The Speaking Oracle....

Flags, Speeches aur Dhoka

2010-08-15T20:32:00.017-04:00

Happy Independence Day to all. And while we are on the subject, let me say that we have had enough of the up-side-down flag incidents. Total Dhoka right before our gullible eyes. Our neighbors *unintentionally* do it. Careless government employees do it. Whatever. It's not that hard. Orange on top, green under. Orange on top, green under. Repeat. (Or, as Mr. Murthy, our 8th std Maths teacher would say, "Repeat me") :-)

I listened to some high profile speeches today. Lots of words, lots of touching upon *important* topics. At least we know that they know that we know that some things are very important to us ordinary folks even though we don't really show that we care. Yes, it's important to us that people don't laugh at the sorry state of the Corrupt Working Games. It's important to us that violence be dealt with. It's important to us that we treat our neighbors "just as" they treat us. Both over and under the table. It's important that we finally get all the infrastructures that we have been promised for a gazillion elections. Yes, it's true - Not just the rural folks, but today even the ultra urban metro folks need Bijlee, Paani, Sadak, and Aspataals. Thank God and yourselves for Kapda and restaurants. Where are those "world class cities", may we ask? And how can we get there?

Yes, everything that is important to us was touched upon. The number of lines each issue got was, let's say, directly proportional to it's TV value.

Very dissapointed. Time for change. But then, what's our choice? Bad or worse? Time to get serious. We need *real* lawmakers. Visionaries. Not pocket maars who are cutting our pockets, and the state coffers and filling their own. Choor Kaheenkay.

And to top it all... guess what the latest news from the parliament was this week... "All parties stand united for one cause". Really? They actually came together and agreed on something? So BSP MPs agreed with Congress who agreed with BJP who agreed with DMK who agreed with AIADMK who agreed with Samajwadi Party who agreed with Trinamool Congress who agreed with Janata Dal? Wow. Must be of national importance. Of course!! A five-fold increase in MP's salaries was of dire national importance. Great going guys.
Long live the 63 year old empire!

Good night.

Live Peep into Peepli Live

2010-08-01T23:58:00.002-04:00

2010 is hot. Many good movies, and many more to come. The awards juries have a tough year on their hands. But as is usual business, there are enough awards to go around for everyone. At least once.

Meanwhile, our local theater is NOT screening Aisha...but they will be screening Peepli Live. I find that rather amusing. Aisha is more generic ff (family friendly/ Female friendly) than the cussing Peepli-L. And while Peepli is hot on my list, I can't seem to convince myself that I'm going to like this one. First off, the genre this movie represents is quite confusing, which makes how-to-react-to-this-one rather a big problem. It's raw comedy, reality style, tongue-in-cheek and veiled velvet glove punches to some major string pullers in our country. Ms Rizvi's use of character actors is refreshing..but I suspect the movie will suffer from a 'Trishanku' effect.. You know stuck between two worlds. To some it is a twist on a hard hitting "reality" of life, while to others it is a comical thing. Some will be emotionally connected to the film, while some only to their popcorn. Some will squirm in their seats realizing the obvious pointed references to themselves, while others will simply not catch every nuance. I am excited to peel off the various layers in the movie... I hope there are enough.

Aisha kya kar daala?

2010-07-27T22:43:00.003-04:00

Looking forward to Aisha and yet, not so looking forward to it.

Looking forward because it comes with a tremendous sense of accomplishment - for a young team. Many firsts, many feats. Looking forward because of the yummy clothes, delish shoes, and ax's throughout the movie. Stylistically very superior. Looking forward because it marks the entry of a very savvy young investor/enterpreneur - Rhea Kapoor. Looking forward because there's no looking back for Anil Kapoor Productions from this point on. Looking forward because Anil Kapoor has a tremendous amount of good karma and infectitious charm. Ofcourse the last one has nothing to do with the movie but it makes it all the more endearing. NOT looking forward to an Abhay Deol. There's only so many times you can see him emote the same way. Not looking forward to a girly girl sugar candy story these days. Since OATIM happened, the mood is for hot and spicy not jalebis. Not looking forward to a "delhi" story. Sorry, but that city is all about Power, Politics and Corruption for me, so the 'finesse' of Delhi and Delhi-ites (especially southern) is so lost on me. Much like colored sprinkles on ice cream. (Yes, I totally hate 'em). After all the hisaab kitaab is done, I think I still need to see this movie. I hope it brings all the charm, panache and the chutzpah. Expect nothing less than a fantastic entertainer. Yes, in spite of Abhay Deol. I just wish Anil Kapoor had a cameo in it. I love seeing his lit up face and baby laugh. (A whole post on him someday).

Meanwhile, while we are on our favorite topic -- Politics.. and the tamasha thereof, must say, the CWG debacle unrolled much faster than even IPL. Heads of pawns have rolled, but they are just that... pawns in the bigger scheme of things. Nothing will change. Pawns will go, new ones will be ready to jump in. With their safari suits, gold chains and leather pouches in hand. And I have to say, this government has gone from bad to worse to worst in record time. Every month we have a new scandal, a new major issue, or the same old violence. Everything is out of hand. I have much respect for Chiddu, but his Ministry has been kept plenty busy and he hasn't even used one opportunity to show us how as Indians, we must stand up and do a better job of internal crises. Set an example. To ourselves. To the world.
Instead, we are putting on display how bad a management company we are. All ministries. We cannot manage prices, we cannot manage Malaria and other epidemics (before they become epis), we cannot manage people's anger, we cannot manage farmers needs, we cannot manage middle class worries, we cannot provide worry-free bribe-free education. We cannot provide air safety, we cannot provide rail safety, we cannot enforce traffic laws and safety, we cannot provide infrastructure, we cannot execute or host a world class sporting event, we cannot convince the world to do what is right for us, we cannot convince our people after 50 years that they are very much us.

Epic Fail.

Agli Local se Aana - Part 2

2010-07-19T22:51:00.006-04:00

(For the earlier episode in this story click here Part 1.)

"Tere Liye...Jhoomu deewana banke Tere liyee...wada hai mein hoon tere liyeeee..." crooned Shruti Kalra's phone. As she tried to silence it, she noticed the name Brijesh flashing on the screen through her partly opened eyes. It was early by her standards. When you go to bed at 5am with enough Vodka inside you to light a thousand laterns in a rural village, anything before 2pm is early. Mom and Dad had given up on her. There were more kids, so the Khaandan was not in jeopardy.
As she rolled to her side, she reluctantly picked up the call. Reluctant because their last meetings were totally worth drowning in tons of Stolichnaya.
"I can't believe it's you. After all this time. I thought you would have killed yourself by now. Most men your age do that these days you know after what you've been subjected to."
"Thanks, but there's no time for pleasantries", Brijesh replied back. "I need your help. Are you up for it?"
"Of course, I am. Always", she replied.
"No, I mean you have to be my friend. Can I count on you?". Now she was awake. Masala cuts Vodka you see.

commercial break... brb

...to be continued...

Can we have some better news, PLEASE

2010-07-13T21:55:00.004-04:00

Or just NEWS for that matter.

So bored of the same old same old "breaking news". It's not even funny. Moving from scandal to scandal can be quite saturating...but when the scandals dry up, then come out the loser news. Breaking news- college girl slaps professor. Breaking news -AK has dinner with SRK . What is wrong with this picture? Do we only care about Bollywood, Politics and Perverts? Hell, yeah for the first two but the media shouldn't. That's the point. (I was wondering where I was going with this.)

And, I have officially given up on Times of India online. What a load of tabloid. There I said it out loud. And their writers...wullah don't even get me started on them. Some of them are under the impression that they're writing blogs. They've forgotten that they are writing for one of the most (has been?) prestigious papers in the country. As a journalist, please do not express your views in the article. Please. There are tons of gossip sites, fashion sites, glamor sites, movie sites, blogs, etc etc etc for these purposes. Plus almost everyone and their grandmother has a blog these days. (me included). News - we have just the news companies. And just a handful of the honest, neutral, non-colored simply reporting types at that. Yes, that's right, we don't want to know what you think about an actress holidaying with her husband, and her in-laws joining them. We would just like the article please...IF it has an iota of reporting value to it. My first year Comm Skills teacher would have had a fit. Her moto (quoting Ms SE): Build a premise for the article that satisfies the core goals of reporting, and then write to the goal. Time to remind the news folks. So Behave!! or Leave. You are now warned. Next time your name will be on the board.

What a disaster, Sirji....

2010-07-05T22:43:00.004-04:00

Life has been such a bore lately. Nothing interesting on TV either. The long rein at the box office is long over. I am so disappointed (and so J) that we wont get to watch Tere Bin here. What wimps. Since I'm not one to watch the movie on a pirated print, I guess I will have to make do and live off of second hand stories about the movie.

Meanwhile, shifting focus to some other films coming up.. Inception, Salt, Aisha, and Once upon a time (which Shobhaa De has been so creatively writing about has piqued my interest.) Inception seems interesting. I hope they didn't mess it up. Salt - at least loved the trailers. Angelina is one fit mommy. Aisha is going to be girlie girlie fun.. if you like that kind of stuff. I do. And Once in a while comes along a movie that both Hubby and I are looking forward to. Once upon a time in Mumbai - can't wait.

Agli local se aana....

2010-07-01T22:19:00.005-04:00

Kal Reema ki shaadi hai. Reema is getting married to a Harvard educated Political Science MBA double gold medallist. Wow. Her life is made. Two nights ago she met Brijesh at the Coffee Day^® at Mindtree to tell him that. Brijesh was not happy to say the least. But he wasn't shocked either. A first. For some time now, he knew that all was not well between him and his college sweetheart Reema. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Everyone else could. The flip flopping, bringing the gal pals along on movie nights, the 'friend' introductions, were signs to some. They whispered in the girls locker. And then word got around to the boys locker. But Brijesh wouldn't hear one word of it. And no fist fights for this hero. He was the much adored, much loved, much sought-after, much witty, quintessential everyone's buddy type of guy. So can this happen to a him?
He snapped out of it. She gulped down the remaining coffee, and said good bye. No emotions there that day. She didn't even throw away her cup. Spoilt girl. As she left for her bridal shopping with the in-laws, Brijesh noticed something. Scribbled on the cup were four words - Agli local se aana. In her handwriting.
"Reems...", he shouted. Too late. She had gone too far already. As Brijesh sat there staring at the cup...

...to be continued..

I hate LUV storys : It's not a love story.....

2010-06-30T23:32:00.015-04:00

...its a saga.

I've been waiting eagerly for this day for the last few months...ever since the first promos of this movie showed up. If the previews are so lovable, how cute is the movie going to be? Will the movie do justice to the sky high expectations of discerning, intelligent, no-nonsense movie goers of today? Well, yes and no. For starters, we were the only people in the entire theater today for the evening show. But that's because it released in the middle of the week here in the United States. And, let's face it....it doesn't have quite the cult following that Twilight does. As we contemplate marketing strategies *finally* a group of four girl friends walked in. Then a mother-daughter couple. Then a single guy. Wow, talk about diversity.

Back to the saga at hand:

While this is your formulaic NRI family crowd movie from a 40,000 ft view, it is a quintessentially modern take on love these days. It's an offspring of DDLJ and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, if you will. But a well groomed offspring . Bears all the hallmarks of a KJo Production.

Also, it comes in layers. I love a movie that has several layers woven in. And several subtle 1-2 punches mind you. But you have to look for some... ain't obvious....like starlets sporting MM sarees on premiere nights...acute references and back hand services to other director's works :-). Others are more obvious. Won't disclose more. You find em.

Then there's your evergreen reinvented next generation Raj and Simran, and a teesra. I would have much preferred a Kuljeet in the story. While it starts off as a typical DDLJ take-off with the same happy-go-lucky boy meets engaged-girl routine, Punit Malhotra has some neat twists up his sleeve. His writing is good. Some of the dialogues are truly iconic. and fresh. They will come home with you long after you have left the theater. I just wish there wasn't so much emotional ping-pong going on. She loves him, but he doesn't love her, then he loves her, but she doesn't want to go back there, then he doesn't, then she does, and then he does - coz Maa said so. Whatever. Could have skipped one iteration.

Oh, and by the way, LOVED the T-shirts. Go get yourself some. I believe the IHLS merchandise is available for sale in India. *envy*. If there is anything to hate, it's probably the excessive brand placement throughout the movie.

About the Cast:

Imran and Sonam certainly look good together. Imran fits his character like a hand in a well fitting cashmere glove. Sonam surprises with her infectious smiles and her charming acting. She certainly does her character justice. Simran (yes, that's her name) comes off as a very lovable confused girl. Very lovable. She shows us bubbly, dreamy, confused, morose with utmost dexterity. Kavin Dave's comic timing is impeccable. Impeccable. Perhaps the best in the movie. A jewel in the making. The rest of the star cast looks like they were picked up at auditions held outside Ekta Kapoor's studios. Totally TV land.

While Pooja Ghai seems to fit into her role reasonably, Aamir Ali looks like a misfit. Surely his acting could have been better than that. And yes, he always has that wide-eyed expression. Anju Mahendru was wasted away. Ketaki Dave spares us the usual gujju Daksa Ben loudness and shows us she can do better if the director will allow her. Her unusally muted performance is admirable and a great refresher. (Probably for her as well.) She even emotes with her eyes. And while Samir Soni looked like he was hamming in his opening sequences, he seemed to melt into his character's mould pretty nicely as the movie went along. He grows on you. Sameer Dattani 's (however you want to spell it) character was cute, but he can't seem to emotionally connect with the audience (which in my opinion is good for this story.) Imran Khan steals the show out and out - just like he did in Jaane Tu... He imbibes the character of J so well, that you just can't feel anything for any other guy the whole 2 hrs 15 minutes you are in there.You're totally on HIS side.

Go watch it. It's a keeper. If you loved DDLJ, and you loved Jaane Tu....then you will love this baby. After all, it's all about loving the parents!

I heart LUV Storys!!

2010-06-27T23:58:00.032-04:00

I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but since the movie is almost going to be out shortly... I thought it's high time now, or never.

How cooool, and superrrrr cute is this movie going to be?? Sonam and Imran feel right, look great, and seem to be saying all the right things!! I can't wait!

It's got everything a girl like me would fall for....super cute hero, swiss alps, many many signature-SRK scenes (a separate post on that later), uber glam Maa, Kajol scenes, some SRK poses, and the 'famed' lakes and bridges that once upon a time became part of my dreams too...dreams of finding that Andekha Anjana someone somewhere made for me! Sighhhh. I found him. But what can I say, I'm a sucker for good marketing, and romance. And if it's a well marketed romance, to kya baat hai.

Waise, KJo's got a good track record with romance, and comedy. And both together. Plus, the guy can laugh at himself! Gotta love him for that.

So the countdown begins. I just wish they wouldn't keep changing the purported release date for this movie. It's getting me all worked up.

So, see you at the movies this ~~Friday~~ ^Wednesday finally(I think). You get the coke and popcorn, I'll get the SRK dialogues! (wait, KJo's bringing that, so I'll just get the free ride.)

P.S: I know, I need to get a new phone. It's on the list. I'll get to it. Tomorrow.

And that's how an action thriller is made !

2010-06-25T11:20:00.005-04:00

The difference is Knight and Day! Hrithik Roshan, and Papa Roshan to note. A good piece of cinema - healthy and non-distracting mix of comedy, action and thrill is so hard to come by these days it seems. And yes, the movie had some excellent scenery, but it only supplemented the storyline... as opposed to being the story line (Mani Ratnam to note).

Oh, and to give credit where credit is due, I just heard yesterday that Cameron Diaz did some of her own stunts ...especially loved the 180-degree car turns. That is some talent. One of these days I am going to get into that old rusty Altima of mine and crank her up. *fingers crossed* Meanwhile Tom Cruise was Tom Cruise...nothing new...his typical I-am-so-cool-and-all that act continues as usual. But he fit the bill, and did a good job. Of course, the story so meaty that anyone could have probably done his role ...*cough* *Matt Damon*.
In the end, paisa wasool. Definitely worth your time.Check it out.

Countdown 00

2010-06-21T23:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome "the first day of summer!!"

Our day was Longgggg!! (pun intended). Got so much stuff squared away. Good stuff worth remembering -- like finally buying my own domain. Much much overdue. So now begins the task of designing the website. Ideas most welcome!!

Keeping it short!

Favorite day coming up tomorrow!!!

2010-06-20T13:32:00.002-04:00

Solstice Alert.

And one of these days, I am going to fix the silly God-forsaken formatting.

A disaster of epic proportions.

2010-06-19T07:46:00.005-04:00

It's probably not fair to either - comparing movies helmed by two talented but orthogonally tilting directors. However, as I said before, this is not your weekly movie review. This is about adapting an epic to modern times.

Exhibit A: Raajneeti

Prakash Jha's storytelling is crisp, and fast (fast being the operative word.) He focuses on the story at large, dwells on character development, and in the end delivers hair raising performances from every character in the story. You can attribute this to either Jha's extraordinary ability to extract performances from his actors, or his uncanny ability to pick the most capable people to deliver powerhouse performances. Your pick. But in the end, there is not a moment of idle time in the theater, no yawns, no restless leg syndrome, no crying kids. Paisa wasool.

Exhibit B: Raavan

A talented director gone Ram Gopal Varma's (Ugh...I mean Aag) way. Too many changes after shooting has begun, caused such a loosely knitted fabric that the audience falls through it. Throughout the movie, you get the feeling that you are watching the scene, but not seeing the story. You are seeing the act, but not feeling the emotion. Even when you are on an impossible bridge (and the camera ensures that you get the best awe inspring view like no other) you can't feel your self at the edge of your seat. Probably because you aren't. You're actually slumped back ....yearning hopelessly for it to get better.

Endless screaming, and in your face loudness does not mean a thing if it does not connect with your audience. Mr and Mrs AB Jr to note. Much more emotion can be evoked from your audience in much subtle a manner as Mr AB Sr has often showed us. (When he was probably as old as Jr is right now. So, comparing apples to apples)

Here is an example. Raajneeti vs. Raavan. When Jha's Kunti (I forget her name, sorry) in the moment kisses Shah, did you feel the embarrassment he felt for a microsecond before his emotions sweep him away? I did. Aishwarya has a 'moment' of confusion - but it came and went like a cold cucumber. Felt nothing.

Here is another major difference. Perhaps, the most crucial one. Jha's movie has something for everyone - the intellectual discerning viewer, the urban-trying-to-connect-with-mythology viewer, the traditional movie goer, the less urban viewer, the unititated viewer, the critic and the complete dodo head. Throughout Raajneeti, your brain is trying to catch up (or race ahead...YMMV) and you eagerly absorb the subtleties Jha provides at many levels. For example, depending on your type you can "get it" from the get go right when Nana's character was introduced as "Brij Gopal" that he was the 'sutradhar Krishna' of the epic. Otherwise as the story moves along, again ymmv, it becomes obvious at some point sooner or later. Mani on the other hand, expects his audience to have zero intellect, and leaves nothing to guess work. For example, Govinda is introduced as Sanjeevani Kumar, and THEN he starts jumping around from branch to branch on trees for a whole 2 minutes until you get the point he's hanuman! How cheesy. And rude. Please give us more credit than that. Priyamani aka surpankha is actually held by the nose and dragged to get us to click --"oh, oh, surpankha!!" Wow. I didn't get it when she was introduced as Raavan's sister.

Songs. Jha decided that his story telling didn't need them, while Mani decided he needs one every 5 minutes in the first half...and some more in the second. While I won't criticize a 'design choice', I can certainly tell you that Mani's story telling suffered due to this choice. Graphic violence interspersed with the violence perpetrators breaking out into fluid moves with all and sundry in tow does not help the story line one bit. BUT it's Bollywood, and we accept that. So it's okay. But sometimes, depending on the genre, you can actually do away with it, for the better. We've seen quite a few good movies lately that have done that - and well.

Background scores were great in both, and certainly added to the experience. Mani's ending had a nice twist, and I appreciated that. Jha's was a bit too centered on the physical plane. I would have much preferred if he had kept the final Mahabharat yudh to the mental strategies plane and 'decommissioned' each player strategically rather than physically. But again, personal vision.

Between focusing on the camera angles and vivid cinematography and brand name actors, Mani lost focus of the single most important thing in his golden recipe - the story telling.

In end, I think the original recipes were great story material. One decided to use the right ingredients in just the right proportions and churned out a well baked, flavorful product in sync with modern times, and the other decided that the ingredients were more important than their measured proportions, the technique was more important than the recipe and churned out a passable creation that won't have many takers.

No left overs for me, please.

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

Oops. Sorry for the long ~~torture~~ post.

Some Friday F&F

2010-06-17T22:17:00.011-04:00

Clearly, our local (American) movie theater has decided to go Indie. First I thought - this must be a one off thing, you know, for the Hollywood release of Kites...but four week_{_{_{_{_^}}}}^{^end}s and three Hindi movies later, time to call it a neo-tradition, shall we? Someone has spotted a business niche. But who are we to complain? The move has significantly reduced our Hindi movie commute (yes, we used to do it diligently. And yes, sleazy-uncle-who-thinks-he's-Aamir-Khan will miss our business. But, he will survive. More about him some other day.)

I wasn't planning on watching Raavan first day, but I have to say- the hype, the overused-and-everywhere visuals, the incessant and unending interviews, countless "makings videos", and 'personal' invites from Abhishek Bachchan in every social media format have kind of made me curious. Yes, I am a sucker for marketing. Good marketing, and over marketing. Both get to me. It's a different thing that Raavan falls into the latter. Have been hearing about it since 2007... don't want to hear any more. Too bad. I don't think they needed it. (Maybe they do....only one way to find out!)

Jokes apart the real reason is this. I watched Raajneeti first day when it released...before reading any reviews. And I thought it was 'brilliant-minus-one-star'. So, to be fair, I want to watch Raavan first day, and before any gossip hits my ears. (But Raavan is still way over marketed than Raajneeti was.) ...and I'm not going to do movie reviews - that's not my job. Movie reviewers are dime a dozen, and some of them who know their craft do a pretty damn good job of it. So, what I'm going to do tomorrow is an au contraire of ~~Ramayan vs Mahabharat,~~ err, I mean Raavan vs. Raajneeti - Adapting to the 21st century.

So Beera, it's a date, then!

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

Oh, and before I forget, (which I will..) don't forget to catch the special episode "We, the Tweeple" on NDTV with BD. I have it set on DVR. Do u?

Things to do - Master List

2010-06-14T14:50:00.001-04:00

Tick tock tick.

I'm at the point where I can say -- with high assurance -- that I think I've heard it all.

The biological clock is ticking.
I'm not getting any younger.
All of my friends (except two, but who's counting) are parents of multiple delicate ones.
If I take too long, I won't have strength to play with them, or stay up waiting when they're out late.
I'll look like their grand parent. And People will ask.
Having them will make a responsible person out of me. (Whoever came up with that one sure doesn't know me!)
.......

You get the drift. So, time to do some serious thinking. As the 'well wishers' have been saying, "It's now or never". As VJ says, "Take one week to decide." One week??? It's a life altering decision. My life altering decision. One false move, and life will never ever ever be the same again. *MY LIFE*. And then there's the pact. Needs perfect timing.

So, while the oven is still in warranty, we need to do some serious baking. It's old-er, but smoking good for the money. It's had its day in the sun, now needs to cater to the family wishlist. So, what'll it be? Some nice well baked cupcakes, or brownies? Or both? Hey, it's a wish list.

But before we get to all that baking shaking (no pun intended), let's revisit the life altering part. So before I give up everything that I've enjoyed, all that I've known, done and been, I thought I would make a Things to do list. Things to do before the baked goodies arrive. Or rather, to be precise, things to do before we start baking. And no, I don't mean gather the ingredients!!

Things to do:
==========
Start blogging again.
Visit 7 countries
Get on Facebook, twitter, etc (Yeah, one of these days!)
De-clutter the closet
Grow my nails
Get my own domain
Finish writing 'the story'
Learn gardening - enough with killing plants already
Get fit (Oh, Boy!)
Learn Digital Photography (tricks at least)
Get a new smart phone (not iPhone, sorry DH)
Travel the 50 states
Visit the northern-most, southern-most, and western-most tips of the country.
Why should the east be left behind? Visit the eastern-most tip twice.
Adopt a village
Eat shrimp without Benedryl (and live to blog about it)
Eat escargots
Drink 12 cups of water daily
Attend a movie premiere
Watch the midnight release show of a movie
Buy Jimmy Choos
paint the bedroom
Meet Karan Johar

Sighhh.... Miles to go before we bake.... Miles to go before we bake.

Come hungry, leave happy.

2010-06-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

Last night, the deer ate my roses. Again. This is the thirteenth time they have done that this year. And I am mad. Am I mad because I've tried everything available in the market short of a shotgun, and failed? Am I mad because I've stayed up late watching for them, and yet they managed to sneak up and do their munching the final two hours before dawn when I slept. Am I mad because I know I can't do a thing about it? All of the above.

To hey bhagwaaan, ab mein kya karoon? Bhagwaan ke liye unhe chhod doon? Unke bachche mujhe duaa denge? Whatever.

I can't take it any longer. I am going to do the unthinkable.

YUP. That's right.

I'm going to build a fence.

The Oracle awakens....

2010-06-10T23:13:00.007-04:00

So its been a long slumber. Much has happened. Much has not. Solstice is 11 days away. Time to reactivate. The high priestess is in the mood again.

Game on.

The clue! The Prize!

2007-11-16T13:31:00.001-05:00

Jayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,

BRAVO!! KUDOS!! ATABOY!! O-SUM!! WAH WAH!! SHAABASH OYE !! U-DUH-MAN !! U-DUH_PUTTAR!!

...and now for your million dollar prize..... ...the same pic that launched a thousand comments....

I give to you...... (With Best Wishes).....

(circa Baazigar)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previously:

Okay, this clue doesnt deserve a separate post... but....we will debate that later...

'She' has a sister also in Bollywood, and these are her eyes:

(I know, I know, sister needs to be nicer and share her beautician with elder sister)

Now, any takers?

The Simply tough Life

2007-11-02T02:35:00.000-04:00

It's the usual thing.. .I have no excuses but to blame my absence on my busy life.

All this while I kept thinking a couple of weeks of not blogging is not going to kill me... but as I came upon this familiar page, tongue-in-cheek, I see that it has actually been, oh...one week shy of two months! I'm sure you all don't even care which mammal the picture in the earlier post is of anymore.

So without further delay, I give you... the Slender Loris! These mammals have the perfect life. They sleep all through the day, and are awake the whole night (kind of like what Im doing right now.. just the night part, that is). Hence the night vision endowment. Not me, I'm talking about the Loris. Who wouldnt want to sleep the whole day? I know I would. Sometimes I think, weren't we better off when we were monkeys? No SATs, no GREs, no GPAs, no deadlines, no Windows Vista, .... only good food and good sleep. Hmmm....Me like.

So I'm not going to make us feel all J about Mr. Soda glass. Instead, we will just curse life in the 21st century, and move on to a more interesting topic. My favorite topic: Bollywood. We'll actually that will be the next topic. And here is the trailer to the next topic:

These eyes belong to a very famous Bollywood actress. Any guesses?

Picking up from where we left off.

2007-09-09T12:14:00.000-04:00

Okay, so the vacation is over. The days of sun soaking, cocktail sipping, sunscreen spraying (yes spraying) and doing nothing are really over.

Life sucks.

For some, life is a vacation. Yes, Im taking about your lives SB, RN, and NK! For others (like me, at least at this point in time) there are only two phases in life. The all-about-work phase, and the when-I'm-not-doing-work phase. So this post is to celebrate the well balanced folks who have superb time management skills and seem to have time for everthing. I drink to u!

Pic of the day:

Is it an ape? Is it a fox? Is it a wingless bat or a confused cat? Name that animal!

(You've gotta love that expression!)

Last time's pic:

Looks like the game is getting interesting now. KSK, JM, PP... things are getting warmer..pretty quick. Think more eastern, and little more ancient. :-)

The script is called Kharoshti, and was the official script of Gandhar (modern day eastern Afghanisthan.. remember Taxila and Peshawar, gandhar prince (maama) Shakuni, the gandharva school of architecture, buddhist seat of learning..... u get the point).

If you are still reading ...here's a conversation starter (but would you really want to start a conversation like this??) ....you can trace slight commonalities between Kharoshti and many modern day scripts like (obviously) Greek, but also older scripts like Pehlavi (persian), Brahmi from which evolved the Gupta script, from which evolved Devanagri.

Some Geeky facts about Kharoshti (Kharoshthi.. whatever). I know this is totally uncalled for but, sometimes, I just cant help myself. (This is fodder for those whose conversation starter above didn't bomb in their face yet)

-Kharoshti is actually written Right-to-Left (like persianic languages), has symbols closely resembling greek characters, AND has a maatra system used to vary the consonants to denote associated vowels....and I belive it is the only ancient language that was used to represent multiple spoken languages (Pali, Prakrit, Sanskrit and Gandhara)
-Kharoshti was used bilingually with Greek especially on coins of some greek kings.
-It was also extensively used by king Ashoka making its way on to some of his very famous edicts, as well as many buddhist scriptures.
-It became extinct in 3 CE and was replaced by its structurally identical counterpart and the mother of all South Asian Languages the Brahmi Script.

Here is a very interesting website on ancient languages if you are interested. Definitely a must browse site! (Page directs to the south asian language tree with this link.) http://www.ancientscripts.com/sa_ws.html

Happy Reading!

<<<<<-:->>>>>

Today also happens to be: Grandparents Day, Hot Dog Day, Pet memorial day, Teddy Bear day, and Chrysanthemum day (if you are in Japan).

So if you have grandparents call/send them a minder that you soo love them, have a hot dog, miss your dead pet and hug a bear (make that a teddy). What the heck, take some mums to your dead pet's grave.

Till next time~

Do you have an angel?

2007-08-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

Today I can proudly say, "Yes!, I have an angel that is looking out for me...wont let me fail...falter or be hurt.... encourages me to no end, and is always always spontaneously spreading good thoughts about me."

Can this person be for real. I have always thought, "Whats in it for him? What does he get by encouraging me? What does he get if I succeed? What does he loose if I dont?" Answer: Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

In this day and age, I think the word for him is mentor.. but when your mentor goes OUT OF HIS WAY to encourage you and takes personal pride in your succeess, what do you call him? How do you express your gratitude? How do you pay back?

Some debts can't be paid back. They just can't. Your only hope is to pay them forward.

So, today's post is simply to say, "thanks for believing in me, thanks for encouraging me, thanks for seeing the positives in me, and thanks for all the nice things you tirelessly say about me." Gossip is like the whisper in Chinese Whispers, it is bound to come back to you through the other ear. It just makes my day to hear the nicest things back about me, over and over.

Pic of the day: Guess what script this is??

BTW, last time's pic was of Bandstand. [Pic courtesy of A.] Guess KSK was the closest.. Good job KSK!

New Beginning....

2007-06-25T23:48:00.000-04:00

Now that the year has come and gone, and yet another solstice has gone by.. I would like to remind myself of these useless things called "new year resolutions" I keep making and breaking every year. So what's the point of resolutions if you cant resolve yourself to sticking to them? (FYI, some of them aren't really resolutions, they actually are overly optimistic assumptions about yourself coupled with your desire to achieve the unachievable.) So, today I thought, now that half the year is almost behind me, and I still haven't written a single entry into my blog this calendar year, what can I do to get back onto track? You guessed right.. I'm going to fudge the year a bit!
Lets say, my year starts with reference to the Solstice (true solar year). Since 21st was Solstice, today is only the 5th day of the year!! What a great start!

Ok, so I am now back in business. But it's been so long since I wrote something that was not technical, and that I wasn't being paid for, that I had almost forgotten who I am in this avatar, and who I write for. Uh, that would be ME on both counts, btw.
Also, I got tired of last year's solstice photo.... its too...last year. Now, I'm not one for trendy stuff, most often I sport someting that is NOT in fashion. So, accordingly, I'm going to put up something that is more in fashion all the time... or rather a little more timeless.

Can you guess what this is a picture of?

Clue #1: It's timeless (hehee)
Ok, Clue #2: Everyone's everyone has been there at some point of time.
Clue #3: Picture Clue.. coming tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Ode to a bright and cheerful day

2006-06-20T21:56:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Solstice. Yup, June 21st.. and the sun is going to be out there for the longest time.

Early to rise,
late to set,
that's the hottie,
at its best!

Summer will officially be here.. (an winta fa ya mates down unda)
If anyone cares, equinox time is 8.26AM EDT... if you get up that early, step out into your garden/backyard/stick-your-face-outside-the-window at the time and breathe it in. I tried it last year, and I must say, it feels... well, it feels ....hmm, well... let me put it this way, it's worth every penny you spend on it :-) ..and it's an awesome conversation starter. Money's worth! Also your shadow will be the shortest it can ever be this year. Check it out!

Free Advice

2006-05-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

Is there ever such a thing as "free advice"? Well, if there is a free lunch.
Usually everyone has that spouse, sister, relative, friend, office colleague or neighbor that can't stop pelting advices at you. Infact, they are so good at giving this free stuff out, that they just can't help themselves.
Ever wonder what the psychological makeup of this person might be? Maybe they just want to feel like being a part of everything you do, or fear being left out, outgrown, forgotten, or then maybe, just maybe (for one second), they only have ur best interest at heart. Think about it.

Hope u have someone like that in your life. It's one blessing you can always count on. Literally!

So go ahead and appreciate that special person in your life....TODAY!

+--------------------------------------+
Extra Special Days this month:
+--------------------------------------+
May 27th - Happy Birthday Dearest hubby!

+--------------------------------------+
Notable days this month:
+--------------------------------------+
May 23rd - World Turtle Day - yup, celebrate the easy going, slow moving animal in you!
May 25th - Self Reliance Day - Celebrate the one person reliably most unreliable.
May 28th - Mothers day (Sweden) - Celebrating moms again.
May 31st - World Poetry Day .. Unleash the 'beast' in you...ahmm, I meant 'best'.

Mum's the word

2006-05-14T19:35:00.000-04:00

Famous last words:
"...Didn't your mother ever teach you that?..."
Why does that burden always fall on the mom?

Moms have a knack of telling you things that you wont like. We have the knack of not listening to mom until it's too late. She was right when she said, "try sleeping on your side, its good for you". She was also right when she said "don't bathe immediately after eating". She was right on the money, yet again, when she said "don't burst those pimples, or they will scar". Each day, when I learn something for myself, the hard way, I remember her telling me this exact same stuff.

Thanks mom, for telling me this stuff over and over, though you knew that I didn't listen. Just wanted to let you know Mom, that I did listen, and it's there somewhere in my subconscious. And I owe you big time for that.

So I guess this evens up with the time you said "no one will notice that fallen tooth", and kids at school called me china-gate!

Just kidding!

Happy Mothers Day, Mom. I love you !

Business as Usual

2006-05-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

Just another day here. Spoke to most of the people on my "call-more-often-list". Today's THE day for my best friend. Since its 10:30pm here, => 8:30AM May 1oth in India, he is officially DONE marrying his bride once again!! The mandapa wedding mahurata is a lil later (around 10-10:40AM) but the temple mahurata was much earlier. Exciting day (and life) ahead for them. Wish you both all the best once again!

Soon they will have lots of babies... and fyi, I have already committed to visiting them for each kids birthday, every single one ...(what can I say RR drives a hard bargain!)..cant wait for the news!

Meanwhile, got a surprise good news from an old friend..a new family member joins them in just a couple of months! Congrats !!!

PY and I realised today that soon we are going to be heading out in totally different directions...but due to the nature of our work, surely our paths will cross again. (I hope so) Ive learnt a lot over the years from him (hopefully he feels the same) Good Luck PY in everything you do, everywhere u go.. ur hard work, discipline and attention to detail will take you eons ahead of everyone else.

Where one ends up in life is largely dependent on the choices we make. Ironically, the ones we make earlier on, when we are less experienced, affect us more than the ones we make later on, as we ripen and wisen up with old age. Some mistakes are easily reversible and some.. we have to live with for the r.o.o.l. Aptly end on this note:

(my favorite poem by RF)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-- RF

My Best Friends Wedding

2006-05-03T22:53:00.000-04:00

Yup, its truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!

He gets married (again) on May 10th in one of the most pious temples in India...and what do I do? .. do I do a Julia Roberts and scram to catch the next available flight and... :-)

Actually, quite the contrary. I wish them the very best with their marriage and a truckload of happiness. FYI, she's a very sweet girl, and I trust her to take very good care of him...

In Julia's words "I would give anything to catch a damn flight, and make it to his wedding right now, so God help me!! " , but my hands are tied... mein is halat mein kahin nahi jaa sakti. {Translation (this is for u JK) I cant go anywhere in this state}. Dearest RA & RR, "my heart and soul are with you on this joyous and auspicious occasion. Love you both!"

P.S: His second marriage thing.... he's marrying the SAME girl again!! How romantic is that !!

Mere yaaaaaaaaaaar ki shaaaaaaaaaaaadi hai!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wedding Bells soon ringing for:
SC - May 11th
BK - (still) TBD
TV - Dec 29th

The stork is visiting
PP ~ July 4th

Congrats to you all!!

The Oracle Awakens..

2006-04-03T19:23:00.000-04:00

Finally got over my inertia and got this thing started.

Watch out for pearls of knowledge pouring out of the oracle ;-)