Absolut Timepass

The 25 Glorious Years of VHS

2009-10-18T23:43:00.018-05:00

1984:
It was during the summer vacation of 1984, when I first heard about Videos. The VCR/VCP/VHS terminology was still a few years away for me. That summer the enterprising community of Kharsiya had suddenly found a new way to make quick money while witnessing a big dose of entertainment too. Within a matter of few weeks more than 5 or so Video parlors (in one's courtyard, or godown, or even a portion of the shop converted to a makeshift viewing room with few chairs, and green curtains and a gatekeeper). Till then Kharsiya used to posses only one "non working" TV set in the house of the richest person of the town called Fakir seth, who was the tobacco baron. We just used to watch the antenna standing right up his mansion and wondered what all they might be seeing in Television with the nearest TV station being around 200 kms away in Raipur. But with this video stuff the fifteen thousand or so kharsiya-ites which so far boasted of two theaters running year old movies to jam packed houses, suddenly were stirred by this whole idea of watching the latest movies from Bombay right there in the town itself instead of going to Raipur. I remember hearing from friends about these parlors playing DeshPremi and Tohfa (just released) while few of us would be standing outside to get a sneak peek. At that time I am sure nobody including the owners of those talkies ever wondered that this Video thingy is for here to stay and will impact their industry in dramatic way for years to come. The entertainment revolution had just begun on that part of the country!

1985-1993:
By the time I left Kharsiya there were already news of raids from excise deptt. to these video parlors who were ripping off the state govt coffers by avoiding the hefty entertainment tax. So maybe that was the reason, in Raipur I didn’t see that mushrooms of parlors. But this was also the city which boasted of 10 theaters during those days each catering to different needs of the city population be it latest hindi releases at Raj or Anand, or evergreen oldies at Jairam or Babulal or Regional / Hollywood at Amardeep or Shyam. But that doesn’t mean craze was any less for video. In fact those days the video Player and a Color TV set was THE STATUS SYMBOL…or a must have gazette for the niche. But for the majority who were not in that elite club there was Sundar Kiraya Bhandar and hundreds of those who started making fortune by renting out the players and the cassettes.
There would not be a single public function be it Ganesh Puja, Durga Puja, Holi nights, marriage party, b'day parties or any public or social gatherings which would continue deep into the night…not to have a video show. These shows (back to back movies) were MUST and was an ASSUMED event. And then on certain special occasions one would rent it out for just the family (including selected neighborhood friends) viewing. Rate used to be around 100Rs for 12 hrs rents which would include 4 movies of your choice and the player and the color TV set, or 50 Rs for three to four cassettes plus player for 12hrs. That price would also include the services of Pappu…who will arrive along with the sets, sitting like a KING in rickshaw well aware of the fact of the ogling jantas to find out his final destination. Other than being the delivery boy, Pappu also used to be an expert in setting up the instruments and a great techno geek who knows how to fight those ghost images of the video and tracking and tuning. You try to avoid him and do it yourself and chances are high you will be looking at some nice black and white patterns.

Going by its popularity and trend we too got an opportunity and were able to convince Baba-Maa once for one night of video show soon after my 1st year exams. I still remember just to impress our parents and in the hope that it becomes a regular event at our home…we 3 brothers decided to bring 2 English, 1 Bangla and 1 Hindi movie instead of all 4 hindi blockbusters. The English movies were chosen such that it was 100% guaranteed to impress Baba by selecting Guns of Navarone and Mackennas Gold..after all it is him only who told us the stories of these classics while getting uninterrupted "sursuries" from three of us in past years. Bangla one I don’t recollect but the hindi movie was Ram Lakhan. The whole idea of watching the movies back to back, with tea and snacks being served in between, couple of friends deciding to stay over for a night out, the going to bed at 4AM with alarm set to 7 so that to finish the rest of the movie before Pappu comes in…it was unbelievable. Watching Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in our portable BnW TV at 6 in the morning while brushing was too much of an excitement and the idea of play/pause/rewind/replay...it was bound to appeal to anyone. Years later we would learn that was probably the first phase of what we now call Video-On-Demand!

It will be injustice if I finish Raipur chapter of this journey without mentioning Payal and Classic. These two were the most famous video parlors of the city…and yes they were pretty much legit. They used to give proper tickets to audience which were slightly higher in price than movie tickets. After all the price would include entertainment taxes to govt and kinds to its officials, but still they used to attract a good amount of “regular” audience. Because of so many movie theaters already running hindi cinemas their USP was not Bollywood but Hollywood hits. Once with a visiting cousin of mine we went to Payal to watch Conan the Barbarian. The strange and unique part of these two parlors were they also used to insert lots of "trailer materials" suddenly while the advertised movie was being played…probably the audience liked it…but unfortunately law officials used to like it too in a way that it became cause for occasional raids to these places. Owners being the famous figures of the city.....after a temporary shutdown they used to be back in business within few weeks.

But then there was someone in Bombay who probably got upset looking at the these parlors' addiction to Hollywood and their subsequent pain with the raids. He was none other than Gulshan Kumar (T-Series fame..who I think was a true legend and big factor behind Bollywood’s and its music industries’ worldwide popularity and success ) and he tried to change something. He made a video movie, avialble only in VHS….exclusively for these parlor industry and home viewing only. This was called Lal Duppata Malmal Kaa…and there is no need to tell it how big blockbuster it became. Click on the link to revitalize your memory with "kyaa karte they sajna or Soone soone ankhiyon se". What a great business strategy that was…. Though his next "Phir Lahraya Lal Dupatta" could not repeat the lahrao part of its predecessor but still it was worth an attempt from the king of mass entertainer...probably he was thinking 20 years ahead of his time. It is indian movie/music industry's bad luck that he left us (not intentionally though) much earlier.

1993-1997:
I moved to big cities like Bangalore and New Delhi, working at c-dot and coming across some great new friends. I was lucky to get allotted to the flat where c-dot had kept a VCP for its trainees. Eventually every weekend there used to be a film fest starting with hindi and regional and ending up with usual western flicks. When we moved to our apartment we lost the luxury of owning a VCP for a while but the cable industry had just started picking up with lots of new players moving in to the Indian sky. Doordarshan's days were literally over with plethora of 24x7 channels showing variety of programs. The cable operator of Rajinder Nagar used to be our neighbor there and video/movie-on-demand was still very much applicable as he could play our request on his dedicated movie channel. That was when I watched brand new Diabolique, God Father series, Mask, Speed etc. Later on we too became proud owners of VCP (thanks to DD), though as I said before, cable industry had slowly started making it feel less important. This was the time frame I also watched some of the greatest Indian classics ..the movies about which I had only heard of or read about..but thanks to initiative from Khandu and our ORN gang and ofcourse our new VHS player we decided to have a revival of bollywood memories. For them it was revival..for me it was introduction. I remember we started with Trishul and for the next few months ,on every available chance we rented out movies which covered many hindi classics of various genres. An unforgettable experience indeed.

1997-2000:
Moved to Singapore. The landlord with whom I stayed as a paying guest was another big movie fan. Mr Sylvam had only two “interest in his life Tiger Beer and Tamil/Hindi cinemas…while coming back from work on Friday my job was to get 12 packs of beer while he used to make sure we have non stop supply of chicken, fish and movie cassettes. But this soon ended when I moved to my own apartment in 98. Fortunately it was a furnished acco. so the VCP company was there too. For next two years I bought two Sony VCRs from Mustafa ..first for parents…and then for in-laws. Those days you could hardly see anyone (indian) leaving Changi airport without a VCR carton. That was a sheer obsession and a great buy ofcourse. Two days before leaving Singapore we went to Mustafa one last time . The standards being different in US (NTSC) there was no reason to buy a VHS player. So we bought a state of the art VCD player. It supported VCD 2.0 and SVCD…were very happy to invest in this big upcoming format.

2000-2009:
Soon after moving to US…I realized people here have not even heard of VCD..but they were talking something about DVD. It is a still big mystery for me how US transitioned from VHS to DVD, where as in Asia (Singapore/China/India) they all spent a significant time with VCD in between.

Anyways…one thing which was clear within a week after moving here…that buying a VHS player was MUST. That would become our sole connection to India aka Bollywood. So for this first time we bought a VHS player "for our own use". It was Sharp VCR with 4 head (viewing while fast-forward/rewind) . One can feel its importance as it was bought on the same day as TV. Both were incomplete without each other. And our love story with VCR continued uninterrupted for next 4 years or so when finally DVD player became quite affordable and DVDs getting popularity. When Blockbuster finally switched from VHS to all digital we too decided to get our 1st DVD player. But our sharp player was still very much in demand. All the indian movies were available from the local story only in VHS format. To be exact...it used to be like 4 cassettes for $4 for a week. This particular shop as its name implied "Bollywood video and Groceries" main business was renting cassettes and secondary was grocery. People used to call him first and book the cassette for a just released movie...while his behind the shop small "copy" room used to work non stop. Once I asked him..What is the max time one can record on the same VHS without affecting quality....I got a free rental but not my answer. First there used to be late fees…slowly it was waived off. I think that was the first symptom of its upcoming demise. Slowly the hindi movies became available in DVDs with $1 per day but still with strict late fees. More and more stores started popping up offering these DVDs. And as of today those DVDs are available for sale the very day the move is released just for $1 or $2.

But our VCR was STILL running without any single complaints and was still very much in regular use. And this was because of its new found usage in recording/playing kids videos. So instead of playing the bollywood (which became DVD player's sole ownership)…this was playing Pooh Bear, Boobah, Barneys, Elmos and then to transitioning to Thomas Train and finally Tom and Jerry for R while he grew up from few months to almost 5 years!

Time changes everything and "R" now prefers to watch Tom N Jerry in Youtube directly. I too came across torrent and don’t feel the need of going to rent or buy those “pirated” hindi dvds. None of the shops offer VHS any more. Just like its amrican cousin Blockbuster, Bollywood Video and Groceries also became all Digital disposing off their huge cassette collection by selling it off dirt cheap. My sharp VCR player was still being used by me as a poor man’s DVR, where we would record some PBS programs or Games and watch that later at convenience.

Few weeks back while trying to play one recorded PBS show, I noticed some display issues with it. Maybe dust…maybe some minor scratches in the head. After some quick debugging realized it had stopped recording too. Sending it to service was out of question. Strange enough I didn't feel the usual concern or the pain with this loss maybe realizing how less important it has become in our life. And then finally last week to make some space for the government’s free digital to analog converter box in our already congested entertainment center..we decided to RETIRE ("dispose" sounds too cruel) the sharp VHS player. I personally doubt we will ever come across or use this wonderful machine again. In past I have been wrong…this time I don't think I will be wrong.

But this is true that I didn't feel this way for our disposed VCD player, neither I am going to feel this way for our DVD player when inevitably it is going to be replaced with the Blue-Ray! The journey with the VHS was a special one indeed. And as I can see I have glorious 25 years of memories associated with it...and that part is not going to RETIRE ever!

Bhadralokosaurus

2009-10-13T13:12:00.011-05:00

It has been many weeks since the last post….and while I was wondering from where to restart…I came across this email from a friend asking how much it is true and where exactly I fit in?

Waao…I cant believe how “well” informed and experienced the Telegraph contributor must have been. It seems pretty accurate. As far as where I am fitting in there…even though I may not fit in all of the 50 points with the exception of point 1 and point 50 (remember…I am a Probashi) , but I swear I know many of them who certainly can cover for me on the rest. From that perspective full marks to The Telegraph!

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091004/jsp/calcutta/story_11572595.jsp

But the funniest part would be Greatbong’s defense. There couldn’t be a better satirical response which is equally true bit by bit and sometimes much funnier than the attack itself.

http://greatbong.net/2009/10/11/in-defense-of-bangali-men/

But at the end it is a Sad example of One Bong’s offense (Telegraph) and another Bong’s defense (Arnab Da) for every Bong as well as Non Bong’s entertainment on the slow extinction of creatures called "The Great Bangali Bhadralok"

Subho Bijoya :-)

--
courtesy Vishal/Telegraph/Greatbong

On 25th August 2009!

2009-08-25T22:44:00.006-05:00

Sometimes I wonder is that attachment so strong just because it was my 1^st job…

but then it must be something more special than that else why the colleague sitting beside me doesn’t talk about that of Intel (his first job).

Was it because that was when I went out of Home for the first time…but then why Ashok and Arindam (who were in Hostel since teens) is as fond of C-Dot as me.

Was it because I got the taste of Money and Independence….but then why don’t I recall WDC that often with more money and more freedom than I got in C-Dot.

I keep on thinking….

Not even Dr Abrol’s recent paper, Sam Pitroda’s interview or Silver Jubilee Committee’s plethora of nostalgic emails can explain…

So finally I give up…and accept that

Let me just keep enjoying this special feeling and bonding and memories without much whys and whats….

And while the world is celebrating C-Dot’s 25^th bday today and remembering its contribution to nation…

I decided to turn little more selfish today and saying a big Thanks to C-Dot

For its contribution to what I am today…and of course for giving me friends like you for lifelong.

Happy 25^th Bday to C-Dot.

======================================================================================

(re posting the mail I sent to few of the closest and dearest frnds today. Pic courtesy: cdot.com home page)

Fatak...

2009-08-18T19:42:00.007-05:00

Ginti na karna iski Yaaro Mein..
Awara Ghumein galiyoro Mein..

Yeh chipku Hamesha Staayega
Yeh Jaayega fir Laut aayega

Khoone ke Mele Katre Hai..
Jaan ke Saare Katar Ke

ki aaya raat ka jaaya re
Fatak Fatak....(whiplash)

Sampooran Singh Kalra– aka Gulzar.

The Maestro who can transform a hackneyed Social Message to a chartbuster!

Happy 73rd Birthday!

---------
courtesy: khandwa...another die hard Gullu Fan.

Summer of 1986 (and the 4 Ms)

2009-08-13T23:40:00.006-05:00

Continuing the nostalgic saga...................

Miandad:
17th April 1986.

That was the last day of the 10th board exam for the MP's first batch of 10+2 students. The past year's eventful session with Operation Blue Star and post Indira Gandhi riots, weeks long curfew, Bhopal Gas tragedy and two back to back elections were considered too much stress for the 9th grade students by Arjun Singh (then CM) and had granted a state wide general promotion. With no filtering on 9th graders for the past year so many eyes were already on this crucial board examination. And as it would prove later that was probably the worst year of MP's educational history in terms of 10th board results but as of that day I was the happiest person. Not because my board exams were finally over but the fact that finally I had earned the right to watch an "usual" cinema (and not a tax free kids one) and the very next day I was going to franchise my right along with few other colony friends. B Sai Babu Reddy was one of them. There were two choices in the list. Sultanat (with Sunny Deol/Juhi/Sridevi) at Babulal theater, or Ilzaam (introducing Govinda, Neelam) at Anand talkies. Going by the music and craze Ilzaam was the obvious winner. I still remember Bsai trying his best to postpone our movie plan in favor of watching the ongoing cricket Match at Sharjah but giving in at the end. Matinee show was its peak at Anand talkies, we were little late in entering the hall but that experience of searching for our seats in that semi dark theater..... as the big silver screen with Govinda's dance and blaring music of I am a street Dancer throwing the young audience into frenzy....Unforgettable.

Coming out of theater we were surprised to see the somberness of the city street and at the Rly. Institute (our regular meeting point in loco colony). Soon we found out that while we were immersed in silver screen's Dunia kee aisi-ki-taisi, in reality Javed Miandad did that to Chetan Sharma in the match's last ball's by hitting a sixer and winning the Australasia cup. I am not sure if Bsai was happy to miss the sad episode of India losing the finals or sad to miss that historic occasion of the world of cricket.

Moni:
20th April 1986.

When Moni (my grandma) came to our house in late 1985 she told that she is not going anywhere else from there. Generally throughout my childhood she stayed with us with occasional trips to Calcutta but because of Baba's transfer and moving from Kharsia to Raipur, waiting for the quarter etc this time she was in Calcutta for last 1 and 1/2 year or so.
And this time when I saw her...she seemed very different than what I remembered before, much silent, much weaker and not that active as she was known for. She was already sick and very weak since past few weeks when on 19th Baba decided that maybe it is the rising heat. Summer had just begun. So we went to order for a cooler. The one we liked was out of stock and would take around a week. On 20th around midnight while Baba and we three brothers were asleep in outside courtyard (Maa was with Moni in the room), Maa called us as Moni was taking deep breaths making that hissing noise. Her eyes were closed and she would not respond to anything. Maa already had seen dadu (her father) in his last moments and told us its not a good sign. Baba asked the night watchman to fetch our local doctor immediately while all five of us just sit there besides Moni who was quite senseless by then. I remember we all tried to drip water through her partly opened mouth. We never knew exactly when she passed away but but by the time doctor came in around 2AM it was late. She was 88 years old. A strong willed and very forward and open minded lady during her times, and so darling to all her grand kids. I was trying to gauge Baba more and feeling the pain but he never broke down and maintained himself thoroughly. Only time he broke down was at funeral ghaat the next afternoon. I too could not stop tears at that time. The coming few days would be hectic for all of us with lots of rituals and preparation for the shraadh ceremony. Sometimes I think maybe it is that sheer cleverness of our founder fathers who made these rules and social gatherings a must which immensely helps in forgetting the real cause behind all this and eases the transition period of mourning to normalcy. And in 15/20 days things became as usual..regular routine life, except Moni was now with us in memory and a big picture frame with a garland around her. Time does not STOP for anyone.

After many days while having dinner Baba wondered once if the cooler would have made any difference. Probably not but then there are things which stays with you forever......"what if" !

Mits:
May 1986:

Lokesh (now Zaab!), Manish (Khedu) and me cleared the first level of NCERT exams from our school and the second level was scheduled for one Sunday morning of May'86 in the capital city of Bhopal in Model school. Baba, Maa and we three brothers all went to Bhopal via Nagpur. Both the places we have relatives and some wonderful Dadas and Didis (cousins). It was a change too for all of us after Moni's death. The multiple choice exam was a total flop. I did realize that no chance to move to 3rd level to Delhi just minutes after seeing the question paper. But it was overall a great experience. The trip also included a quick luncheon visit to an address in Shaktinagar, Bhopal.

12 years later I would go to the same address again but for a very different and more permanent reason.

Maradona.
21st June 1986.

We three brothers were demanding to get a TV set since long, but there were so many reasons/excuses and it was turned down each time. But the world cup soccer of 1986 changed that for ever. Maybe it was Bong's ever-strong love affair with football, so though Baba never played soccer (I think) but he was following that with much enthusiasm that year. Finally Baba/Maa with lot of pursuance from Dida (Maa's mother who visited us then) agreed to get a TV set. With many conditions like when it will be ON, when it will be OFF, what we can see and what we can not. We three were so excited and agreed to all the conditions without any hesitation. Much of the world cup was already over by that then. Baba decided to get it on Saturday 21^st June so that we could watch the first quarterfinal. The TV set which came to our house that evening was a CROWN portable BnW. It was a cute little red box with turn-style knobs for 12 or 13 channels it had and two rabbit ear antennae. I remember watching the movie which Doordarshan played that Saturday night “Pirates of the 20^th Century” followed by the most thriller soccer match I have ever seen till date. This was the first quarter final between Brazil and France with greats of Platini, Socrates and Zico. France won (rather Brazil lost because of Zico missing the last of the penalty shootout kick). What a great historic day to purchase a TV and witness one of the classics. Unfortunately next day same time when we would eagerly wait for the Argentina-England quarter final to see that tournament's hero Maradona in action the TV simply stopped working. Just plain dead. Kicking, Praying, Voodoing nothing worked. So seeing Maradona’s Hands of God Goal in live was not in our kismet that night but based on previous night's experience we could hardly complain. The TV was replaced by another similar set the very next day and would stay at our home without any issues for two more FIFA world cup seasons.

To be continued......

Fax and me...

2009-08-11T19:23:00.010-05:00

Last night I faxed quite a few pages from home using my very own "new" Fax machine. It might sound very strange, but yes I did finally aquire this equipment. With scanners, windows fax and first and foremost when using Fax from Work is considered a standard perk worldwide, I doubt now a days anyone would even think to purchase a "stand alone" Fax, but I did.

Couple of weeks back I had to fax few pages urgently to our agent. I told him that I can send him the scanned copy but he was keen on fax only. So at 9 in the night I had to rush to local Fedex Kinko's store. And I could not believe it.....sending 14 pages locally cost me around $20. Exorbitant! Is it because demand is low? I cant justify it ever as local telephone calls are free, so I was paying literally for using their machine. The store manager accepted the fact but also mentioned that now a days hardly any one use this mode of communication. Anyways very next day while browsing thru Fry's I got hold of a brand new Canon Fax (on clearnace ofcourse) and price I paid was exactly $20! I am sure the cartridge itself would cost more than the machine's price. All pricing logic fail here!

Reminds me of 16/17 years back...1992/93. I was eagerly waiting for my appointment letter from HR of C-DoT. On my last visit to NewDelhi, the HR secretary gave me enough clue that my name appears on the list but with nothing else in hand I was desperate to get that appointment letter. And when the promised day passed by with postman giving an apologetic look I decided to call the HR office. Those days the STD charges were at its peak, I think for Raipur-Delhi during office time would cost me 30 or 40 Rs per minute. Me absolutely "bekar" could not think of requesting this amount from home just to check have they sent the apptmt letter or not.

And then came FAX again...Fax to the rescue. The neighborhood STD/PCO/FAX guy asked me why don't I use Fax. Sending a half page would cost only Rs 20, you can put more words than you can speak probably and you have the mental piece of knowing it is already at HR desk! Better than the courier or speed post. Over the next few weeks while entire country was virtually shut down post Babri Masjid and C-DoT HR working at its slowest pace for valid reason...Fax was only method of communication for me.... The same Fax which is now considered extinct.

I feel proud of my new Fax machine and will keep it at my desk for as long as I can.

Summer of 1989.

2009-08-06T23:14:00.016-05:00

It was a special summer indeed. Many events...and some of them deep enough to leave a permanent mark in memory with exact location, date and time as it took place. Now as I start writing about that time frame of my life, events after events have just started folding out in front of me waiting to be picked and placed in here as well. Another way to make them timeless I guess. Let me start from the beginning.

This was the summer when I had just finished my second semester of engineering, there was a month long vacation and after that based on results my engineering branch would be decided.
And then came LaluDa..suddenly...one fine morning he was there in his usual attire of tee-shirt , and a big backpack. Lalu Da is my cousin..but ask anyone in our family and they will tell me he is my childhood Guru. The ever smiling one, humorous to the core and a look alike of Kamal Hasan in his early days...who taught me many things even before my friends got that opportunity..he is my one of the most fav cousin. While growing up I am sure all of us have some cousin maybe few years older but who is your idol, a confidante and at the same time a great friend. Lalu da was on a month and half long North-India darshan trip which was "granted" to him from Pishey (his dad) because of his excellent performance on their only sister (Chaiti Di's marriage) couple of months back. His trip included Raipur-Nagpur-Bhopal-Agra-Delhi-Sahibabad-Hardwar and back on the same route. Thanks to our large family tree other than Agra and Hardwar it was also going to serve him the opportunity to meet the elders and other members of our clan!

With me waiting for my results and no classes, Lalu Da requested my parents if I could also join him on this long trip. Lalu da was Baba's favorite too or may be it was that special Mama-Bhanja thing.....and also to make their elder son little more smarter my parents agreed. It would be my first trip without them....and with Lalu da along...I cant describe how excited I was about it.

Baba took out a PTO (basically a concession Train ticket, where one pays only 1/3rd of the fare, a popular incentive from the world's largest employer) for me and I got a new pair of jeans (my first) and then I started my roller coaster ride of "Firsts" of many things one after another in my life!

The first one in Nagpur would be, thanks to another great cousins Montu Da and Papa da, my first 750ml of Kingfisher in a dimly light bar. Suddenly I had turned a fully grown adult I would think. Lots of wandering and roaming in and around nice places of Nagpur in Papa Da's luna. My first devouring of an English Novel, Mario Puzo's Godfather and getting addicted to that since then. Unfortunately it would be followed by Harold Robins, Irving Wallace, James Hadley, Ian Fleming and likes....before I would turn into some serious reading which one can mention proudly!

On the way from Nagpur to Bhopal..me and lalu da passing some special comments in bangla about our co-passenger thinking we are too smart....and then while she was getting down telling us to enjoy our trip and vacation...in pure and chaste bangla. That was a close shave.

Realizing in Agra that we are running short of Money and cutting short the stay and moving to Delhi few days before scheduled. Having a wonderful time at Delhi and Hardwar...and then
I came to know about a new term in my life "Preponement". Till then I used to know Postpone but never realized there can be a word like Prepone. And years later I would realize that it was OK for me to not know about it :-) "Preponement"

It happened so that because of our budgetary reasons we decided to return back to Raipur one week before scheduled. So I along with Laluda went to that famous New Delhi Reservation Center and canceled my PTO and tried to book my ticket one week before. And then came the biggest shock of the whole trip when resv. clerk said you cant cancel and reuse PTO for a new booking. You have to do a new full price reservation now. You should have PREPONED your reservation and that would have cost no money! I had no idea where the extra money would come from...and believe me just as if by God's blessing another miracle happened. Luci Di (another great sis) met us on the same day in Delhi (she was on a training there) and it was her sheer generosity she helped me out in that troubled time without me even asking her...and this all happened without anyone knowing...and without any embarrassment.

On the way back it was no less fun with stopovers at Bhopal and Nagpur. Finally on the rainy afternoon of 5th August we arrived at Raipur..exactly before one week. No cell-phone then so baba-maa had no idea and we surprised all by turning in one week ahead. Finally the trip would end in most saddest manner possible that I still remember the day....5th August of 1989.

In the evening that same day while having tea and sharing our trip stories, two policemen came inquiring our address. Baba talked with them, they came to inform about a road accident and the driver had our address in his pocket. I can never forget that moment and even right now I am getting the shivers. They didn't tell us who it is and what happened but just asked Baba to accompany them to the police station. Within hours we came to know it was Gautam Da who met a fatal accident that same rainy afternoon on his way to office..... As I was waiting with others in the morgue on that night I think all the excitement of the Summer of 89 just vanished in a second, and thinking about how crude the life can be. After exactly twenty years I am thinking of that excited summer once again and that terrible night and Gautam Da's bearded and smiling face.

Good Luck Mr Gorsky :-)

2009-07-20T01:40:00.002-05:00

Today while marking down the 40th anniv. of the moon landing experience, there is still a big buzz (google's search number 3 related to moon landing) whether that whole thing was staged or not. Unbelievable. No matter what..I guess this thing will go and on.

But what amazes me is the few accessories of this still ongoing debate...which though not as preposterous as the original one, but are certainly of great amusing nature....I guess the conspiracy theorists need some backup to keep the ball rolling....and yes..successful they are.

Neil Armstrong’s first sentence on the moon: “Good Luck Mr Gorsky” and not the "small step, giant step one..."

Neil Armstrong hearing the Azaan on Moon and then later converting to Islam. Wao!

--
PS: pic courtesy, bing. It was shocking to see that Google's home page forgot to ack the event till noon....bing certainly scored a good point today!

Jabalpur haunts back...

2009-07-12T01:46:00.030-05:00

JABALPUR:

Probably it is the most discussed city in our "close" friend circle with few hailing from there and some spending their significant 4 years of life. So though I never stayed there, but hearing the legendary stories of the city and its natives....there was always something spcl about it, and to me it still carries that mystical aura around.

And now..when Gurudev is back there... the discussion had to resume!

Few words about Gurudev first. When "Gurudev" became Gurudev, I cant recollect, but why he became Gurudev the select six of us know very well. Gurudev possesses a magical power (ie if he speaks ill for somebody for real or even in joke) that poor soul would experience it within 24 hrs..guranteed (like fracture, high fever, accident, exam failed etc) ..and I am told by KT few days back only, that power still exists, but more about that in another post. I remember during the final days of college I obtained an Abhaydan from him (which he cant ever revoke in future and no fine prints...it was clarified) in exchange I think I had to prepare his final semester lab notes.

Anyways with that Abhaydan still very much in place, I just cant stop myself from "reproducing" few of the recent emails from him on Jabalpur as I think these e-mails are too valuable to stay in Inbox and then get deleted unceremoniously one fine day, when inbox quota is just near full.

So here it is...Jabalpur once again, from Gurudev's perspective (generally after a 6 pack) and who for past 16 years stayed in the enclaves of Gurgaon/Bangalore, a short stint in Japan and Chennai...and now suddenly finding himself in the core heartland of Bundelkhand! And enjoying to the core.

I am in jabalpur - "snip - aaj kal US / europe mein kaafi lagi padi hai, so as of this hafta I have my job thanks to --snip, with a "quarter" (not the "hich hic quarter" -but a 3 BHK one! - me currently focussing on the --snip-- assignment)

--snip--

I opted for jabalpur (among the choices of Bhoipal, Indore and JBP) - Hills, Narmada, Kanha and Bandhavgarh etc etc - and for KT, Narsinghpur also comes under my "consulting" program.

15 days - and some genuine real samosas, and a gujrati bhojnalay thali, simple and yet great food, nice environment, the summer is unforgiving though - 43 deg - not good for someone someone spoilt by bangalore by getting used to 20 deg in summer - but should be ok by another week -

But great to see those gothic kind of bungalows - probably built during the british raj - not one, not two - but hundreds! "khapre" ka bungalow with half an acre surrounding - and though some in destroyed condition and many in excellent condition - and this is the case wherever you look -

language nuances - like - got to hear "Apan" jaayenge na sir" from the autowallah (Autos are more in number than rickshaws, for a change)

and "Aaloo Chaap and Gol Gappe" thelas - than the dilli "Aaloo tikki and paani puris"

though dilli made me accustomed to get hearing to BC and "Maa ki" etc, the "Maadar..." is more prevalent in this place!

The music still is predominatly the Mukesh / Rafi stuff, with an occasional Brian silas working the piano on the melodies of the 50's and 60's!

AR Rahman , Shankar Loy Ehsaan and Farhan Akhtar yet to gain some ground!

Have an option to be here and enjoy peace - or to chase that elusive dollar in the west with no identified use as of yet - dekhte hain - got a couple of months to decide on that!
--snip---

But I feel at home now and here in this place - Jabalpur! yeh jagah lagta hai still hasnt changed (43 Deg C !)- I mean, I haven't (hadn't) seen so many scooters in the last 10 years as I have seen in the last 10 days - bikkat saare "Luna"s bhee nazar aaya - nothing to do with selective nostalgia!

- and the sad part as well - 60 + elders pulling rickshaws - kind of dilemma - help with / or deprive them of the expected ten odd Rs - Cruel -

Ok - some lighter things,relatively so to speak

- So much ki TV mein bhee wohi "Dil ki girah Khol" vaale gaana chal raha hai - in "Zee Classic" - yeh channel to Bangalore mein to aata bhee nahin (playing "Chin Chin Choo" as I type this one) - its all Sonam Kapoor and Katrina there -

and you still get a "thali" here for 15 Rs - with daal, chawal, roti and sabji, with pyaz and achar -

and for a bit more, you get the taste of "dubraaj" - unlike the omnipresent and overused "basmati" - wow! I love being here!

KT (a veteran on anything related to Jabalpur) remarks:

You are walking down the crowded street.
Scooterwala peechhe se aakar tumhe thok dega aur bolega...
"KAYE DEKH KE NAHI CHALO KA!!"

--
Once I was watching film Justice Chaudhary (Jitendra, Sridevi, music by bappi da).
Jitendra & sridevi are talking about their wedding.
Jitu asks "honeymoon ke liye kahan chalna hai?"
Before Sridevi could answer, lower class se ek buland si awaz aayi......"Gwari Ghat!!!!!"
---
Did you notice, people call Narabda instead of Narmada there.
And density of "Hanuman-Bhakts" is max in Jabalpur area.

Jai Narabda maiya ki!!!

From Khandwa (another JBPLR specialist)!
I heard this conversation once, while coming out of a theater after watching Baazigar

kisi nay apney dost se poocha " Badde picture kaisi rahi".
His frnd : Woi..Sajan ki saheli jaisi.
Dost : Kyon.? Dono filme to bilkul hi alag type ki hai.
His frnd: Wame bhi chate rahe aur yame bhi chate.

--
This weekend I watched movie "Luck by Chance"
Usame Hero ki movie hit hoti hai, to khabar aati hai ki saare hindustaan me movie super hit ho gayee hai. Aur abhi abhi khabar aayee hai ki Jabalpur me ticket line me ek aadmi ka khoon ho gaya..
What a right selection of city !! It has to be Sanskardhani Jabalpur.
--

The Jabalpur saga (and our addiction to it) will continue.....

Courtesy: With presumed approvals from Gurudev/KT/Khandu.

Stockholm Syndrome

2009-07-01T15:45:00.004-05:00

"Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed"

It is now around 5 years that I am with this same auto-insurance company who every year around this time sends their renewal letter and each time bumping up the price by a narrow margin. Maybe in the past I didn't ever notice the difference, or probably it was insignificant increase, but this year they crossed all the limits and without any REASON the premium was increased by a whopping $100! When I called them up the "official" excuse they came up with (cause now I drive more miles to work than past years) didn't even convince the agent...but she was simply passing the information...I cant blame her.

After deciding that it is time to switch to those much advertised companies who claim they can reduce the premium by 20% or more, I got all the paperwork ready and was all set to activate from today ie July 1st. And then it happened. The inevitable. Two weeks back, on a friday evening while searching for a friend's house in an unknown territory, I bumped my car into the curbside and one of the door got significant damage.

Since then everything went so smooth..from calling the insurance company, setting up with the body shopper, driving a rental Pontiac G6 for a week, and getting back the fixed car with a minor deductible and signing off a significant bill (which is more than the annual premimum I pay) to the insurance company and then receiving a letter from them asking me to rate their service.

This morning I renewed my Auto-Insurance with the same company. I am sure it is not their great customer service, it is not my guilt conscience and it is nothing else...but me showing symptom of Stockholm Syndrome!

Tribute to the KING!

2009-06-26T00:54:00.016-05:00

Michael Jackson (1958- Kings never die)

" when a 13 yr old from a small town in India wonders how one can moonwalk...and tries to practice those steps in vain for hours for the upcoming dusherra cultural nite. There is NO MTV (or for that matter any TV), No FM (or AM which plays English music), and the only connection for him to the western world is through some local news papers Sunday supplements, and anecdotes from his elderly Calcutta cousins. Bappi Da's disco revolution along with GunMaster-G9 (AKA Mithun) are still at its infancy . This 13yr old may not know who the current American President is, He has no idea about Cliff Richard, Elvis, Beatles or Eagles...but he and his friends can discuss, listen and watch (if fortunate to steal a glimpse in the town's only video parlor) in awe for hours....the king of the pop Michael Jackson".

Thats the phenomenon called the Michael Jackson. Once the most popular person in the earth...and an icon, a legend, a rags to riches story...(and to rags again!) and finally the controversies about his Neverland ranch, and his mysterious health problems. It is sad that now when he is gone....that very media which disowned and ridiculed him at every possible chance is heads over hills for him once again.

My last reading about him was few months bac about the 50 Europian shows of "This Is It" and how it was sold out the very first day and some expensive bidding going on over e-bay, and 13th July 2009 was considered to be his COMEBACK day! I am sure there will be speculations about this sudden death, but it is my belief that probably the rigorous rehearsals to make that show the best one has ever seen....and where fans are ready to spend anything to see him Moonwalk once again at the age of 50 caused this untimely and ultimate end. I wish MJ would have once again saw how the world is remembering him today.

But it is for sure.....MJ's legacy is going to continue for a long time....and you know what I mean if you followed BGT-2009!!!!!

The SHOW MUST GO ON

RIP: MJ, there will never be another like you!

Slogan...

2009-05-25T07:03:00.005-05:00

The team which probable entered the fray with the most hype (on media/web)....once again finds itself in the bottom most position.....and I guess the slight deviation from their original slogan explains it all.....

Jhagda Karbo....Aaaposey Ladbo...Shatru Kay Jetabo!!!

Anyways....they can always roar:

Aaschey Bachor Aaabar Haubay (There is always the next year!)

On 15th May...!

2009-05-14T23:30:00.006-05:00

Finally...the most busy week of the year is coming to an end. Started with Mothers day, then Anniversary and then 15th May. But just like the past 2 years... as I was thinking with what to update this time....as if just godsend I saw the following news clip originated few hours back only, and this certainly can make the day of any die-hard fan.

Comeback Trail

Now, I am not sure if there is any one else who has acted in a lead role against Father as well as Son. A bold and confident move...Is it a first timer?

Anyways...For everything else Zindagi Migzara (Life Goes On!)

And a Big Thank You to everyone.

On Mothers Day....!

2009-05-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

Few weeks back there was an email link from a friend which contained Premchand's works, and what a treat it was to revive those short stories once again. That also sort of triggered me to start searching for Tagore's works. One from that collection is The Crescent Moon (1903, a collection of poems) which many critics consider as great as Geetanjali! When I read that last time, I was in college and it was more about knowing Tagore and his works...but this time while reading I could truly FEEL it...may be because I am seeing a child and mom 24x7?
Though it was translated by Tagore himself, but wish I could get the original Bengali version (Shishu) somewhere...

The below are 3 of my favorites from that collection...Enjoy! A nice dedication to all the Mothers (today) and Kaviguru himself on his 148th birth anniversary (yesterday)!

*************************************************
The Astronomer (Child Referring about his mom)
*************************************************

I ONLY said, "When in the evening the round full moon gets entangled among the branches of that Kadam tree, couldn't somebody catch it?"

But dâdâ [elder brother] laughed at me and said, "Baby, you are the silliest child I have ever known. The moon is ever so far from us, how could anybody catch it?"

I said, "Dâdâ how foolish you are! When mother looks out of her window and smiles down at us playing, would you call her far away?"

Still said, "You are a stupid child! But, baby, where could you find a net big enough to catch the moon with?"

I said, "Surely you could catch it with your hands."

But dâdâ laughed and said, "You are the silliest child I have known. If it came nearer, you would see how big the moon is."

I said, "Dâdâ, what nonsense they teach at your school! When mother bends her face down to kiss us does her face look very big?"

But still dâdâ says, "You are a stupid child."

*************************************************
The Wicked Postman (Child to his mom)
*************************************************

WHY do you sit there on the floor so quiet and silent, tell me, mother dear?

The rain is coming in through the open window, making you all wet, and you don't mind it.

Do you hear the gong striking four? It is time for my brother to come home from school.

What has happened to you that you look so strange?

Haven't you got a letter from father to-day?

I saw the postman bringing letters in his bag for almost everybody in the town.

Only, father's letters he keeps to read himself. I am sure the postman is a wicked man.

But don't be unhappy about that, mother dear.

To-morrow is market day in the next village. You ask your maid to buy some pens and papers.

I myself will write all father's letters; you will not find a single mistake.

I shall write from A right up to K.

But, mother, why do you smile?

You don't believe that I can write as nicely as father does!

But I shall rule my paper carefully, and write all the letters beautifully big.

When I finish my writing, do you think I shall be so foolish as father and drop it into the horrid postman's bag?

I shall bring it to you myself without waiting, and letter by letter help you to read my writing.

I know the postman does not like to give you the really nice letters.

*************************************************
The Begenining (Mother to her baby)
*************************************************

"WHERE have I come from, where did you pick me up?" the baby asked its mother.

She answered half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast,-- "You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling.

You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made and unmade you then.

You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you.

In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived.

In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.

When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it.

Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.

Heaven's first darling, twin-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart.

As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.

For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?"

****************************************************************************************

Note: referred from ibiblio.org

Saying NO to Mean YES

2009-05-08T01:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks to our city council members the above phrase which so far was generally associated with one particular gender (no offense please :-) ) finally gets a unisex tone! Now whole of Dallasites must say NO to mean YES, or YES to mean NO.

The city is in the final voting phase about whether to build a Convention Center Hotel using half a billion dollar tax payer's money. The issue is quite discussed, talked and advertised only to end with the slogan "Vote for NO to say YES" . Personally I find it very hard to to foresee some big company having a convention here with no major attractions and a very dry down town, instead of going to Vegas, Orlando or even Denver...but what makes me more curious how many voters will find the proposition very confusing and probably miscast. Could not it be made simpler?

We will find out tomorrow what people really voted for and what they meant actually.
Atleast there is no option for Maybe!

100 Days...A sure hit !

2009-04-29T01:03:00.009-05:00

A traditional bollywood thriller made in 1991, but one of its first in many categories. Excellent performances by all the crew members but it is the director and lead actors who hold it together extremely well, even seeming tightly focused overall. Many unexpected twists and turns but at the end everything seems under control. Had its own lighter and romantic part too and immediately connecting to families and particularly to younger audiences. Media played a significant role in publicizing by photos, reviews and constantly playing the popular numbers from it. The tone is definitely in sharp contrast to work done by some of its predecessor aka RGV and Ramsay Brothers, so shares some inevitable criticism from that sector too.

Overall an impressive work by debutant director Partho Ghosh...and a welcome change and declared a HIT by the public and scoring 4 out of 5!

And...if you reached here accidentally, while searching for "100 days of BO's scorecard" you did not miss much. Believe me.

Freaking Cats Hiding Dogs

2009-04-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered how some phrases you come across suddenly..and then it stays with you for long.

It has been few nights since caught this offbeat news item on AC360..and it still makes me laugh.....Worth sharing.

A lady siting in her office turns on the webcam in her home just to see that two strangers burgling her house. Calls 911 and operator asks her to stay on the line and describe what see is seeing while police is on their way.

"Okay, here's just one. He's running to the front. The other one is trying to figure out which way to go. The cat's freaked out. The dogs are hiding. My God. This is crazy. They've got things in their hands."

I might forget about this weird news item...but will hardly ever forget about those Freaking Cats and Hiding Dogs.

Race to Million: Recount Request

2009-04-20T20:55:00.007-05:00

It is more than 4 days now, but still I am finding it so hard to digest the fact that one celebrity figure could beat CNN. I was hoping to see some recount request in web...but not yet.. looks like all just gave in to the fact that Twitter, which started primarily for sharing news has been HIJACKED by the these celebrities (latest being Oprah!)...and like many others I am concerned for its future.

But wait...why we cant raise a request for recount. I think one point has been ignored so far, and just like any other valid election we shall take that into account too. Don't count the users who are following both aplusk and cnnbrk. Right? It should have been unique users for both of this acct. Simple point.....isnt it.

I suddenly miss my skills in these web based software etc...else it is not a tough task to find out the number of users who followed both aplusk and cnnbrk....and VOID their count.

Let the Race begin again after that (But please not take back those mosquito bed nets. That was the best possible outcome of this circus...I think.)

An interview with Dev D!

2009-04-17T23:50:00.005-05:00

Getting hold of him was not easy, but finally with some influence from a friend of mine, I was able to meet the now famous Mr Dev. D for a quick and informal one-on-one. Excerpts from that:

i: Thanks Dev, for granting me this maiden interview of yours. I can understand you are quite busy with your new found "image"..and I promise I will keep it short and quick.
Dev. D aka Devdas was right there, sitting in front of me, relaxed and calm, clean shaved and dressed quite smartly (wasn't expecting that).....as I was examining his appearance in total disbelief he interrupted me : Well...The other day, Mr "V" called me from Hosur and persuaded that I must meet you and share my side of the story. Though I don't want any more publicity but I am making this one time exception only. No more role-models for those lost in love ones..enough of that already. I hope this interview will show some light to them, so I agreed.

i: Thanx again...So tell me how u r feeling?
D (smilingly): You are seeing it right?...Cant be more happy. Feeling so relaxed and peaceful now. You cant imagine how it felt for those last 90 years...and now freedom at last!

i: And the credit goes to.....
D: Who else but Anurag Kashyap! This young iconoclastic guy had the courage and dared something which no one could ever think before. You know since Mr Chattopadhyay created this character of mine....everyone just followed it blindly. They made me the symbol of a great lover...but at the end it was nothing but Tragedy. From Shakespeare to Sharat Chandra and even today these great authors/poets used Tragedies for their audience' emotional cleansing...little bit bothering about the reality. But this guy..AK...you must admire him, he tried to look at it from a different perspective and probably the most realistic angle...and see where I am now today! By the way go and watch Gulal....another AK masterpiece.

i (speaking softly): But these ratings are just user created...one can vote and..
D (interrupting me): So what....see ToI, HT and other major reviews. This new story of mine has been accepted by masses and critics alike...You cant deny it. There are some who wont accept it ever but they must have their own reasons.

i: So you think this Devdas I am facing, is the Truth, and original which I knew so far was not?
D: Yes..I think original was complete fictional and unrealistic, and what you see in me now is Reality. And now people are liking it more..because they can relate to it and they see the nuisance and uselessness of my old character!

i: Hmm..thats strange for sure..so...how is Paro...Are you in touch with her...any feelings left? After all the original "you" died for her. Hope you dont mind me asking about it.
D (starts laughing): No no..its ok. I dont mind and I have no idea. See at the end I had two options....ruin myself..thinking about the love, and Paro and why she didn't feel for me what I felt for her, or just embrace the plain fact that love-shove is all "faltoo and bakwaas" and make myself live longer and live happily. Maybe I didn't had any true feelings...it was all superficial. So after 9 hindi, bengali, tamil and other Devdas's stupid demises the 10th one for sure makes the right choice!

i: But what Paro might be thinking of you now?
D: Should never have taken Dev for granted...ha ha...but seriously I don't want to sound mean...but believe me the day I stop thinking about what the other thinks of me, and that the effort I spent in maintaining the image of lover or even a good and caring friend....I found myself a complete new person with full of zeal for life. It was too much of a stress otherwise. I shall live for myself and not for others. Write it down mister....There is nothing called "ideal" and "selfless" love. Those things in all practicality don't exist. In nature everything has to be balanced...so love has to be TWO way too...or simply it just cant survive.

i: But Paro also had same feelings for you.....
D: And what makes you think so? Tell me. Just because we spent our childhood together, or she shared her toys with me, or written few letters to me. And just one misunderstanding....good bye for ever? Is that the love you are talking about. Just remember at the end of the day it is me who died at her doorsteps coughing throughout the cold night.

i: Hmm..I think you are really making me nervous now...I am sure many are NOT going to like this philosophy..and that also when coming from Devdas. Any comments?
D: Choice is yours. There is no lack of masochists in the world. They like to remain in that gloom and that's why they enjoy that pain which they cause themselves. They would like to magnify the small gestures from the other side much more than what it really means. And later on they will crib why the other is not reciprocating in same manner. Then there are people who take pride to think they are in love irrespective of reality. So yes...you are right, they will remain so till they realize the truth. I wish they all get some AK who can take them out of their miserable state.

i: Any comments for the other woman who through out loved you, but never got it back.
D: Yes...true...and I feel bad for that. But again it was more of a mutual need, that's the equilibrium I was talking about before....Now we both are happy..and that reminds me..you need to excuse me as I have an appointment. I hope I've answered all of your questions.

i: Oh sure. But just one last thing. You have anything to advice...any tips for your old fans?
D: Yes....sure. Just "Be yourself. Don't waste time in pretending what you are not and Don't ever let anyone else take control of your life. And just say NO to EMOTIONAL ATYACHAR " and You will live Happily Ever After. That's the Brand New Dev speaking.

While Dev D left to keep his appointment with Chandramukhi......I kept on wondering was it really that same Devdas whom we all knew so far or am I simply dreaming!

Out of Hibernation

2009-04-15T14:15:00.011-05:00

A long 3 months gap is probably the max time I can be away from here. The urge of sharing absolute timepass thoughts can't be suppressed any more I guess. So what can be a better day than today to start that today being Poila Baisakh (Bongs new year day!). Always good to have couple of new years day in one whole year...to start, break and restart resolutions.

Though I was away form here...but not completely. I was still following my favorite blogs regularly, tweeted myself often and from everywhere (small is beautiful..isnt it) and kept wondering how come an inactive blog page can still keep increasing the visitor count. After a quick research the answer baffles me completely....the max visits to this page from people all over the world is being caused by a search for Christina Rosenthall. Now I am not sure if it is that same person whom I referred here couple of years back..or is it some other namesake and now a celebrity. But I certainly don't recollect this "name" getting any attention in past few months. Probably a mere coincidence. But this certainly gives me some idea about my next post...which will be an interview with a famous but very opposite personality than what Christina Rosenthall was and always stood for.

Come back soon :-)

Obamaugration!

2009-01-20T00:45:00.002-06:00

Tuesday 20th Jan 2009:

Last day of "YES...WE CAN".

First day of "NOW...WE MUST".

With Best Compliments from all over the world!

Saving the weekend....

2009-01-18T23:21:00.008-06:00

The otherwise quite a boring and lethargic weekend (Overdose of Obamaugration, Continuing Depressing news of Industry and a Pathetic movie called Ghajini) was just saved by one email and one sms....!

The email: Garfield at his best

The sms : Dissection of a name.

Rama Lingam Raju, by telling the Truth (Satyam) has kept Rama with himself and..

Given his 2nd part of name to all the investors!

Jai Ho....!!!

2009-01-11T22:15:00.026-06:00

I feel good that I watched Slumdog Millionaire 24 hrs before it scored at Golden Globe in a big way! Maybe watching it post 1/11 would have made me biased and would have made me to like the movie more than it truly deserves probably.

So though it is creating big roar and most probably going to win couple of Oscars too, but personally for me I dont think it really deserved to be The Number One Best Picture at Golden Globe! Wonder would it be such a darling in west had one Indian Director made it. The theme is unique, screen play and direction was excellent..but to me still it missed so much in department of simple storytelling, with lots of loopholes, so away from reality, so many open ended loops and highlighting the plight and poverty of slums...and all of these in extremes. Dont want to be the spoiler but if you have seen it already or going to watch it soon...you will realize what I am talking about. Probably the west's fascination to darker side of Mumbai is still a long way to go (Salam Bombay..remember?). I hope the next big Hollywood project based on India is not one of Monkey head eating kings (Temple of Doom), Slums or Red Light Areas (so many to mention), the Holi men (once again too many are there and the very recent...that disgusting Love Guru) or the modern Call centers (Outsourced)..rather something different..something very Normal which does not try to choke you through issues of poverty, riots, prostitution, begging or just sheer lawlessness of the land.

But at the end clearly if some one truly deserves all the credit and salute for Slumdog is A R Rahman and his team, and his excellent background score through out the movie, the haunting Latika's theme...and of course the Jai-Ho (the best original score of the year for Golden Globe!) and its choreography . What an recognition for him and making entire Bollywood and the nation proud.

At the end it was certainly a big night for India with king SRK, Anil Kapoor and A R Rahman sharing that coveted prestigious stage and being watched by audience over 160 countries worldwide !!!

Indeed...a Jai Ho (Hail Victory!) Night.

2009 : Hoping 2 b yr of Rise N Shine!

2009-01-01T20:08:00.006-06:00

And A Happy New Year

A humorous greeting received from a friend in a financial institution.

It’s a powerful, yet amusing, reminder of the recent past.

Let’s usher in 2009 with renewed hope and a smile.......!!!

Time to Fade...

2008-12-26T22:11:00.002-06:00

26th December 2004 - 26th December 2008!

Time to Fade one of the deadliest natural disaster of our lifetime : 4 Yrs
Time to Fade this Grief Stricken Picture : NEVER

Was quite surprised not to see any tsunami anniversary related news today!

Twittering Around...

2008-12-22T00:21:00.004-06:00

Glad to be back after a hibernation of 2 months or so!
Much has happened since my last visit here...be it personal or public domain!

Hope to get active again!

ps: Finally joined the twitter community. Just like emails/messengers/blog/sms...this is for here to stay and be part of our daily life!

@twitter.com/iganguly

Being Nostalgic...

2008-10-06T11:53:00.015-05:00

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu buddhi - rupena samsthita
Namas tasyai, Namas tasyai, Namas tasyai namo namah.
(To that goddess who abides in all beings as intelligence : Sautaions to Thee...)
The new Durga Protima of Bengali Association of DFW

This is probably the first time during the past 10 years, I am feeling quite nostalgic during this ongoing Durga Puja. And the sole reason for that is city's Bengali Association which marked their 25th anniversary, put up a grand celebration and it exceeded all the expectations I had! It was 50 hours of sheer fun, Get Togethers, catching up with friends, addas, attired in traditional dresses, offering Pushpanjali, delicious meals for 3 days (basically no cooking at home!), Chanting Mantras amid rhythmic beating of Dhaks (drums), and each evening cultural functions and witnessing one which included legendary Usha Uthup too. It was so close the way we used to have it back then. How can I not feel nostalgic...

As I grew up in Hindi Mainland, the way we enjoyed Durga Puja was significantly different than what my cousins from Calcutta experienced. So while they had to wait for 6 longs days, thanks to Navratri, we started visiting different pandals right from the very day after Mahalaya. Then we were also "lucky" to take part in Dandiya/Garba dance each night, which they missed for sure. But the bong inside me was always eagerly waiting for the "shashti" evening (the 6th day) when our own Railway Institute will put up the newly brought statue of Goddess Durga in our very own Mandap thus starting 4 days of sheer festive excitement. Now this "bengali" Durga unlike Navratri ones, always comes (along with her 4 famous God Kids) riding a lion instead of a tiger..a distinct feature-difference to find if it is a Bengali Puja or a Non Bengali one..FYI).

Now based on the bong population of the city, or depending upon how many bengalis can stay "cordially together" for a certain amount of time, there might be more than one Durga Puja involved in the town. And as I was lucky belonging to that type of city where 4 such committees took pride in their existence, our next 3 days would be spent mainly on shuffling from one to another for Anjali, Bhog or even Orchestra/Jatras (theaters) and other cultural events. Even the most conservative parents would become quite liberal and their teenagers will bask in the glory of 4 days of uninterrupted freedom from domestic rules and regulations! But mind it..all these inter association friendship and all...those were just till the Navami (the 9th day). And on the 10th day which would also be the Visarjan, Immersion day( known as Dusherra too!) we are back to our core committee. All the camaraderie shared with our rival associations for past few days are suddenly vanished and thanks to that mysterious substance on that sorbet, gulped secretly minutes before immersion procession would begin...even a person like me was all out to shout and ready to fight with the members from the other club. Contentious issue varied from deciding the stoppage times on various spots on procession route, performing brotherly duties (rather showing heroism), settling old scores or even arguing whose protima will be honored to get immersed first. And then elderly members from both groups would come and make the settlement among these young hot and "quite influenced by now" blood. Yes...All in the backdrop of the Visarjan, Crackers and one final Dance with the Dhunuchi to impress the departing Goddess(es). Finally coming back to the empty pandal with a sombre mood, riding in that open truck with slogans of "Aschey Bachar Aabar habey" (next year again!) it would be time to get the "shanti jal", sweets and official inauguration of Subho Bijoya.

So though sad with the sudden void of activities around the empty mandap, for many of us the celebration would still continue for couple of weeks more....as in bengali tradition from that day till Diwali if you visit someone's home you shall be rewarded with Mishti Mukh (sweets!).

Subho Bijoya to you all!!!

Mojo of Mohit Chauhan!

2008-10-01T23:15:00.003-05:00

Mohit Chauhan: He is certainly not new to Hindi Music. But I guess in last one year he became more popular than he was probably as the lead singer and guitarist of the once popular band called Silk Route, which unfortunately was officially dissolved last year. My recent experience of this soothing voice (after Dooba Dooba of Silk Route) was few months back with this song "Guncha"..from Main Meri Patnee aur Woh. What an incredible, unique, soft and romantic voice!

And finally now, looks like he is the must have singer for all the music directors be it A R Rahman, Shantanu Moitra, Preetam or even the talli-talli Anu Malik!

"A Great Revival and Very Well DESERVED"!

Enjoy My Top 6 from Mohit Chauhan Collection!

Marking The Day!

2008-09-29T15:59:00.009-05:00

When watching "Cinderella Man" of the finest Depression Era movie, few weeks back, didn't realize that we are in the brink of one. This afternoon with DOW falling by around 800 points we are for sure entering another.
It will be scary yet interesting to see how the future unfolds!

Sajjanpur - A Movie Par Excellence

2008-09-25T23:40:00.022-05:00

What a Great Movie Mr Benegal has made. It has been years for sure I have experienced such a great classic Hindi Movie and it will be in memory for years. Each and every minute of this movie is excellently crafted, superb performance from every single cast, be it the the main characters of Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao or select and super-impact appearances of Ila Arun, Divya Dutta, Yashpal Sharma and others. All delivered their career best performance I think. Multiple story plots based in a simple today's village near Satna (Central MP! could easily associate with), awesome music with few nice soft numbers, crisp dialogues in local dialects, bone tickling hilarious from start to end, human emotions and yet delivering some important social points...and the latter is so subtle and well weaved into the storyline...a mixture of all this probably puts it par excellence! Reminds me of Hari Bhari from the same director 8 years back....but the social message he tried to convey was way too heavy for many. A friend of mine, whom I had recommended that (as a prank, of course!) is still pulling his hair and waiting eagerly to settle the score but yet to find something which can beat Hari-Bhari.

I am sure this is one of the best work of Shyam Benegal. And unlike HariBhari this time it is going to appeal the masses. Elite and Common both.

In short...this is the "RAAG-DARBARI" of celluloid! HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Not So Presidential...!

2008-09-24T22:48:00.010-05:00

I strongly believe if Palin becomes the VP (and later President...as it might be only heartbeats away) she needs to emanate a tough impression when meeting foreign leaders and their media, much tougher than what she is now doing to democrats, and her own country's media shall stop showing the delicate and flowery side of her to the world, and the staff must remind the meeting dignitaries about REFRESHING their "harassment" course .

I was sort of amazed and shocked to see that she got her "first" significant foreign experience today from none other than our own neighbor President. It will be anything but just falling short of "Flirting". Now how that looks, considering he being a president just few weeks old only, Head of an Islamic Republic State and last but not the least enjoying this "status" for none other than his own martyred wife..not even a year right?

A Very Non-Presidential and Non-Sharif Gesture!

Z: “You are even more gorgeous than you are on the (inaudible).”

P: “You are so nice. Thank you.”

Z: “Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”

[A Z handler tells the two to shake hands again for the cameras.]

P: “I’m supposed to pose again.”

Z: “If he’s insisting, I might hug.”

Driving by the Eternity

2008-09-22T11:23:00.007-05:00

The one good thing about my recent job change is the oppurtunity now I get to spend a good amount of time behind the steering wheels on the way to office. For the past 15 years it happened so that my work place used to be just minutes away from my home. Be it by walk, taking MRT or driving. Indeed a strange coincidence and labeled as you-lucky-one by many. Now all that changed earlier this year when I, like many others joined the workforce who need to commute daily. Though my commute time is mere 20 minutes (one way), compared to past 2 or 3 minutes, at first it seemed huge but over the time I started liking it and now I really don't want to reduce it even by a second. I look forward to it and perhaps this this is the best way I can start my day with!

Just for the same reason, I don't take highways, where there is always a chance to beat it by 3 to 4 minutes further, but I prefer going through the lanes and bylanes, slowly driving through speed restricted school zones, crowded office areas, passing through the Main street's congested business area, driving cautiously by the Police Headquarter of the city, and then occasionally cruising parallel to a dart train for a while. But the best and most important part of my ride is the last 7 to 8 minutes...when I drive by the huge sprawling cemetery. This is the biggest funeral home of the city. As soon as I cross the red-light on the Main Street and Restland drive, the previous hustle-bustle suddenly disappears into a nice serene and calm atmosphere as if there was a big filter on the junction and that had just absorbed all the activities of regular life. It is unbelievable how my mood and thinking changes instantly. Invariably and daily I would see fresh flowers being put by the loved ones, or workers putting up a tent for some last services probably, or sad and somber people wandering near the main gate. For couple of minutes there is nothing else..but calmness and solace!

This whole thing for some weird reason gives me a very soothing feeling..thinking about the inevitable which is bound to happen without fail. It is an assurance and guarantee that Yes...Finally at the end...I too will be part of this Peaceful element, when nothing else shall matter. I would switch off NPR's morning edition or Glenn Beck's yelling on anything "liberal" ..and for next few minutes I am no more interested in upcoming presidential debates or trying to understand the nitty gritty of Credit Default Swaps or even the deadlines of project.

And then there is another stop sign and crossing that, once again I am back to the active street as before, entering my office and waving the ID card to the now familiar and smiling security guard. Like a toggle switch my mind is now absolutely cut off from the previous thoughts and I am all keen to start my day in the most enthusiastic way possible...and more so very keen to go back to home afterward to my eagerly waiting two loved ones, and spend another wonderful day with them.

I do not take the same way going back.

Treading Backwards...?

2008-09-17T23:51:00.009-05:00

Looks like whatever effort the stalwart CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya painstakingly put over last 7 or 8 years to put back the "renaissance" city (always my weakness) and the state back into the world map...is going down the drain too fast.

First Tata, then Infosys...now Satyam and DLF too? If trend continues Rajar-Haat might soon turn into Kangaal-Haat. I dont think we can blame the CM, his policies or his government but it his own party and politburo members who needs to be blamed. After all they are the one who condemned Buddhadeb for speaking against the traditional CPM-Weapon called "Bandh and Gheraos"..Per them even thinking like that is anti-communist. Recently read somewhere that Buddhadeb has done well as Deng Xiaoping with his economist reforms but now he what he needs to do is a "Gorbachev" for a Prestroika to his own party. He is indeed the right man in the wrong party!

..... And then there is another one..a very special and effective one...equally responsible for this backward treading...what can I say better than this "cartoon" which I recently came across.

For the non-bongs:
"You did not marry when it was time for you, didn't start a family, elo-melo'ed your own life, and now elo-melo'ed the country too....my poor baby"
What is elo-melo....Well you dont have to be a Bong to get that!

Bipartisan

2008-09-12T01:08:00.017-05:00

I cant be biassed towards one...So if I can see "Morphed" Obama, I sure can find Palin look alike too. And I am not talking about SNL's Tina Fey....!
Only, in this case for the latter I also need a different hair do and a pair of "kawasaki 704" !
Agree?

Maverick ???

2008-09-11T23:59:00.003-05:00

Sheer Maverick!

When all the news channels are discussing about LIPSTICK while election is mere 50 days away
When I realize the "Lipstick on a P.." is a much accepted English Phrase. By the way my vocab also has a brand new word in it now "Haberdasher".
When the Presidential Election suddenly becomes all about one Vice Presidential candidate.
When the VP Candidate gets more coverage than rest of the 3 Combined..and certainly is overshadowing the own party's presidential candidate.
When the same potential VP laughs about "Reading the RIGHTS to the convict", and mocks on "Community Organizers" amid cheering of crowds. Unbelievable...
When the so far common phrase "Soccer Moms" gets replaced by more hip and trendy "Hockey Moms"
When the would be VP is also referred as "One Heartbeat Away" President.
When I come to know that other than Bikes, Kawasaki also makes Eye Glasses.
and Finally....When I hear that Dinosaurs are nothing but Lizards of Satan..

It is unbelievable how things turned around since that Birthday surprise...though I will remain doubtful if this much of turn around was really foreseen by Maverick himself. After all suddenly he is not in lime light as of today. Whether it is going to Help or Hurt only time will indicate, but whatever it is, are not we fortunate enough to witness the "First Time Ever Happened" event in American history..be it the President or the Vice-President.

Congratulations!

2008-09-10T00:08:00.005-05:00

If you are still reading this post..then Congratulations.
You did survive the BigBang....scheduled to happen in less than an hour from now.

Ok...this time we were lucky but 4 years, 3 months and 10 days...who knows!
By all symptoms around the world "The EndGame has already begun"!

Meanwhile lets enjoy the remaining days...and the upcoming and getting interesting day-by-day presidential election...and take it for granted that things may look distorted now onwards.....after all LIGHT does bend inside black hole...and thanks to Hadron Collider...even if survived from complete annihilation it may happen that we get few side effects of it.

Spooky Coincidence

2008-08-22T23:58:00.013-05:00

I am sure I am not the first/only one to notice this weird coincidence

Obama / Biden '08

Now how much that sounds familiar to the name of that person hiding somewhere in northern part of Pakistan....Chilling isnt it. Good dose of topic for "cult" groups!

Anyway, looks like Obama's VP announcement using Text Message to Regd. Supporters, scheme backfired as CNN and Fox are already Confirming Biden as his choice much before the anticipated SMS which is expected to land on cellphones across the country any where between Thursday Night to Saturday afternoon...Building the anticipation and Hype and making media crazy. Probably that's what the campaign wanted...but what happened to that promise to thousands of supporters that "You will hear it First...as a personal touch".

Lesson learnt: Never try to prolong a "suspense" more than necessary....it may just backfire!

A Blot in the name of Bhadralok"ism"

2008-08-20T01:30:00.013-05:00

I just cant help myself. I am in love with this song...so since last few days if I am listening anything..it is nothing but this. And then suddenly something strikes me this evening while coming back home..(and of course the thought process triggered while listening the same in background). Whats so special about this catchy one... Is it really that worth. Look at my age, maturity, social status....and does it anywhere match with that? It has "road chaap" words like "Talli, Whiskey, Soda, Munda, Mushtanda, Kake and what not". It has no lyrics, Full of suggestive and double entendre...but still I have gone complete "talli and fultush" over it. Is it just the theme, the music, the beats or is it the way it has been produced and the final outcome which to me sounds awesome (I have not seen the video, so cant comment on that part or say looks awesome and I doubt it will). I am sure I am not alone in its fanclub...but if I look at my band of brothers whom all I expect to see. I know the answer very well...and the producers of this item number know it well too for it has been targetted to that class. I also know that there might be many people like me who probably love it but will be quite reluctant to admit it..after all it belongs to that certain "class" and then who is not afraid of being judged by what we say, listen and what we like....so I dont blame.

Can I proudly recommend it to someone.."You know..you must listen to it..its a great listening pleasure". I cant. It does not use literary Hindi or Urdu stuff in it. It has no philosophical theme. It has no musical value. It will be erased from our memory after few weeks...It does not emanate sophistication..It is meant for a certain audience. It is certainly not for the regular main stream..that middle /elite class...For the society me and you belong to.

The more and more I think of it...more I fell into this self realization process. It is not only this song..look at the theme/topic of my Blog. I have and I do read regularly so many blogs by others. All of them carry weight..the substance. They make you think something. They discuss highly intellectual stuffs sometimes, philosophical, spiritual things. Even if they discuss Poetry/Movies/Songs/Books that will for sure belong to something which you will feel PROUD to recommend. It leaves you with a feeling of an accomplishment. And then I look at my years old poor Absolut Timepass...which discusses Chitrahaar, An actress' biography, compilation from youtube, of for that matter funnyordie website (really funny, I labelled that as techie stuff..for a change!) and last but not the least a "shit processing center named after George Bush". ..Oh God..Is it me? I guess it is.

After all it is nothing new. Reminds me of one old incident...when I was probably 12/13 years old. We were planning to attend one of my cousins marriage in Calcutta. Those days..Calcutta was not that cosmopolitan (read Hindi aware). So we three brothers from the core Hindiland, were always treated with "respect" and cheered by the younger generation (as we were fluent in Hindi..ie spoken language of "Bollywood") but much with "Sarcasm" with the older generation as we cant even recite Tagore (to show respect lets say "Thakur" to show some originality). Anyways...as is generally common during a bong family function...songs/recitals were very much in place and expected from all brothers/sis of the new bride on the marriage night..called "basar ratri". It is pity to see the newly weds who are already exhausted and stressed out are FORCED to remain awake till wee hours and tolerate these family cultural show. So that being year 1983/1984 I was keen to show my talent too...that too in chaste hindi..and with the latest two hits. I still remember those songs...they had very simple lyrics, chartbusters of that time,and of course easy to sing. So I literally pen it down painstakingly listening from the radio over many broadcasts, memorize and rehearse it many times and even do a dress rehearsal with the my two younger brothers as audience. Things look perfect. And then on the d-day when my turn was up, I performed. I performed well I guess, as got few clapping from my fresh new bro-in-law. Songs I had "intelligently" chosen were both marriage based suiting the occasion, were "Shayad Meri Shadi Ka Khyaal from Souten"..and then my backup song (rather "one more...one more please" item) was "Gangaram Kunwara Rah Gaya from JeevanDhara". Looking at half of the audience was already asleep, and though there was no "one more plz request" I shamelessly sang the second one too...after all I had put an incredible effort preoaring for my moment of fame.

Next day over Morning Tea/Biscuits in the marriage pandal..I do see a serious discussion going on with my Father in the center and lots of elderly relatives in and around him, lecturing him. Could not stop but sneaked in, only to find my previous nights performance was being discussed...and they were appalled to see how could an intelligent young "bengali" boy is going downhill..who sings cheap hindi film songs instead of Abritti (poem recitals) or rabindro sangeet. The hatred was not for "hindi" rather the sublime subject and theme and utter mediocrity of my selection of songs. Even a hindi version of "Hemanto" or "Manna" would have been perfect but a song discussing a proposal over tea invitation and few animals going on a marriage procession "barat" that was too much to digest. Now the target himself being there, attention shifts from my Father (who may have already done a bad thing by moving out of Bengal) to me and I am given a full lecture on the Pride/Culture/History of great Bengal folks and how must I change my likings. Well that was the day..I realized Point Blank that I cant belong to Bhadralok category ever....rather I might be a blot to that.

PS: Thanks to Blogs...I am free to share my opinions "freedom of expression" here.......saying kudos and cheering for Main Talli Ho Gayee's music composer now "in" and "famous" Mr Annu Malik. Now that needs Guts...isnt it!

Golden Jubilee!!!

2008-07-29T13:48:00.005-05:00

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- In the Shadow of the Moon

The dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow.
-Robert Goddard

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.
— Albert Einstein

Happy 50th Birthday!!!

Cool ...A small FISH has "JUST" been Served!

2008-07-28T10:06:00.006-05:00

Seeing Google challenged is NOT everyday affair. So this Monday (28th July 2008) becomes really COOL to see that happen, when cuil got launched few hours back and claiming that it searches 3 times more web page than Google does.

I tried, looks OK, but NOT "compulsive" enough that I will start "cuiling" rather than "googling" with immediate effect. But then who knows...It took a while from shifting to Yahooing to Googling 8 years back. I am also happy that it will let the Google to retain and keep working on its competitive edge..which probably it was not finding anymore from Microsoft or Yahoo!

What I liked about Cuil (pronounced cool) is the way it categorizes the results. What I did not like is my name search gives ZERO results. Also doing a quick search using terms "Ahmedabad blast" gave disappointing result for Cuile. So for me ..it still has a long way to go! But once they fix these small issues it will be interesting to see which big fish tries to eat this "small fish" first.

Salaam Bombay!!!

2008-07-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

Little did I have an idea that an offbeat conversation I took part in last weekend at a friend's party..is going to keep me busy for an entire week. It was about Radios/Transistors..how vital role it played when we were growing up..be it elections/sports or even sheer entertainment. And just then somebody mentioned Radio Ceylon....and yes you guessed it right. How can we not talk about Amin Sayani the greatest voice ever heard in Indian radio and Binaca Geetmala the numero uno Radio Programme of the country till TV replaced that wonderful medium in mid 80s!

So though the conversation soon was taken over by more demanding office gossips/controversies while sipping Mohitos, but I was still stuck on those moments of Wednesday 8-9PM and continuous fiddling with those short wave knobs. FM was still unheard..and Chitrahaar was still only for privileged ones. Maybe it was the effect of Mohito, by the time I was coming of out of the party I had already decided how to spend my next free hours. I was little surprised to see that there is only one website (bollango.com) which is maintaining a playlist of Binaca tops, Wiki is not complete and only one website (bollywoodsoundtracks.com) which posted an html page.. and yes NONE in YouTube. Surprising isnt it!

So now you know what I was busy for past few days.....AND..Good things ought to be shared !!!

So here I am presenting the First Ever PlayList in Youtube "The Official Binaca (later Cibaca) Geetmala" (1953-1994). Then as GOOD THINGS shall never come to an end, from 1995 to 2007 another playlist (what Binaca would have chosen had it been still ON) and Finally My own PICK for 2008!.

So enjoy over 6 hrs of the best of the best, 4 generations of Hindi Film music, enjoyed equally by our GrandParents and now by their great grandkids and while doing so...also lets experience and appreciate the wonderful transition Bollywood goes thru over this 55 years...be it from B/W to color, or the actors/actresses, the singers, the style, the dress, the looks, the ambiance, the mood, the technology, the direction, editing and last but not the least The Lyrics...Wao! What An Incredible Journey..And Still as Addictive and Alluring as it was then...UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Enjoy! (I had a better player, but this youtube bug is causing issue, this is a workaround for time being)

Binaca GeetMala (1953-1994)

...And If Binaca Would Have Continued (1995-2007)

..... And the My Pick for "Sartaz" Song (2008!)

Celebrating 39th Anniversary

2008-07-21T14:03:00.006-05:00

I plan to celebrate this day by watching "In the shadow of the Moon" presented by Ron Howard (appolo-13 fame). This one is a documentary released last year and since then won so many acclaims and rewards. Going by Internet Buzz....it seems this is the best film ever made on Apollo Moon Landings. The best part it seems there is no commentary to it in the background (like usual documentaries) rather it is narrated by in a chronological order by those eight men..who had actually put their foot on Moon!

I am looking forward to it. The only "disappointing" thing is Conspiracy Theorists are still as active as always. It is hard for them to understand that Faking a Moon Landing will be Much More Difficult task than actually going there. There is NO DEARTH of McClellans afterall (which is good) !

The WORD Game...

2008-07-19T23:50:00.005-05:00

The N word...
Will Rev. Jesse Jackson be still called "reverend" after using the N word....and moreover where N is no more a Color stuff this time, but an Anatomical stuff....and most importantly if that belongs to the would be most powerful man in the world! Well I fully sympathize with Rev., for he is mere Mortal human being like us..and can surely use the N, S or F word for that matter..but uttering that at a place with live Microphones? Mr Jackson...You must "look before you speak".

The S word...
A R Rahman is great. He is indeed Versatile. He is always experimenting...But to experiment with four letter S words in the most catchy songs he composes...Well it is little bit harder for the parents especially if you have a kid who has an extra "affection" for bollywood songs. So though we could manage Rubaroo well..by skipping the S word right at the beginning..but in his latest chartbuster (Pappu Cant Dance..) no chance of skipping it! By the way this movie (jane tu jane na) is full of regular S words too...and it becomes difficult to exlpain a three year old how come they are escaping scot free even after speaking those dreaded words.

Cake Time!

2008-07-08T15:38:00.019-05:00

TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!

Lets Celebrate with this lovely Song and Paintings

T H A N K S for your Visit(s)

Da Vinci Code...Revisits!

2008-07-01T00:07:00.009-05:00

Since past few days was coming across the reviews/interviews etc regarding this new book called "The Last Patriot" which is hitting stores today. Author is Brad Thor who has already a NY Times Bestseller ("The First Amendment") under his belt. I have not read him so far .. but looking at the review and hearing the buzz...it seems his new book is going to cause a stir (and few Fatwas) for sure!

The theme seems very much like Da Vinci Code...just change Christianity with Islam. Though an work of fiction but the author claims that it is based on true facts. So just as in Da Vinci, here prophet Mohamed on his last days "said" something...which if revealed today will be catastrophic for Islam and the highest authorities will go to any extreme to stop this American Navy Seal hero from trying to go to the root and making it public. And in this backdrop Brad says he gives many of startling true facts about Islam and Quran and its history so far unknown to majority of us! Based on the author's interview, I came across this "interesting link" which if true, makes us believe that what the 3rd president of this country Thomas Jefferson dealt with 200 years back..is no way different than what the current US presidents are dealing with!

I am eager to see what more true facts it is going to give us...and finally if it can be as gripping, revealing and shocking as Da Vinci Code or just a mere copycat version of one of the most thriiling novel world has seen so far.

It certainly seems worth $13...and is going to be my next purchase from B&N.

Simply Unethical...and Unacceptable

2008-06-30T01:00:00.001-05:00

Guess what the above sewage plant is to be called soon...."George W Bush Sewage Plant".

I have read a similar incident before. During Vietnam war, to show their anger against USA (or show support to their communist brothers in arm), the City of Calcutta renamed the street where US consulate was located . So overnight Harrington became Ho Chi Minh Sarani (street). But then what can be expected against the city which holds the record of longest serving (and still...) "democratically" elected communist party....So I understand it.

But now, the city of San-Fransisco voting for the above sewage plant to be named as "George W Bush Sewage Plant" is too much of "democracy". Instead of Bridges, Highways and other National Monuments this Elite leftist city thinks this is a befitting farewell gift for Bush. I am sure like me, many are not going to like it...You can make mockery or insult to an individual but doing that to the President of Your Own Country...I fail to understand it !!!

One Two Three Four

2008-06-24T00:25:00.002-05:00

Dedicating this song to mark the occasion of my first gas filling with $4.00 / Gallon from that Chevron Gas station on the way to my work! A RED LETTER DAY indeed!

By the way...I find this Feist Choreography Awesome....Or is it Camera Trick....Whatever...End Result is Impressive!

One Two Three Four by Fiest

Welcome...FIREFOX-3!

2008-06-17T22:04:00.016-05:00

My first post using this new browser (just few hours old now). Was eagerly waiting for it since past few days and finally it is here. The look and feel is not significantly different....and I am still browsing and experimenting with few of the smart, cool and "safety" features. . Already experiences the built in spell checker (for web forms,blog post), tagging web sites, New Zoom Feature, Pause and Resume downloading.....I am liking it already (there was not even an iota of doubt though). With hindreds of other new or enhanced features, developed over last 3 years by 1000s of developers/users....it is going to set a new bar for any web browser (read IE).

Already 2.9 Million downloads have taken place since it was launched this noon....and within next 12 hrs (India, China and part of Europe are just waking up...) it certainly will well exceed the 5 Million Goal set by Mozilla while trying to set A Guinness World Record.

Already did my part in helping reach that...downloaded in both work and home PCs.....and now back to exploring more of the new features.....may be an Online Shopping and check out its Instant ID Favicon....!

Ominous Signs...

2008-06-15T14:48:00.006-05:00

12th May 2008 : Deadliest Earhquake hits China

1246 miles SouthEast and 18 days later....
1st June 2008 : Magnitude 6.8 strong earthquake: Offshore Between Philipines and Taiwan

1000 miles Northeast and 13 days later...
14th June 2008 : Fatal Earthquake strikes Japan

How much time it will take that Massive Beast to Travel 5000 Miles further East....?

Let us hope The Huge Pacific in bewteen pacifies it......!!!

The Man With One Shoe

2008-06-09T12:00:00.009-05:00

Webster and Oxford must be preparing to add this new word in the future editions...I think they will probbaly, and it will go like this.

Hypermiling: It is a technique of increasing vehicle's gas mileage by making "behavioral" changes in the way one drives, thus allowing to save on rising gas prices.

I came across this word for the first time this morning (thanks to NPR)..though a little research shows it is being discussed well among the enthusiasts for over a year or so.

As the gas price is soaring towards $5 per Gallon, there are many innovations, forums, groups being formed to tackle the crisis at the common users end and new words are being coined, tips and tricks being discussed. Hypermiling is one of them. And for this particular Hypermiler group from California (which NPR interviewed) they proudly showcased their mileage numbers..and analyzed that with what the reporter got in his trial run. It was amazingly more than the double.

Now there are so many tips and tricks...some of them are Risky (like following closely a 18wheeler on the highways to save on wind draft) , some can spoil husband-wife relation (like dont hunt on for getting best and the nearest to the mall entrance parking spot, or prefer parking face out, so that you save on by NOT reversing back and turning needlessly), some are ticket prone (like NOT doing a complete STOP on stop signs) but the one which I could not stop myself from laughing out loud was,

"Not wearing shoe on the accelerator foot to feel the pressure of the pedal more accurately"

But I guess I wont be the one who will be laughing after filling up my gas tank..... but it will be that "The Man with One Shoe" Hypermiler !

A CONTROVERSY In Waiting?

2008-05-22T09:06:00.000-05:00

Since past few days I was following the trailer of the upcoming movie "Love Guru" starring Mike Myers (Austin Power fame), and I cant help myself but am too eager to see how it will be received by Indian audience..more so the groups like Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal....and various other religious institutions of the country. This film seems has all the potential to create a stir in Indian Media as well as demands for bans and protests from many Hindu institutions worldwide.

Watching without any bias...and on the lines of Austin Powers and Shrek, it appears to be a 100% fun and comedy movie with many known names in its cast (Jessica Alba, Ben Kingsley, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson and many other stand up comedians)..but the humor comes at the heavy price of making fun of one of the oldest civilization and religion of the world...and it will be so difficult to digest for many.

Last night Mike Meyers appeared in American Idol final (well , and seeing him doing a stint from this yet to be released movie...which Myers himself mentioned as a "SHAMELESS act of Movie promotion" during one of the highest viewed television event of the year), this film is slated to be a Popular Hit this summer in USA for sure...but right now I am waiting what happens on June 20th when this movie is going to be released worldwide and raise the age old but too familiar question of " What is the proper LINE between Entertainment (or to be precise.. Freedom of Expression) versus Religious Sentiments".

Paying Homage

2008-05-21T15:51:00.006-05:00

It is always difficult for me to forget 21st of May. You can say it is that pointers and links thing when one event links to another and such that a chain of events are formed, you remember just one and one by one all of them start playing in your mind. In a similar way as a by product of some absolutely different episode in my life, 21st May 1991 is so difficult for me to forget.

One of the most sensational day in modern Indian history probably, when Rajiv Gandhi, both loved and hated, was brutally assassinated. It is really unfortunate that he could not see India..as of Today. But I think it was he, who had started that transition process for the Modern India..be it technology, liberalization or globalization.

The sheer inexperience, immense popularity, expectation and tremedous power (remember 404 seats out of 506 in Loksabha, with BJP securing just two in 1984 election) and ofcourse the ever present CONGRESS COTERIE around him certainly cost him dearly in his first term (1984-1989), but just by the time he had started realizing that, started learning from his mistakes one by one, and was coming out of that DreamWorld to the RealWorld, his life came to this sudden end on this day! Indian Voters were all too eager to give him another chance in 1991 elections.. It was not even 2 years of National Front (the alliance of the unlikes of BJP, CPM,JD) and people were already tired of them, but that part of chapter was never destined to be written probably.

Today on his 17th death anniversary I would like to share an article , I came across few weeks back...and I feel good about the way his son has started his journey...slow and steady, carefully avoiding the pitfalls his dad could not....and I am sure this Journey is Going to be a LONG ONE and he has a LONG ROLE to play in Indian Politics!

90 minutes of that "Milion Dollar Smile"

2008-05-15T22:20:00.004-05:00

Today I created my first playlist in Youtube.

And if the date is 15th of May, and I am going to create my first ever Youtube player it is no brainer in guessing about whom it will be. Also I realized it does not look good to break the tradition of something which I started the same day last year (letter).

So here it is, First thought will include only top 5 or so, but as soon as I started browsing/recollecting..the 5 became 10 , 10 became 20 and so on. Anyway decided to put a HARDSTOP on 25. It is indeed a "badee mushkil" task to select few from her innumerable list of performances.

So without further ado and marking the occasion of her 41st birthday I proudly present my collection...a 90 minutes of sheer magical journey with one and only Madhuri Dixit!
Enjoy!

On Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T18:08:00.010-05:00

A Beautiful and Touching Song from TZP...!!!

A wonderful job from Lyricist Prasoon Joshi and equally well sung by Shanker Mahadevan.
Below is a translation of the song..Courtesy rakesh048@youtube

==============================

I never say that
But darkness frightens me mother
I never show that
But I listen to you mother
You know everything, isn't it mother
You know everything, my mother

Don't just leave me in this crowd
May not even find way back home
Send me not, this far
Might even not reach your dreams
Am I that bad ,my mother
Am that bad, my mother

When ever Papa take me
And swing so hard, mother
My eyes search you
Think you'l come hold me close

I never tell them
But I control myself mother
Never let come on my face
But my mind is afraid inside
You know everything,isn't it mother
You know everything, mother.

I never tell that
But darkness frightens me mother
I never show that
But I listen to you mother
You know everything, isn't it mother
You know everything, my mother

Girls Gone Wild?

2008-05-08T22:58:00.007-05:00

First Katreena, Then Rita Now NARGIS? How come all these big damage causing hurricanes are None but Sweet Innocent names...?

Victims of Nargis: Hundred thousand and rising...!
It pains me realizing how much apathy Burmese Military rulers are showing towards their own people by REJECTING any assistance what was offered. They are slowly accepting it..but crucial 4 or 5 days were lost and that might have been TOO LATE for So Many!

Reliving "Walk Alone" with Usha...

2008-05-04T12:59:00.013-05:00

What a better day to "relive" it than 7th of May! The Birthday of Tagore. I was just scrolling through some latest Bollywood albums and was surprised to see this new one...called Love Songs , Y'day Today and Tomorrow (yes thats how it is...the fine prints). I dont think it has also got much press (or did I miss it entirely?), but it seems it has many uniqueness under its belt.

To start with it is an all English Bollywood film, Cast has big names like Jaya Bachhan, Om Puri, Mallika Sarabhai, Lyrics by Tagore (Ekla chalo rey, Ghumer Deshe), Mir Taqi Mir(Patta patta boota boota), Momin Khan Momin (Woh Jo Hummey Tummey Karaa thaa) and most importantly the GranMa of Indian Pop...Usha Uthup is the Music Director (her First?) and also rendred few numbers. She still has that same powerful voice what we were used to 20/25 years back.....!!!

But what good it is if I cant let you listen all this with a sinlge click...So here it is... Njoy..the versatile numbers from Love Songs..y'day-today-n-tomorrow!

Dont Stop The Music...Rihanna to Rajni?

2008-05-04T01:51:00.006-05:00

Rajni and little superstar (1 million hits and growing)

Rihanna's Dont Stop The Music (52 million hits and growing...7th most viewed in YouTube)

Oh YouTube....You must be renamed to YouAwesome!

Morphing.....?

2008-05-01T22:23:00.014-05:00

Barak Obama:
As smart and intelligent as Siddhartha Basu OR as excellent speaker and powerful actor like Kay Kay Menon?

But something indeed is common in these 3 gentlemen....Dont You Agree?

For You.... Suran!

2008-04-30T22:22:00.026-05:00

It was the first day of May 1984 when I last talked with Suran.

I knew him hardly for four years...but the impact was so strong that even 24 years after , I can vividly remember him, his face, his voice and most of all our intense friendship.

Lets start from few years before. 1980 winter, we, a family of five, moved to this town called Kharsiya in eastern MP. I was in 5th grade then. Baba literally fought for this transfer for our education as well as this being in Main Line (Howrah-Bombay) it was better for his career too. Before that we were in a coal mine town called Kotma which was not helping us education wise, helping tremendously "bad company" wise and it being a Branch line (only 4 passenger trains daily and Infinite number of GoodsTrain laden with black diamond) there was not much thrill or challenge in his job or growth prospect.

Kharsiya (which would later become famous for Arjun Singh's constituency) was a township of around 15k, 80% of them with title holders of Agrawals, serving the local population as well as nearby Orissa's. It took us 3 years to realize that education wise probably it was not a good choice. Anyways...The first impression of this new place for all of us was very good. We three brothers were fascinated to see the Electric Train Engines as our quarter was facing directly the Railway station and we would spend hours discussing them, the models, the factory they were built, when they need servicing and so on. So far we were exposed to Steam and Diesel engines only. Maa had her own reason to feel happy. She used to make sure every day around 4PM she would be standing at verandah to see the Howrah Express which would stop for just 2 mins and the fact that after 12 hrs this very train will be standing at the Majestic Howrah Platform, facing the city where she grew up and all of her family still lives. It was 15 years since she left Calcutta..but still she was very much Home..er..Calcutta Sick I guess. Baba soon became very occupied with the busy Main Line always wanting attention.

Kharsiya had nothing much to offer other than its shops(big/small/wholesale/retails) and cash rich population and their cash rich kids...and also a unique historical Red Bungalow built by Sahibs late 19th century. This was also the so called "Quarter" of ours. PWI-Bungalow as known to kharsiyaites. It was indeed like a palace. Everything about it was HUGE. Big 6 rooms, a palatial Drawing room, all built with classic brit architecture. Had 5 servant quarters. and too big a compound, boundary wall and just after where coumpound ends it also had a cluster of some small quarters mainly for the Gangmen and Trolleymen. And then there was this one "illegal" structure made of earth and woods....Suran's home.

There was a group of 7 or 8 kids similar to our age group then, and we all became friends very soon. But even in that friendship and even in that little age it was not hard for us to see that we 3 brothers always were getting that extra attention and a special treatment be it from them or their parents. I guess we used to enjoy that importance which came with the fact we were sons of PWI Saahib. Out of this group of 7 or 8 kids, I had one special friend, Suran. One year younger to me. But he was the gem among the rest of the group. Suran's dad died years back in a railway accident and since then his Mother with 4 of her kids (2nd son being Suran) was staying in that single room hut with no elecricity. No Railway officer even from Headquarters ever thought of asking them to move away.

Suran was extra talented..be it study, sports, or just his honesty, simplicty, ever smiling, humble yet so sharp and smart. Soon he became favourite of my parents too. He was most welcome always at our house..the rest of the kid gang felt jealous of him. He was the one who used to get all my books/notebooks/uniforms etc as he was just following me by a year in the school. Me and him would sit with Baba in the evening for long listening the current events, or hear the famous english stories. On sundays we would spend time outside on Badminton (baba did make us a court) or inside playing Chess or Monopoy. At the same time when with the gang we also enjoyed equally the marbles, hideNseek or just running on the street with cycle tires. There was a special bonding with him I shared..he knew that too. Even in that age,11/12 yrs old we would often go for a long walk besides the train tracks talking about school happenings/future / sports/ movies/girls..whatever comes to mind at that age. We would behave as if we two are discussing very mature topics sitting in Platform benchs. But we also lived our childhood fantasies when we both used to go out for a hunting session...laced with specially made clay stones (as after hitting ground it would give an effect of explosion with a small cloud of dirt), bow-arrows, sharp edged sticks etc...huntings for the lizards and sometimes imaginary animals. He was the most learned in that community. On many summer nights he would read the comics (Amar Chitra Kathas) to the people there. Puran, his elder brother was already working in a Detergent factory and his mom was there in the tobacco farm nearby (Another thing Kharsiya was famous for). He had an younger brother as well as a sister and he took care of them while his mother and brother were away. All of the community as well as we had very high hopes on Suran. For them he was a miracle boy.

Early 1984 Baba was very much determined for another transfer then...and this time it was for the sole purpose of education. Target city would be Raipur this time. Suran came to know about it, he was sad for a while but soon it was decided that he too probably move within a year to Raipur. He was already getting stipend and if hostel is not available he could easily stay with us. We promised to exchange post-cards on a weekly basis.

By mid April, 1984 Baba got his transfer order and first he left alone to arrange things for us in advance. Rest of us were planning to leave by End of May. It was indeed a hot summer that year. Our exams were done long time. Suran as always topped in Class7, while Me and just one more student passed class 8th out of 70 or so students. It was the worst board result of our school but it was also the best as I figured in Merit list..another first for the School and Kharsiya in recent years. Principal, Nayak sir,called me in his room and told me how happy is for me that I am leaving that school and town....and wished me all the best. That was also the first time I heard and came across Lions Club, Rotary Club , "Buffet", "Nutrela"(those soyabean nuggets replacing the meat in Pilaf) and then yes...the word Congratulation. I was sad that Baba was not with us when I was suddenly getting so much publicity! But Suran was there in all the occasions with me...and I was so sure that next year he would be getting all these things...maybe much more.

On the late night of May 1st a small fire broke out in one of the nearby tobacco godown. It was more of a spectacle for us kids as were seeing the frantic try of "adults" to bring it down. I was there with the kid gang, but did not see Suran. When asked his mother where he is, I was told he was down with fever. I dont know whether she asked him to come out, or he came out on his own, I saw him...covered in a blanket, quite shivering in that summer night. He did not speak much but we just exchanged normal talks what might have caused the fire and so. Then we bid good night and we decided that first thing next morning we will go and exmaine the fiery place as if two detectives to find the root cause which all others might have missed. Yes..that was that last time I talked with him.

Around 11.30 next day there was a large commotion outside. And I witnessed the scene which would stick with me for the rest of my life. Suran's mother was screaming literally...banging her chest, others standing still in disbelief, while Suran was lying there in the ground in his blue shirt and khaki shorts. Suran was no more. The heat stroke took him, took my friend away for ever. All our dreams about this miracle kid did not take more than a second to crash. Her mom and Puran took him to hospital earlier but it was too late. I still wonder what he might have been thinking in his last moments..did he feel the end, Did he think about the unfinished task of our detective work. I also had so many questions and what-ifs like "Why did he go out in the sun..when we three used to be shut at home from 10 AM to 7PM", "Did the hospital neglect them looking at their financial condition", "Why they never informed us when he first showed symptom of Loo...atleast he could have stayed with us in fan and cooler..Maybe Maa would have taken him to the doctor a day before". But these what-ifs and questions were to remain unanswered forever.

Something must have happened strange with me as I really dont remember anything after witnessing that heart shattering scene...and what I can remember now is sitting by our window that evening looking outside at the far away smoke rising to sky....as Suran's existence was coming to an permanent end. Though I wanted to accompany him on his last journey but Maa never agreed. Baba would have allowed me for sure and we all missed Baba so much that night.

Neverthless Baba got the news immediately, he preponed his plan, came back very next day and we left Kharsiya Two Weeks Before than scheduled. I never felt so emotionless while leaving a place where I had lived for 4 years.

Suran still lives with us very much...in our memory.

6th Sense And a GPS Feature WISHLIST

2008-04-27T14:13:00.009-05:00

It has been quite sometime I visited here...Still some of you are asking me to update on the India Trip Report 2008 and I will try my best in coming days...

Actually many things happened for past 3 or 4 weeks...For Some of you know and some do not.
For the ones..who don't:

I have switched Job. At a Different company, Working on Different things and with Different groups of people With Different Tools and all....ie there are so many "differents" compared to my previous one. As it was a change during the recession, change from a place where I was well settled and changing to a type of work which will be new to me...you can guess ..I was apprehensive and sentimental about leaving the place where I had memories of 8 long years. But then as they say sometime or other you have to embrace changes and see and try it out. So I did. Can only wish for Better!

My today's post or sharing is on a very different subject though. It is about my 6th sense...(Premonition?) and to combat it, it is about a FEATURE which I miss in my handheld GPS.. I doubt ( I am not aware of it atleast) if this simple GPS feature is available in any other models. Maybe it exits for highend models. I don't know. What I am looking for is, it shall WARN/BEEP me at a predefined (user fed) location .I know there are systems which warn for radars, traffic conditions, sharp turns and on..but what about user getting the control of coordinates where to make it beep.

WHY?

Well.. 3 times out of last 10 drives back from work, I missed (or did near miss) a STOP sign. The same STOP sign..Yes The SAME. 1st was accidental, 2nd was coincidence..3rd was NOT...and something is telling me (that 6th sense) 4th will be also there! Weird feeling isn't it? Twice I was lucky once I got an angry Honk. Maybe it is the location of this sign, may be the time or maybe something "unexplained" every time I become oblivion of that approaching sign.... I wish my GPS would warn me whenever I am about to approach it!

A very simple firmware can do it I guess. This feature can be successful in so many day 2 day applications. You are traveling by a train and ask it to warn it when it is one station before your destined station...No need to put an alarm in your clock only to realize it is still 1 hr as train is running late ( a perfect real life example from my India trip). It is like directly being dependent on "space" domain rather than "time" domain. In today's busy and hustle bustle life wont you feel good if while driving you suddenly hear "Hello, you are within 0.5 mile of your best friend's place". Say whom you have not seen for many days...you might think why not drop for a cup of coffee. Or it can also Warn you "Attention, you are close to the place where "A person you want to avoid" usually hangs out". Wont you have a SMILE after day longs work if it says "You are approaching the place where you had your first Ice Cream with your first crush"..aka "Dil Chahata Hai" style. There wont be shortage of usage of this feature...I can say that for sure.

Bottomline:
"OUTSOURCE from Brain/Human Memory to The Firmware/Flash Memory of Handhelds". Let your Body and Brain ENJOY the benefits of offloading tasks.

When I shared this with a good friend of mine, he laughed off and then looked at me seriously asking "How many days more you are alone...When your Family will be back?". But I did not feel bad...Did Galileo ever..I wonder?

--
Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the fact that now I am working on Handsets and their success and acceptance in our everyday life is my company's ultimate goal!

April Fool...Google Style

2008-04-01T07:16:00.004-05:00

Every year Google "celebrates" in its own way. This year is NO EXCEPTION.
I was eagerly waiting to see the "creativity unleashed" from the google team.
And I think so far these are the two items..there might be more.

Google April Fool 2008 #1 (virgile mission)

Google AprilFool 2008 #2 (custom time for gmail)

Happy Fools Day!

ig

India Trip Report - 2008

2008-03-30T21:32:00.002-05:00

Come back soon....to see snippets from my 6 cities in 6 weeks India Trip!

See you Soon...REAL SOON

The latest from Improv Everywhere!

2008-02-04T11:11:00.000-06:00

FREEZE...@Grand Central

Power Of Unity

2008-01-22T00:21:00.000-06:00

200 Buffaloes vs 5 lions vs 2 crocs..awesome wild life video!

A Promise Well Kept!

2008-01-10T18:28:00.001-06:00

Dhyan Singh Must be So Happy Today (Our driver, who first told me about this dream project from Tatas, 3 yrs back and how much he was waiting for it, and today Ratan Tata kept his promise!)
My India Trip Report 2005

So finally the suspense is over. The Rs One Lakhs (2500 USD) is out and already started catching attention. It is nice to follow the news around the world on this great achievement (India: Hub of Frugal Engineering! was one such headline). What I would have liked more is probably a different name than "Nano". It seems hackneyed. Nano is synonymous with Steve Jobs! Tatas for sure could have got a better name.

It is time to see how it is going to impact the worldwide auto industry now. On the other hand...I am thinking there will be a huge demand for it (almost everyone can afford a car now at this price and with easy loans available) , how the production line will meet it,what environmentalists are going to say and last but not the least how the parts of roads (within gulley/mohallas) in cities..which were used to two wheelers only....are going to take it. Some predict Govt. is going to put a heavy Taxation on this segment..but will that be fair when there is no proper public transport alternative and one has to pay heavily for Taxis/Autos and Rickshaws when travelling with families.

Time will tell...But meanwhile full kudos to Tatas for this excellent achievement!

Tiffany...You Are Fired! (for listening to your Manager)

2008-01-10T01:01:00.000-06:00

I was waiting eagerly for the "Apprentice" to resume on its 7th season, which it did finally last week. Unlike previous seasons, and as its TRP ratings are going down faster than fast (from #7 ranking on 1st season to #75 on 6th season), this time they changed the format. It was with all celebrities..known unknown not to be asked. Also the deal is the winner instead of joining Trump Empire will be donating his or her prize money to their selected charity. Frankly speaking I wont mind even if they join or keep a share of that as to me many of these "celebrities" may need it...I mean...to me they are NOT top notch celebrity..or maybe I am not aware of them.

Few of them I could relate to are Omarosa ( how one can forget her..from first episode of Apprentice, was surprised she got a status of celebrity already), Stephen Baldwin (actor..brother of Alec Baldwin), Nadia (the gymnast who scored perfect 10 for the first time...remember one TV serial based on her life during our school days..a true celebrity I will say)...and then many others from diff walks of fame (mainly music star, boxing champ, entrepreneur, that British judge of America Got Talents and to add little spice a former Playboy Playmate). This time also the team was formed on Gender Basis..another "first" ?

The first episode was to sell HotDogs on a busy working day in New York. The men's team using their "contact" were able to get about 57k USD (few hotdogs were sold at as high as 10k!). Whereas women's team under the lead of Omarosa who DECLINED to use the "celebrity status..or shall we say sex appeal" rather depended on pure business skills could muster only 17k USD. It has already created many online polls/forum discussion "Is using sex appeal a legitimate sales tactic for professional businesswomen".

To me it was very ironic when she later blamed (and Mr Trump agreed) the playmate Tiffany that she could not use her "appeal" to sell hot dogs....well Omarosa did not you only say that you don't want to use it.Poor Tiffany was just going by what her Project Manager said.

Anyways..to me this is one of the rare occasions when Sex did not sell..to pedestrians on 7th and 34th @ NYCity and to Mr. Donald Trump...at least in this "particular" case! I hope NBC was not "secretly" banking on her for their rating to go up.

Well done Ms Omarosa, you did make news...once again!

--
Celebrity Apprentice is aired on NBC, every Thursday 8 Central (starting 3rd Jan 2008).

Bollywood Evolution Over the Last Year...

2008-01-08T23:13:00.000-06:00

Parallel or Diff Stories
------------------------
* Youn Hota to Kaise Hota (2006):
4 parallel stories but connected through a single theme (9/11)

* Salam E Ishq/Life in a metro/Darna Mana(Zarooree) Hai (2006/2007)
6 diff stories but again they are inter-related or share a common link

* Dus Kahaniyan (2007)
10 diff stories and NOT connected at all....

It will be interesting to see how many more stories (and songs and dance) can be packed in 3 hrs!

Film Titles (2006/2007)
-----------------------
Hinglish Title:

* Jab We Met / Manorama: 6 Feet Under/ Life May Kabhie Kabhie/With Love Tumhara/Apna Sapna: Money Money/Bheja Fry/Eklavya: The Royal Guard/Gauri: The Unborn/ Ekrar: By Chance/ Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghantey/ Dil Dosti Etcetra/My FriendGanesha / MP3:Mera_pahla_pahla_pyar/ Namstey London / Zindagi Rocks/ Jana:lets fall in love....List goes on and on...

...And All English Title (makees u wonder if it is a Hollywood or Bollywood flick)

* Strangers/ The Train/ Fool and Final/ The Blue Umbrella / Cash / Partner/ Marigold/ Hey Baby/ Darling/ Go/ Speed/ LifeInAMetro/ Good Boy Bad Boy/ Delhi Heights / Black Friday/ Kabul Express/ Traffic Signal/ Mumbai Salsa

And finally....Personification at its best!
* "RamGopal Verma" kee Aag

Songs/CDs (2006/2007)
---------------------
* The Reprise versions
Same song/music/tempo..except the voice changeover
See them a lot in LifeInAMetro, Gangster(KK/James/Suhail/Adnan/Soham),
Sawariya, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Hatrick.....
This is a trend to be continued looks like. Isnt that a challenge to the singers?

* The Remix now part of the original soundtracks
Well...severe blow to Remix Only Music Industry. Now DJs are official. And nearly all the movie albums are getting released with few of their own songs in remix format eg Club version, Lounge Version etc.

* Aap Ka Surrorr (23 songs, 2 CDs) and Dus kahaniyan (3 CDs, original soundtrack, lounge version and poem recitals by actors themselves).

The Monkey Business

2008-01-07T22:40:00.000-06:00

I do not follow cricket at all now a days. But I was all ears as soon as I started seeing the reports about this ongoing controversy. Though wanted to always know what Bhajji might have said which insulted the Australian "racially"...as so far we "Indians" were the ones at receiving end....but none of the Indian websites I visit were talking about the exact "verbal exchanges" that took place between Bhajji and Symonds.

So this morning doing a Google check satisfies my query. It also seemed now it has snowballed into a bigger story where the team is thinking of calling off the trip. That will indeed be a big story! and bigger stories are going to follow....I foresee my interest in cricket suddenly coming back..though for an unfortunate event!

Coming back to this "Monkey" thing...I was not aware till today that it is considered a racial slur (thanks this episode for enhancing my IQ). Next question whats the origin of this and how it is related..another google...and find calling a person of color by its primate name....OK. A quick photo search of Symond confirms my curious mind..after all not all AU players are white.. else would have taken few more googling to justify the monkey thing..or would it be "snow leopard/Albino instead of Monkey....I dont know)

I understand now...and can immdeiately relate to that Macaca (another version of Monkey!) incident causing the ultimate defeat of that Virginian Senator...so it is serious enough....but isnt that ironic that Harbhajan himself is not a white guy....so I fail to see how even the case becomes stronger against Bhajji. I agree he should not have used that word (if he has ..at all) Will it be big deal if one afro-american calls another the word "N..." (have seen that in movies/dramas...looks like it is well accepted ..with a touch of humor of course) but for certainly, things are different when a White calls the same to an AfroAmerican. Going by the same logic I am not able to understand why it is a big issue.... if two persons of similar skin color call each other by name..err Monkey I mean! To me calling "kutta" or "shuar" would have been more insulting..Maybe the other team doesnt know that. After all have we ever heard DharamPraJee saying "Bandar kay aulad.." or "Bandar..Kameeno mai tumhey Zinda nahee chhorunga". In contrary our Monkey is a Hero in our mythology. Symond and company need some cultural background info of ours for sure !!!

To me (who is not following intricacies and cricket politics since past few years) it is nothing but a distraction by AU team to get Harbhajan banned probably..or tactics by Aussies to simply save their faces and their accusing team mates..to stand up for what they claimed at the beginning. Unfortunately Indians could not as there were only two players in ground at that time. The whole thing went out of control..even what AU team might have thought of initially. This whole issue also becomes more severe as the entire second testmatch was marred by bad and critical umpiring decisions against Indians which cost them dearly (Had India won...I think it would not have been this serious).

Harbhajan's act (once again..if he said so)indeed was against the spirit and should be punishable but only after a decent , fair and unbiased hearing....but the way the entire episode was handled as well as biased opinion right from day 1....is NOT digestible. BCCI (already being called spineless in many forums) and Mr Pawar now have to go by the mood of "Powerful Janta" back home....who are already burning effigies etc. Never forget many elections are looming...and national prestige ...no political party can downplay at this time. Moreover BCCI has the power (the money power..as ICC salary slips come from BCCI pockets) and they should PROTEST vehemently about this whole affair and the way it was handled.

Unfortunately it is going to set a wrong trend...but then again other than "Lage Raho Munnabhai"
Gandhigiri does not work anymore ! Does it?

---
Disclaimer: The above post does not anyway show my views/ideas on Racism or Indian/Australian cricket team. I am extremely against it whoever be the victim or aggressor. The above post is just my quick thought on the events going on in cricket arena currently. I feel bad that the final outcome of it will be the IND: 1, AUS:1, CRICKET: 0

Only if it would have a beeper in it....!

2008-01-04T10:12:00.000-06:00

After 36 hrs....finally I have decided to send an official request for a replacement . Replacement for a very dear, ever accompanying "belonging" of mine since past 7 and 1/2 yrs!

I have lost it. I am not even sure if "lost" is a proper word for it, maybe I misplaced it ...probably my absentminded or careless nature caused it..but end result is same. It was there with me over all these years....whenever I needed...always working...working tirelessly...even when I am sleeping it used to be awake...just in case I need it suddenly. Accompanied me to work..and then back home.. sometimes in my trips far away from home too...It was a real 24x7 workhorse.The wee hours...the weekend or the peak time....it never mattered. In true sense it was with me in Rain and Shine!

Many times in past I misplaced it accidentally, only to find it few hours later at some strange/unexpected places...and what a big relief it used to provide then. May be it used to get upset over my insensitivity, hide itself, then seeing my desperation it used to bluntly point me how important it is to me...so that I remain careful next time. I never learned...

Manytimes when I used to get bore..it used to entertain, play with me too...simple guessing game that what will be next starting digit...I only used to have a mere 10% chance of winning.. but I was fine with its 90% chances of winning! After all, all the life's games are not on 50/50 basis. Sometimes it helped me in taking weird decision..if I win in the "guessing game". I will do this...if lose then wont.

Now after 36 long hrs..I started realizing this time it is different ..I am NOT able to find it still and probably I wont ever. I know it is still there..nearby..probably very nearby..maybe waiting for me to pick it up....but I am not able to see it...as it never makes sounds..neither of complain or of applause.

At the same time I cant live without it. It is a part of me now..I am so used to its existence,
I need a replacement of it for sure...I know as soon as I get the replacement...without its own knowledge it will be deactivated for ever. It will still carry on untiringly blinking and changing its digits for few more years before its batteries give up..but it will be useless in all sense....All because of my momentary carelessness.

But I will keep my search on.... and if I find it..even if it is useless.. even knowing I cant have two of these "active" at the same time... I will pick it up and keep it safe and secure as long as I can, for it has lots and lots of memories embedded with it! Of 7 and 1/2 years to be exact.

I wish my remote login secure ID had a beeper in it.

I would also like to have a beeper on My Car Keys, Identity Card, My Glasses, Remote Control for TV/Players, Phone Handsets which can indicate where it is, even when it is in Silent/Vibration mode!

The list is probably endless....ranging all the way from Physical to Virtual stuffs..which we lose often and then try to find frantically! Sometimes we get it back..sometimes never and wish alas only if it would have a beeper in it!

CloseCaption in Hindi Movies

2008-01-04T08:22:00.000-06:00

Below are two of my recent experiences....I am sure there can be a never ending list....!

Chak_De_India:
SRK saying to Team Members on their first meeting "Mujhey yeh nahee pata ki aap sab apney state may champion hai...Mujhey bas yeh pata hai ki mere samney 16 ladkiya khadi hai..jinhey Hockey khelne ka "shauq" hai"

CloseCaption: ".......What I know is that you are a "SHOCK" to Hockey"

Darling (a "bhoot-ish" flick):
After "killing" his secy Fardeen khan returns home..naturally he is bound to get some Headache and his wife (Isha Kopikar) knowing about the headcahe says:
"Thaharo..mai CROCIN lay aatee hoon"

Closecaption: "Wait...I will get Croissant for you"

Are you also wondering like me where Bollywood outsources their close captioning business !

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T16:10:00.001-06:00

Wish You All ("Regular" as well as "Accidental" Visitors of this site)
A Very Happy New Year!!!

It has been more than 4 months now I have updated my blog site...
It was not the dearth of topics or ideas or even time...but just
happened so...lets blame it on "reluctance"!

Anyways....What can be a better time than today to resume it again...
enabling me to proudly say I am already honoring my new-year resolutions
(#6 of 10) for 2008 ("continual blog update").

The other "interesting" resolution (#9 of 10) is to "complete"...
err..lets say "up-to-date" my Unfinished Autobiography!
Dont want to "complete" that so early..many many more pages to be wriiten !

Keep visiting...See you all soon...REAL SOON!

Moonwalk

2007-07-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

Today is the 38th Anniversary (21st July 1969) of "Giant Leap for Mankind".

I wish NASA's pictures were little bit hazy, unclear, and of poor quality maybe that would have satisfied the 6% of the population who sincerely think that above picture is taken at Nevada. I am hopeful future missions starting this year will finally get that percentage down to ZERO...I just hope.

Note to ISRO's Chandrayan Project Manager: Please look out for the US flag there!

The Conspiracy theorists

The Future Missions

On The Lot

2007-06-28T00:11:00.000-05:00

In case you thought the viral videos are just limited to internet sites like youtube, broadcaster, funnyordie and other likewise sites then you are wrong. Seeing their popularity Fox has decided to go that route and is currently airing "On The Lot" every tuesday primetime. And I will brand it as the current best reality show comparing to others like NBC's "America's got talent" or ABC's "Next best thing" or even Fox's own "So you think you can dance".

So if you are not "On the Lot" yet....... after couple of episodes since it began, it has now 12 budding directors remaining, each of them get 5 days to make a 2 to 3 minute film. Every episode 6 films are shown and based on viewer's votes, one upcoming director is voted off in next telecast, while others proceed to the next round. Finally the winning director will get a contract of a million dollar project in Spielberg's Dreamworks production! Needless to say....in viral video world all these directors are already celebs by now.

Last episode's theme was "Comedy" and I enjoyed watching all the six short films. I liked "Doctor-In-Law" by Shalini, "Under the Gun" by Hilary and the best of the lot "Die Hardly Working" by Zach. All the episodes and short films are there on www.thelot.com.

Below is the link to this personal fave of mine from the latest airing.
Die Hardly Working

Steve Jobs, Himesh and Me

2007-06-26T00:18:00.000-05:00

If the "teaser" title has already done its part to make you read on this post then let me tell you, we do share a temporary connection and that is this "Friday the 29th of June of year 2007". Yes, this date matters a lot for all three of us and we are eagerly and anxiously waiting for it to happen...and wish from the bottom of our heart to mark it a SUCCESS!

iphone:
I am sure when this gets launched on 6/29/2007 exactly at 6PM local time at all AT&T stores, Steve Jobs will be too curious enough to see the initial reaction. After all it has all the potential to repeat what the ipod did to the music industry. My personal opinion is it may not be that successful but certainly it is going to open a trend the way we use our cell phones now a days not only for the end users but also for the providers. I am too surprised why Verizon and T-Mobile did not shook hands with Apple...but for sure they will be extending it soon if not with Apple but maybe with some iphone competitor..because at the end you and me would like to have just one device for all our personal needs be it PDA, web browser, phone, video, music player, gps and whatever!

Aapka Suroor-The Movieee:
I am not sure was it 2es or 3 es, but Himseh "bhaiyaa" is going all the way out (including pheng-shui of 2es or 3es) to make sure when this gets released this Friday he gets a real "shuroor". I have already heard the album of 2 CDs none of the songs appealed to me. But it is not me but the Auto Rickshaw and Minibus driver association who is going to decide about it. And if initial indicators are true he is set for a success! He needs it very much as after the ride he was taking since "Aashiq Banaya Aaapney & Tera Suroor" is no more helping him. I just wish that would NOT have been a success so we could have got more "Tere Naams".

It also reminds of Sonu Nigam who tried to enter the industry as an actor with the movie "Jaani Dushman-Ek Anokhi Kahani" and it was indeed "anokhi" as in imdb it is tagged as "The Worst Indian Film Ever Made". But Himesh is too smart as unlike Sonu he has not tried any new actress but industry proven Mallika Sherawat. So imagine the cocktail of her, and some crime/thrill on Thai Beaches and 20 odd full volume Himesh (with Shreya, Sunidhi and yes Asha Bhosle too) songs ...its going to be a hit among the masses...Koi Shaque?

So how am I related?
Well after One and Half year this is the date when the chip I was working on is going to be taped out for manufacturing. I will keep my fingers crossed for the next two months when it finally comes to lab to see if it works or not. But if the iphone and Movieee are success by then why wont our Chip will be..right?

The Incredible "INCREDIBLE" Show

2007-06-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

When Mithu showed interest in attending this show "The Incredibles ..Live in Concert by Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam and two Ks (Kunal Ganjawala & Kailash Kher)", I thought she is kidding...after all to attend a concert with a 2 and 1/2 year old who can't sit in a place for more than 10 mins and for music refuses anything but Himesh Reshamiya, really needs brave heart! But bowing before "woman" rather "wife" power...I didn’t have much choice.

Luckily we were able to get some good discounted tickets through a friend at work, and a group of 50 or so persons related to Fujitsu (in one way or another) were all set to occupy the auditorium's entire row number 112 (having a good view of the stage) . Then half of them even decided to go for a pre show PotLuck, Socializing etc. and being the Gregarious Gangulys, I found myself buying huge quantities of "Chholey" and cans of Tomato Puree from the grocery store on Friday night!

So after one Beer (optional), few Ragda Pattis, Chholey, Rice,Kheer and some Halwa...we started our march towards the auditorium on Saturday around 7 PM. The walk was 10 mins from the friend's place where we had parked our cars. While in the street traffic was slowing down with curious drivers to see these Marching Human Beings..quite an unusual scene. The fun had just started.

Next experience of 90 mins or so was certainly not expected....but so usual whenever the "deshi" crowd exceeds a certain threshold. This was no exception. There was no line...free for all, everyone trying to plunge towards the gate simultaneously, and an utter confusion.Very very poor management there. Reminded of me Air India checkin where even though one has reserved seats (like here) but everyone acts as it is First Come First Serve. Ritwik got his first experience of "Suffocation" and I had to put him up on shoulders for a while and also considered whether to go out and check back later. The events center with capacity of around 7000 people was already jam packed.

Once in..it was much better. Show was already late by an hour...and audience just booed everything that came in between them and the "Incredible Stars" (like organizers trying to thanks the sponsors, or some local talents display). Anyway, exactly at 9PM the show began.

Well..to our surprise it was another female singer called Gunjan with a "knack" of dancing and who it seems has done some recent bollywood stuff, and she starts the night with Crazy Kiya Rey (dhoom 2). One gentleman sitting in back row was too confident it is her original song (well she sang excellent) but just for records he was WRONG..this was by Sunidhi Chauhan. Music was awfully loud. She did next song Beedi (Omkara) and she was doing it great..but by that time audience cant tolerate her any more. The organizer and the anchor (some TV star from Bombay called Mansi Verma) realized it soon and without any further delay presented one of the Real Incredible star next....

9PM: It was Kunal Ganjawala..in cowboy hat and a very "phoren accent" introduced himself. Some one later told me that he was raised here in USA...so maybe he was feeling home! He was quite energetic..involved the audinece thoroughly, and people did like him. He performed many "unknown to me" songs...but some which I knew like Tere Bin, Chaana Vey, his item from "Kaal" , O Hum Dum (Saathiya..I never knew it was by him..always thought it was A R Rahman). He ended his innings with... you can guess...."Bhhegey Honth" and the young gen crowd just went mad over it.

10pm: Ritwik was deep in sleep when next performer Kailash Kher entered the stage. He immediately won over the audience with his utter simplicity, humbleness, down to earth approach and of course his powerful voice. I had an absolute different image of him..blame it on his powerful sufism voice and the preachy lyrics many of which he writes himself. But unlike he was not at all serious rather too simple and naive. He performed quite a number of songs from his hit records including Chak De Phatte, Tauba Tauba, Allah kay bandey and others.

11PM: Now crowd was getting impatient for the real stars of the night when finally Asha Jee arrived. Unlike the previous two stars "dramatized" choreographed entry it was a plain simple one (she does not need any gimmick like that, right?). She immediately gets a standing ovation. Wont lie a bit ...somehow I found myself in tears...dont know why...but I can vouch..at that particular moment I was not the only one with tears in eyes. She entered the stage with Dum Maro Dum. I simply cant explain it in words what I was feeling.I mean it was THE EXPERIENCE to see the legend in live. It was a very strange feeling of respect, awe, all together. I was so mesmerized looking at her up there in front, all the while realizing how we all have grown up listening to her in radio/tv or reading about her..and now there she is just few meters away... "in person". Indeed I found myself so fortunate. She is 74 years old now and still has such a great and sweet voice. She starts the musical journey of the night in a very lively and interesting way from 40s and 50s (Chanda Maama Door key), then moves to 60s (Aaaiye Meherban ), 70s (Jhumka Gira rey), 80s (Don..yeh mera dil, Umrao Jaan) etc. Then she does something beyond expectation...asks the audience if they want "ekdam" new song...we thought maybe some new album or some upcoming movie. Wrong...she wears a Cap and does a Himesh Reshamiya by performing "Jhalak Dikhla Ja". I couldn’t stop myself from trying to awake Ritwik to let him experience his favorite number too. I think he did it for a while but fell asleep soon. In between all these songs, she was also sharing lots about her childhood, growing up with 4 sisters, 1 brother. Her father's influence in their lives...Her relationship with Didi and shared some rare photographs. She addressed the audience in Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Nepalese....shared few experiences with Pancham Da, Made fun of today's remixes and even scolded the person who shouted "Monika...kahan hai?"..but she never disappointed that fan of hers and finally left the stage after doing "Pia too ab to Aa jaa". The audience and crowd simply respected her, loved her and gave her too big and too long an applause.....

12 PM: The applause also continued in anticipation of the next big star Sonu Nigam, who entered the stage in a very "stylishly choregraphed" way while performing "Kal Ho Na Ho". Certainly he was not very happy entering the stage at 12 midnight and he tried his best to keep the audience in a high spirit. He looked very different (than the Saregama image I used to had of him) but was full of energy and the I think the best stage appearance. He danced extremely well and involved the audience throughout his performances. He is indeed a great performer. He performed mainly "Rang De basanto Chola", "shalam-e-sihq" some mix medley of old Kishore Rafi hits, his hits from "Main Hoon naa" ,other SRK films and his hit item "Bijuriya". He also surprised many by playing the duet of Aaaj Kee Raat (Don)...and yes he could sing well in tune with a "female" voice too..what a performer! Going by other posted reviews of "Incredibles" I was thinking we too will get some "real" duets of him and Asha Jee..but maybe it was too late and people started leaving, so it did not happen....show ended finally around 1am with a banner showing "Sonu Rules". Probably unfair to the other stars of the night...but Sonu Nigam is known for this, isnt it.

2AM: We come back home after having another round of dinner. With a fully "awake by now" and charged up Ritwik cant do anything other than discussing each and every songs we heard that evening, what we liked, dowloaded some on ipod, and replayed them again before finally calling it a day around 4 in the morning. It was definitely an INCREDIBLE show....and I am still saying thanks to Mithu to make it happen by taking that initiative and waiting for the day when I can tell Ritwik that "You have seen and heard the Legendary Asha Bhosley.... In Live!"

What a Farce

2007-06-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

Early May'2007 Paris Hilton gets a sentence of 45 days for violating a probation for a DUI case of last year.

Even before sentence starts its reduced by half to just 23 days......!

Official Reason: On the last day of her case, she appears in courts only 10 mins late..not more..which she could have easily if, say she had a hangover from previous night's party!
Also she was very regular for her hearings..never missed one....
Judge considers this very "good behaviour" and does not hesitate for a second to slash her sentence by half.

3 days back her sentence starts and she goes to Jail and comes out this morning (in fact hours before)!

Official Reason (yet to be posted):
Some says medical condition..she was not eating Jail Food and was not Sleeping? Did she read Mahatma Gandhi?

Some are saying Unnecessary Media attention..which Jail authorities couldn't handle....but it can't be official.

So a deal was struck to give her 40 days of Hilton Home Stay "arrest" instead..which Hiltons agreed.
I am sure Britney and Nicole are packing their bags now to move over there for next 40 days!

Yes..it is happening in today's USA and a liberal and intellectual state like CA and city like LA.
Money and Fame can buy anything for sure..including Justice...How Disgusting!

I hope there is a big outcry/protests for this because "Injustice Anywhere is a THREAT to Justice Everywhere". Had MLK lived today he would have modified his quote as "Insult to Justice Anywhere is THREAT to Justice Everywhere". Can we afford that?

UPDATE on 8th June 2007:
She is being sent back to Jail, after Court overruled Sheriff's decision to let her be on House Arrest instead of being in Jail. So...after much said and done it seem finally the Justice System Prevailed!

Google Strikes Again

2007-06-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Last week Google launched its StreetView and last night I decided to spend some time on it. For starters...it is latest from Google where they have photographed the streets and neighborhood
and it comes along with Google Map. I was wondering how much money they have spent on gas taking photographs of each street...but again if Google can't then who can?

So instead of looking at the satellite view (of buildings and all) now you can make it more lively and realistic...as if you are on the street itself. It gives you 360 degree view. This is not real time but recorded sometime (Google wont disclose..but must be fresh as I did see the Spiderman-3 Billboard). I did stroll at Broadway last night looking at those huge billboards, cabs , and people moving around. It is indeed a great feeling. It is there for select cities yet.. like NY, SF, Denver etc. wired.com is publishing pictures from users who can send the weirdest snapshots from street view ..see below.

snapshots from streetview

Dallas is not there yet.There are already talks whether Google has invaded privacy by doing so or not! So if you are in Dallas..be careful while you are out...you never know you may be caught in Google Camera!

Cheeni Kum ?

2007-06-04T20:31:00.000-05:00

Yes....that's what Mr. Amitabh Bachhan must be feeling now a days while sipping his tea reading the morning news paper. But wait a minute....you know he can always say..that he was a Farmer indeed in the movie Saudagar (1973) ....used to sell "Gud", fighting day to day life in extreme poverty.Now wont that be perfectly ok to get some agricultural land from Govt. at a "subsidized price". Jokes apart...I still cant believe that he can do so....he must have been misled by his "political friends" that everything is legal and fare, and now when they are gone AB is simply becoming the scapegoat.

The Next Occupant of Rashtrapati Bhawan

2007-06-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

It is just around 45 days left when the world's largest democracy is going to choose its head of state...in its 12th presidential election..but don't you find it is too surprising (rather shocking) that there is no
hype about it. Maybe I used a wrong word "hype"...but not even a single news item covering it like who are the fore-runners their profiles etc. Not only in rediff, but also in TOI, HT, AsianAge or Pioneer...I didn't see anything over last 1 week or so.

It is really shameful to get that info from Wikipedia (updated by persons like me and you).

It clearly shows how insignificant that post has become and how less interest media and people take in this election! I am sure even a bye-election in Jharkhand will get more importance.Certainly so far this post has been held by very highly regarded and intellectual persons of our time and I am not showing any disrespect to them.....but at the same time I think The Indian President should possess more power and not just act as a mere rubber stamp.

So based on that wikipedia link I know now Pres. Abdul Kalam is not seeking another election, while the Vice President Bhairon Singh Sekhawat (who is currently experiencing his 84th Summer of his life time), Pranob Mukherjee, Sushil Sinde, Arjun Singh and so many other past CMs, PMs and Governors are vying to get it!

One thing the list did not show though was Kaka Joginder Singh..alias "Dhartipakad". Is he still around? Maybe not.

Mere Coincidence ?

2007-05-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

Generally I don't write twice in a day, but just now something I came across which sort of forced me back here and and cant stop myself from sharing this.
I was at half.com (Ebay's web site for DVDs, books etc) checking out the famous children's movie called Bambi from Disney. Ritwik has become a big fan of it...and this old 1942 hit has even surpassed the "Cars" (another recent Disney hit) in his ranking. So after renewing the Bambi VHS twice from library I thought maybe I will buy it this time and did buy it minutes earlier. But guess what do I see while checking out this DVD from half.com. "Customers who bought this....also bought it". You all might have seen it in Amazon, Ebay, or any other online stores. This is just a recommendation which there server provides keeping a track of customers, their likings and their checkout carts.
Anyway what I saw was shocking. Instead of "Peterpan", "Lion King" or "Aladin", I saw the customers who bought "Bambi" also bought " Texas chain saw Massacres".
I fail to see any connection there....but maybe half.com shall inform the authorities with that particular customer's details. You really never know....!

Whats there in a (sur)name?

2007-05-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

I don't remember I ever had to use Advanced Search Option of Google, untill this morning. And my key search phrase was "origin gangulys -saurabh".

Sorry Saurabh..but you being a "Ganguly" is hampering my "quest" on the "Origin of my...rather "our" forefathers. See my frustration when I see pages after pages dedicated to you..so I had to use "excluding Saurabh". Suddenly I have this curiosity about my great great grand fathers and where they came from, belong to etc...but so far even after 24 hrs after visiting many pages, forums, wikipedia, hindunet, genealogy,ancestry (the last two are asking for a fees to give me answer), still I have not come across to anything solid and search is still on.

Long time back I remember asking this same question to my "jethu" (father's elder brother, who is no more now). What he answered was that a small family of priests from a village in UP called Gangpur or something like that (may be near river Ganges) were brought by some
Bengal king as his "Raj-Purohits"..and thus the family tree of Ganguly started trying to wash off the sins of their king. Later on someone told me it was not UP, but a a village in Bengal itself near the present city of Bardhman. "Jethu" also used to mention me proudly that Gangulys are the superior among other 3 main Brahmins of Bengal mainly Mukherjee, Chaterjee and Banerjee and that's why you will find Gangulys rarely, compared to the other three.

So when I went and said to this my cousin LaluDa (son of my father's sister..and himself a Mukherjee) he not only twisted my ears and scolded me, but also said "Stupid it is the "Mukhopadhyay" who are the number one, see it means Mukhya (chief) Updahyay (teacher). Go and see in Bombay how many Mukherjees are there, starting with Hemanta and Hrishikesh" (thanks god Rani was yet not born then). I did not go back to my Jethu with this new found logic ever..but I am sure he must have had an answer for this too.

Personally I used to be fascinated with Chaterjee and Banerjee though. That somehow used to sound very "stylish" to me. Particularly in some hindi movie where the Barrister would be referred as Mr Chaterjee....Or the doctor doing some life saving operation on our hero is none but Mr. Banerjee.

I also used to wonder when Chattopadhyay is Chaterjee, Bandopadhyay is Banerjee, and Mukhopadyay is same as Mukherjee, why the hell Gangopadhyay is not Gangerjee...atleast it would have helped me in those days when my childhood friends used to tease me with Ganguly being very similar sounding to that phrase in hindi..... well if u don't know it better not know it.

Whatever it is...my surname has caused me lot of worries right from my childhood. First of all the sheer length and tongue twisting...made it more challenging when first name is not simple as Deb or Raj. Imagine a 4 or 5 year old saying and writing his name as "Indranil Gangopadhyay". Later when asked my dad why you did not keep it simple as Ganguly, he mentioned "because of a certain school clerk who decided that his matric certificate should mention "Gangopadhyay" instead of "Ganguly" and since that day of 1955..all our official surname became this big one, until 2004 when I decided that Ritwik will be Ganguly and not Gangopadhyay. I am sure later when he reads this blogpost he is going to thank me!

Many of my non-bong friends and all used to think it is "gang-upadhyay" and used to write it like that only. Ofcourse pronouncing itself was challenging too. As Saurabh was till too young for national cricket team and Kishore Kumar rarely used to mention he is Ganguly....people (or atleast my school friends of those small towns in MP) hardly knew about it....and used to think what an odd last name he has got. There hardly used to be any Bengali population, but it all changed when we moved to Raipur. Thanks to Railways and other industries it was well populated with NRBs (Non Residential Bengalis). So imagine my happiness when in my class itself I found Samir Ganguly and of course lots of Roys, Mukjerjees, Sens and Pals!

Later on things also started improving with Rupa Ganguly in Mahabharat. Finally some Ganguly was in limelight and making it big in non bong area. Also by that time because of sheer age the knowledge base of my friend circle had increased and they started realizing Kishore Kumar, Ashok Kumar are all Gangulys too. And ofcourse things changed for ever when Dada aka Prince of Calcutta came in. But by that time I had already stopped thinking about my surname and all. So I am sure that small Ganguly kid is no more passing through the days adjusting with his surname in that small town in MP like I did.

Well it had affected me too..Now years after and miles away still sometimes when I order for a carryout dinner from an Indian restaurant and spell my last name (its in habit now), and the other side replies "Oh you don't have to spell..we know Ganguly"...it feels good!

Tryst with Destiny

2007-05-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

While growing up, like so many others of my generation, I never liked Nehru and always blamed him to be the cause of India's current problems. But today on his 43rd death anniversary, when I ponder myself...I think I may have been prejudiced and biased then. Lets for a moment forget what he could have done, what he failed at miserably, his "panch-sheel" and disastrous relation with China, could he have avoided partition and subsequent millions of lives lost in riots, his Kashmir policy, his attitude towards Subhas Chandra Bose or Vallavbhai Patel, his desperation to become 1st Prime Minister of Free India. These questions are very difficult to answer but lets think for a moment what he had done for India.

Maybe the initiatives he took did not reap its fruits immediately but after 60 years of independence I think we can certainly give credit to him and his basic foundation policies for today's success India is witnessing.

He certainly had a vision for the country.

He pioneered the concept of Non Alignment which was needed at that time to make India self reliant on many sectors and not blindly dependent on Russia or US. He carefully avoided India to follow the Capitalism, or Communism path and rather chose a mild socialist path where govenrnment invested and build the infrastructure to launch the economy. Had we relied on US from day one of independence I cant even imagine what would have been today's India.

Though he ensured that basic industry and economics remains closed to outsiders but high technology sectors were kept open, which we needed very much. He truly beleived in industry and technology and their importnace to move the country ahead. It must have taken guts to choose the western way of economics and technology for the free India, differing with Gandhi who wanted India to be cottage-industry based economy. All the major public sectors (be it Steel, Oil, Power...including Hydroelectric and Nuclear) were built during 1950s. His education policy is credited for today's world class institutions of IITs, IIMs (BTW my engineering college , now NIT Raipur was also founded by him in 1954).

So with all "gila-shikwaa maaf", today I salute the person who delivered us this speech on midnight 14th Aug 1947, for it was he and his vision which is certainly benefiting India today!

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."

Three Random and Quite Unrelated Thoughts

2007-05-21T17:30:00.000-05:00

1. Hot Cycle, 22 Mins:

That's what I chose past weekend while doing laundry. Once done, while transferring clothes from washer to drier I saw something which gave me a heart attack. Our recently purchased Creative Muvo MP3 player was there looking at me in shock and complaining what you had done? Did you forget how your mother always used to check pockets before putting the clothes for washing...What a Shame....You are responsible etc etc.
The next thought comes to my mind is what happened to those ipod nanos out of washer..Just complete dead. At least I have heard that in two cases recently. But who will throw away $50 without giving a chance at least....and guess what...The player was intact, playing with crisp clear sound as before, like nothing happened.
Yes Creative's Muvo did survive this ultimate but unintended stress test which Apple's Nano can never even think of. Does it mean I am a Muvo fan now...No way, as long as I have that white thingy with the logo of a "fruit" on it.

2. New Arrival In the Market:

Couple of days back did see this new product from Coke at our local Kroger "under new arrival" section. Diet Coke "Plus" which Coke recently launched in some "test" market segments. As if Zero Carb, Diet coke was not sufficient this version of Diet coke is with Extra Supplement of Calcium and Minerals. Did not even dare to buy it, but it proves what this Conglomerates can do and can go to the extent to make you buy their products. Maybe those executives in Atlanta are thinking the day will arrive soon when Doctors will recommend this new drink for extra supplements!
You are right, with Coke there brandishing something new, can Pepsi be far behind? Read that they are counter attacking with "Tava" (isn't that a weird name, maybe Coke already beat them in naming the product atleast)

3. Nothing Is Permanent:

After seven long years my registration plate of Honda Accord gets replaced past week. This being our first car and the first title plate number, maybe over the years grew an attachment with this particular sequence of Alphanumerics. So anytime I saw a related number (maybe one or two digits/letters different) unknowingly got that affinity to that different car for few seconds driving along in the road. As if we have something in common.
How many times I might have been searching for this particular sequence of letters and digits coming out of a store and finding myself lost in car parking. And when you see it...its is like, there is my dearest one..waiting patiently for me to drive me back! There are thousands of look alikes (green Honda Accords) but this was the "thing" making it unique and so wanted and so special for me!

Now this old one is replaced by 712SSJ....it will take me some time to get used to this new number.
Will sure accept 712SSJ slowly but can NEVER forget H86XRT though.
After all "Nothing Is Permanent" in this world!

Letter to a Fellow Taurian

2007-05-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello,
It was my long time wish to get back an autographed letter from Vijaydeep, 3rd Floor, Iris Park, Juhu, Mumbai-49, but it did never happen, though I remember sending self addressed envelope there atleast once. All I could console myself at that time was that it must be your secretary Rakeshnath aka Rikko, who probably scanned and put my envelope in the trash along with 1000s other such requests coming to you daily. I am sure it never reached you else how could you ever disappoint one of your most diehard fan, right? A true Taurian can never.

Now once again, maybe after 15 long years, I am trying to send this letter to you through my blog instead of a stamped letter and saving the effort of trying to find your latest "postal" address. Also there is no need for self stamped envelope this time, as you are most welcome to drop "comments" in the blog itself and finally there is no fear of Rikko Jee coming in between and deciding which letter is worth your time.

I wont waste time in introducing myself, you can always find it through my profile.

One thing which my profile does not indicate though, is that I am a person who tries to remember all the important and eventful dates happening in and around me. But I am surprised at myself as I really dont remember exactly when I came to know about you first. I vaguely remember about the movie "Uttar-Dakshin-1987" being discussed by some of my high school friends and them mentioning that new actress in that is real good. Though later on I would know that it was "Abodh-1986" which was your first movie..not that it was a great one, but just on the lines of "Saath Hindustani" being the first one of Legendary Amitabh. It helped me score couple of points in local quizzes during those days!

In my school days I never got the opportunity to watch any movies other than religious one like "Lav-Kush" or children's film like "Safed Haathi" by Tapan Sinha (result of the strict,disciplined and "typical middle class bong" way our parents brought us up where the word "cinema" and "children" couldn't coexist), and probably that made me too curious about tinsel town and I just devoured anything I came across about it from print media, radio, later on TVs and of course friends whose parents were more liberal. So though I came to know about Mohini, Munna and Lothia Pathan, and your first superhit song of "ek-do-teen" through different sources, I never saw it in theater. But I did see few clips of that in one of those special bus with Video players,while going to a "baraat". And I was wondering why people are going crazy over this movie and this actress with pimples...though I agreed songs were indeed catchy! I had just entered my freshman year that time.

Couple of months later you gave us Raam-Lakhan-1989. And I was still holding the same opinion. This time me being a college student I was able to go to theaters on select occasions. While my friends were glued to every shots of yours, but I found Dimple Kapadia (and her pairing with Jackie Shroff) more impressive than you with Anil Kapoor that time (remember that lovely song "mujhey tumsey hai kitne gile"). In the similar time I heard about Dayawaan-1989 (remake of Nayakan) being another hit of yours. Later on I would read your interview somewhere that you consider this movie has one of the boldest scene you ever performed which you regret! I was still not fascinated about your charisma but it was all about to change...very soon!

It was the beginning of my sophomore year, when for the first time bollywood came out with the "teaser concept" for a movie promotion. Still remember the ads in Times Of India "The most powerful film ever made!" and after couple of day's continuing the ads and teasers, we came to know about Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda-1989 is about to hit the marquee. The whole day scholar group went out to Samrat Talkies near our house to feel the power on a matinee show...and yes that was the day..I became a fan of yours. Unfortunately I dont remember the date. Keeping aside all the other aspects of this real "powerful" film, you were so so impressive and natural, poised,good looking in each and every part of this movie,I just cant explain. That was the day I realized why people have started comparing you with Madhubala, why there are page long articles about your "million dollar smile". Me who always took "pride" in the fact that I am out of the league, different than average, suddenly found I am part of them and I am thinking like them! I lost my "exclusivity" that day....and I became like million other fans you already had!

Since then I think I started liking your each and every movie (not necessary I saw them all..but I did read/discuss about them all for sure). After couple of average movies you started delivering hits in a row like Tridev-1989 (the Oye Oye still rings in my ears), Kishen Kanhaiyya-1989 (you showed your comical skill), and then with Dil-1990 it showed that you possess a great on screen chemistry with Amir Khan too (though I was hurt when Madhu Mehra falsely blames Raj). I liked your song and dance from Jeevan ek Sangharsh-1990. In that year itself then you gave two great performances and branded yourself forever as one of the greatest dancer of Indian Cinema.
One was Sailaab (1990) the famous koli dance of "humko aaj kal hai" and the other one from Thanedar (1990) "Tamma tamma loge". I was so amazed by your footwork. Only couple of weeks later "Jumma" would overshadow "Tamma", but believe me dancing with "beer mugs" was no where, compared to your number with "chairs". Forgive me, if I am again daring to compare two legends!

With Prahar-1991 you made an example of a lead heroine working without any makeup, 100 days-1991 (watched it during my vocational training at BHEL and saw how you excelled in a thriller too), Sajan-1991(what can I say about it..touched so deeply, Maybe it was sheer age, as I was trying to associate Pooja, Aman and Akash with real life persons in and around me), Beta-1992 (another great one from you, you must be knowing the fact when people went to watch it for second time just for Dhak-Dhak, well I think you created another benchmark there),Khalnayak-1993 (Watched it at Nagpur while train was 10 hrs late going to Bangalore for my 1st job. you looked great! and also who could have suited better than you in that Ila Arun's famous song) , HAHK-1994 (I was in Delhi then, watched at Satyam theater, now a major cineplex I heard, personally it wasnt something I liked but as long as you are there it was worth a watch always) , Anjaam (With SRK..first time. "Chane ke key khet mey" was great, and your resolve to get the revenge was ultimately portrayed), Yarana-1995 (that nusrat fateh ali number "mera piya ghar aya" was a great hit, but movie was a flop though), Mrityudand-1997 (my first movie at Singapore..nice to know that can see you outside India too!), Koyla-1997 (still wonder why did you sign for that "bundle" movie?) , DTPH-1997 (fantastic,watched with fiancee...and Family at Bhopal just one day after engagement. After marriage I got the VCD of it and both me and my wife being great Fans of yours watched it innumerable times since then. There is stark comparison of you versus Karishma, but to me you were always number one!), Pukar-2000 (havent seen it...but read you performed a song at Alaska wearing nothing but a black chiffon...wasnt it cold?), Gajgamini-2000 (M F Husain's experimental stuff...I am still to find someone who says has watched it without falling asleep). Devdas-2002 (I think this is the last movie I saw of yours.....and you were simply superb. People tried to compare Ash with You and I simply laughed at them.)

What else, unlike other "typical" fans, I never ever filled my room with huge poster of yours, but you know I came across something unique and very rare, at Sonam Photo Studio of Raipur. There I got your passport size photograph (black and white) and I carried that for long with me. Then at my first job I met another person would later become a very close friend of mine. And with in hours after meeting we found you are the common link for both of us..and soon I realized he is much a bigger admirer of yours than me! And you know what, on his birthday day couple of months later, I presented him that photograph. He was just speechless....and I believe he still has it with him. I did not feel bad about parting with this valuable possession of mine as I knew I was giving it to a true fan of yours.

When in late 1999 the news broke about your marriage plans to an NRI doctor based in US. many of us welcomed this news and felt good for you but at the same time were wondering if that means your retirement. But you soon made it clear that it was just the marriage but not a farewell to Bollywood. Though you were on and off from limelight, Bollywood and Media never forgot you and whole country celebrated when you became a mother and soon after your homecoming with husband and son.Then for a brief period there were look alikes of yours who tried to fill the vacuum like Niki Aneja or Antara Mali....but tell me can the legends be ever replaced. Meanwhile Ram Gopal Verma tried to make you immortal in his own way by making a movie bearing your name. ..See how everyone missed you!

So, it was a heartfelt welcome news when it was reported that you have started shooting for Yash Raj Films "Aaja Naachle-2007" scheduled for release later this year.

I wish you all the best for that and am sure it will be a great and memorable re-entry of yours in bollywood after a long gap of 5 years.

I would also like to wish you another thing " A very Happy Birthday to you, today being 15th May"

From: Your "taurian" fan who also shares the birthday with you.

---
references: sheer memory and internet movie data base (imdb)

That Eventful Week of May'98

2007-05-10T17:53:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, 6th May 1998:
While I was getting calls from home for some last minute purchases to be made from Mustafa, a popular shopping center among indians in Singapore, before my 2 week vacation begins, couple of handpicked scientists and engineers of DAE and DRDO were also receiving some calls from top level authorities. They were just informed that they need to leave immediately for some "mission" which they have no idea about and for the next entire week they would be incommunicado with their family members, friends, colleagues and even their immediate bosses.

Travelling by different means and unaware of who all are in the team this ensemble of highly skilled individuals gathered at the city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan on the Morning of May the 7th.

Thursday, 7th May 1998:
Though my shopping and packing was done for my trip but I had to get some basic household items, as just after coming back from India I would be entering a newly rented house. It was fully furnished but still needed couple of household items. As I was trying to collect these things from local market the above team were heading towards the vast desert of Thar.

They have just been informed individually what there task would be for the next 3 days, with not much details but they were smart enough to know the ultimate motive and combined output of this operation. They were too glad to be part of this "prestigious" team and could understand the secrecy they needed to maintain. Just one small leak and the whole operation could be in jeopardy, which they cant afford as their whole fraternity was trying so hard for it since long and with the recently changed country's political scenario it suddenly seemed feasible.

For next couple of nights they would be coming out of the military trucks to perform their tasks and reach back to their trucks even before the first sunlight hits the Thar Desert. After all they were not trying to hide it from locals or the farmers of that region but from far above the roving US spy satellites looking for some "different" patterns over this sensitive part of the country. It is not that the satellites were not picking up these activities but it never got analyzed thanks to Indian Military's 58th regiment who were doing deception tasks (like digging in trenches and filling them up) since last couple of years anticipating this mission might happen one day. Later on CIA would get a blast from US Senate for not being able to anticipate this....and some senators even would brand this as biggest failure of CIA over decades!

Sunday, 10th May 1998:
Finally I was in my hometown, Raipur, after a stayover at Delhi, to be surrounded by relatives and family members. There was an excited and cheerful environment keeping me in the limelight. While I was getting ready for our next day's trip to Bhopal many things were unfolding in Delhi in a "military" precision way!
All the three chief of staffs were called that day to PM's residence. They came to know about something which their defence minister (George Fernades) knew only hours before probably. Cabinet committee on security was informed but not the hisghest ranking civil services officer like cabinet secretary and even defence secretary were felt to be informed about it. Many hierarchy and bureaucratic procedures were violated that day intentionally and information was shared strictly only with the "need to know basis". Even the highest ranking officer of Indian Executive The President was told about it late night on 10th of May while at home I was making some last minute phone calls to my friends requesting them if they can visit us at Raipur.

Monday, 11th May 1998:
"Budhham Sharanam Gacchami" . I woke up on that morning listening to this chanting coming out through blaring loud speakers of Budhha Temple nearby our house. His highness Gautam Buddha himself certainly would have protested the sheer noise the loud speakers were making that morning. Someone later told me it was "Buddha Purnima" that day. That morning thanks to my father everybody seemed to be in hurry as he had given ultimatum to leave the house for the railway station by 12PM. Surprisingly that day Chattisgarh Express was not running late, which was otherwise known as the most "unpunctual" train in South Eastern Railway during those days! While we were passing through Bhilai around 3PM on that scorching May afternoon, 6 men were anxiously waiting for a phone call at 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi. These 6 were the Prime Minister Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. Planning Commission Chairman Jaswant Singh and PMO secretary Mr. Brajesh Mishra. Then around 3.45 PM the much aniticipated call finally came through. Brajesh Mishra received the call and all he could hear it was an excited "Done". He passed over the phone to the PM. The emotional PM congratulated the two scientists and then chiefs of DRDO and DAE, Mr Kalam and Mr Chidamabaram. Advani along with others present could not stop their tears.

Around the same time many seismological centers around the earth were placing some urgent calls to their chiefs and they further were conveying that to their heads of the state after noticing very unusual "seismic" activities in the western part of India. But they did not have to wait and analyze further the computer readings as Mr. Vajpayee soon was in TV screens across the globe announcing to the world the arrival of the 6th entrant in Nuclear Club. Unlike 1974 this time there was no mention of "Peaceful Purpose" rather India declared itself as a nuclear weapon holder. A beaming Vajpayee declared the Nuclear Tests ...appropriately code named "Operation Shakti" a big success to the whole nation. We came to know about all of this while seeing celebrations at Nagpur Railway Station..the whole country was celebrating Diwali that night!

Tuesday, 12th May 1998:
Because of the events of the previous day, somehow our visit to Bhopal and its very purpose got shadowed. Everywhere people were talking about it. I did meet many of my friends who came from Delhi and other parts. A dear friend of mine came from as far as France...little did he know about, that next year same day it will be him who will be getting married!

Later that night BJP scored its another popularity by increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 for govt. and public sector employees. Many senior BHEL(ians) who were with us that night could not feel more happy!

The next day it was time to return back to Raipur. This time we had couple of extra passengers than what we had come to Bhopal with. One of them was sitting besides me with tears in her eyes...I could guess it was certainly not the fact of Country becoming Nuclear, or her Father avoiding Retirement by two more years..rather it was the sadness of leaving her City, parents and sister. Later while train stopped at Itarsi Junction, we experienced another round of excitement amonf fellow travellers. I got out of the train only to find out that despite condemnations, threats of sanctions and a stunned Bill Clinton the audacious Indian Government conducted two more tests that noon before formally completing the process while Pakistan has threatened to go nuke within weeks!

When I came back to our coach, my co-passenger asked me what was that all about?
I said "Well Mithu,....the Nuclear Race in the subcontinent and Our Married life has just begun"
After long 3 hrs since she left her home, I could see a smile on her face.

Happy 9th Anniversary to Nuclear India as well as Our Marriage!

-----
Reference: The details of this post regarding India's 2nd Nuclear Tests were referred from India Today 25th May 1998 archived edition as well as many other online papers and journals.

So what I am listening to now a days?

2007-05-07T22:00:00.001-05:00

Summer of 1988.
It certainly brought a revolution in the Hindi Film Music...and it was brought by the famous duo of Anand-Milind in the movie called QSQT. That was a such a drastic and bold shift from the then current trend of playback music....and masses just liked this "shift" and rest is history.
It was indeed a trendsetter. The movie and its actors also did get a great lift from its popular soft and so different than usual music of late 80s for sure!

Well I think after around 20 years that is happening again...

This time it is brought by not just one or two music directors but rather a group of new and extremely talented and offbeat (singers composers alike). There are many but couple of them whom I would like to mention about are Kay Kay, Preetam Charobarty, Rabbi Shergill and so on....

Now what fun it is where I write more and more about these great trendsetters but without letting you judge what I mean.

So this post is about the songs which I am listening to now a days. (reminds me that I can certainly write about my IPOD which is slightly more than 6 months old now...but deserves
a good nice article).

The below link allows you to play the songs...I have two playlists in the upcoming beta version of website called "esnips.com". A nice and great way to share digital content.
Internet..Wao Internet!!!

So in my playlist of current top 16, you will see songs from Delhi heights (Shergill and Sonu Nigam with mind blowing base guitar), it has many songs from "yet to release" movie called "Life in a Metro", as well as Hits from Gangster and Woh Lamhe (all products from Preetam/KK)! Rememebr Remo....of Jalwa and Bombay fame (may be the only true "deshi" rock singer whene we were growing up) he has come back after long time in Life May...kabhi kabhi. the title of his song is "No Problem". Another very soft romantic number from Abhijeet from a never heard 2006 year release called "dil sey pooch kidhar jana hai!"
It also has two from the veteran A R Rahman (Guru) and Amitabh (Nishabd). Finally it ends with a Grammy 2007 nomination by snow-patrol (Chasing Cars), nice one with great lyrics!

The second playlist just got created as I was uploading some songs from my ipod most frequent playing list. The one I would like to mention specifically is from the movie Wardaat(1981) I had it in my ipod as part of Bappi-Da collection and I remember I liked it when I was in class 8 or so. And then one day suddenly Apple's random playlist algorithm decides "ok IG..it is time again"..and I get reintroduced to this nice number. Since then I am listening it quite often.
You know what I used to wonder about this song (Too Mujhey Jaan Sey bhee Pyarta Hai)..it is rendered by grand pa and grand ma of Indian Pop (ie Bappi Da and Usha Uthup) and it is a duet..but it is so hard to distinguish when Bappi da is singing or when Usha Di is
singing..except by the words like "karoonga" or "karoonge". There is no satire here...but just an interesting observation made in my early years and get reminded of everytime when I listen to it.

Enjoy My Playlists....I will try to keep it updated.

My esnips link

Movie & Internet

2007-05-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

Movie:
Last night watched a nice funny movie. Heard about it from some colleagues followed by a recent review in Rediff of a remake of this film in Bollywood. This is a french movie (1999) called "The Dinner Game". The remake is titled as "Bheja Fry" released last week and gets a very poor rating. But in that review itself it praises its original. So I ordered it from my recently opened BlockBuster account.
Found it a great hilarious one! Do sure see it. As it is close captioned plus mainly dialogue driven need to follow it attentively. But the story/characters/and the screenplay will make sure you remain cling to it till the end and it will for sure give you a good laugh!
My next in line is Blood Diamond (adventure/thriller) and Holiday (romantic flick), The Queen.
And recently seenover past few weeks are like "The Prestige", "Illusionist" (both on the theme of Magic), Babel (pretty dark..but Good), Borat (Horrible and Repulsive), Taladega Nights (very funny..but need to have my "mentality"), Brokebank Mountain (quite sentimental..hmmm).

Internet:
Since long I was looking or wondering why these Yahoo, MSN etc dont provide Messenger services in their web site itself. Its a pure co-incidence that today when I checked I do see yahoo has launched beta version of its messenger in their website. And then you start wondering why they are doing so now...after 8, or 9 years of launching the messenger.

Well..this is my take:

a) Google Talk. There is No Need to install any software.You can access it from anywhere in the web. But Google is always Google!

b) A startup type of website...Called "Meebo". In their website they do offer messenger for all AIM, Google, MSN, Yahoo..in all different languages too including Hindi and Bangla! Though it is awkward to see like "Password Bhool Gaye" "Sadasya Bano" "Mujhey Yaad Rakhey" and "Pravesh" but this is great having all IMs at a single place without installing their softwares.

Another good thing about is it being 3rd party..there are still many Work Place servers who probably dont know it and you can Yahoo IM from work too...Ssssshh.

Christina Rosenthal

2007-05-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

Well...I am trying once again to regain the lost hobby of Reading. It is not a sudden decision but maybe some influence from few friends and particularly some recent blog updates by mpcnb and talks with him.

So the other other day I hit to local library and pick up two books.One was already read by mine 12 years back..the other was new.They were from two master story tellers Jeff Archer and Frederick Forsyth.At least I didnt think that I can go for this trial run with some heavy philosophical type or thick novels...so this choice of collection of short stories. Maybe once I get the flow and become a veteran (thats the story book collection I got of Forsynth) I will move to heavy stuffs.

My today's post is about one of that short story "Christina Rosenthal". Somehow when I read it first time (12 years back)..I found it one of the best love story I had ever read..it touched me thoroughly. I dont want to be a spoiler..but it is about a son mentioning his dad through a letter expressing his love and the woman he loved. Maybe it is a very typical story...but that time I found it just awesome and could not take my mind out of it!

Now I decided to take this book again and see if I can relive those feelings/moments I had felt so long time back. At the same time I was apprehensive about that the feeling/thoughts which I had "maintained" it for so long...just does not get shattered, if I dont find it that appealing
anymore. Which would simply reflect that not the story rather it was my "age" and "then thinking" probably which mesmerized it at that time...somehow I didnt want that to happen and rather still give full credit to Mr Archer a known crime/suspense thriller author for this
masterpiece love story.

It is the last story in his collection called "A Twist in The Tale".

(careful..Spoiler ahead)

So Last night I read that again.....and I wont lie...It still gave me the same exact feeling I got a dozen year back. True love is very rare....but those rare fortunate who get it (like Benjamin and Christina in this case) couldn't enjoy for long as Love and Pain go certainly Hand in Hand. Maybe Love cant be enjoyed if there is No pain associated with that..or for that matter probably they complete each other.
Part of that vicious circle when one generates the other and it keeps on going only their magnitude increasing each time!

They say it (the pain part of love) makes them powerful....Strong and Better.

Unfortunately Benjamin never got the opportunity to get STRONGER and BETTER again!

Here is a link to some other blogs discussing Christina Rosenthal.

Link

If you have not read it yet...read it and you will either like it a lot (like me) or laugh it off a lot thinking how such a typical and melancholic love story can appeal anyone! If latter is the case I can only say maybe the glass you and me are looking it through is so different!

30th April

2007-04-30T19:28:00.001-05:00

Suddenly remembered it is 30th April today and something clicks in my mind...seems so familiar.

And it did not took so long why it seemed so.

During our school days, the MP board of education used to ensure that every school declare the annual results of all non board examinations classes (ie excluding class 5, 8 and 10) promptly on 30th April. Then 2 months summer vacations starts from May 1st before classes used to resume on 1st July!. I don't think it is followed now a days though.

So yes..it used to be that thrilling suspenseful day.I still remember it vividly. We would get up early, and then dressed in uniform, after making couple of "pranams" to seniors and seeking blessings from many photos hanging in the wall, head toward school. If there is some temple in between some of our "religious" friends will make sure that also gets visited.

Once in school premises, there will be all sort of rumours going in..who is going to top the class, who is unfortunate this time...who will have to study during summer vacation preparing for supplementary exams. Teachers will pass by with a busy and mysterious looks on their faces....after all they know it all by then right!

Then around 11 or so, the results would be declared one by one for each class..and mark sheets delivered. Some "raees" kid might fire some crackers if he wants to express his joy of being passed by grace marks..after all he was probably not expecting that. Some rowdy types from senior classes will plan for a matinee movie (it does not matter if they passed or failed). And for some certain good students will be receiving queries like when they are going to bring meethai dabba and what not. And who knows certain eager and happy dads might have already started distributing that to staff.

For us, we would be eager to go home and share the good news as soon as we can to eagerly awaiting parents. Generally it used to happen that in my case my mother used to know it even before I would have reached home..from some of my friends or their parents form the same colony who would have reached earlier. Father generally would not show his happiness..rather go through the mark sheet and see why I could not score a little bit higher on the maths. Mom will be happy and will ask about other friends and how they did. In the evenings local nearby guardian type uncles/aunties will visit and congratulate us asking "ganguly sahab meethai kahan hai".

So that's how a typical 30th April would pass in those days....and for sure it will be a good night's sleep with no more curiosity rather sheer fun and excitement for the next 2 months vacation!

Viral Videos and The LANDLORD

2007-04-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well..these are not new to internet. With the popularity of youtube, googlevideo (is it still there?), vidilife, break.com..there are plethoras of clips now. Anyone can just shoot small clips and upload it for the world to watch.

All of them are competing against each other to get more hits and find new way to attract revinue too...like break.com offering rewards too.
But my today's post is about the new kid in the block...recently launched, and I came to know it from a post in wired.com (couple of days back).
Now this site is being funded by a VC firm(Sequoia capital) who funded
Google, Yahoo, Youtube, Cisco,Oracle, Apple,paypal.....so you are getting the idea. But what makes it more
interesting is solid backing to this site from Hollywood celebs/upcoming as well as establishes directors/actors. And guess what happens when SNL's Will Ferrel and another "celbrity" guy posts their clip called "The Landlord" a 2 mins clip...
The site gets 8 million hits within 24 hrs...servers gets jammed, Youtube is taking it off from its server.

Well too much info..and if you still dont know which web site I am talking about...it is "funyordie.com". Go there watch the Landlord and yes...be careful .... as it contains some "swearing" by a .....!.
Probably they cant ever show it in even the boldest of SNL....but thats what the Power of Internet..isnt it!

else where can I publish this "original" two liner from me.

And why did the Lover send Chocolate wrapped diapers to his love?

Ans. Because he wanted to send "hugs" (huggies diapers..lets say unsoiled) and "Kisses" (Hershey's kisses).

Long Live Internet!
Free to Express,Free To watch and Free to Judge!

Watch out.....

2007-04-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

Well..I was out from this since more than a year....But old habbits die hard I cant resist this time...to share my experieneces, frankful thoughts and expressions with everyone else.

Oh boy..I cant wait, there is so much to cover 'bout last 445 days!

Will See You All "REAL" Soon !!!

Email collection

2006-07-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

Finally I reached Madras....
What can I do...I was dispatched at the perfect time,
last week of June, 24th to be exact..had everything gone proper
I should have been here 15 days earlier..but this world is not
perfect..you agree. The sail over Atlantic was great..no bad weather..
though it is Hurricane season now.Other than a evening with
 thunderstorms and all,
and one bad day of food poisoning (blame it on lobster I tried
at lunch) it was all picture perfect. Maybe that was the cause...
so when it was time to cross the Suez Channel (for the shortcut..
if you forgot your geography), I was all asleep. By the time I woke
up it was too late. I contemplated shall I turn back to Suez Channel,
wait there in Queue when my turn comes up to cross it, or try to make
it faster , explore the new route of cape of good hope and relive what
vasco-ga-dama did 600 years back. So if you know me..you got it right..
I tried the adventurous way... my calculation was not wrong too....
if I could continue the faster speed I was crusing, a very little
sleep only what is needed I could have reached ontime by 3d July..
earlier I was schedueld to reach 1st of July..spend 2 days sightseeing
in coastal india and then land on Chennai on 3rd. So with this new route
I was ready to skip my vacation around Pondicherry etc but reach straight
 to Madras. Yes...you wont believe it was too hard not to stop around Sun
City South Africa.I patted myself that I was able to curb my "temptations"
 and still continue on my journey. I knew when he sees me on chennai at
perfect time he will be too happy... but it was something else in store.
On 30th June evening, 5.15PM to be exact while I was sipping tea over
Indian ocean enjoying the sunset, they appeared out of no where. 3
mechanized boats around 15 total people. From outside you will think
it is a fishing boat but have a close look and one can see their real
intention. Well there was no confrontation...as I have no option but
to obey them looking at their automatics and personalities. killing
person like me is just like maybe you or me kill a bug...you dont give
a thought. Yes I am talking about those notorios Somalian Pirates.
They aksed me what all I was carrying..looking at my possesions
(virtually nil!) they were surprised, After having a discussion among
themselves I think they thought I must be some spy or soemthing.
Their leader talked to someboody over a hand radio. I was sure that
they are going to shoot me... was thinking about all the good times
I had, all my unfinished tasks... all the while I was keeping my eyes
closed..after all I didnt want to see it coming. It was probably more
than 5 minutes when finally they aksed me to board their ship. I was happy
and sad both. Happy because I was sure they are not going to kill me...
sad because for sure I was going to miss my schedule. Over next 4 days
I was kept blind folded was given good food and drinks at regular
interval. Occasionally I could hear them laughing/dancing and also
gunshots. I though gunshots signify some more persons like but probably
not as lucky as me to be alive Finally around 4th or 5th morning we reached
a small island. They opened my handcuff and I was straight way taken to
a tractor and from there to a small shanty village. This was the place of
their leader. Without any formality he asked me what I do, where I came
 from why I was sailing without any stuff for such a long distance and
where I finally intend to go and meet and for what purpose. I was absolutely
honest..gave all the answers precisely. I could see the expression changing
of their leader and some other henchmen of his sitting beside. By the time
I answered their last question..they all were so gloomy and sad you wont
 believe. Finally the leader rose up and came to me hugged me (I still cant
forget the smell of his colgne and tobacco..what a combination..coulpe of
days back they had a good loot from one of containers carrying cosmetics
and tobacco). Anyway the leader said that unintentionally they commited a
great mistake and asked me and the pesron whom I was going to meet to
FORGIVE them. They said they cant even think of the wrath of the "GRUDEY"
(I dont wknow what they were referring as GRUDEY), they said if GRIDEY
came to know about this their entire village/boats/business/family
might disapper within a  day. They afraid him more than they afraid the
antiPirates ship or US Warships over Indian Ocean. They have heard too
much about this GRUDEY and his curses. Seems whatever he says
(even unintentionally) becomes truth within days. If anyone ever
tries to cheat him or say bad about him the consequences were certainly
disastrous. But anyways seeing the circumstances changing like this I
also took some advantage and made some deal. they agreed to let me take
rest  for 1 or 2 days more, gave me the best of the food and wine..they
 offered more "heavenly luxuries" but I did decline....I wish
my Moral science teacher could have seen that. The deal was they will
send me to Madagascar by one of their fastest boad and with full security.
There an agent of theirs will provide me another boat/rations etc for
my onward journey to India. So from then onwards things were again picture
 perfect...Long story finally short.. today 18th July 11.15PM I am at
Chennai. I hope to meet my Recipient tomorrow morning at 9AM when he
comes to work. I will meet him right at his Office,
and Say him Happy Belated Birthday, Grudey...I mean GURUDEV!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
(Mail was sent to Vathshan and All on 18th July 2006....a "massive" way to
say BELATED happy bday)

For those who dont know Gurudev (Vathsan) he was born on Amavas ke raat
and has a magic power of turning things nasty whoever wishes him bad
or even thinks  bad bout him. So all of us (his close frnds) ensure
that he is always kept happy. I am not kidding...there are so many
examples....

India Trip Report 2005

2006-01-24T23:32:00.000-06:00

Best Viewed with IE

Well..it is that time again. A glimpse of whats Happening and Whats In in India. Here is my attempt to capture what I saw and felt over there during December 2005!

Foreword:
This was our first trip after Ritwik was born and traveling with him we were extra careful. Thats a huge checklist which I can share if any one needs it :-)

Luckily our tickets were purchased long time back and we were allowed the old liberal rule of 70lbs each, total 4 suitcases..and mind you we used that to full extent. This time not with gift items but with his stuff only. At the time of leaving home we had 11 pcs of luggage (including stroller/diaper bag etc.). Learnt a good lesson and while returning had only 8 pcs!

Couple of months back DFW opened a new international terminal and one needs to see it to believe it...I can only say it is indeed world class.

Lufthansa experience was good, Frankfurt airport was really disappointing. In severe cold and windy weather, we had to get down from the Plane and Take a bus for the terminal. The whole airport is full of Cigarrete SMOKE. Previously I saw that type of smoking in Narita Airport. Too much of passive smoking there!

The next segment of flight was comfortable but who cares for comfort when in couple of hours you will be in Delhi.

Entering India: 10th Dec @ 2AM
Airport very much looks the same. The immigration officer is still very "boring" and "non-smiling"and looked tired.

Our next flight was at 5AM to Raipur so we were in hurry. Prepaid took 600 INR for IGI to Palam using a Toyota Qualis. Also divested off around 200 Rs to the guy who helped me bringing the suitcases from belt to taxi. Tried a little bit haggling but...NO not our cup of tea anymore!

The Indian EXPERIENCE had already started...

Private Airlines:
This was the first thing noted at Palam....2 years back it was Jet and IA mainly..... Well now right there you see counters and staff (and quite impressive ones) of Spice Jet, Kingfisher, AirDecan, Sahara and so many others. For that matter now Raipur is connected to Calcutta via AirDecan and you know the fare..it is just 2300 Rs which
is comparable to 2nd AC. If booked early then it can be as low as 500Rs! So air travel is NOT a luxury anymore and all the flights are heavily booked.

Media:
There is INDEED a drastic change in this field. I am talking mainly TV. Print media no significant changes. But plethora of TV news channels.

And it seems if any channel is NOT doing a sting operation ..then they cant survive there for much long. They news hungry channels need to have breaking news every day or so...

Within short span of 4 weeks I came across Breaking News like every other day...which can range from "Parliament Evacuated because of Bomb Threat, Kiran More ka Putla Jalaya or even Patna Passenger Train Derailed: No injuries Reported".

Once indian audience was stuck with Serials or Movie Songs only..but now there are more Channels for News and Current Events.

And this investigative journalism at its peak. Operation Chakravyuh, Dronacharya, Operation Majnoo (Meeruth SP/Collector got transfered because of this..as police openly harrased couples in a Park), all happened within couple of weeks.The leading among these are "India TV" and Aaajtak.s. And there are clones of these channels which cater to state and city also. Like ETV MP or Raj TV of Bhopal.
NDTV still maintains its eliteness.

All these "in-the-place" reporters style are very much same..."abhi aap dekh rahey hai...., kya aisa uchit hai? Turant SMS bhejiye at 7575 with A if u agree N if u dont". Very typical but public has gone crazy after them!

These reporters are so common moving around ..the other day when I tried to take a snap of my old favorite cinema hall (now in rubbles) a passing rickshaw-wala asked me "saab, aap kis channel sey ho?"

The other new thing which I witnessed is be it a game show or music contest or some "sansani khej news" every other channels are trying their best for audience participation. Its a boom for these wireless companies and BSNL too as well as channel itself. Through out 24 hrs there will be tickers requesting you to send SMS indicating your opinion or vote. And people are sending too.

Guess BSNL or HUTCH making how much money if after one episode of Sa-Re-Ga-Ma there are 7 to 10 lakh of sms/calls made. The bounty is shared by the Producer as well.

I cant close this section without mentioning about one more stuff. The standup comedy has finally arrived. While I was there ..I think it was Sahara which was having this contest called "Great Laughter Challenge" I must mention Navjot Sidhu...remember the cricketer.

He is big TV personality now and was surprised to see his command over Hindi as well as English. His specialty : He adds an idiom at every other sentence. And it is really true. Whether it is commentary at the end of a Test Cricket or as Judge of
this challenge show. You may see this cassette at a local store..worth a watch. Especially watch out for Mr. Ehsaan Quereshi. I believe he became the champion..he is fantastic!

Cell Phones
I think by now we all agree that model of Cell Phones and popularity is much more than we see here. Guess what I heard one afternoon when I visited the paan dukan behind our house. Their the owner of the shop was gladly showing his instrument to his friends. And I did see a wide screen Nokia handset in which they were watching some video..and they were discussing if it has a "bluetooth" in it, streaming video
capability/ if real player is installed.....I was shocked listening their lingo.
Technology has finally reached to the mass..where it is being appreciated most and used in daily life.

Wireless Providers
The Wireless providers are having a busy time too. With the services offered and the competitive price..it is keeping customers happy. Within a week alone in December, Reliance, Idea and Airtel offered LIFETIME scheme where you get a mobile number for life by paying around Rs 990 only. Receiving calls/sms free for the rest of the life. Then in first week of January Tata Indicom and BSNL too joined the bandwagon. Just one move is needed by one provider...at the end customer is the KING.

BSNL is still the cheapest but has a very bad name regarding its service, It is nicknamed as "Bheetar Sey Nahee Lagega" (ie you cant get signal inside the room)

Goyal Saria
Remember Dr Shahani. Whose famous (or infamous) ads appeared through out northern and central India (mainly over the building walls besides railway lines entering a big city...a cheap but very effective way of advertising). But now Dr Sahani has been taken over by Goyal Saria , Rathi Sariya and like others (atleast for Raipur/Bhopal area). It took me a while to get what this "Sariya" is.

And then someone told me it is the iron beams. That made sense as I did see massive constructions going on this central part of country. Be it roads/ houses/industries name anything.

Doctor Visits
Both mom and son were sick for the major portion of the trip. This gave me opportunity to visit many doctors/labs/pharmacies. A doctor's standard fees is around 150Rs. By default he or she gave atleast 5 or 6 medicines..yes even for an infant!. If not cured in next visit be prepared to add 2 or 3 more. There were few exceptions too I must admit.

The diagnostic labs (in fact all of them) require to open shoes before entering the facility. It is justified with so much dust around, but opening/tying shoes from one to another lab is painful sometimes.

One product caught my eye at pharmacy was Emamis "Fair and Handsome" . Emami launched this that year itself targetted to Men who want to look good. As is nearly all the salons now offer "Gents" Facials with Ayur or this above cream.

Travel: Train / Roads
As both were at home, sick, I did the most of the traveling in and around cities alone. For a trip to Dongargah (150kms from Raipur) for a change I decided to use a passenger local train and that too in general compartment. Spent around 8 hrs (to and fro) and did experience a lot for which I was not ready may be. Traveling in those
compartments I did see extreme poverty, half naked children in that severe winter, did see families migrating from one city to another with all their belongings in search of employment. It was really bad. Maybe with all so much GOOD and POSITIVE things happening in the country...this was a heartbreaker. Unfortunately their plight and their stories have been overshadowed by the record high index of Sensex, Forex reserves and FDIs.What I saw that day..even if 60% of country (and not that regular 80) is at that level... Vision 2020 can never become a Reality..for sure.

Saw laptop and cell phone chargers at the 2 tier AC compartments. 2 years back it wasnt there... But why 110V?

Moving to Roads. Inter City roads are wider than what they used to be... in many cases multi lanes. Many toll ways and bypasses. But who is ruling the roads over? and the prize goes to Tata Indica.

These cars have flooded the whole country. Be it private or transport operators.. seems this is number one choice currently. Very sturdy and reliable and "kifayati" with all features you get in an imported card is the answer I got from most of the drivers. It seems now Ratan Tata has promised and working on a car which will cost Rs. 1 lakh.

Atleast Dhyan Singh (driver with whom I traveled most) is eagerly waiting for it!

But Dhyan Singh and other drivers have a bad habit too. Now the seat belt rule is strictly applied even in cities like Raipur and Bhopal. But they think that is some sort of punishment. So they put it on only when they enter the main area of the city. As soon as as they leave city area and are in highways (with high speed) they will get it off. If there is some highway checking, they will park the car, put it on and pass the police barrier and put it off. I tried to convince them you need it more for high speed and not inside city when moving slow...they kept laughing!

Samrat Talkies, DVDs and Chholywood
Coming back to movies now. It was too disappointing to see that once my favorite movie hall Samrat Talkies which was near our railways quarter and where I saw many movies from Lav-Kush (with the knowledge of my parents) , to Tarzan (without the knowledge) in an extreme dilapidated condition. This was the hall which used to have 7 shows on select fridays starting from 6AM for hot new releases like Sahenshah and last show used to end at 3AM in the morning! This hall was like Big Railway Junctions... always busy, active and full of energy.
This was the theater which used to provide free bangles to al "mataon and bahano" watching Pyaar Jhukta Nahin. Now it is deserted, and up for sales since last couple of months. Owner is willing to sale if buyer plans a multiplex..but he is getting
offers for housing complex. Must be an old "emotional" movie buff trying hard to continue the show.

So who is the culprit? It is not a brainer to know the pirated CDs/DVDs are responsible. Two years back VCDs were at peak...now almost taken over by DVDs. Just mere 50Rs you get good quality of DVD with 3 movies. DVD players start at 2500Rs. So who will go and buy a ticket of 75 Rs to watch a movie...simple economics right. One can get latest Hollywood release like Charlie & Chocolate Factory or Friends/Sienfiled series at 80Rs. 90 to 100 song MP3s at Rs 60.

If you are a regular movie buff and dont want to build a collection then you will prefer to be a member of a local shop and buy a 90Rs Rewritable RW DVD and after watching the movie rewrite a new movie with Rs 20 again.

But there is one segment of movie industry which is still defying that... and that is Chattisgarhi Movie Industries. They are literally minting money. After the grand success of Mor Chaiyan Bhuiyan (my roof, my land) two years back the "chholywood" as it known currently has around 100 movies in production or just completed. While Devgan Starrer "Shikhar" was running with 50% capacity with discounted tickets the two other movies "Bhola Chattisgarhi" and "Lalu Kalu bar Chalu" were having houseful shows!

Dollar Cinema vs Rupee Cinema
Do you know what dollar cinema is. This I read in film critic section of a local daily. The author has a valid concern where he mentioned now a days all producers in Bollywood are going for dollar cinema.... ie movies which makes more money abroad and targetterd for them like Hum-Tim/Salam Namastey and Neal-N-Nikki.
Where as there are very few who are making Ruppe cinema like "Apharan" which became a success because audience can associate and mingle with characters. I found this comparison interesting!

Engg. College Visit.
This year our college was celebrating 50th anniv. Unfortunately I could not attend as I was leaving the day when it was starting ..but still I took sometime off and visited our department after 12 long years!

There was a huge change waiting to welcome me. The GEC Raipur has now become NIT Raipur and it is no more a state (Chattisgarh) engg. ' college. They will be opening one soon.

But the good part of becoming NIT was huge funding from Center and it was evident from the labs I visited, infrastructure they have now compared to our times. There are many departments newly added like biotech, IT, Computer Science, Masters in many programs etc. Department level collaboration with IITs. The HOD Khan sir (during our days he was also known as "can-sir" for his non stop somking! but very dynamic and authoritative) invited me to have talk with final year students which I gladly accepted.

Students were smart and I faced many good questions and for few of them I was not prepared..like when one student asked me how is the nano tubes going to affect the current chip industry or the design flow I described. I avoided my "non-preparedness" by saying that it is still in labs/universities and will take years for it to come to industry.

When asked the prof. about my surprise he mentioned now a days these guys spend hours hi speed surfing at library and are well aware with the latest and greatest in the industry. It is NOT like when our interface to the world was only thru big volume books of library and some old version of trade magazines.

Advertisements:
My personal belief that indian admen are one of the best still holds intact. Some of the ads and phrases are so catchy. For example Parle Glucose Biscuits..remember...it is now tagged as "Buddhi Builder".
There were exception too like Ajay Devgan+Kajol's Tata Indicom ads.. very noisy and irritating as I found that.

AB(bacchan) is there in 6 out of 10 ads. Somewhere I read he is so popular because he caters to three generations (our parents/us/and the next).

"Oye Bubbly" seemed one of the most popular phrase...promoted by Pepsi.
Coke's answer to that "Piyo...Sir Uthakey".

And last one clip..Surf Excels detergen powders "kids in the mud" ad, where a cute little girl's dress gets dirty because of a patch of mud while she and her cute little boyfriend (if you will) are coming home from school. The boy gets angry and usi waqt jammen par letkar he fights furiously with that mud patch. After a while as if his enemy surendered, with his white shirt all blackened smilingly he stands up wipes off his face and says to the girl " Sorry Bolta Hai".

Talking about AB...there was a big NEWS when he got admitted in the hospital. But the fact which I noted is he was in the 11th floor of the hospital, got discharged at 11 hrs and 11 min and 11 seconds from Lilavati and drove to his mother in an 11 car caravan who had given birth to him on the 11th day of October 1942.

Ramdev Baba & Lalu Prasad
In my later part of the stay he also came in the news. Ramdev baba is very popular with his Yoga lectures and I think nearly all households possess his yoga cassettes and VCDs.

So it was very genuine when there was a huge public outrage against CPM which alleged that Ramdev Baba's ayurvedic medicines have animal and human bones in it.
The other camp alleged that it is because CPM is not able to push trade union to Haridwar's Ayurved pharmaceutical industry. Anyway what I liked about it most is in a nightly news Lalu Prasad said
"Ab halla machaney ka kya hai. Jiska haddi milay woh to shikayat nahee na kar raha hai. Agar marney key baad kisi kay kaam a gaya to..Acchaa baat hai...Koi big deal nahee hai".

Finally few One liners; kuchh Garam kuch Thanda:

Sania Mirza "nosering" is HOT. She and her "style" has reached the remotest parts of the country!
Election commission is quite powerful. After Bihar's fate WB's CPM is too worried...no more fake voter list!
Himesh Reshamiya and his "Aashiq Banaya Aaapney' the soofy style tytle song is a big hit.
"I'm lovint it" McDonalds moved into Indore during Dec 2005.
December as cold for bollyood too...Amitabh, John Abraham, Salman khan all were sick..affecting the industry. Salman was down with after effect of his "hair growing" treatment.
Cafe CoffeDay a large chain..is a big hit. Even in a weekday afternoon it is jam packed with college students. "Place to be in". As they advertise. ICH (indian coffe house) days are gone.
Power situation in MP atleast Bhopal/Indore much improved. Many have inverters anyway.
Ajit Jogi still is in political scenario. Son Amit is behind bars though
BJP is in bad shape...After Vajpayee and Advani there seems a vacum, no issues to fight against congress.

Popat bhai of our local novelty/gift store was well aware with the "Return Gift" concept and gladly packed it for us with "hot" goodies.

After Pune and Hydrabad..it is now turn of NAGPUR. This city is suddenly in limelight with amount of FDI it is getting.Its wider and cleaner roads, disciplinned traffic is well appreciated. Boeing has already promised a Huge Service Center for its fleet here.
Kolkata is also getting its share of foreign investments. Many IT companies there. Mr Budhhadeb bhattacharya (CM) personally ensures that during "bandh" days that IT "workers" & offices of Saltlake and Rajarahat are NOT affected
AIIMS is opening its centers in Raipur as well as Bhopal. It may be there in other cities too.
India might soon get its first fab. SemIndia has roped in AMD to set up a chip plant here. The chief Mr. Agrawal was in Bhopal talking to CM about opening a related hi end chip manufacturing R&D center there...Bhopal is his native place after all!

Coming back to Bhopal, On 10th Jan 2006 it was time to leave.....Both the grandpas and grandmas were there at HabibGanz stn. to see off Ritwik and us. Three days back northen India broke 70 years winter record. So all three of us were totally prepared with "Thandee Mey Bhee Garmee Ka Ehsaas" ie Lux Thermal wears, gloves, monkey caps etc etc. We reached Nizamuddin travelling that same famous train..India's fisrt and only ISO9001 Bhopal Express. Spent few hours in old favorite city Delhi (South Ex area) and it was awesome!

Leaving India: IGI Airport 12th Jan @ 2AM
Before boarding the flight I went to the restroom (it was the other section of the terminal ie gate 10/11). There as I was trying to enter the lavatory a staff told me "sir dont go...we dont have water.". This guy was sitting there with his khaki uniform besides a bucket of water and a mug. His duty was to pour water if any one wants to wash his hand or face. UNBELIEVABLE..ISN'T IT..For an International Airport?

Two years back I had similar exp. when flush was not working...now it works but on that night there was no water on that part of building. Many people were writing complaints but I knew the final destination of those papers..so did not bother. Atleast I know coming Jan 31st all our 4 airports are going one step more towards privatization when the bids will be opened and hopefully in our next visit both flush and water will be there!

With that I think I have covered all the topics I was planning to share.

How can I end without sharing a final joke from Sunday Edition of
Dainik Bhaskar Raipur edition:

Mareej (operation key baad ankey kholtey huye): Doctor Saab , operation successful raha na?
Samney sey awaz aya: Mujhey Kya Pata? Main to Yamraj ka beta hoon.

Countdown Is ON...

2006-01-22T01:16:00.000-06:00

YES...Hold On. My India Trip Report 2005 will be online anytime!
Check Back Soon