Year 2005

Year 2005 for me can be summarized in just one line, “Nothing worked out”. There were things that promised so much but in the end nothing really good became of all the things. Basically, a very sad, disappointing year.

Amitabh Bachchan

I can't imagine India without him, can you? His recent heath scare has made more headlines than Ganguly and Natwar put together. After seeing him being taken on a stretcher to in a hospital, it just hit me that the whole of India will come to a standstill if anything happens to this guy. The only other guy who could evoke such emotion would have to be Sachin. These two are two immortals among us mortals in India. And in a country where heroes are hard to come by, these two are what personify the best among us. Amitabh is not a superstar, he is phenomenon. He personified the angry young man. India needed someone like him. And he changed the face of indian cinema forever. He made me laugh and he is the only actor to have made me cry. How can I forget the scene from Sharabi when munshi ji is lying on the hospital bed and Amitabh promises never to drink again, smashes the bottle. Truly a classic scene. Amitabh cannot be defined just as an actor. KBC brought out the human behind the superstar which probably very few close friends knew. He made people so comfortable on the show. I reached out to people on a personal level. May it be delivering his famous dialogues, or reciting poems from his dads collection, or just talking to them. He rich hindi and eloquent english just absorbed you and still does in KBC 2. One thing people noticed was how humble he was. I remember his interview on CNN after been voted the best actor of the millennium in BBC's poll. The anchors being american where not aware of how known he is, but at the end of the show one of them commented that Amitabh was such a nice guy, classy person. If one can have this kind of effect on news anchors than one must be something. Well I could go on and on about him but that would not still not tell you what he is. You have to know him, see his movies, watch him on KBC to know him.

People, media today are trying, desperately to find who will fill his shoes, well I wish them the very best.. after all they will need it if
they are trying to search for the non existent.

I protest against Sony BMG

I would like to register my protest against the controversial copy-protection software used by music publisher Sony BMG on music CDs. It's appalling that a huge coporation like Sony BMG would stoop to the level of a hacker and spy on computers of it's customers.
shame Sony BMG, shame :-(

More Calvin.

simply outstanding!

http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html

Relationship blogs

Do you like them? I must say they make interesting reading. I have never written about releationships in my blog. I haven't had the occassion. But seems like the Indiatimes site is full of them. And the main theme seems to be about guy-girl relationships going bad, crushes, incidents. It's easy to write about these, I think. Mostly it's like writing a diary, only its availabe to the world. For me, I have a journal that I keep to write personal stuff. It tracks events, milestone, thoughts that meet me throughout the journey called "My Life".

There is this stuff I read somewhere that somewhere deep down we want our diaries to be read by someone. Would you agree? I guess in a way blogging proves that there is some substance to this. People do blog about everything that happens to them. My blog mostly is about my view about anything and everything.

Test

Blogging through an email. Kewl !!!

 

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

 

Apple, iPod Video and Steve Jobs

There are two things I need to write about. One is the iPod video. Though there isn't the "whoa!!!" factor with this launch as most of us who care and are aware of Apple Inc. knew that it was coming. There was that "whoa!!!" factor about the Nano, I must say. That thing is so small just like S. Jobs put it
"It's really small!" One of my colleagues actually bought the Nano and it just blew me away when I first saw it. It’s really thin. Infact I think the width of the headphone jack may have kept it from being any thinner. I must say it looks delicate and if it were any thinner that it would actually bend if you kept it in your pocket.
Now about the iPod Video. It’s awesome. If I were living in US I would have bought it. Apple has replaced the bigger iPods with this one. Smart move I must say. The thing is that if you want a new iPod, it now will be a video one by default at the same price. It still does what it does best, but it can play video. Though there are some people who say that why the hell would I like to watch a video on a 2.5-inch screen. Well let me say this. Suppose you are traveling and there is nothing to do. You have your iPod. It plays music, but it also happened to have the video of the song. Wouldn’t you watch it? Next scenario: you missed the last episode of your favourite show. You have sometime before you begin your travel that is boring all the way. You may want to download that episode and watch it while you travel. Makes sense to me. Another thing is that I always wished there were videos of live performances of my favourite band. If there was the live performance of Queen Live At Wembley. I would buy all the videos. I have never seen them on any music channels. Same with videos of U2, Iron maiden. What about you? Won’t you buy the videos of live performances of your favourite band. So when you think about the huge subscribers of iTunes, I am pretty sure there is a market there. No one thought people would buy 1 billion songs from iTunes, now were there?
Now the next point is the actual presentation that Steve Jobs made. I saw it thanks to Zdnet. And I was impressed. That guy is GOOD! I had heard about his people skills and yesterday I saw it. The way he can capture audiences is amazing. The way he can sell is even more amazing. I like the part were he was referring to Disney, I quote ‘I know these guys’. I also managed the find the clip where he introduces the Nano. Remember that part where he refers to the small jeans pocket and said that he always wondered what it held and then he pulls out the Nano out of it.
Steve Jobs: Master presenter. He makes the key note speeches look so easy. Ah and one more incident that I would like to remind, the part during the demo of the new iMac mini, where he puts his remote between the remotes for the media center developed by both MS and gateway.

Music scene in India and Pakistan

It is very contrasting to say the least. And India is on the dark side. I normally am not a big fan of anything Pakistani, for that matter Pakistan on the whole. But I have to confess; they have an enviable music scene. India on the other hand has embraced sleazy, cheap and appalling remixes of the songs from the golden (evergreen) era. It makes me sick to the gut. They Indian music industry is murdering the Indian oldies. Something has to be done. I am surprised that there is no good original music coming from India. Something somewhere is wrong.

Interesting Blog.

Here is a blog that I read. Yes, this is true for me too. Especially the part which talks about where we stop relating to our home town.


Your Latest Trick
I was just going through a blog with the same name while googling and thought this would make a fantastic one for me too.

For all those who think what that is , well it is one of those songs by my favourite Rock Band, the DIRE STRAITS. It's been more than a quarter century since they composed this song, but each time i listen to it , a gamut of emotions run through my self, which is inexplicable.

I somehow have this weird quality of associating some songs to some people and some happenings in my past. For e.g, whenever i hear the song romeo and juliet by Dire straits i can just think of one particular friend and it gets back all the good things as well as the bad things associated with her. When i listen to “Sweet Little Lies“ by Fleetwood mac, it gets back to me my childhood memories, when i used to play cricket at my home with my dad and my brother with my grandfather as the lone spectator, and he used to give us suggestions as to how the shot needs to be played on.

Life's moved on for me since then, as it does for everyone. My brother is in different time zone, and though i am relatively close to my father in terms of the geography , 2 hours by flight, but it just seems so far to me that, i feel as if we would never ever be able to have that kind of Fun.

I guess being an IT professional has got it's own disadvantage. People just talk about how good life is for an IT professional with the kind of salary and the lifestyle they can afford to live, but underneath it all, i don't think people would understand the sufferings and the sacrifices that has been made. Not for all, but most people who leave home and go to the different metro's in search of their “Dream“ Jobs and the huge pay packets, Often leave behind parent's who would trade off that money for the time that could be spent with their children.

The Professionals on their part, Lead a Nomadic lifestyle, but still crave for their childhood and time with their parents, but the reality hits you hard when you get back to the place where you came from, after a brief hiatus. You just dont seem to connect with the place, the surroundings, the people and the memories, which were once the best part of your life. All you can do is stay there for a very short time, 15-20 days at the max and then rush back to lead your life of melancholy, monotony and you find your solace in that. You snivel in your drawing room, spent sleepless nights in your bedroom, trying to find out what is that missing thing in the jigsaw puzzle of your life, which once seemed to be full and complete, but at the moment you have a feeling of hollowness.

That has been my personal experience so far and i guess many people can connect with me on that, you go to places, hang out with friends and with the Mall culture catching up fast in most major cities, you can easily while away your time with your Gf/bf doing window shopping through out the day and then ending that day with a dinner at a exotic place which is heavy on your pocket or go to a pub listen to music, have “FUN“ and then you again come back to your den having a feeling of Partial satisfaction.

But is this the real life you always wanted to lead???

Like i said at the start, there are somethings in life which have no rhyme or reason. I heard the song, started writing the blog and now i've written something which at the least could be termed as something which is very detached, which doesn't have any connectivity and yet which is how exactly things are in my life at the moment..

“I...have become Comfortably Numb“


original post :
http://o3.indiatimes.com/trick

Blogs highlighted by Indiatimes

Well India has a portal called indiatimes.com. It used to be a nice portal. But off late it seems to have embraced cheap sleazy journalism to get popular. They have this blog service. And the main portal highlights one blog. Till date I have not read any interesting blog and all the blogs highlighted have something related to sex. It makes me wonder do all bloggers in India only blog on sex. I really doubt this.

That bitter feeling

There are some things that just piss you off big time. There is this one thing that is really pissing me off. I hate the feeling. It’s really makes me so bitter, angry. These are things that happen that you and you have no clue as to why and then you break your head over it trying to figure why. Especially when it involves a girl. One can never understand them. They act one way and feel one way. If only I knew!

The Motorcycle Diaries

Finally saw the movie. And I have to say that it is one of the ‘better’ movies that I have seen. I loved it. It is very well made. The way it starts off and the way it shows the gradual progression of Ernesto into Che is magnificent.
The movie is about they way his daughter puts it, “its about Che when he was just Ernesto”. In the beginning its about the spirit of adventure that drives these two man to travel and explore their ‘great’ continent, learn, experience what they have read in books. The breathtaking scenery in which it is shot, the riding of bike through the countryside, the falls and mishaps, running out of money, and going on by surviving on the help received by many people that they meet on their travel. And then somewhere in the middle of the movie, few experiences with the locals start to change Ernesto’s beliefs, his questioning of the way the rich treat the poor.
You can see the transformation of a young, happy Ernesto to the more serious, rebellious Che who want to change the way people especially the poor, indigenous people are treated. The movie portrays this change using a combination of dark cinematography and his change from a clean shaven guy to his rugged looks.
The role of his friend was also very brilliantly played by Rodrigo De la Serna. I am not very familiar with the life on Che, but this movie certainly helps to make one go out and find out more.

Actors :
Gael García Bernal .... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Argentina)
Rodrigo De la Serna .... Alberto Granado (Argentina)

Both are very fine actors.

To Che!
Cheers people!

Life Partners

I wonder who is the perfect life partner for us. Yes, I do believe that there is someone out there who is perfect for me. I also think that I would meet her sometime. The only question is whether I would realize that she is the one for me. It is tough to find someone and probably next to impossible to find someone who is perfect. The key thing would be to recognize this miss perfect. Being a human, I always would be skeptical. Maybe overlook this miss perfect for someone even better. But at some point in life one has to take stalk of himself.
One more thing is that when one is young.. me for example I wanted the most beautiful miss. By beautiful means physically perfect. Beautiful, perfect figure, one who carries herself well, basically a goddess. Well, today I have realized that though it is possible for some of us to find someone exactly like this, I will not… hmmm I may not. Being a little hopeful here :-)
I have always believed that opposites attract. I still stand by it, even more so when it come to choosing ones life partner. I have my reasons too. One, if a couple are opposites of each other both of them can expand their perspectives. Let me give you an example. Suppose 'A' like movies and 'B' likes theatre. Such cases give opportunities to the couple to experience new things, pleasures. In this case they would probably be watching theatre and movies from time to time. Another example would be playing v/s outdoor activities. Imagine if both were to like the same things, they would not grow, expand their experiences. I don’t want to confuse growing with a happy married life, with no problems. That is a different issue altogether.
I hope this blog makes sense. It’s difficult to put in words what I want to convey through this particular blog. Cheers!

Lance Armstrong ... my hero

He is in my book not just the greatest sportsperson but the greatest human being I know. And I have known quite a few. He is not even once in a lifetime kinda guy, he is “once in history” human being.
In these bleak, sad times where so much that happens around us makes one wonder if there is anything left to admire about us humans, there comes a guy like Lance who inspires all and makes you and me believe that there is so much potential in us, we humans can achieve the impossible.
The world has seen Gandhi, Mohammed Ali, Shakespeare, and Picasso. Well I have seen Lance and consider myself fortunate to live in the same time as he does.

"It's ironic, I used to ride my bike to make a living. Now I just want to live so that I can ride."
-Lance Armstrong

Things going wrong.

It's amazing how things can go wrong. How the most trivial issue get exaggerate can lead to the most bloody arguments. Think about it. Today in my office there was this issue of someone taking my colleagues chair while he was not there. At the end of the day, 5 mails were exchanged between administration, Human Resources.
It sure gets crazy sometimes !

Coldplay X and Y

I have been planning to write about this album for a very long time. So today I finally find time for this. First things first. This is a “good” album. I liked it. I had heard about the band but never really gave them a serious listen. I knew that they had a few good songs .. scientist was about the only song I knew. So then when the X and Y was about to be released there was so much media coverage, so I thought, well might as well give it a listen. Started with X and Y. Liked it and then listened to Speed of Sound. And since then on I have listened to them like a zillion times. Also managed to hold of the Scientist, yellow, clocks. I think they are nice. But most of their songs are somehow have the same feel and sound to it.It is so difficult to have a whole good album. U2’s Vertigo was a very good album. The other good album that I really liked was Californication by RHCP.

Thats all I got to say about this.

London Blasts

3 days 2 terrorist attacks. Now incase you are not an Indian you would be wondering about the second terrorist attack. And there in lies the problem!
On Tuesday, terrorists struck in Ayodhya (North India) blasting their way into the outer cordon of the high security makeshift temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. (site where Lord Ram was born.) Luckily the only casualties here were the terrorist themselves, all 6 of them. Not so lucky in London. The whole world in aware of London blasts (includes Indians, 1 billion of us!). Whereas only Indians know about the Ayodhya attack. It seems that world only acknowledges terrorism when it affect the developed world, may it be New York, Madrid, Beslan and now London. When one occurs in India, none of them bother. Of course there are the usual courtesy calls from the heads of the “developed” states condoling the attacks and showing sympathy with all Indians and asking us to show calmness and restraint. For me and many like me I am sure “Terrorism is killing of innocent people for making personal points”. That’s it. There can be no alternate definition that I am ready to accept. I never will. Unless we accept this, acts like these two can never be stopped. The West cannot classify different kinds of these attacks as freedom struggle, fight against occupation, uprisings and others. West has to accept this point and all civilized world must stand against it as one and there should be no leniency shown anywhere, because the moment you classify, discriminate you breed resentment among people which starts the whole cycle again.
For more on terrorist attack on Ayodhya:http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050706/main1.htm

War of Worlds .... What a bore ...

Steven S and Tom Cruise ...sounded like a very promising combination.. But how did they manage to come up with probably the most stupid, boring movie of the year that I have seen i dunno. Yup ! the movie sucked big time. And for those who saw it and wonder how the "All powerful" aliens suddenly start to die.. here is the answers..
The thing is evolution, the human have evolved and have grown accustomed to this environment over thousands of years.. Darwin principle.. And the aliens could not get used to it in a couple of days. which begs a question If the aliens did manage to reach Earth thru some brilliant scientific wizardry.. did they not know anything about our environment..
Go figure !!!

Loved the movie !

Saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith yesterday and loved it. The movie was simply superb. I just started watching this series on Tuesday. A friend of mine, who also is also a new star wars fan got the DVD of the first two parts and was having a "screening" at his place. He invited all of us.
So by Thursday I was all set to watch the 3rd part. That man George Lucas is a genius. I just cannot understand how he comes up with all the locations, the environment, the creatures in the movie.
The movie began with an action sequence. And then it settled into the normal drama, emotion thingy. I knew that this movie is all about a nice, honest Anakin becoming the dark lord Darth Vader. But still watching the whole thing unravel was so very captivating. One could actually feel for him. Poor guy was so in love with his wife and scared to lose her that he joined the very thing he was taught to defeat, the dark side of the force. I guess we all can be manipulated when we are at our weakest. The cause of this weakness can be so many things, jealousy, helplessness, fear of losing someone you love.
As Anakin turns into Darth Vader you get a total new perspective of him. As I read in one of the review, this movie is more about the death of a very nice, humble, helpful Anakin then the birth of the dark Darth Vader. And I agree. There are very nice duels in the movie. And ofcourse the high point is the transformation of the badly injured Anakin into Darth Vader, more specifically the placing of the mask on his face.
In short this is one of the best movies I have seen. I am a big Spider-Man fan. I liked Spider-Man 1 and loved Spider-Man 2. I would place Revenge of the Sith among these movies.
Thanks Mr. Lucas for this wonderful story !

Star Wars

Yup, it's the most anticipated day in the history of Cinema. Today the world gets to see how Anakin becomes Darth Vader. Today is the finale to the 30 year old story that George Lucas brought to the people of this world. Story of a Galaxy far, far way.. and what a story it was. I can't imagine that a human brain can come up with something so brilliant and so captivating. It a different world that George Lucas has created...
Hats off, Mr Lucas! At the heart it is the story of good versus evil where in the end good triumph.. But it is not an average story..
Over the last two days I have watched part 1 and part 2 and I have become a fan.
Everyone has to watch this series... Please !

Anybody there?

How can I know if anyone is reading this blog. I guess a counter can help. So till I figure out how to add this feature, somebody please put in a comment.....

Will things ever go the way you want?

I really wonder this. Will things ever go the way I want them to, ever in my life. Everyday I get up with a hope that my life will change for good. And as the day sets in, it's still the same. And then you wind up for the day. And finally one day you don't wake up anymore. Hope is the most ingenious thing god ever invented. It keeps us going even in the most hopeless situation. If there was no hope, I guess all the sad people would have died and then there would be only happy people living in this world. Isn't this a crazy thought, a kinda thought that only a person who is sad can come up with. I am sure that one day I will wake up with hope and the next day I won't.

Calvin and Hobbes

Bill Watterson is a genius. His cartoon strip is the best I have ever read. I love it. Calvin, he is a kid that has a friend teddy Hobbes. I guess the strip is popular because the humor is so clever and innocent.

here are some of my favourite quotes from the strip:

• Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none ofit has tried to contact us.
• Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.
• Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend.
• Reality continues to ruin my life.
• It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
• People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.
• Why should I have to WORK for everything?! It's like saying I don't deserve it!
• From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way.
• Susie if you want to see your doll again, leave $100 in this envelope by the tree out front. Do not call the police you CANNOT trace us, you CANNOT find us. Sincerely, Calvin
• So the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they're already met?
• To make a bad day worse, spend it wishing for the impossible.
• You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help.
• Hobbes : "Do you think there's a God?
  Calvin : "Well somebody's out to get me!"
• "The world isn't fair, Calvin." "I know Dad, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favour?"

Those once in a lifetime moments

We all have experienced those once in a lifetime moments where we see or feel something and then you realize that that particular moment will never ever happen again. Well. it has happened to me. There is this one occasion where I saw this beautiful girl in Bangalore. That was about 4 years back (the night Rajkumar was kidnapped by Veerappan). She is till date the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. I saw her at KFC's on Brigade Road.
Even to this day I try to remember her, but now I can't remember how she looked at all but I know how I felt when I saw her that day, and that feelings tell me for sure that she was almost perfect!
Things like this make you feel so helpless because no matter what you do, what you become, there is no chance that you will ever see her again.

My iPod mini

One word "Awesome". That's all that came to my mind when I saw it for the first time. I mean I have seen pictures of it on the web, but when I first held it I was amazed. That thing is so small..so light and yet stores data upto 4 gigs. no wonder it is so popular all over. These guys at Apple really know how to make a product.
My friend bought it for me from UK. It is more expensive in UK then in US. But less expensive than in India. Sound is so clear and full.. and scrolling is really cool.

The Pope

Well I am not a christian, but I am very sad about the news about The Pope being so close to his death. I don't know why? Maybe it's because he his the Pope. He is a very brave man. His face inspires calmness. And I think he inspires people to HOPE.

Citizen Kane

yeah, saw that movie yesterday. The movie is not bad. I expected a bit more. I guess that movie is hyped because the way it was shot.. Brilliant is the word.. for a B/W movie the lighting was amazing.
thats all folks !

Formula 1 : 2005 Season

Well the season really has started a whole lot differently then the past season. Renault getting 2 wins out of 2 is great. But I am a Ferrari fan. So personally I am concerned. Narain, yes he gets a special mention... because he is Indian... is doing good for a rookie. Infact getting a 11th position finish is impressive. And don't tell me about the retirements and all. In F1 my dear, finishing a race is the first step to winning a race. Now before we get carried away, let me make myself very clear, Narain will probably not get a podium finish this season, for him and Jordan getting into the points will be a major achievement, apart from the financial benefits from the F1 booty.
Now getting back to the contenders, I like Alonso, except for the stupid error that he made when he slowed down very early in a corner and poor David banging into his car a few seasons back. That was very stupid mistake from Alonso. I think he may actually win a few more races and be a challenger for the Drivers championship someday. I still think Schumacher will be tough to dethrone. I would not like to jump to any conclusions, as just two races in a season is too early to gauge teams. We will wait till the teams reach europe...
Anyways, here's to a nailbiting F1 season.. cheers!

Mark Knopfler Live in Mumbai

I attended the show with two of my colleagues from
Pune. We went all the way to Mumbai. But got stuck in
the notorious Mumbai traffic at the Bandra flyover. We
reached the show only at 8:10 pm.. Which was a pity as
we missed "why aye man", "Walk of Life" and "what it
is".
Anyways, the crowd was huge. And consisted of all
ages.
Mark Knopfler was himself looking very cool and
relaxed in his white shirt , blue denims and wearing
glasses. The whole crowd erupted when he started
playing the "Sultans of Swing". But the highlight of
the show had to be the most unique rendition of Romeo
and Juliet. This mesmerized the whole crowd. His
guitaring, truly divine!
And then he was playing his new songs and some of
his lesser-known numbers. Then came Brothers in Arms
and people started swaying their lighters and hands..
Finally somebody from the crowd shouted "I want my
MTV” referring to another of his classic Money for
Nothing which was again simply awesome when he played
it. There was a lot of improvisation which made the
show all the more special and truly made all of us
aware why we all should attend live rock show.. it a
totally different experience. I can't even imagine
what a thrill it will be to attend a live show of the
heavy metal bands like IRONMAIDEN.
The show lasted for almost 2 ½ hours, which is
honestly quite a lot of a single guy to sing and play
the guitar.
The only disappointment was that he did not play
“heavy fuel” but then again he can’t play all his hits
songs, can he!
Mark Knopfler his not the greatest of the showman on
stage.. He interacted very few times with the crowd..
and the only line he kept on asking the people was
“Are you okay?” But this would not imply that we did
not enjoy the show. The show for me was worth every 1
of the 1000 rupees that I spent.