Change of Scene

We did some renovation of our apartment recently, and though some of the work is yet to be taken to it's conclusion, here's a sneak preview of how it's coming up...




The living room is dominated by the very comfortable sofas that invite you to sink in, and the low diwan by the window, just perfect for that early morning sun-bath. The brown and black color scheme brings earthly warmth into the room, and the soft yellow sheer curtains add a dash of brightness against the brown-brick wall paper against the far wall.




The center table is pretty large, and doubles up as a good place to serve some light snacks or breakfast. We ditched our dining table - it took up a lot of space, and never really got used!




At night, the orange glow from the lamp in the corner really gives a very different character to the room. It's soft dim lighting converts the room into a meditation corner, perfect for relieving the day's stress and tensions!








This is the view from the diwan. The opposite end of the hall has been converted into a study, a place for reading, and working. The comfortable floor sofa can also double up as a couch, and in the extreme case, as a bed! There's enough space for my best books - and some more! And hidden behind the sofa, is my favourite toy - the paper shredder :)







One of the cool artifacts we picked up at Ishanya - I just love this character :)










And this is the SRK corner - along with another of my favourite, the tea cup man!











"Oye, I might look old, but man, can I talk! Try me!"

We got this chap from Mumbai... and yes, it does work!








This is not just a smiling buddha, it's a smiling buddha whose gaze follows you as you move around the room! Almost eerie, until you get the hang of it :)






We also got the basin corner done up - here you see the detailing on the basin - pretty neat, huh?













And finally, the basin corner - the stones and the lamp provide a "natural" look, while the detailing on the mirror provides continuity with the decor in the living room itself.

Sunday Plan - Updates

Wake up late - done
Do the CEO Portal updates - to be done, not up to work yet!
Read mail - done, to be done
Send some mail - done, to be done
Blog - done, being done, to be done
Do some gandhigiri - clean the spit marks from the staircase walls - done
Clean the car - to be done, carpenter took priority
Get carpenter and get the new mirror and artifacts hanging on the wall - done
Eat fish - to be done, not yet had lunch
Play with cat - done, to be done, cat sleeping now
Do some shopping - to be done
Eat more fish - to be done, of course, can't be done before doing the earlier fish task
Watch TV - to be done, Pogo rules for now
Sleep - to be done, separate from the earlier related task

Sunday Plan

Wake up late
Do the CEO Portal updates
Read mail
Send some mail
Blog
Do some gandhigiri - clean the spit marks from the staircase walls
Clean the car
Get carpenter and get the new mirror and artifacts hanging on the wall
Eat fish
Play with cat
Do some shopping
Eat more fish
Watch TV
Sleep

Gossip

There was a lady who loved to gossip. After starting off one particularly nasty rumour about the new girl in her village, she was over-taken by a strange sense of guilt, and decided to go meet the village sadhu for advice.

The sadhu gave her a large wad of cotton, and asked her to place a small ball of cotton at the doorstep of each household where she thought the rumour had spread, and come back the next day. The lady went back relieved, and diligently did what she had been asked to.

The next day, she went to meet the sadhu and asked for next steps. Well, he said, now go and collect all the cotton balls you had kept, and get them back to me, and the rumours will be squashed. How can I do that, she protested, all the cotton balls must have been blown around with the wind... how can I possibly find them and get them back?

Exactly, said the sadhu.

Movie Review: The Happening

Another Manoj Night Shyamalan offering - this time, it's about trees conspiring against the humans, inflicting some deadly mental illness that disables the self-preserving instinct and makes humans suicidal.

The movie starts off extremely well - the scene with the construction workers jumping off the roof will chill you to the spine. There are a couple other great scenes too, but overall the movie promises more than it delivers. After the initial great start, the story loses strength - there are no twists, and it degenerates into an endless attempt to escape from "the trees"!

The actors add another weak link - the horror and fear rarely come across, and the expressions generally seem to be mocking you for being scared! The exception is the little girl who really has some very special moments in the film.

Don't expect too much, enjoy the good parts, and it'll not be that bad...

Water and Laser Show at Ishanya

Yesterday evening, we went for this awesome water and laser show at Ishanya Mall, off AirPort Road. Fantastic stuff, something really different, great for the kids. Did not even attempt to click it on my cell phone camera - just wouldn't have captured the experience. Do check it out - every Thur-Sun at 730 pm.

The mall itself is shaping up beautifully - big, spacious, and some great shopping for anything and everything in interiors! And oh yes, very adeqaute parking!

Movie Review: Jannat

Buy the music CD instead...

Truth..

..isn't what is or what was, it's what we want it to be!

Now You See Me...

...Now You Don't!!

Diet Food

My New Pillow

Cellphone Obsession

...and you thought only I was obsessed with my cell phone?

Movie Review: Rocky Balboa

I missed Rocky Balboa when it came in the theatres earlier this year (no partners to see it with!) but thankfully caught half of it on Star Movies the other day... I must say, it's a beautiful movie, and definitely worth a couple of watches.

It's all about Rocky Balboa's attempt to get his life back on track - culminating with a fight with the existing heavy weight champion, a fight he wins after losing... and while Stallone looks much older than in his next Rambo movie, it's the dialogues that are absolutely captivating!

Life's not about how much you hit, it's about how many hits you can take, and be able to carry on. Such an awesome line to live by...

Quote for the Day

I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time. Charles M. Schulz

Back to 50-50

India beat Pakistan comprehensively by 140 runs in their first encounter of the Kitply tri-nation cup in Bangladesh, after setting a target of 331. Interestingly, the Pakistani coach had gone on record saying he'd like to beat India by 150 runs today :)

Coming after the IPL though, the match seemed too long, too quiet, too boring. And with not even the cheerleaders to bring any excitement... I foresee a quick and early death to this form of cricket.

Bin Tere Kya Hai Jeena

Just love his song, the lyrics.. just so, so beautifully expressed...

bin tere kya hai jeena - 2
mere dil ki raani tum
meri khushiyon ka mausam
mere khwaabon ki taaviz
mere sapanon ki tasveer
bin tere kaisi aas
woh jeet ho ya haar
tere sang hai sab kuchh
tu na ho toh bekaar
bin tere kya hai jeena - 2

suni khaali raaten
ruthi feeki baaten
har aahat pe chaaukun
tujhko harsu dekhu
tujhko hardam sochu
tujhko har pal chahu
tere bin toh jeevan mera hai intezaar
bin tere kya hai jeena - 2

tere saath jiye jo pal
kuchh unse nahi badhkar
tere khaatir saans main loon
teri khaatir jeeta hoon
marne ki tamanna bhi
tere saath main rakhta hoon
tu hai jeene ki wajah
kar mera aitbaar
bin tere kya hai jeena...

Is anyone listening? :)

Movie Review: Sarkar Raj

RGV finally gets one right. Sarkar Raj may not break records at the box office, but juxtaposed with RGV Ki Aag and other equally forgettable movies, SR is a pretty good effort!

I did not see Sarkar, but I am told it was based on Godfather. I am assuming SR is based on the sequel to Godfather, but one thing's for certain, it's definitely not based on the Thackerays - other than the Maharashtra connection, and maybe the beads in Sarkar's neck, really, it's just the story of dirty politics. The similarity ends there.

Abhishek puts in a tremendous performance, and looks great. Amitabh is very subdued, borrowing from the Godfather, I assume, and maybe that's where he loses out a bit. Ash looks good, finally, and is also subdued most of the time.

The camera angles and tones are interesting, the fixation with close ups brings out the largeness of the characters in the movie. A few scenes are truly masterpieces - watch out for the bombing, the assasination and the final scene between Sarkar and Rau Saaheb. The movie tskes off very well in the first half, loses a bit of steam in the second, has a great climax, then again gets into a needless dialogue before a second, again needless climax.

A little more from the editor's knife, and this movie could have gone much further! Either way, it's worth a dekko.

Energy Conservation!

Mumbai Experiences in Pics

The beautiful facade of the CST railway station











The Brihanmumbai Mahanagarpalika building












All fresh and ready to go out - this was at Ramesh Kaka's apartment in Prabhadevi.








Outside Tendulkar's - going for lunch!















The awesome crab soup - a must have!









After lunch, at the bar







Interesting ruins just outside Tendulkar's







Calcutta Meetha!









Listen to me, Mr Crow, don't sit on my finger!
















The serene Gateway of India










Boss with his henchmen :)









The majestic Taj hotel









Another very interesting building near the Taj

Punjab Kings XI vs Chennai Super Kings

The big day finally arrived - after days of planning, Rakesh, Amruta, Harsha, Anjali and I found ourselves in Mumbai for the second semi-final of the IPL's first edition - Punjab Kings XI led by Yuvray Singh versus Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings!
We had expected a lot of sweating and standing, a lot of pushing through crowds, a lot of pain before getting into the stadium. After all, I had been to the India-Sri Lanka match in Goa a few years back, and just getting into the stadium had been a test of endurance and spirit! We were therefore very pleasantly surprised that the Kyazoonga.com counter took less than a min to hand us our tickets after accepting the printout of the online confirmation as proof. There were no crowds. The experience when we reached for the match in the evening was even better. Expecting huge crowds and queues, we had turned up fairly early - even then, inspite of the tight security, finding the right gates and getting inside and finding our seats was as easy as could be!


The atmosphere was electric. Awesome music from SRK's hits and Mumbai's very own lezim beats kept the crowd on their feet throughout the almost two hours before the match began, while the players warmed up on the ground to cheers from the audience.









We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Every ball was applauded and appreciated by the very knowledgeable and sportive crowd. There was a lot of good humour going around, mexican waves, chants, and lots of singing and dancing. The cheerleaders added beautiful color and rhythm and excitement to the atmosphere - probably one of the best things to happen to cricket! I fail to see why anyone would have problems with them! Their energy simply added so much to the long gaps between overs, and after every boundary and every wicket!


Here, you see Makhaya Ntini starting to bowl to Yuvraj Singh. We also saw Pathan's swing bowling, Murali's guile, Gony, Balaji and Piyush, Romesh Pawar's bowling as also his lusty hitting towards the end of the Punjab innings, Dhoni's captaincy, Sreesanth's little spat with Yuvraj, and lots of other exciting players!






The match itself wasn't so exciting - Punjab folded easily for just over 100, and Chennai lost just one wicket before over-hauling the total with a few overs to go. However, the experience will last a life time. The beautiful oval under lights under the dark Mumbai sky, the colorful flannel pyjamas, the white ball, the beautiful, beautiful sound of willow hitting the ball, the sixes sailing over the ropes, the fielders diving and applauding, the crowds chanting, the cheer leaders, the music... every single moment as soaked and enjoyed to the fullest. It was just so surreal.

As as Chennai hit the final runs and the cheerleaders and players ran onto the field to celebrate the victory, I am sure every one of the 50000 odd spectators in the stands felt a little sad that the evening had finally come to an end.

PS: Sorry about the low pic quality - cameras weren't allowed in the stadium, and I had to rely on my cell phone to capture these moments

IPL Flash - Rajasthan Have Won!

In a nail biting finish worthy of the tournament, Tanvir hit the winning runs for Rajasthan Royals off the last ball to win the DLF IPL beating Chennai Super Kings a few seconds back... and while Warne's blue boys jumped and celebrated (with our very own Goan Swapnil Asnodkar having played his part too), it was awesome to see Dhoni's men getting into a huddle, reinforcing the team's unity and belief in themselves inspite of the close defeat... very nice!

It has been a real awesome 40 days or so... and millions of Indians will terribly miss the 7.00 pm blockbuster from tomorrow!

Mumbai's Beautiful People

I have always loved Mumbai for it's energy and spirit, and also for it's never say die attitude and the beautiful people. We had ample opportunities to soak into this lovely city's warmth during our trip this weekend. Oh, and do watch out for the next couple blogs for more on this :)

We were on Marine Drive at 12 midnight. We needed to go to Prabhadevi, where we were put up for the night, and five of us stranded without a vehicle. Taxis were waiting for the bigger bucks, from the thousands of cricket enthusiasts streaming out of Wankhede and headed into the suburbs. We were hungry and tired. In any other city, this would be a very unenviable position to be in!

Not in Mumbai. We check with a taxi, who refuses since there are 5 of us and he is allowed to carry only 4... so we take off walking, searching for other taxis, but in vain. Just then the same taxi pulls up... he requests 4 to go into the back seat, so that it gets a little more difficult for any watchful police officer to spot us. He also checks to see if we have our match tickets - says, just in case we get caught, this might make the police be a little lenient. Else, of course, it's a big fine and maybe 3 months of licence suspension for him.

We are hungry, and he offers to stop by at Haji Ali while we eat. Do make it fast, he urges, he needs to go all the way to Malad. We decide not to stop on the way, and ask him to drop us home - he assures us we'll definitely get food, after all this is a Saturday night in Mumbai. He says it's better we go to our area and then look around, since it's well past midnight and we might have problem getting back after food. After all, we seem to be new to the area...

When we get down, he doesn't ask for anything extra - though I tip him another 30 bucks - nothing compared to what he did for us.

We get down, and find a hotel well into closing, and ready to down shutters. However, without a murmur, they give us all the soft drinks and water we need. Patiently listening to our conflicting and varying demands.

Next, we walk the girls to the flat and Rakesh and I catch another taxi. We need food we tell him. He takes us to a joint - it's well past 1.00 am now - yet the energy in that place is amazing. We get our parcel within mins, and get back home in the same taxi... patiently waiting for us to come back.

Not to mention all the people we ask for directions, cars asking us to follow them. Policemen stepping into traffic, letting people cross. Cars stopping by to let you pass.

Love you, Mumbai!

Quote for the Day

No regrets and never satisfied. Shane Warne.

Picnic to Ozran

All of us kids from the Bhobe and Sardesai clans went on a picnic this Sunday. And being in Goa - my 4th successive weekend :) - it was only natural that we went to the beach. Ozran is also called Little Anjuna - and is a small, beautiful beach not really on the main tourist trail. Here are some snaps from the awesome day out...



A set of beautiful bamboo cottages on the cliff greet you as you reach Ozran. This is where we set up base camp.





Clear blue waters of the Arabian beyond the small horse-shoe beach. This is the view from every cottage on the cliff.





Beautiful sit-outs dot the small staircase carved in the rock, going down to the beach.





Sanam enjoys the waves - this is one of the safer beaches, though the currents are just as bad. Thankfully, Papa is a good swimmer!








After a good bath in the sea, all set for lunch! And the clothes? Well, being sun-burnt is not a pleasant experience!










The carving of Shiva and the Naag is a pretty interesting addition to the scenery!




Lunch at Britto's was the perfect way to satisfy the hunger pangs. The crab-stuffed prawns are an absolute must!






The picnic continues after a brief siesta at home. Here Madhavi and Sanam prepare to conquer the waves in their water scooter...




And if that was not enough, here Deepa and Mads prepare to take to the skies! Para-gliding is another of those must-do things when in Goa! It's safe, and oh, the experience - unbelievable (at least that's what they told us poor ground-based souls)



And finally, as the dark clouds promise an exciting monsoon ahead, we call it a day - and return home - to another sumptious dinner!

Simian Attack!

Caught a large family of these simian creatures calmly sitting by the side of a busy road in the heart of Pune, calmly watching the world go by!

Where Their Heart Is - Clarion Park

The Westside Plus supplement of the Times of India ran a beautiful piece on Clarion Park today - describing it as an example in cosmopolitan living, where people with diverse religious beliefs live in perfect harmony :)


Yes, we do have a beautiful society! Here's a snap of the article - the picture is taken from our building.


And here are some excerpts from the article...

Forget noise pollution, once inside the huge premises of the well-planned colony, you are cut off from vehicular traffic. Add to this an architectural plan that allows easy mingling of people. A yoga class for women, swimming coaching, a proper gym and a walking track make the society a complete residential society. With cultural activities going on throughout the year, residents have great fun and frolic. All major national and religious festivals are celebrated.


On the flip side, however, is the growing number of cars... Aaah, there's my personal contribution! :)


Interestingly, yesterday we completed 7 years at Clarion!

BBQ Time

We had a pretty awesome BBQ session last Sunday - here are some delicious kebabs and a bit of paneer getting ready for our taste buds...






Too many cooks (and a dog) never spoilt a BBQ!





Back stage - where all the hard work got done courtesy the bahus of the Bhobe khandaan :)

Visit to Reismagos Fort

Sanam and I visited the out-of-bounds Reismagos fort last Saturday with Yogesh, who is now doing a renovation project inside the fort. This fort was built by the Portuguese when they first landed in Goa more than 4 centuries back. It served as a jail for quite some time, before it was decommissioned. The government tied with converting it into a heritage hotel, before the plan was dropped. It is now being developed as a heritage and arts complex.

Campal corner with the Mandovi flowing out to the Arabian sea. Check the twin Mandovi bridges in the background, and the new 3-storey casino anchored off the shore.

One of the dozen odd canons keeping vigil at Reismagos Fort

The horse-shoe shaped Miramar beach

Reismagos coastline with Aguada lighthouse in the background

The beautiful foliage on the fort's slopes

An Evening in Reismagos...

Getting chased by a pretty large turkey on the way to the beach....








...A dip in the water with Sweetie














And finally, sitting on the rocks, watching the sun go down....

Quote for the Day

Obsession is a great thing when you get what you want. Otherwise, it's just called madness.

Blogging in the Bus!

It's 9.00 pm, I am in berth 2-3L in the new AC sleeper bus from Amrutyog, on it's first trip - and here's my first blog from the bus.. courtesy Tata Indicom's wireless data card :) Isn't it cool?

Sadly, it's the end of my vacation, and as you can see, the laptop, the Internet and all the evils of modern society are back to haunt me....

lol...

Movie Review: The Forbidden Kingdom

Jet Li + Jackie Chan + Cute Chinese Dame - Sensible Story = The Forbidden Kingdom

As long as you are prepared to leave your analysis and rationale thinking behind, this movie is a treat for kung fu lovers, and lovers of nonsensical story telling with some great vistas to add to the senses' delight!

Don't think much - get yourself some Pepsi and popcorn, slink into the seats, get lulled by the AC on a hot summer afternoon - and enjoy the action!

Movie Review: BhoothNath

Confused Nath. That would have been a more appropriate name for the two hour torture. I mean, what were you trying to do Mr. Director? Take a junky piece of story about ghosts and their mukti through shraddha, add a kid to it and sell it to the kids, then throw in some "not taking care of buddhe maa-baap" drama and sell it to the parents? Yes, you got SRK to do a cameo, and I admit he looks drop dead gorgeous, and you got some great shots in Goa - but why would I pay 200 bucks and 2 hours for that?

And by passing it up as a kid movie, what are you trying to teach them? That people die and become ghosts until they are muktified through a shraddha? I mean, hello... what are the damn censors doing allowing stuff like this to be passed on? Bikinis and kisses do no harm to kids these days, it's nonsense like this!

Parents, take my word for it - you are better off without exposing your kids to this Nath. And the rest of you, well, all I can say is I warned you!

Retirement...

This vacation has been an awesome break for me so far - because I have done nothing. A typical day has involved waking up at 10, having a good breakfast and tea with the morning newspapers (including the recently launched Goa edition of the Times of India), and then a long, long morning and afternoon doing NOTHING. Can you imagine just sitting around, with not a care in the world? No invoices to raise, no proposals to make, no resources to allocate, no targets to achieve, no calls to answer, no bills to pay... nothing but NOTHING!

And then catching up with the beaches and the fishes in the evening, sometimes the crab dry fry, a little ice cream and black berries...

Aaah, if this is what retirement is going to be about... I am planning for it in right earnest!

Nothing Else to Say...

Except that, tournament abhi baaki hai mere dost! Haarker jeetne waaloan ko Knight Riders kehete hai!

The Beauty of IPL..

...is that Shoiab Akhtar gets Vierendra Sehwag and Gautam Ganbhir, and I am dancing in joy :)

KKR strikes a double blow to Delhi Daredevils!

Surfing in Goa

I am in the middle of my 10 day sanyaas in Goa - and couldn't really take the disconnection too much longer. So I got myself a cool Tata Indicom Data Modem, and lo and behold, a 2 min install later, I was on!

Welcome to the wireless world in the middle of paradise! Aaah, this is life...

KKR's 3rd Win

KKR broke their 4 match losing streak after an awesome start in the IPL with their 3rd win at Eden Gardens over Dravid's Bangalore Royal Challengers today, powered by a match winning 3 overs for 7 runs with 1 wicket by Dada (he got Dravid clean bowled :))

The IPL is now at the half way stage, and while KKR are not in the top 4 yet, there's a long way to go, and who knows, this performance might be what KKR needed to resume their march!

Knight Riders March On

SRK's Dada-led KKR continued the winning form at the IPL, beating Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers in an exciting, very tight, low scoring match at Eden Gardens. DC won the toss and elected to bad on a monster of a wicket, doing well to get 110, and then started tightening the screws on KKR right away, reducing them to 23/3 and just about 30 odd in 10 overs. Dada and D Hussey then put all their experience and maturity to the test, taking KKR into the final overs, before a late charge in the penultimate over saw KKR pull it off.

There was an interesting break in the 17th over when one of the pylons simply went off, plunging the stadium into a bit of darkness and a lot of uncertainity - at that time, the scores were tied by the D/L system, and had the lights not come back on, we would have been treated to a bowl-out! :)

KKR have now won 2 out of 2, and though there is still a lot of cricket left in the tournament, they certainly look set to Korbo Lorbo Jetbo Re :)

Interestingly, there were around 70,000 spectators in the park - easily beating audiences for most international games! Any way you look at it, the IPL really, truly rocks!

Movie Review: Krazzy 4

Krzaay 4 is about 4 mental patients out of the hospital, taking on corruption and wickedness with their simplicity and innocence, while trying to save their kidnapped doctor (Juhi). The story is OK, with some shades of fun, but with a cast that included Irrfan and Arshad, the movie really disappoints and fails to deliver.

EXCEPT, of course, for the SRK Krazzy 4 song - it was totally, totally worth it :) SRK is too, too sexy, and the sheer energy in the song - man, it would make a dead man jump out of bed!

The Hrithik number at the end of the movie is OK, would probably be a treat for his true fans.

Oh, and yes, a final tip - stay away from the Rakhi Sawant song - unless you want to be celibate for the next few months....

I Love IPL!

As the IPL kicked off this week, there were a lot of questions asked, and a lot of naysayers who predicted the death of cricket and the commercialization of what was once a gentlemen's game. Corruption and commercializatin apart, questions were also asked about whether such a concept even makes sense - it had always been about supporting the country, how would we identify with teams composed of former rivals in international cricket? And what would SRK and Preity Zinta do, other than reduce the game to a circus?

Just two days into the tournament, I have become a huge fan!

The games have been of the highest quality, cricket has been at the centerstage, the entertainment of the highest order. Money has been spent well in sprucing up the stadiums, and the facilities, meeting the best international standards. Crowds have been pouring in, the atmosphere electric.

And think about it - where else would you be able to see Zaheer bowling to Dada, Ishant sending Dravid's stump cartwheeling? Where else would you be able to enjoy Brett Lee being taken on by Hayden? Yuraj hugging Lee, Dada congratulating Ponting for a catch well taken? And the rule that a team can play at most 4 foreign players has also ensured that there is plenty of junior Indian talent in action - this is absolutely the best that could have happened to Indian cricket. Imagine getting a chance to face Zaheer and Brett Lee and Murlidharan and Shane Warne, all in a 45 day period? Pitting your bowling against Symonds, Sachin, Dada, Hussey, Afridi?

Well, I do hope IPL doesn't kill international cricket as we know it, but then, it wouldn't be SUCH a big price to pay :)

The Grand Spectacle - IPL Kicks Off!

The DLF Indian Premier League T20 spectacle kicked off in super grand style today, with a shock-and-awe inspiring opening ceremony in Bangalore. Lasers and lights, gymnasts descending from wires strung across the stadium, blazing fireworks, cheer leaders, and the roars of the crowds - the IPL seemed to be announcing to the world, the modern India has arrived!


At the time of writing this, SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Dada, were on 77-1 in 9 overs.

Postscript: KKR went on to make 222, powered by a record unbeaten 158 from 73 from McCullum, before bowling out the Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Dravid for a huge 140 run victory, to start the campaign in style.

Movie Review: Shaurya

Ripped off from "A Few Good Men", Shaurya is the story of an Indian Army officer under court martial for the murder of his superior during a anti-terrorist raid. Unfortunately, it falls flat when compared to the drama and the intensity in the original. Rahul Bose is good, Minissha Lamba is awesome and very pretty.

The movie was a disappointment to me, but I guess if you haven't watched the original - you might actually like it!

Movie Review: The Eyes

Jessica Alba. Awesome. That's all there is to the eyes - the rest is boring and nonsense. But Jessica Alba, oh, so completely worth it :)

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na

Watching KHKN for the last couple of hours - and the movie has transported me into that beautiful innocent age of the early nineties in Goa - times when we didn't have cell phones and Internet and GTalk, no targets and projections, no customer calls. When key decisions included what to wear to college, and which lecture to bunk and what to have in the canteen. When dreams weren't as big, and achievements were small, but happiness was from deep within. When tears were few but precious, when smiles were genuine and frequent.

The movie captures everything so beautifully. The innocence of the characters, the feelings, the problems. The lovely countryside. The simple songs, the simple story.

Everything was so less complicated.

I want those days back...

Bringing out the Best

Too many times, we spend efforts and time working on what's wrong and try and improve it, make it better. Especially in relationships, also at work. Last few days have opened my mind to two things I heard in the past, but didn't pay too much attention to... but feels like it has a lot of meaning today!

Firstly, admit it - what is wrong today, will in most probability, remain that way. A friend's nature, behaviour, a colleague's skills. Water scarcity, pollution, traffic. If at all, it'll probably get worse. Accept it, and then start working on how to make the best of the situation. Most of the times, we refuse to accept it. Or we tend to believe all we need to do is want, and things will improve. Sorry boss, it most probably will stay that way!

Secondly, instead of wasting time improving what's weak or creating what is not there, spend that energy on strenghening what is right. What is good, what is positive.

We spend too much effort trying to make leaders out of good programmers who cannot take decisions or speak out! We try asking them to conduct sessions, ask them to try and manage customer calls. When friends do not speak to us when they are down, we try asking them to be less introverted and to share their problems with us. And we just screw up.

Let's look at what works. And let's make that stronger. That should take enough time and effort, and will definitely have a much higher impact! And life's short anyway...

Contradictions

Have you ever noticed how people change what they say so that it doesn't contradict what they do?

:)

Doing my MBA

Well, not exactly, but I was so excited about some of the stuff we learnt in our in-house management program at Persistent, that I borrowed some of the cool management books from a who just finished her MBA, and plan to finish devouring them over the next few... well, months?

Organizational behaviour and design, managerial economics, strategic human resource management, marketing management.. the list goes on!

One thing that struck me while going through some of the early chapters is that management is an art packaged as a science! Case studies play such a key role in every subject - they teach you so much, yet, there are no real rules in management! What works for one may not work for the other - in fact, it can have the perfectly opposite effect!

So keep a close watch on my other blog, there should be some interesting learnings from my MBA program coming up there! :)

PJ

Why do I like Holi?
Because it's a Holiday :) lol

Wild Nature!

Ever thought only man was capable of horrendous crimes? Well, listen to this...

There's a type of beetle in the Amazonian rain forest that stings the giant tarantula spider with a paralyzing poison, and then drags the immobile but live victim to it's den where it lays an egg on top of the spider. The spider can live this way for days, until the grub hatches and then starts living off the spider's body fluids, sucking carefully to make sure that the vital organs are not damaged, ensuring the poor victim lives on as long as possible while the beetle slowly sucks it's fluids and then its life out!

Oh, and in case you didn't know it, this is approved by God!

Wanna lose weight?

Drive a Formula One car in a Grand Prix. A Formula One racer loses an average of 2 kgs during every race!

Silver Lining

With every cloud, there is a silver lining. In every disaster, there are examples of hope and survival. In the worst days of your life, you will figure out who your true friends are. Truly, with every cloud, there is a silver lining.

Movie Review: Race

Race is about two brothers, the brilliant and dashingly handsome Saif and the boring, same-as-before Akshaye Khanna, Saif's hot and sexy secretary Katrina Kaif, and his new found girl friend Bipasha Basu, and the double crossings and the triple crossings, a la Wild Things (although a completely different story track), in pursuit of insurance money.

What works against the movie is some really bad editing and terrible screenplay - check the scene at the beginning of the movie when Akshay goes to the hospital to meet his injured brother, and goes out to take a call while Saif goes to the bathroom. It actually gives the plot away, and does it through a horrible piece of editing and screenplay! Or the race scene at the end - why in the world would an excellent driver like Saif continue racing dangerously with his brother just because his brakes have failed? Couldn't he just coast the car to a stop? I mean, hello, what kind of a story is that? The story is also very predictable, actually - I guessed the complete plot, and almost every step before it happened.

Saif looks fantastic, and so does Kat. Well, for most of the time! Akshay and Bipasha are disappointing. Anil Kapoor as the investigating officer, and his dumbette Sameera Reddy is terrible. Johny Lever plays an absolutely hilarious cameo role and generates some real laughs! The action is OK, but just having good looking cars and a lot of loud screeching and screaming doesn't excite me any more. And whatever stunts you do, they need to be realistic, right?

Some of the songs are great - Peheli Nazar and Zara Zara are worth the amount you paid for the ticket. But then, maybe it's be better to just get the Audio CD!

Movie Review: 27 Dresses

Katherine Heigl (remember the beautiful teen daughter in My Father the Hero?) is a devoted secretary whose boss considers her love as her efficiency and dates her sexy younger sister instead. Elder sister gets jealous, breaks the younger one's engagement, finds a lover, breaks off with him and so on and so forth. But, things get all fine in the end. It's the world where there's no crime, and everyone is good at heart, and life's wonderful.

Don't expect much, but if you just want to have a break, this movie can provide you one.

Movie Review: Ocean's Eleven

Caught the superb Ocean's Eleven on TV last night - had an absolutely awesome time. Interestingly, if I had to review the movie, I would say exactly the same things I said in my earlier review of Ocean's 13 :) Georgy Clooney is fantastic, and his chemistry with Brad Pitt, and the very special brand of dialogues and the subtle humour is unmatched!

I must say, though, this isn't a movie you want to take your girl friend to - you cannot two-time!

Hopes and Death

Last evening, once again I heard the flutters in false ceiling of my office - somehow, a pigeon had gotten in through the ducts. After tolerating it for a day, I decided to call in house keeping, and a few mins later, the scared baby pigeon was in our hands.

It didn't feel like it could fly off the fourth floor gallery, so we decided to take it to the ground floor. We let it go, but it just went round and round on the floor, unable to fly. Leaving it there would have made it a nice feast for one of the Persistent cats... so we got it back in a box, and it spent the whole afternoon in my office. I let it free, but instead of walking around, it just rested against the box, switching legs, resting on one and then the other, dozing off.

By 645, I left for home, the pigeon in the box in the back seat. We had a long weekend coming up, and I wanted to take care of it, and let it go once it grew some strength. The vet had suggested it might simply be scared, and a night's rest would be all that it needed.
As soon as I reached home, I took out the pigeon - I hadn't informed Sanam she would have a new pet soon.

The pigeon lay dead in the box.

Best Friend?

Friends are those who stand by you in good times and bad, but when the world turns against you, they ask you, are you guilty? A best friend fights with you every single day, at every possible chance. Becomes unreasonable, demands too much. Calls you names, hates you. But when the world turns against you, your best friend will stand by you - without question.

Quote for the Day

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question. Stephen Jay Gould.

Trust

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

Beautiful Miyou!

Movie Review: Vantage Point

1140 pm for me is the only time I can catch a movie when I am in Goa - there are too many other exciting things to do rest of the time :)

Vantage Point is good movie though, and definitely worth sacrificing some sun and sand for! The story is different, the treatment is fantastic. The action is fast and sleek, and the car chase sequence is one of the very best.

The movie starts with the visuals of an anti-terror summit in a small town in Spain, and the American president is shot while on stage, followed by a deadly bomb attack. We then rewind to the start of the event, as seen from the eyes of the television crew chief. We rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of one of the stars of the movei - a secret service officer. Then we rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of a bystander who catches it on camera. And it goes on.. the same event, from different perspectives. And each time, an interesting new twist, an interesting angle.

Was also an interesting eye opener - not really a new truth, but definitely reinforcing a learning I had pretty early in life. No matter how clear something is to you, there's always a different perspective! After all, it's not about the truth really, it's about which version of the truth you are looking at!

T20 WC, U19 WC and now the CBS!

India beat Australia in the 2nd final in Brisbane today to lift the 3-nation Commonwealth Bank Series, dislodging the Autralians from their throne yet again. And while this young team celebrated their hitoric win, the U-19 team was parading in Bangalore, fresh from the U19 WC victory!

Sachin hit devastating form in the final two matches, hitting an unbeaten century in Sydney and then following it with a stunning 91 in the second final today. And while other batsmen including Gambhir and Rohit proved their mettle, the real punch came from India's super-young pace battery - Ishant Sharma, Pravin Kumar, Pathan and Shreesanth. And remember, we didn't even have Zaheer and RP Singh!

It's been an awesome phase for Indian cricket - and Dhoni's team truly represents the brave, fighting spirit of the new India!

Chak De, India!