. To be frank, I really loved a few of these shows. But that was because there was a novelty factor. All this was new once upon a time. Now, every channel has a reality show which is on similar lines more or less. So, even if I happen to miss any show, I don’t need to fret. I can catch a similar version with the same abuses and politics and tasks by just flipping the channel.

The point here is not the reality shows in general. It’s about MTV. I love MTV and Channel V for its music. Clearly, Channel V has no competition now.

Now I need to get a life :):)

Wow! It was so awesomely fake! I don’t even know why I watched it! Lol...

I still cannot digest the fact that Rakhi can be shy also. The coy smiles that she gives, the flittering of her eyelashes, the petite damsel picture that she portrays – all this is so unbelievable. If people label her as the most happening item girl, then clearly, she is also a good actress!

The number of publicity stunts she pulls is shocking. She even wept on television when she was asked about her ex-boyfriend. All the gifts that her prospective grooms give are also known to us. She decides the groom on the basis of certain questions asked. Oh c’mon Rakhi, if I was to be selected on what I am to answer, I would have won long time back!!

I am fine with the concept of getting married on television. It’s her personal choice. But when I was glued to the TV watching it, I surely felt that I need to get a life! In spite of me criticising it so much, I still saw it *wink* She sure knows how to use the media to her benefit.

Complications of Love

Watching Love Aaj Kal forced me to think about this funda of long distance relationships. In the movie, they say that long distance relationships don’t work. I so not agree with the comment. Seeing the million (okay, a little exaggerated figure) couples that I have known, I believe that the basis on which a relationship might work or no is totally subjective. It depends on how the two lovers carry it. Because for all you know, a relationship might not work if you are together all the time!

Distance is essential to let love nurture. To let one realise the value of another. To let one analyse the importance of having a loved one in life. If one is madly in love, then distance or no-distance - it simply doesn’t matter! Staying away can surely create problems and a whole lot of misunderstandings. But that alone cannot determine whether love will last or not.

I have seen couples break up because of not being able to meet often and then again, there are these couples who got ‘bored’ because they were always together. Why is love - the simplest, the most basic emotion in life - so complicated?!

And what is this with people loving the people who are hard to get! How ironic is that! Why do we always run behind things that are so difficult to achieve? And why, once we get it, we are not interested?

Why are we all so frikking confused?

Why run for it in the first place?!?!

Loss of memory or inhumane apathy?

With the elections and IPL having surrounded us completely for the past couple of months we seem to have forgotten the larger issue at hand. Whatever happened to the 26/11 episode?! Ajmal has been on trial for over a month now and nothing has resulted out of that. The evidences and testimonials keep pouring in but somehow the judges haven’t taken a decision. Ajmal keeps getting the benefit of the top class security and newspapers and what not. His lawyer keeps defending him and with the silliest of points, has the advantage of delaying the whole decision making process. With entire Mumbai standing up collectively as witness to the gory incident, nothing seems to be sufficient for the judges to simply sentence the man for an eternity of hell!

Why is this so? I was outraged when the decision to put him on trial was announced. Clearly, that didn’t help much. But now with the trial going on, I just pray that it ends soon. We can’t go on like this.

It is unfair to the brave policemen and commandos who died saving us.
It is unfair to the foreigners who stepped into this land for a vacation.
It is unfair to the commuters on CST who didn’t know what awaited them.
It is unfair to the relatives of those unfortunate ones who didn’t see the light of the day.
Why the hell do we have to be so fair to this one man, then?!

From November 26, 2008 to the current date, we complete 6 months after the tragic incident. Bloody half a year! People seem to suffer from a severe lack of memory. What happened to the peace march initiatives? What happened to the ‘Bash the Government’ campaign?

Or is it the sad fact that we just don’t care?!

Get a Life!!!

One more time, just once more, if any reporter asks Karisma Kapoor or Sharmila Tagore about how they feel about Saif or Kareena becoming a part of their family, I swear I am going to tear off that page! They are driving me through the wall. They are driving me nuts. They are slowly killing me.

Dude, just get married!! And give us all a break about the daily or rather minutely happenings in your life. We are simply not interested! We don’t want to know about how Saif flew across the seven oceans to celebrate your birthday or what name you gave your pet or what you did for Kareena when she broke her nail! We don’t want to listen to Karan Johar giving accounts of your heavenly relationship or a full length page in HT Cafe dedicated to your love. You are madly in love-good for you! But kindly spare us!

P.S: Not that I care but change your ‘Saifeena’ tag-it’s oh-so-girly.

Defending the Champions...

World cup T20 is just a few days away and I am so excited. This time’s performance is going to be spectacular (I hope) for our team is packed with some werewolves. We have some awesome players in our team and that just makes it better. With R P Singh, M S Dhoni, the Pathan duo and Pragyan Ojha, it’s going to be a blast.

I really really really hope that we win the title again as the T20 Champions. Having said that, I just wish that more than winning the title, they give a consistent and fantastic performance in all the matches. I hope they don’t become smug in their attitude. As I said earlier, it’s not the performance on that one particular day but it is the consistency of excellence that matters.

The Season of Joy

The beautiful season is on its way. I simply love the rainy season. The beautiful weather, the raindrops, the birds chirping, the blooming plants, the happy faces-oh! Yes, of course, winter too is adorable but this is simply the best time of the year. During school times, rains meant unexpected holidays, splashing water and playing in the rains while returning home. It also meant shopping with mom for new umbrellas and dad shouting at us to carry our books and cell phones in plastic bags. During college, too, it meant the same.

I still remember the wonderful times when I used to come to class a little early just so that I could get a seat next to the window. And then it would rain and the wind would bring a little bit of rain to my terrain. Studying becomes a fun thing in the rain. At home, when it rains heavily, I sit on my rocking chair in the balcony. Supplement that with some pleasant music and a good book. Picture perfect. Mom makes pakodas and says that it is the best dish for the season (she makes that all year round with different excuses!)

Floods are a normal phenomenon for us in any area. Howmuchever they trouble us and bring the city to a standstill, I have somehow become fond of them. No rainy season is complete without its dose of floods. Offices are shut, schools and colleges closed, everybody at home having a good time and the best part of all this is that it is not planned! Bang in the middle of the week, this unexpected surprise comes with unexpected joy.

When it rains and I am gleefully walking in the rain, all I can think of is this one song which I first heard in Spiderman-“Raindrops keep falling on my head”. I don’t know who wrote it, who sang it and what is the rest of the song. All I know is that, these are the 4 months I wait desperately for, every year.

We the People

This Sunday, dated 10th May’s episode of ‘We the People’ was good. Thought provoking. The discussion was about how India awaits an Obama. Obama is a strong and level headed fellow who knows exactly what to do and how to get it done. And somewhere, all of that is lacking in our Indian leaders.

Kiran Bedi was one of the jury. She brought out a good point. She said that India doesn’t want Obama. India doesn’t want the man. But what India wants, what India needs is an individual who represents his set of values, his leadership skills, his personality. How true! It’s not the man, but it is what makes the man.

One of the most striking topics of discussion was Mayawati. Clearly, there was an ‘anti-Mayawati for Prime Minister’ air in the room. Nobody could even sit to imagine Mayawati as the Prime Minister of India, as somebody who will represent the country on a global level.

What disturbed me was that, hold your breath, Mayawati was compared to Obama. The sentence went-IS MAYAWATI THE NEXT OBAMA?

I know it left you disturbed as well. But apparently they have some logic behind it. Obama is the man who represents the black Americans and he has done and will do a lot to bring them into better light. In the same way, Mayawati is the one who represents a different class. A different caste. By becoming the Prime Minister, she will uplift the Dalit section of the society and bring about a ‘change’ that we all are looking for. Whatever! I am just surprised (read: shocked!) that Mayawati has been compared to Obama on national television!

My sympathies are with...

None of the other IPL teams have had their owners promoting it to this extent. Shahrukh Khan has done his considerable bit and I guess even more than that for his team’s publicity. Walked the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week, got special uniforms designed along with a custom designed and a trendy (so he says!) hand sling, endorsed Sprite with two or three ads with his team, been there for every match cheering for the losing team, chalked out a strategy for his team that was unique and different from any other team’s strategy. Unfortunately, all of it backfired. And how!

Poor guy. I really feel bad for him because he was really excited about the whole thing. If he wouldn’t have been, then he wouldn’t have shelled out the moolah on his team’s promotion. Although I am sure that IF his strategies would have worked out, he would have been praised endlessly for taking all the bold steps. The audience and the critics sure have their own way of bringing somebody to ground as well as sending them on cloud number 9.

But Shahrukh, as always, the good humoured guy, is confident of increasing his dancing appointments at weddings to cover up for everything. And it is heard that he is accepting birthday party invitations also!

The IPL Fever caught me too!

Cricket has developed a new meaning post-IPL. It’s been just two years that the craze of T20 form of cricket started but wow! It has grown tremendously. But then again, in India, just cricket in any form is welcome.

Like a good Mumbaikar, I was all for Mumbai Indians right from the start but as I am seeing match after match, I have changed loyalty (the cheerleaders are so b-a-d!!). Now I am all for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. What wonderful teams. What great teamwork and aggressive performance. Simply brilliant! What is worth appreciating in both these teams is that they are ace in batting as well as bowling and not just in any one field. And yes of course, speaking of that, they are good in fielding also, unlike, well...I don’t want to say anything about the team that everybody thrashes gleefully.

Even if team Rajasthan or team Chennai don’t win the finals, they are already winners for me. Because in the end, it’s all about performance on a consistent level and not just on that one final deciding day, ain’t it?

For the Unknown...

If I know what love is, it is because of you, my love.
So naive. So immature. So unsophisticated. Yet so charming.
In friendship, you want the other person’s good. In love, you want the other person.
Patience is a virtue you have exploited. The simple lack of you is more than others’ presence.
Falling in love is so very hard on the knees.
I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever. Some call it madness, I call it love.
Within you, I have lost myself. Without you, I find myself searching to be lost again.

As Plato said, at the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.

Roadies comes to an end. What will I write about now?!

Roadies has come to an end. My god! Now what will I do on Sundays? Maybe, that’s too much of an exaggeration, but still, I always used to look forward to watching it. It’s full of action, loads of bitching, fun tasks and lots of unintentional comedy.

Nauman Sait won! Yayy! I am so happy because I particularly like this fellow. I am not in love with him, of course, but I feel he was the only dignified Roadie on the show. He always kept to himself, did not indulge in politics, maintained his sanity on the show and performed his tasks well. So I am really very happy that he won. Because he deserved to.

Another thing that I am happy about is that his final competitor was Kiri and not Palak. That dame is a pain in the..err..neck. I am still surprised as to how she survived till so long. Anyway, we are glad of the fact that she was not in the top two. Even if she was, there was no possibility that she could have done the final task. And even if she would have, she would have blasted our eardrums with her yelling. Another thing worth mentioning is the face-off between Raghu and Palak. Wow is the word for that! Finally, somebody gave her what she deserved! And then, the dramatic fainting act that she put up after running away from the scene, deserves a round of applause. She is capable of joining the league that the current bad actors have started. Clap clap clap!! Anyway, this post is not to express my joy about Palak getting thrashed and getting out, it’s about Nauman-The Man (cheesy, I know, couldn’t come up with a better one)

On a slightly different note, I didn’t like Roadies-Hell Down Under much. In isolation, it was just fine. But in comparison to Roadies 5.0, it was pathetic. The tasks were okay and some were really stupid. They weren’t even tasks! I particularly didn’t like the Rajasthani dance task (it was so silly and nothing competitive about it) or the coffin task where Devarshi got blasted from Raghu (the task was highly dramatised) Roadies 5.0 had better tasks in totality.

The contestants were BAD in this season. Devarshi was not at all funny and in fact, was extremely irritating. Palak-well, I have said enough about her. Paulomi, I guess wanted to go for airhostess training but by mistake, gave the Roadies audition. It’s okay. We know, only she is capable of making such a mistake, but why did Raghu and Rajiv make a mistake of selecting her?! Bobby is pretty but she couldn’t do a single task properly. Sandeep and Pradeep were ace in plotting but tasks-yawnnn...Samrat was the only one I had some faith in for performing tasks but man, what a disappointment he was! But his performance post-vote out was brilliant. (However, Ranvijay’s reactions were even more brilliant!) Roop, Varisha and Natasha were boring. Since they were good-looking, I didn’t mind them much. Tamanna was decent and she was fairly good in her tasks also. Kiri was okay but then his task in the end was very good. The best was Sufi. However, I liked him after his comeback, because after that he was a changed man. Before his first vote-out I don’t even remember noticing him!

So, all in all, I feel this season was a little thanda. Yet again, howmuchever I criticise the show, I watched it religiously every week without missing it and discussed it enormously with one of my friend (who also, didn’t like this season but watched it regularly like me)

Double standards, you see!

Supplementary reading for sure...

HT Cafe, the supplement that comes along with Hindustan Times, has articles written by a host of celebrities every day. Imran Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ranvijay, Anushka Shankar write in the daily because they know that people won’t read it otherwise:):):)

The paper says that Imran caters to the young readers and that he is the Youth Icon. Ya sure! Who is interested in what he writes and what he feels about various things in life?! I am not, for sure! To top it all, he has an open discussion with Priyanka about hordes of topics-handbags being a major item of discussion.

I feel it’s a waste of time to read this and a greater waste of paper to print it. Why can’t they take their arguments and ‘funny’ discussions to their private blogs which is limited to only those people who are interested in following it? I am just a little strong in my opinion on this particular topic but it’s just that after reading awesome articles by Vir Sanghvi, Swaminathan Aiyar, Barkha Dutt, Karan Thapar-articles by our ‘youth icons’ make up for a foolish read.

Jaggu and Tarana rock

I am a major fan of Good Morning Mumbai hosted by Jaggu and Tarana on 94.3FM. This particular excerpt, from one of the aired programmes was hilarious.

Tarana: Everybody is throwing shoes at important people.
Jaggu: You are worried someone will throw a shoe at you?
Tarana: No, no. I am not important enough. The point is I’d like to get into the act and throw some shoes myself.
Jaggu: At whom?
Tarana: So many people. Like my car cleaner for losing my keys. My dhobi for messing up my clothes and the traffic cop at Worli for fining me.
Jaggu: It doesn’t work if you throw it at non-famous people. The point doesn’t get made publicly. And what will happen is that they will be upset with you.
Tarana: Arre, then who?
Jaggu: Important people, who make news. Like politicians, actors and celebrities.
Tarana: Okay, then I will aim for the politicians who buy votes, the actors who refuse to retire and the celebrities who no one knows why they are famous.
Jaggu: That will be a lot of people!
Tarana: The more the merrier.
Jaggu: I want no part of this.
Tarana: Of course you are involved. I’ll be throwing your shoes.
Jaggu: Why the hell would you do that?!
Tarana: Let’s face it, you shoes are ugly, might as well throw them away and do a good deed side by side. We can’t waste my expensive ones on this exercise.

If God was a Banker

These debutant writers are just too good!
Read 'If God was a Banker' by Ravi Subramaniam if you don’t get what I am saying. Dealing with the corporate issues which are closely related to personal issues like our own set of values, beliefs and ethics, the book is a quick read and is not too taxing on the brain. Written in extremely simple language and in a casual style of dialogue, you can actually relate to the characters.

The book is not extra-ordinary. He delves much too deeply into the business of banking with too much emphasis on the banking aspects and techniques. To an outsider who is not fluent with it may find it boring and for an MBA or an insider it would seem too trivial and definitely too simple for understanding. But, every book has some or the other negative points. That doesn’t in any way, undermine the book in totality. The friendship between the two ladies, the contrasting nature of the two lead fellows, the day to day conflicts that each professional faces in his day at office is well-portrayed.

Wouldn’t say much because it would be a pleasure to read the book if you don’t know a lot about it. It’s a good read. It’s pretty small so even if you don’t like it, you won’t regret wasting too much time on it.

Killing Music

I am sure many will disagree with me on this, but I simply dislike the Jai Ho Remix of Slumdog Millionaire by the Pussycat Dolls!

She has ‘revamped’ it. Why Nicole, why? People revamp things that are not good in the first place. So, by revamping, you give it a new, a better look. The original was awesome just the way it was. All the more, the video is not entertaining. Nicole Scherzinger looks awfully thin, more on the anaemic side. Mind you, I have nothing against the singer or the band. I am, in fact, a fan of their songs. I can’t help tapping my feet while listening to the songs with lively beats and superb dance steps. In the remix of Jai Ho, it seems more like she is doing aerobics

Where is the age of originality? Why are people not making their own songs and instead remixing them? I, personally, am dead against remixes. My blood boiled when a beautiful, slow and romantic song like Woh Lamhe of Zeher was remixed and it ended up completely opposite!

I wish music directors would stick to their job of MAKING music and not RE-MAKING it...

The White Tiger

I just read The White Tiger by debutant writer, Aravind Adiga (ya, ya, the same one that was all over the news for winning the Man-Booker prize winner). I liked it. The book is in a form which is the easiest to read-a letter form. Right from the beginning of the book, you know what the story is but how it unfolds page by page is fascinating.

There are some urgent issues dealt with such as the corrupt ways of dealings that exist among the elite classes and the obvious division between the haves and the have-nots. What makes it a good read is that it has been portrayed in a sardonic voice with ample wit.

With some brilliant facts, classic humour (sure to make you chuckle), simple yet effective language and a look at the world from the eyes of a driver, the book is a thorough entertainer.

The White Tiger is Balram who has grown up in the Darkness, which signifies the poor India where education is not given importance and the most urgent thing to do is to start working immediately. When you start working, you are supposed to give all your earnings to your elderly (who are always waiting for the month-end). Balram, is neither interested in working on mundane tasks nor is he interested in giving away his pay. He has dreams. All of us have. But what he has that perhaps, only a few of us have is a determination to achieve it. He has to drop out of school so he learns through experience. He eavesdrops on conversations, he is ever alert and inviting to every new piece of information he can get hold of.

He learns driving and goes to the city of New Delhi with his master whom he respects tremendously. He befriends the city, he listens to the roads, he develops a special bond with the profession. Fortunately, ambition takes the better of him. He kills his master. Yes! The one whom he respects tremendously and he very well justifies his act as that of a ‘social entrepreneur’.

The white tiger is a rare species. Balram is one, too. And just like the ferocious tiger, Balram too wants to break the bondages and escape from the cages the society has drawn for him and become something on his own, do something what HE wishes to do.

There are some things which I particularly liked about the character. The fact that he kills his master is not because he hated him (there is not a single sentence in the whole book where he bad-mouths him). In fact, the killing represents the killing of the system that his master represents (that of corruption and lies and falsehood). Also there is a nice relationship brought out between the driver and his car (yes, you read it right!). How the driver grows on every interaction with a new road and how gradually he becomes possessive of the car. His car.

Balram is a good guy. What is brought to light is that he becomes corrupt not because of his life in the Darkness, but because of his growth in the Light! I particularly liked it because generally all the crimes are accredited to poverty and lack of comforts. In this case, it was the prosperity and the way the rich live their lives that led Balram into becoming something that he wasn’t.

Education made him corrupt. Knowledge made him corrupt.

Some nice sayings I came across...

What’s written in brackets is me thinking aloud

No one can ruin your day without YOUR permission (How true, we are indeed the masters of our own destiny)

The best way to escape a problem is to solve it! (Now, why didn’t I think of that?!)

He who laughs....lasts (How true!!!!)

Look for opportunities, not guarantees (Ya, if it was guarantees we are looking for, we would be paying a high price!!!)

Whose Shoe is it anyway?

With the shoes rapidly becoming the most sought-after accessory, the common blogger is blessed. In view of so many events revolving around the traditionally not-so-important shoes, how can a blog be complete without a mention of it?!

So here I am, with my share..

It’s hilarious. It really is. Humiliating as it may be, it sure provides a dose of entertainment for readers. With Jarnail shoo-ing Mr. Chidambaram and now a retired school professor throwing his valued possession on Mr. Jindal, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s newspaper to read about the next target.

On a serious note, it’s time to do some serious sole searching. Why are we constantly and foolishly aping the West? If we have to, why aren’t we taking the path of progress? Instead here we are, indulging in these shoe games. Mr. Chidambaram pardoned the journalist-shows a big heart but then what makes you think that it’s not gonna invite another round of shoe-attack on you, Mr. Home Minister? Jarnail had no evil intentions (so, he says) and he claims that it all happened in the heat of the moment. Fine, as you say but this is totally unacceptable behaviour from a journalist!

We are in deep mud if this is the system of protests common man is going to take up in our civilised society. Soon, before we even know, this is going to become an approved medium of riots and goondaism. Democracy is disappearing and we are slowly stepping into a new stage of anarchy where each one will bring up his own technique of fighting an issue.

I think now before we enter a rally or an address from a politician, the police is going to frisk us for pointed objects, liquid, guns and ammunition, eggs and tomatoes and yes, of course, shoes!

An overdose of over-reaction, isn’t it?

Twinkle Khanna ‘supposedly’ did an indecent and an immoral act by unbuttoning her husband’s jeans in a Fashion Show. The social committees created a huge hue and cry about the whole incident and they arrested one of the actors (who was released on bail very soon, of course) and the other is out on a shooting but he has dutifully promised to surrender when he comes back. What they did, wasn't so indecent considering the way it’s made into an issue but then again, it would have been a better option if they would do it behind closed doors of their bedrooms. The whole hotch-potch was definitely not needed.

If that wasn’t enough, Preity Zinta blasted the media for falsely reporting about her split with Ness Wadia and her link-up with Vikram Chatwal. With a phone call made to Zoom specially to show her concern over the whole thing and a special write-up in Bombay Times to verbally spite the media, she sure has all the attention she wants right before her IPL stunt. The media, no doubt has infiltrated certain protocols of privacy, by making her life an open book. But I just want to inform Ms. Zinta that we are simply not interested. The newspapers are flooded with your news but we simply read the headline of the article and overlook the rest of it. Because, seriously we do not care about your life, we have our own set of worries to take care of. So don't overreact so much, please.

Mayawati and Maneka Gandhi felt left out. They thought that these celebrities are stealing away all their attention when they should be the ones actually getting it before the elections. So, here we are with another controversy and a war of words to read up on. With one accusing the other of not being a good mother and not being able to raise her son effectively, it was quite a read on the front page of every daily!

Overacting is the certainly the unavoidable in-thing. First, it was movies..now it is reality!

Roadies Top 4...gets interesting

Roadies this weekend (Sunday, March 29, 2009) was good fun. The first task which was the money task was good to see but the immunity task wasn’t!

The first task where they were testing the contestant’s strength by asking them to dive again and again from a height was taxing. At the same time we came to know how smart Paulomi and Sufi were (read: not smart). The scene where Palak tried doing various stunts and ended up falling badly on her back was awesome. The way she said “naanimaa yaad aa gayi” was funnier. Natasha seems to be a no-nonsense girl who doesn’t think too highly of herself and tries to maintain her dignity on the show (regardless of what she has been before on the show). But that in no way means that she is a good performer, no sir! Palak is all mouth. Why is she not getting out of the show yaar?! The second task was also fun but I seriously pray for the contestants’ well-being because they are being pushed to new horizons each episode. Poor guys!

The vote out was awesome till we knew that Palak was getting voted out. But the twist made everything sad. Sufi was a good guy and a brilliant performer. I don’t think it’s fair at all to send him out just because Palak has a grudge against him. Frankly speaking, I think the show is rigged and they just don’t want Palak to leave the show because if she is out, there won’t be any tears, any drama, any betrayal, any bitching, any backbiting-in short, there won’t be any reason for people to watch the show. Palak is the TRP puller.

Keeping aside her topic, I am amazed at the way Paulomi reached the top five and now the top four! How? Why? When? Did we miss something? She is not a performer at all, she plays safe each time by not taking any side, she is dumb and she thinks she is very smart and she is not at all a Roadie’s material. Doesn’t Raghu feel ashamed that the quality of Roadies is put at risk when people like Paulomi reach the top five among the good ones? I like Nauman, as in, he is a good performer. He has always given his best and he has no air about himself, he is level minded and I still respect him for his first out-a very dignified exit!

All in all, the only thing disappointing in this episode was that Palak didn’t leave the show. And to make things worse, Sufi got out. What a guy he was! A true Roadie.

Oh God! Yet another award!

Priyanka Chopra is gay and happy. She has received the Nielson Box Office Award in Hong Kong for her ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Asian Cinema’. Goodness gracious!

What contribution? She has just been in the industry for just about five years and she has given 20 flops as against 5 hits in her career. Well, that IS a contribution, for sure!

She was adorable in Bluffmaster. She sizzled the screen in the item song of Billu Barber. She looks glamorous and really beautiful in Dostana. Her acting is top-notch in Fashion. The list ends here. What about her pathetic role and overacting stunts in movies like Plan, Kismat, Asambhav, Karam, Blackmail, Yakeen, Aap ki Khatir, Salaam-e-Ishq, Love Story 2050, God Tussi Great Ho, Chamku, Drona?

Mind you, I have no animosity against Priyanka. She is indeed very beautiful but when it comes to her acting, I cannot say so. She has been accredited to a whole lot of flop films. And the hits that she has given are multi-starrers so we can’t give her ALL the credit. She just happened to make the right choices. Good for her!

Anyway, the whole point of me writing this is not to undermine her efforts and hard work, but it is just to point out the superficiality of each award. Every now and then an award is given to random actors and actresses. Well, I may be a little biased towards the ceremonies because I expected A Wednesday to grab all the awards this year but alas, it didn’t get the credit it deserved.

And the award goes to...

Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar won the Padma Shri award from the President of India for their contribution to Indian cinema. Yeah sure!

Aishwarya is nothing more than a pretty face but I wonder what has been her contribution to the industry which is more than what any other actress has done. Well, I don’t have an answer. So I conclude that the country has a policy of awarding all the actresses chance by chance. So this year it’s Aish (without any valid reason), next year it’s gonna be another such actress (again, without a valid reason..) which will make me write a post definitely next year.

So, till next year on the Padma Shri...

Vote with DNA

DNA, 1st April 2009 issue, Page 11, the advertisement on the bottom right.

It goes like this-
You can’t stop people with criminal records from contesting at the elections. But you can surely be informed about the backgrounds of your local candidates. Read our perspective on Elections in the section Vote ’09 with DNA and you will know the chaff from the rice. That should help you decide who to vote for.
Make the informed choice. Vote with DNA.

A very intelligent ad. And it points out certain facts about our helplessness to not be able to stop criminals entering our country at a high post.

M'am, what are you thinking?!

Anjali Waghmare is the lawyer appointed by the jury to fight the case of Ajmal. For those who need a reminder, Ajmal is the fellow who was an accomplice to the Mumbai terror attacks which took place on 26th November 2008. The jury wants to assign a lawyer to him because that’s the law of the country. India has strict and rigid policies where every accused gets a chance to have a fair trial and a chance of being pardoned if the lawyer is good enough to defend his or her case properly.

India is a very nice country where criminals and terrorists can come in dozens and kill as many Indians as they wish and spread as much terror as they want AND still be relieved that they will get a lawyer, full protection and an opportunity to be condoned.

I don’t understand this policy at all. And what’s more-I don’t care for it! Anjali Waghmare claims that what she is doing is for the good of the country. Could you please elaborate, Mrs. Waghmare? What good will it do if
· You lose the case and it will put a ‘lost case’ stamp on your career
· You win the case, you will also win another round of the Shiv Sainiks to your house with perhaps, a larger mob..
What are you thinking, m’am?

As for the Shiv Sainiks, for once, I am all for you. I am on your side. Somebody has to talk sense to these goody goody people who always think for the better of everybody irrespective of their motives and cruel intentions.
On top of it all, there are critics and editor’s suggestions saying that strict actions should be taken against the unruly and rowdy crowd. They are unruly and they are hooligans, I don’t deny that. But why don’t they see the bigger picture? Rather than criticizing the jury, the laws of the country, the lawyer-why are they targeting the Shiv Sainiks? Just because they are an easy target and because they have past records of such gunda behaviour?

As for the government, please think about the money and manpower that you are dedicating towards the protection of the sole captured terrorist. Think of all the opportunity costs. You are spending your days and money and all your thinking capacity in thinking about which clandestine place to move Ajmal next to. Don’t you have any other work to do? Don’t you want to divert those policemen and money to better causes-protect the country and even if not that, give those good men a break? Why should they dedicate a few good years of their life to put their life in trouble to ensure the protection of this mass murderer?

Kuch lamhein chura lo na...

This advertisement has been in circulation for a very long time but I thought it was high time that I should write something on it to give it its due.

What an ad! A sweet and beautiful couple who are in love and they are just running around having a good time. No intelligence, no creativity, no deep meaning. But a wonderful ad. It’s rare to see good ads without any of the above listed factors.
Watching this ad has nothing to do with my fondness for Limca (I don’t even like Limca!) but the ad surely has a top-of-the-mind brand recall and the association of the video to the product surely makes me wanna try it with an open mind...

Sushma Reddy looks so refreshingly beautiful and Niketan Madhok is utterly handsome. And the song-anything I say for the song is less! Sung by Cara Lisa Monteiro who is famous for the Phir Dekhiye track of Rock On!, it is such a feel-good video. The happy couple is doing kiddish stuff which just matches with the wordings of the song-

“Fuhaarein, bochharein, nazaaare chura lo na, kuch boondein chura lo na;
Thaki si zindagi se, ruki si zindagi se, kuch lamhe chura lo na;
Kuch yaddein, aur sapne, apne chura lo na;
Ruki si zindagi se, thaki si zindagi se, raftaarein chura lo na…”

A Lost Lottery...

Lottery released last week. Wait! That’s not the funny story yet! What’s funny is that DNA and the Times unanimously agreed to give it no rating! How funny is that?! The star cast is even scary-half of them you have never even heard of..my god! And to say that the economy is in recession!

I wonder how the directors and producers even get encouraged to make such movies with the same old boring stories with nothing new to offer except for new faces. It should be interesting to study the psyche of these daredevils because it takes nothing more than guts to spend so much money on something which even they might not be sure of.

Exams aren't the only worries...

Just read the latest on ragging..this issue has always been in the news..the latest being the girl who committed suicide after being sexually humiliated and the boy from Delhi (DPS has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons!) who was beaten up by his seniors. The whole incident or simply the thought of it gives goosebumps. It's so horrible and pathetic, it's not cruel, it's simply inhumane. I don't understand the whole concept of raggin-ok, people say there are levels of ragging-but what is a low level or a high level?! The bottomline remains that you are being embarrassed in front of a bunch of people whom you dont even know and for what? For being a fresher?! Since when is being a fresher a crime which invites such a horrible act from strangers?!

I feel really strongly about this issue because nobody but the ragged person knows the trauma of having a dozen people looking and laughing at you. Nobody has given these raggers a right to do what they do. I mean, they are like the local level terrorists-because we have to be on a lookout for them or that these are the ones who always have an upper-hand to us. And thanks to these incidents, there are stricter laws being introduced but what can one possibly do? How can one keep an eye on these raggers coz their face and behaviour is no different from the others.

The latest incidents have me in shock. Because I am worried for the future generations to come. Never thought there would be a day where parents would be worried about their children going to school....

Diving into the Unknown!

Its always so easy explaining stuff to people or even to yourself, for that matter, if i do not have an upper limit on the number of sentences i use. But condensing it into minimal words and trying to say a lot in a few words is a pain. It sure is a difficult job. And that's what it took me to decide a name for my blog. There are just so many criteria to be fulfilled before i actually finalize upon a name-it should be indicative of my mood and personality, it shouldn't contradict my thoughts, it shoud be smart and trendy, it shouldn't be foolish and childish...so on and so forth (the list is endless!) It took me four days and 7 hours to decide upon a name after much brainstorming (brain?!) with my friend, after a lot of intellectual discussions and deep insight, we ended up with the name which is open for interpretation. With this name, i am not trying to tell anything. It's neither immature nor intellectually stimulating. It is simply the Unknown!