Aa Dekhe Zara

An Indian scientist has made a camera (among a few other gadgets – such as a clock) which has revolutionized the way people use camera. The camera can take a look into the future! Now I won’t go into the physics of it rather focus on the features of the camera.

Overview – A future time is fed into the camera. The photograph of the person whose future we want to see is clicked. When the negative is developed, we can see how the person and his surrounding would look at the same time on the future day that was fed into the camera.

Features – This camera is loaded with features. A few of them are mentioned below:
This camera has an in-built clock which keeps the standard time of the place the camera is in. If the camera is in India, it keeps the IST. So if you try to set present or a past date, it’d just not allow you to. Now if you go to some other country, say, the US or Thailand, it adjusts to the current time zone. When Simi clicked Ray’s photograph in India – with the time set to 5 days hence, the developed picture actually showed that he would be in Thailand at the same time (Thailand Standard Time) after 5 days! Chances are high that the camera even takes into consideration day light saving and multiple time zones in a country and any future time zone split.

The auto focus of this camera is simply outstanding. This camera ‘understands’ what the person, who would develop the picture, would want to focus on. When Ray was experimenting with his camera, he found that the both the mother and the child clicked needed to be focused on – so the photograph showed that after a day they would be free-falling from a giant wheel. When two persons are clicked and they are not supposed to be ‘together’ on the set future date, then the camera selectively gives you the future of the person you are concerned about. The best part is that you may also know the future of the persons you have not clicked. For e.g. when Simi was clicked in Thailand, we found that her under gun-point of a policeman. So, without even clicking the policeman we found his future! In mathematical terms this is called many-one function.

The camera is waterproof. Even if it is thrown into a pool from top of a tall Thai Hotel, it works absolutely perfect.

Challenges - Like all new researches there are a few challenges. The camera doesn’t have flash! So, if the light is not good, the photograph may appear dark. A blank photograph may imply that either the person clicked would be dead by the time set in the camera or there is not enough light to capture anything. It may also mean that the camera is damaged.

The camera is also not shock proof. If thrown into a well from the top of it, while a free falling person still holds the free falling camera, the camera would get damaged and would be rendered useless.

The camera accepts only future date as the input. It assume that the time one want to know about a person/thing on the future date is same as the time the picture is clicked. We cannot know future, say, five hours from now. The camera actually trains us to be in-time. If you want to know the future, you better ask the camera for it at least one day in advance (or in quanta of one day) else, the camera won't work. A clock, however, may be soon available where we can actually travel in time with the precision of a second!


Compliance – This camera is compliant with the destiny-only standard. Destiny-only standard asserts that everything that happens is pre-determined. We are just doing what we are destined to do. We are destined to see the future through this camera and we are destined to oblige to do whatever the camera predicted to do.

Now, let’s make this interactive. If you get this camera, how would you use it? Do put in your thoughts in the comments section. I am sure any and every reply would be better than what’s shown in Aa Dekhe Zara.
Let your imagination go wild!
PS: All characters (including the camera) in this article are fictitious and bear no resemblance to any person living or dead. Any similarity with anything living or dead is purely coincidental

Vote For TV

Nope, Ila Arun is not coming up with a sequel of ‘vote for ghagara’ [Video]. “Vote for TV” - is what TDP’s manifesto has for just-around-the-corner election. As done in all the elections and as done by all parties, TDP promises goodies if it comes into power. TDP is promising color TV to lower and middle class families – aping what DMK did in Tamil Nadu. In addition to a color TV, it also promises to give Rs 2000, Rs 1500 and Rs 1000 per month to the poorest, poor and middle class families. The announcement of the manifesto enunciating the above freebies has around aroused a lot of ridicule among the intellectual section of the society. I, personally feel, that their apprehension is nothing but baseless. Let me address the concerns one by one:


First, Ethics – Proponent of ethics accuse TDP of buying votes.

In a nation where very few people actually go to vote, TDP’s offer would, at least, get a few more people to vote. TDP is just offering TV and cash. There are instances where underwear and soup were on offer! No power, no force, no freebies can get the masses to vote. The GenX is too busy in their virtual world to care about the real. TDP’s offer will only increase the number of people who actually vote.

Haven’t you ever promised your son a movie if he keeps his room clean for a week? Haven’t you promised your daughter an iPod if she gets 90% in her exams? Have never your parents promised you a bicycle if you passed in your exams? We don’t really think these as unethical. So then why do we consider TDPs asking for votes for freebies as unethical?


Second – Basic Necessity

A section of society believes that TV is not a ‘basic necessity’. Most people in India don’t even have roti, kapada aur makan (and also water, toilets, electricity, education – you don’t want me to continue, do you?). Now consider the following. An average Indian middle class family spends quite a lot of their time with TV. When Prince fell down in the well, we spend our whole day watching TV and praying that we never have such fate. When Ganesh idols ‘drank’ milk we, obviously, wanted to know which temple most people are rushing to which Ganesh idol is not drinking milk. We also wanted to know in real-time whereabouts of a commissioner’s lost-and-found dog. If you think these are on and off – then what about the one-day matches where the poor TV gets real hot at the end of the day after we have watched the highlights and the detailed analysis of the match we so religiously watched? If even this is not-so-frequent, then I’d have to say what I have been shying away from saying. Soaps Opera. Right from 7:30 pm one to the 11:00 o’clock one – we want to know what each of the super-women is doing in their lives. How about the 12:30 to 2:30 soaps in the afternoon? All these goes to prove that we spend quite a lot of our time with television – on an average about 30% of the time we are awaken. Doesn’t the ubiquitous TV, then, qualify as a basic necessity?


TDP’s freebies are a solution to a host of problems. Brief take on them below-


Recession – Ah, our favorite word! We must have read almost everything, which Google could crawl on, on it and also the forwarded jokes which reaches us before we could reach our mailbox in the morning. Yes. TDPs offer is actually a stimulus package in disguise. With thousands of lower/middle class people in AP, the demand for televisions would increase. So, the television manufacturers would need to hire more people to meet the surge in demand. The TV companies would also need to buy raw materials, etc. So, this would have avalanche impact or chain reaction and better the economy of AP and country as a whole. A lot of people who are laid off from the IT/finance companies would find jobs. This positive feedback mechanism would ultimately pull India out of recession. The problem with recession is the lack of demand and TDP is just addressing that.

The same principle applies to the Cash Transfer Scheme(CTS). One of the reasons (or effects?) of recession is lack of liquidity in market. CTS will inject cash into the market. The demands for cosmetics, clothes, cricket bats, coffee mugs, generators (as quite a few villages don’t have electricity to run TV), oil (to run the generators), fuses, plugs and wires would increase leading to the above positive feedback effect.


Quality of life – The quarrels in the family would decrease as the family would now watch TV rather than talk to each other. The lesser interaction among the family members would decrease the quarrels


Patriotism – Apart from the patriotic movies which are shown on 26th Jan and 15th Aug on TV, the CTS would also increase the patriotic quotient of India. With more cash in hand, the poor people can now buy “branded” liquor. This would increase the demand of liquor. And hence, liquor barons can buy the Father of Nation’s memorabilia!


Better prospects – As per Bittu (in Delhi-6) shows only like Indian Idol can offer opportunity to middle class girls to be successful. Do you know why Bittu didn’t include poor class? The reason is – they didn’t have a TV. Now the TDP provided TV would usher the doors of success to even the poor class


These benefits are just a tip of the iceberg. There are host of other benefits which TDP may have considered and which I, a stupid-common man, cannot understand.
considering TDP’s freebies as ridiculous is ridiculous.

- Think...

Live to die

If we all know that we are to die one day, then why do we live? This is a basic question which has its manifestations throughout the history of mankind where time and again we do things which comes back to us in the negative way. This reminds me of the negative-feedback systems I learnt in my undergraduate. I wondered, why on earth, do we have negative feedback system given the fact that it reduces the output. The answer mentioned in the standard text-books was that negative feedback gives stability to the system. It corrects the un-reined growth of the output. If positive feedback is given to the system, it starts oscillating with its output going out of bound. This same principle applies in a lot of contexts.


The concept of outsourcing is very old – though it was not known by that name. The East India Company for decades had not brought in English language with them. They had kept the language to themselves and hence kept all the higher-echelon-work with themselves. But, around 1828, with the Company’s finances looking bleak they resorted to, what is now a buzzword, cost cutting. They "outsourced" the government posts to Indians. To make the Indians capable of doing the job, they committed the biggest mistake – they brought in English education. The English language brought with it the access to English press. Indians became aware of European Nationalism, the protests the other colonies were doing and the scientific advancement. Apart from the tyranny, if there was any one thing which led the Indians to drive the British out of India, it was English. English, which the Company brought in for their own profit turned out to be their biggest enemy. BTW, are you thinking about English as a negative feedback?


The USA is said to have backed Al Queda as a means to counter Russia. In the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the USA provided support to the Afghan Mujahideens (Al Qaeda) through Pakistan’s Intelligence service to outdo Soviet in the Cold War. USA thus outsourced a part of its "Cold War Business" to the mujahideens. But little did the US knew that the same Al Qaeda, which it used against the Soviets, would carve one of the biggest “man-made” catastrophes in the USA.

The same principle goes for outsourcing. The western companies outsourced their work to India primarily because it was cheaper. However, the Indians (and other Asians) developed their skills to the extent they they started getting preferred. Their western counterparts fear loss of job to the same people they trained. A saying goes that westerner, in the mid 20th century used to tell their kids to eat their food else Indians would have it - Now they are telling their kids to do their homework else Indians would steal their jobs!

Nuclear weapons are another example. We are making nuclear weapons, basically, to defend ourselves from our "enemies". With these deadly weapons,we may be able to bargain our lives today but the same nuclear weapon are, sooner or later, going to kill. They are made to kill.

Doesn't the same go with Recession? As the companies compete to lay people off, more and more people's buying power decreases. So, the demand decreases which in-turn leads to further down size of companies. The vicious cycle,thus, continues. Companies lay people off to save cost today. This then becomes, as they say, a necessary evil.

Meri billi mujh se hi miyao miyao
Ulta Chor Kotwaal ko daante

These are a few proverbs which come to my mind right now. If your “billi” is going to mew against you then why have a billi? In some cases it’s necessary evil and in other cases it can be avoided. The Britishers could not but outsource their work to Indians if they had to maintain their hold on India. If they wouldn’t have taught Indians English, they would have had to quit a century too earlier. Similarly, if the Western companies wouldn’t have outsourced they wouldn’t have attained the kind of productivity they did. In these cases, “outsourcing” was a necessity. But was it also a necessity in other cases? I don’t think so – nor do I think, the proponents would have thought that it would take such a shape. However, there are certain things you know are going to come back to you – but still you do it. This is negative feedback - sometimes it becomes so large as to stall the system, sometimes it brings balance to it.

Do we, then, live to die? Did the British bring in English education to get driven out of India and be jobless a century later? Did the US fund the Al Qaeda to get hit where it hurts the most? I ask again, do we, then, live to die?

- Think ...

PS: I know there are tons of other ways to explain the above. I have chosen this one to draw parallels

Delhi-6 - Afterthoughts

The crusade continues. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra continues providing insight on socio-political issues of India with Delhi-6. The movement started with Rang De Basanti continues with Delhi-6.

RDB brought to light the power of media and the power of the middle class. The 'candle marches' as a means of protest started gaining prominence. With Delhi-6, Rakeyesh comes up with another tool - a quaint old mirror. I wouldn't be surprised, if i read that there was a 'mirror march' to highlight solidarity and unity after a communal tension.

The film is full of symbolisms. First, the central character of the film - 'kaala bandar' is a symbol. 'Kaala bandar', which is nowhere shown in the movie, is described as the culprit of all communal problems. 'Kaala bandar' is that invisible, intangible element in each one of us that causes people to fight against people. . In the movie, by having Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) - disguised as 'kaala bandar' - shot which pacified the rioteers, Mehra proposes that killing the 'kaala bandar' in ourselves shall end the communal tension.

Masakali, a bird, is also used as a symbol. Madangopal (Om Puri) loves this bird so much that he has tied it up so that it cannot fly and be with him. Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), his daughter, wants to be independent - wants to make her own mark. She wants to be an 'Indian Idol'. But Madangopal, like any middle class indian father, wants to marry her off. Roshan, who was brought up in the US, finds this similar to Masakali's plight and suggests Bittu to snap the tie and fly away.

The role of media, which was shown in positive light in RDB, was shown to be negetive in D-6. From the starting of the movie, the news channels were creating hype about the invisible 'kaala bandar'. I was thinking, if the bandar was invisible, how could it be 'kaala'? Or for that matter, how could it be a bandar? The news channels were shown to be more interested in sensationalism rather than in plain 'news'.

I really loved the nomenclatures. First, the movie title. Mehra and company could have named this movie 'Chandani Chowk' instead of Delhi-6 as both meant the same. The former would have had more recall-value. Remember how cliched 'Chandani Chowk to China' (dekha hai kabhi tune aina) sounded? But, by choosing Delhi-6, Mehra announced that his movie was different. Also, the name given to Abhishek's character was apt. Roshan is both a Hindu as well as a Muslim name. It suited well given that his father was Hindu while his mother was Muslim.

Now, the plot. The plot was like a roller coaster. The focus of the film seamlessly changed from personal issues and personal lives to societal issues where the characters which were developed in the first half of the movie became ordinary members of the society in the second half. The movie started with Roshan and his grandmother (Waheeda Rehman) migrating to India. In the airport, Roshan hears news channels telecasting 'kaala bandar' news. Roshan smirks at it - hinting at how ridiculous he thought it was. Little did he (or the audience) know that he'd have to play that role! In Delhi, Roshan is introduced to the 'Indian' way of life - the warmth, the affection. The Delhi-6 neighborhood is show to be made of both the Hindus and the Muslims - both staying in harmony. I particularly liked the dialogue of the sweets-shop owner that only animals eat to satisfy hunger; humans eat to socialise. How true it was. I remeber eating-to-satisfy-hunger only after a fast - all other times i eat because it was time for it - or because i wanted to catch up with a friend. Till interval, the little details of a typical Delhi-6 life was shown. the corrupt police officer and his tyranny were well portrayed.

Post-interval, things change unexpectedly. A 'baba' professed that 'kaala bandar' was creating havoc because a nearby mosque was build after demolishing a temple. This created communal tension in the area. People, who had lived as friends and family for decades, became foes overnight. Around the same time, Bittu was planning to flee to participate in Indian Idol. Roshan, dressed up as 'kaala bandar' expresses love to bittu and gets caught by the masses - and eventually gets almost killed. There was a 'mad' fakir, who roams in the Delhi-6 area carrying a mirror. Gobar (Atul Kulkarni) said that the 'mad' fakir's madness had some substance - that there is God in each one of us, and not in temples/mosques.

There is one sequence which i liked a lot. Gobar was named so as he was claimed to be stupid. To justify this, he was always asked to choose between 2 one rupee coins and a ten rupees note. Gobar would, invariably, choose 2 one rupee coins. Towards the end of the movie he justifies saying that if he would have chosen 1 ten rupees note, he would have lost those many 2-rupees he had been getting. Amazing! Who would like to kill the golden eggs laying hen? Or is it what we call micro-economics which Mohammad Yunus used in his Grameen Bank venture?

The character of Jalebi (Divya Dutta) exposes the evils of untouchability - which still prevails in the capital of India 60+ years after the Independence. The double standards shown by inspector Ranvijay (Vijay Raaz) - where he 'touches' Jalebi in the darkness of the night but maintains untouchability in the daytime is contrasted with the help which Jalebi does by giving her hair strands to Gobar. Gobar, however, couldn't get above his 'tradition' and asks jalebi to throw them in his hands without touching him!

Motorola also did a good job in advertising and branding it's products especially E8. This, unlike most in-film advertisements didn't hinder the pace of the movie rather aided it. However, this ad came in too late as it's almost a year since the E8 released in the market. Better late than never - only if it makes business sense!

The music of the movie is brilliant. The short songs doesn't stall the pace of the movie. As an album, it has a romantic song, a bhajan, a qawali, a high-beats song, a marriage song! A R Rehman proves once again that he is truly world-class. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are very relevant and show that good poetry can still be found in bollywood songs.

This film belongs to the same genre which Mehra started with RDB - starts with personal lives of ordinary Indians which becomes part of addressing a socio-politcal issue. If people call it a formula, so be it. In that case every movie can be put into a formula! Now, i want to see Aks. I want to see what Mehra did in his first movie. Also, I am looking forward to what Mehra would (or could?) come up with next. I cannot compare it with RDB - being an urban youth, i could connect well with RDB. But Delhi-6 is equally good. It's better than any movie i saw in recent times. It's a movie one can only experience!

PS: I delayed writing this review. I was worried if i can praise this movie enough as no praise is enough for it. It's so easy to criticize and so damn difficult to praise.

Waiting for the Mahatma

Who doesn’t know the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the independence movements? Who doesn’t know how scared the British Raj was of this ‘half naked fakir’? But little do people know about his enormous influence on the masses. Little do people know about the hundreds of people who made the movements.

Waiting for the Mahatma is set in the backdrop of the freedom struggle of Indian independence – from Quit India Movement to after Independence. The 256 page story can be said in less than 256 words – Sriram sees Bharati when she visits Malgudi with Gandhiji and falls in love with her – He joins Gandhiji and the freedom movement to be with her and impress her – In that course he comes in contact with other freedom fighters and kind of follows Netaji for some time – Bharati and Sriram are jailed – Sriram is freed post independence – As Bharati had insisted, Sriram asks for Bharati’s hand from Gandhiji. Gandhiji accepts their decision to marry. But what is missing in the above outline is the impact of freedom struggle on ordinary freedom fighters whose names couldn’t find place in the history books – whose portraits couldn’t make it to the museums – whose heroic stories couldn’t live longer than them. Waiting for the Mahatma describes the life of such freedom fighters and the contemporary socio-political situation in amazing details.

Bharati’s character is an epitome of a devotee of Gandhiji. Her life had nothing apart from her Bapu. Wish of her bapu was a command for her. The fact that she went to jail as a political prisoner and then post independence went around the dangerous riot stricken areas following Gandhiji testifies to the blind faith Bharati had in Mahatma. The character of Bharati is an indication of the charisma of Gandhiji and his influence on his followers. Sriram’s character is like a person next door. The only aim he had was to ‘get’ Bharati - the aim of his freedom struggle was not to free India. Neither he is too idealistic nor too realistic. Jagadish’s character represents the unknown freedom fighters whose ideology changes with time – sometimes following Gandhiji and sometimes Netaji – His leading a very ordinary life post independence goes to say that not all who fought for the nation became ministers in the new government or heroes in local areas – they, post independence, became like any other person. One wonders, then, what motivated them to play their life out for the nation? Sriram, at least, had Bharati to play for.

As the quest of Sriram meandered from pre-independence to post independence, the reader gets a feel of the society. The fact that Sriram’s grandmother was not allowed to enter the village after she was found alive at her cremation pyre hints not only at the superstition the people indulged in but also the lack of doctors who could distinguish between life and death. Sriram’s tenure in the jail hinted at the horrors of the jail and how one gets used to worst of conditions. Sriram’s interaction with the hotel waiter after his release from jail post independence threw light on the problems ordinary people were facing due to the nascent, inexperienced government. However, the riot sequence when Sriram was travelling to Delhi brought out, very subtly, the horrors of Hindu-Muslim riots on the pretext of formation of Pakistan.

The best sequence, according to me, was the last sequence. It was really poignant. Mahatma Gandhi gave consent to Sriram and Bharati for their marriage. He even agrees to do the ‘kanyadan’ himself the very next morning. But, while going for the daily prayer, he told Bharati that he somhow feels that he cannot make it to the wedding and tells them that the wedding should take place the next morning no matter what. He then enters the prayer hall. Bharati and Sriram also joins the prayer. A man briskly walks past the crowd towards the dais. He pushes Bharati. Sriram, realizing the duty of a husband, rebukes the man back. The man doesn’t give him a heed and walks on. In no time, he is in front of the dais and in no time Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated.

The title of the book is apt. In the whole story Sriram is waiting for Bharati who in turn is waiting for Mahatma’s consent. The conversation between the characters in the book sounded too artificial to me. Those were the only time when the lost pace. The book can make a good bed time read if one is used to it. It can also help if one wants to start bed time reading :)

- Cheers!

Slumdog Millionaire - Review

Slumdog Millionaire (SM) is nothing great. It just showcases the poverty of India to the western world. Something – they look out for from a movie based in India. This is what I had read/heard about SM. According to a great blogger it was a big disappointment Thanks to the ministers of AP I don’t really think so. I was late for the movie by some 20 mins due to traffic jam. Ah! Traffic jam seems to be one of the few excuses which, only on the face value, gets ready buyers. At least, I never bought it until I was stuck in a traffic signal for some 15 mins as some ministers were passing by on the other side of the road. Are you thinking why I thanked the ministers?

Anyway, when I entered the already settled theatre, Jamaal, had won Rs 16k. The next question was – “Who was the singer of Darashan Do Ghanashyam?” The depiction of the journey Jamaal had taken to answer this question was nothing but heart rending. I had only heard of the beggar gangs – never having experienced/seen it. The way the kids were made blind, gave the viewers a sneak peek into the world they had never imagined to be so crude – the dialogue of Salim that they scoop out the eyes with spoon reveals the agony. The winner, however, was the logic which Jamaal used to come to the answer. It takes much more than formal education to come to the conclusion that blinded beggars singing Darashan Do Ghanashyam pointed to Surdas. Even after watching the tragic scoop-out-eyes episode, my guess was Mira Bai! However, here there are two major assumptions made – Jamaal knew that Surdas was a blind poet and so did Mamam.

Salim’s dialogue – “The man with the Colt 45 says shut up” obviously rings out loud in Jamal’s mind when he was asked the question on the inventor of the first revolver. Even, the setup of the call center where he worked as a chaiwala whispered the location of Cambridge Circle.

The questions, however, were used as media to narrate the story of Jamaal and his mundane journey which may not sound mundane to most of us. The beggar gang racket, prostitution, gang war in the underworld were all touched upon while Jamaal walked his way to the hot seat. The thrill created in the movie was much more than most self-proclaimed thrillers.

Having really enjoyed the movie, I was curious to watch the starting 20 mins of the movie which I missed thanks to the minister’s travel. The first question on Amitabh Bachchan actually asked question on the standard of living of people in the financial capital of the fastest growing democracy. Though, I think, that the dip-in-shit sequence may not be “required”, but that brought out the intensity of the fan following of a crazy BigB fan. It’s not uncommon for people to write letters to the “stars” with their blood which, however, gets delivered (if at all it gets) to god-knows-what address or if one is lucky, to the servants/PAs of the “star”. Taking a dip in the shit in the spur-of-the-moment is what the innocent Jamaal, for whom BigB is the only God, the only way to get to his deity. Why on earth is this made an issue? Maybe, this has to do with our power of observation cup-shaped-curve. Our grasping power is the maximum in the beginning, goes down in the middle and goes up again at the end. I guess, a few eminent writers were not able to get out of the dip-in-shit sequence to truely appreciate the movie. I am just trying to guess as I thankfully (or ruefully?) didn’t have to see the dip-in-shit as the first sequence.

The communal riot sequence was also treated well despite the short time it was allotted. The fact, that by the night even Latika (Hindu by name) was left orphan along with Jamaal (Muslim by name) reminded me that the movie is based on Q&A by Vikas Swarup – a diplomat! Not only that, isn’t it so with any riot? People from all sections/religions die.

The acting of all the actors was great. The kids, however, stole the show – the credit of which goes as much to the kids as much to the director. Irrfan khan’s role didn’t have much scope for him to act. Looks like Irrfan is favourite of the Western Film makers. He is spotted on almost any western movie based on India. Ankur Vikal who plays the bad guy, Mamam, did a fantastic job. The music of the movie (by A. R. Rehman) blends very well with the flow of the story and adds to the subject. Anil Kapoor’s role was a bit negative. Even, his pronunciations were not okay - remember the way he pronounced millionaire as mill-i-naire! Also, the fact that he took the initiative to call the police was a bit filmy. This could have well been done by the producers of the show who, actually, need to fish out the money.

I had liked the first season of KBC a lot. I remember how the streets would get silent at 9 pm. Slumdog brings back the same enchantment of KBC only adding to it the thrill of living the life of Jamaal.

A so-called management guru claims that Slumdog Millionaire sucks. Another great blogger brushes the movie off as yet another indian-shit-showing-western-movie. The Biggest B says the movie is portraying the under belly of India . Personally I don’t know if Slumdog deserved a Golden Globe. Neither do I know the criteria for getting a Golden Globe. As an ordinary viewer, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The thrill, the subtle pointers to the societal problem of India, the way the story was told, the meandering path the story took from its journey from the mountain to the sea make it a good movie to watch. Let's, for the time being, forget the nationality of the director/producer. Let's forget that this film is made for western audience and that it is only meant to showcase the dirtier side of India. Let's, for one time, watch this film with a neutral mind and without the pride in our prejudices. I am sure, you'll enjoy the movie - Oscar or no oscar, Gloden Globe or no Golden Globe. There are tons of great work being done across the globe - most of which don't make it to the silver screen. Given all that, watch SM just as a movie; and you may well end up grabbing an original copy of it for your collection.

- Cheers!

Long time no see?

I am writing this one just because i have not written for a while now. Nope, it's not a paradox. Neither it's an excuse of not writing for a while nor for writing this one.

One reason i didn't write is because i didn't see any movies after Ghajini. Movies are my favourite subjects and i am so passionate about them that i can't help writing about it. My not watching any movies can be called a break after the horrific expirience or a sabbatical. Or just following the newest fad in town of cost cutting? Yes, that's the reason of not writing - just as no-evidence is the reason of Pakistan's inaction pertaining to the 26/11 incident.

The other reason is that i am reading R K Narayan's Waiting for the Mahatma. So you can expect my views on it soon

Yet another reason is the turmoil in the air - the effect of the recession. Shouldn't it make for a good subject to right on?

But the main reason for not writing anything is because i was reading this, this, this and this and also this. These introduced me to a new level of blogging and i was in a state of awe.

These are from the same person, Arnab, more commonly known as GreatBong. His posts are very, very long and the first reaction is to not read it. But just as with most knee jerks, following this "instinct" would only make you the loser. Once you start reading his posts, you cannot stop until you have reached the end. Looks like the posts of GB follows what Vivekananda preached - "Arise, wake and stop not till the goal is reached" - GB just makes it all the more easy - you arise (start reading) and he'll ensure that you don't stop till you reach the end of the post. If you want to give it a try, read this one

There are certain posts of his which are quintessential sarcasm. When you start reading, you feel that GB is praising the subject. That praise continues throughout the post and even till the end. That's it. The praise continues just till the end of the post. After it - you start thinking whether this guy really wanted to praise him? Or was he being sarcastic? You stay in this grey area for a while and then you tend to believe that the whole post was actually criticising the subject.

After reading his review on Ghajini, i, kind of, decided to stop writing unless i have something of that standard. But then, i stumbled upon his review on rab ne bana di jodi and i though mine takes better, deeper look at the movie. His just flushes the movie down the drain by his sarcasm (read brahmastra) without really convincingly justifying it, not common of GB. Then, a stumbled upon another blog of his which wasn't that great - it sounded of fatigue (and so i don't remember what/where it was)

The best part of his posts, however, is the profound knowledge his has about his subjects. The combination of science (knowledge) and art (his way of writing) makes for a good reading (a rarity these days!)

Cheers!