Today after a lot of time (2 months) I could get a chance to return home in a local train..and the feeling was so perfectly familiar and kinda made me feel good....Travelling in local trains makes you feel so much a part of Mumbai that no other thing can...the usual bustle to get in..standing for some time...then getting to sit on the fourth seat...then jumping in the third seat when you get a chance and then gaping when will you get the window....and then staring out of it...it all so perfectly falls in place and you realise thats there is such a strong connect to it....you actually miss it at times! The characters there..interesting family of four...the guy looked visibly poor..had a couple of kids, the youngest kid of about 5 had no footwear, looked in complete mess, the wifey looked as if shes not eaten for a year, and then this guys brings out his sparkling new Nokia and one by one all of them talk to someone in Village...one all you can do is sit and be amazed as how this city actually makes not just two but multiple twains meet so seamlessly!

Suddenly days seem to be flying past...the speed is dazzeling...I dont know if tomorrow I am going to be happy for the speed or be sad. But if the time has gone its gone. Not coming back. So why bother. Wish everyone can think that simple. Lessons leart are learnt. Mistakes made earlier are made. Cannot be changed. Go on...make new mistakes but never repeat old ones...said my boss...so true...

Sometimes when life pulls you in all directions and you are still stuck in the same place....sometimes when life questions everything about you and you question everything about life....sometimes when you are not one with self and the self is not just about yourself....sometimes these times donot seem to end and go on forever..sometimes it just flies by...these are times when you feel you have someone close to you...holding you...helping you...caring for you...and leaving an indelible mark on you...yet the comfort that you are there to stand by yourself satsfying...these times...

This is what happens to people who dont blog. They have to face two laptop breakdowns, the third laptop at home is like the steam engine of pre independance days, the desktop..well the lesser said the better as this post is coming from it and it will surely not tolerate any form of abuses and taunts...so my deak desktop..ure the best!!!

2009 has been a rollicking year so far..lots of lessons to be learnt in the early stages of life, some things getting clearer, some tings getting hazier, some good times some not so good times and its just started!!

Slumdog has won Oscars, so all the critics who were lambasting it have gone into rabbit holes.....take it guys...AR Rehman deservered it...Resul POttukutty deserved it...Smile Pinky deserved it....ok...even Danny Boyle deserved it....but frankly cant figure out the hyper around the guys name.....I am sure not even a pinch of people would have heard his name and the various "award winning" movies hes supposed to have made...suddenly hes the best film maker on Earth......C mon I didnt even know this guy and his earlier movies.....Yaawwwnnn!!! Yah Slumdog was good, showed some real parts of Mumbai....but truth remains the truth.....what should not exist should not be glorified.....Slums are an abberation and abberations should be removed....Yes children are tortured to beg....those tormenting assholes should be removed and the kids sent to school....begging is a crime....not a "chooo cute" thing...slums are a illegal vote bank....not a "the real Mumbai"......It takes a letter from UK to set up an enquiry about the begging syndicate......Didnt anyone see Traffic Signal....where were the "Real Mumbai Elite Club - RMEC" when that movie released......but then offence is the best defence.....so we can all hope for "Slumdog Billionaire" where Jamal marries Latika, has a kid, loses all his money and goes on the next edition of Who wants to be a Billionaire (yes yes hosted by SRK!!!) and guess what......Its written yaar!!!

Such was the urge to blog yesterday that I had tried my best to get it connected from my GPRS....23 freakin hours on the road...never realised Bangalore was that far from Mumbai!! Well its been one helluva trip this one....kicking off with good old Aurangabad....went amazingly well was expected...somehow that city has developed a nice little soft corner it seems...then the ever prodigal Nashik....in terms of stay and the interesting people met...absolutely amazing.....now really forward to getting a copy of Punjabi remix of Children by DJ Satish....the Mumbai return journey was a memorable one bro!!...Then the final frontier.....came the red bus in which I was supposed to spend the next one full day in a 6 by 3 coffin.....it got shit cold in the night enough to make one piss in ones pants....and the worst part is unlike in a train you cant even piss at your own will!!! Neways Bengaluru here I am and with the circle surrounding me promises to be a good break....oh by the way I return from Bangalore tomorrow and then am on a nice 5 days break from work...so wont be updating I guess..

Finally managed to see Ghajani....turned out to be decent...definitely not as high on expectations but then again..decent...kinda dont agree to critics who have lashed out at Asin's acting.....she has done an awsome job!!! Its not acting that shes done..shes has played a natural lovely girl which one can anyday fall in love with.....fir acting pls see Kareena and Katrina.....c mon its high time we talk bout performace and not acting...that girl was simply NATURAL AND AMAZING!!!....Aamir has got his eight packs, bulginf bisceps and muscles...but wats the point if u not gonna show them off to smash the hell out of the baddies!!!!Either the director wanted to make a violent family movie or a family violent movie!! If possible I would definitely like to see a Kill Bill version of Ghajani wat say!!!

Things seem to be just flying by these days. Somehow one cannot decide if its good or bad. On reflections things have always looked good but in the present they bleed. Life has this funny way of making you progress. The situation now is exactly the same. At times I donot even know if I am reacting to it in the best way possible, but then its just a matter of time before things start looking good in the rear view mirror. Well thats the eternal optimist in me speaking. It funny a comic character like Spiderman states "With great power comes great responsibility", somehow we Indians can never seem to handle power responsibily. Maybe there is a reason why dispite having the oldest and richest cultures, we Indians have not dominated the world. By domination I mean domination and not saying we are the BPO capital of the world! Thats why India as a nation, as an economy, as a state of mind has always been a nation on the verge. It is always arriving, but never quite there. Its innate in every Indian. Even if we get an inch of development or power, our egos grow multitude. It is this attitude that is pulling India down today. People here are demanding change. People here are expecting after 26/11 our humble politicians will change. Isnt the inaction so far and the "expert" comments by these politicians proof enough that they have infinite resistance to change and we Indians have an infinite pleasure of continously being raped throughout history.

I had jus typed a long writeup about the misadventure that happened on route to Aurangabad this time. And as cyber luck would have it, the page expired or something, the net conked off and there is no way I am writing the same long thing again. In short, I got off a station, got in non ac, cudnt get in ac, would have either missed my destination or have been stranded in a station where trains dont have halts without my stuff, little cash and atm and credit cards which would have been useless! But things went well and I am here today to blog away so all well. Otherwise goings been tricky at work with the kind of environment thats been created here. First experiance, so learning. Stil learning in places where experience is over three years! Some things always mistify!!

It was just too wierd to blog the last few days....so much happened..leaves you speehless...and you wonder...why do I like Mumbai so much! Its crowded, houses are like pigeon holes..and you have to pay a fortune for them..trains are crowded, buses are crowded, roads are jam packed, on saturdays restaurants are packed! By the time you get home the days over, you may at times not see your neighbour for days, ther is filth on roads, slums dot the terrain, reaching the airport without getting stuck in a jam is wishful thinking.....and then it happened! After 60 hours of what can easily be described the worst terror attack on its soil, the Tri colour was hoisted at the Taj.....Leopold cafe was open on the next day.....a Public opinion was formed...enough is enough!!! Do not take refuge under the "Spirit of Mumbai" tag anymore....do not mistake an anger as a sense of resignation...attacks like these should not be tolerated and will not be tolerated...You know its so ironic the time when all these was happening our CAPITAL NEW DELHI had a measely 50% voter turnout....well I may be naive as the newspapers suggested it was a good turnout....what the hell do you mean!!!what was it 30% earlier! Its like all the so socialites on TV..lets see how many of you or from your fraternity vote this year....your Delhi counterparts definitely didnt seem to care less...was an attack on Mumbai....so why bother! Actually why do I bother or why does anybody bother...will something happen because of this, maybe yes maybe not, will politicians change, definitely not, can we all change definitely yes!!!!

Feels like an eternity since my last post...but then can be excused as had been travelling a lot these days...memorable places...Nashik, Aurangbad, Hyderabad, Bangalore the usul suspects....Bangalore stood out as it was my first visit to the te4ch city in the last 13 years...Last time I had gone, there were faint memories of a bustling South Indian city..techism was not present then..everything about Bangalore was so southie, the Vidhan Sauda, the South Indian Food, the busy streets of Kormangala (no malls then)..this time...you could smell the techism in the air!!! It started with the train...It looked like half the coach was full of people who had something to do with IT....couple of TCS guys, one typical Mr. HCL, a parent whose daughter just joined Infy...whole lot of fun along the way....in the city...you can just throw a stone anywhere in Bagalore and it can break the window of an IT company..they are just everywhere!!! Neways a memorble trip....all good ones..well ya it could have got better if certain plans had worked out..but then thats life......So bck now to the maddening world of RCP....at home today due to a bolt of fever!! Laptops koncked off...somehow mom's antique piece had daya on us and swithched on!! Otherwise its been over a couple of weeks without laptop...so online after quite a long time.....

At a personal level got quite fascinated with the title Princess of Eclipse...kinda stuck me so now wanting to expand it into some form..paintain/peom/story I dont know...just that the title sounds apealing to me! Till then...!

I had to see Fashion. It was a Madhur Bhandarkar movie, promos were amazing, and I had not seen a movie for the last two weeks and the last one was Kidnap which hardly counted. So It released yestarday and the whole day was just desparately trying to get someone or the other to come for the movie. So was pestering sis and mom for 1300 show. Then went upto the counter at PVR Goregaon at 1500 show ( was chilling at the Oberoi mall) and retrned as mom backed out....so came home..still determined to watch it.....sat online and was looking at tickets disappear every second....the Pramod called.....and it was decided...we had to watch it!! So finally after browsing thru all the cinemas..finally found two tickets...1130 show.....what a sense of achievement...so after a light dinner we set out for the movie...reached venue....took half hour to get parking....they didnt have iced tea for Pramod....1130 show started at 1200 for some reasons but nevertheless...what a beginning....what a movie...amazing..three hours just passed by.....movie got over at 3 in the late night/early morning and every one watching came out so Fresh....its the kind of movie you watch and you are so much into it that before you realise its over! Neways got to know what a "showstopper" is.....all desiners are gay....females are relatively safer in the industry...all as per what is shown in the movie...reality may differ....but who cares..its Madhir Bhandarkar....Page 3, Traffic Signal...all were good movies....next target...still have to see Body of Lies...thats a Ridley Scott movie...something I just dont wanna miss.....

Back home after 20 days of gruelling travel...its that time when you are out to enjoy yourself, prove something to some people and realise what a dork people can get by only sitting in "HO" and never actually venturing out in the real world. Its really funny when people can sit and analyse things to no end without actually never having the capacity to create anything! Sometimes the world seems to be surrounded by such people but then thats the beauty of it...thats where there is an opportunity to actually do something and thats what I love here! So more travel after Diwali and more opportunitites to actually have real learnings......

Edge of the seat thriller....thats what your can call Kidnap. Keeps you on the edge of your seat...."Yaar kab khatam hoga!!!!!" Wonder how directors take the Indian audience for granted when it comes to making thrillers. Beaten old story, the only saving grace was the visual effects were at par with the best in Bollywood movies. So there was a Minisha Lamba...who had me with my mouth open...she can be sexy....and Imran Khan delivers a good performance. Was hugely disappointed by Sanju Baba's acting and persona. Sanju Baba...pls hit the gym again with Sallu Bhai....u look fat and old!!! Rahul Dev deliveres yet another cameo..he really is the most underutilised actor in Bollywood..all said and done...Kidnap....shudave given it a miss...good thing is new Ridley Scott movie coming up.....so next weekend promises to be better!!

The markets are playing this Saare Zameen Par movie and its an amazing movie....somehow all the Economics taught in MBA colleges are going for a toss and its plain simple Newtonion theory thats expaining all the phenomenon happening around us. Its called Gravity!

Another trip another set of memories...I have always been fascinated by people. The sheer multiplicities in them leads to various analytical points to think over and keep yourself occupied. And travelling is the best form of meeting these multiplies of nature. Some of them are interesting, some you wonder are natures abnormalities and some clear misfits. Anyways always a pleasure!

Hair cut finally.....So after a long time and endless people reminding me endlessly finally got a hair cut.

My first trip to Kerala....and what a place!! That state is actually God's own country. The trip was full of anticipations, a lot of firsts...first public talk after MBA, first trip to Kerala...so after leaving reaching home at some 1130 in the night from work I prepared myself for the day ahead. The alarm was set at 0530 to help me catch the 0715 flight. As usual dad anticipated I would miss hearing the alarm and came and woke me up at 0515! So neways got up and got ready in time to reach the airport 20 mins before departure! Was a comfortable one...the view from the top was awsome during our descent. What looked like shrubs from way above actually manifested as a bed of coconut trees...and I knew I had arrived in Kerala!

My mallu and non mallu friends all had ranted unlimitedly about the food, so was really looking forward to that. There was a junior from the Admissions Team there to receive me. So she got bombarded with an early quota of Gyaan as the hotel was an hours drive from the airport. The drive was a pleasant one. The event was to start at 3 so had ample time to catch hold of the juniors one by one and give more gyaan (thats exactly they had got me there!). The event had an excellent turnout, some 170 odd turned up despite heavy rains in the city. Went of well, there was clear connect I could establish with the audience as some four years I was having exactly the same thing in the eyes about doing an MBA from a good college. Actually was amazed I could gon one for nearly half hour and then do a Q & A as well! Post that we rushed to the airport as dinner was to be taken. But alas, despite paying 400 per head all we managed was a sandwich and a couple of spoons of pasta. Two pax got complimentary thanks to fellow speaker Pradeep who happened to be a Kingfisher class member.
Once back in Mumbai at 1200, the junior girls suddenly wanted to eat Butter Chicken (despite me repeatedly pushing Mc Donalds at them )..so we began our search and after half hour of driving came across Crepe Station - a place I would definitely recomend for good grup and was amazed by the amount of nutelly Snehal and Revathi can gobble!!!!
The trip also touched another soft corner as that was conducted by the Admissions Team....ASR/Admisions Team and eveyone who is/was a part of it......we rock!!!

Back from the best tour ever in my life....feels good to see efforts get to a good start....RLH is on and here to stay....days were full of work, fun, food, booze and masala doodh....movies came and went..saw two amazing movies Chamku and Phoonk....saw an amazing movie twice...Rock on....had written an amazing review for Phoonk...bit late to post but here goes....

The crow, the toys, the animals and the spiderman....Phoonkh a review

Finally the moment of reckoning came and I had the honor of watching an amazing work of fiction called Phoonkh. So the movie starts and you are supposed to get scared. Whereever the camera goes, you are supposed to get scared. If it focusses on a painting, its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a stuffed toy... its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a giraffe model...its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a smiley pressure ball..pls be scared, if it focusses on spiderman...you better be scared, if it focusses on the "Hero's" reflection in the mirror, the directors begging you to be scared!!!!!!!
So cut across to the "Hero's" home....straight out of discovery channel complete with a giraffe, monkey, paintings, artifacts, pressure ball, teddy bears and what not. Oh did I forget...the real "Hero" is the crow.....it doesnt move, it doesnt fly, it doesnt croak, doesnt even blink an eyelid...but you're suppposed to be scared if it!!! The hot bai and a tharki driver...the movie is just so perfect!!!The evil dayan....laughter reminding you of the lijjat papad bunny....Phoonk can definitely be voted as one of the worst comedies of 2008. So the black magic takes over our cute girl and the usual science vs supernatural follows...solution....Enter the Manja!! The Sultan of Contract deliveres yet another rocking performance...supposed to be the good spirit guy...looks scarier than the black magic evil forces!!
Ram Gopal Verma was wrong in declaring 5 Lakhs as the prize, either it should have been 50 lakhs or we should contribute Rs 5 per ticket to "RGV Pension fund" wishing him a happy retirement.......

The disappointment of Phoonk was more or less topped up by Chamku...a work of Fart.....but then came Rock on.......man just wish Farhan Akhtar makes or acts in more movies....an amazing movie..saw it twice..listed to its songs non stop ever since.....rock on guys..me will be back!

Theres nothing really much to write, no real impacting incidents, no real motivation to blog, just sat down and typing away. Actually there is, theres a friend of mine I had asked how come she had not blogged for a few days. And she was like no inspiration to blog. That actually got my little head thinking...actually we all need some form of motivation or inspiration to blog. What it is and how it manifests depends on person to person.

The extended weekend came as a good breather. Three days are like a luxury! Sad part is that they just disappeared. Had prepared myself by getting some old Amitabh Bacchan movies which I had always wanted to watch without the commercials and songs and this was like the perfect opportunity to do so. So luckily got hold of 10 AB movies and was all set for the journey. Started with Coolie, then Mard, then Mukkadar ka Sikandar, then Amar Akbar Anthony......after that got back to Rambo!!! Somehow all of them seemed to have the same storyline....family separated when hero was small, evil villan, beautiful heroins (childhood buddies with childhood hero), a mega khaandan reunion in the end and the evil villan dies and happies endings!!! Luckily there was no Shah Rukh Khan sayin "Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!!!!" I would have lost my head and seen Rambo 2 five times!!! Neways will try again..the next lot looks more promising...Kalia, Sharabi, Deewar..so pretty proven hits...hopefully will not have to resort to Rambo 3!!

The best things in life is the joy in giving people what you dont have. It may sound stupid if only tangible things are considered worth giving. Just a thought. Anyways lifes collecting a lot of loyalty points, just hoping it encashes it before expiry! At times, its just that people have to realise that actions have every right for a reaction and anything else is is a bonus. The best companion for these days is Cranberries music. Somehow I have been listening to ot for the past three nights in a row and just cant seem to get enough of it. Salvation, Promises, Linger, Animal, Ode to my family, Zombie...its like every song is giving me a message and I am supposed to just ponder in the lyrics. Its a message and I am deep in it. maybe its all in my head!

Finally I saw Jaane Tu ya jaane na.....after the whole world had seen it, debunked it, laughed at it. the amazing storyline and the climax (or lack of it), I took it upon me to explore the movie. The movie has been ripped apart by critics and audience. Some have loved it, some hated but one thing is there. Have to give it to Abbas Tyrewala for the way he handled the multiple emotions throughout the movie. Every character has a story, says somethings which sometimes doesnt get captured by the dialogues. At some point of time you feel theres a bit if every charactes in you. The way he has handled the characters is quite amazing. But yes, we all could have done without the bhaloos and the bhageeras and mougli!! Terrorist meow kar raha hai...I mean c'mon!!! You take good characters, build a nice storyline then why this sad humor in the end!!! All he should have done was peppered the whole movie with better humor and maybe some of my friends who hated it would have tolerated it. But yes, if you thing too much its an emotional roller coaster........