All those happy new years.

It is at moments like this when I truly feel nostalgic. I believe everybody who has had an enjoyable past would surely be. How were New Years in the simpler times ? ( I am not 80 years old !! )
We would huddle near the television till around eleven or twelve to watch the year end specials. My parents would sacrifice their sleep by 2 hours to live the moment of the New Year. Doordarshan would have really exciting countdowns of the best songs of the year. Although we would most surely know which song it would be, the excitement would carry us through the programme. Comedy shows bringing together the best actors from the television industry. The year end specials would have a movie which would have released like six to seven months back. The entire neighbourhood would reverberate with the sounds of these special programmes.
As far as celebrations go a cake from one of Calcuttas finest shops - Nahoums in New Market or Flurrys at Park Street would set the tone for the evening. Not to mention of course Plum Cakes, Candies and other goodies from our neighbours.
After cable television came we would tune ourselves to CNN or BBC to see visuals of fireworks from cities which have already experienced that moment.
People started becoming more private and stopped sharing their goodies unfortunately. May be that is something we start noticing after we become adults, but thats a different issue altogether.
Now the story is different. I had always wanted to cut that cake at the stroke of midnight for the sake of fashion. Although I can do that readily - in some corner of my heart I feel that I have already experienced the joy years before I have done it.
Anyway all said and done - I wish everybody (and myself secretly) a very happy year.

Ghajini

I saw the movie Ghanjini in a near seedy movie theatre in Hyderabad. For a seedy theatre the security was great, well I presume. The pan chewing ticket checker had to don the role of a bomb checker as well (recession you see). He tried hard to not spil the pan which flooded and filled his mouth so his mouth was shaped liked the hull of a ship as he checked everything. He asked me to switch of my cell phone also.
Forget about the initial stunts. Coming to the movie. I had seen the Tamizh version of the movie twice in the theatres. I have never had the opinion that it was a great movie. To be honest I went to the movie to watch Aamir Khan. Unfortunately it was what I did not want to watch (Asin, Jiah Khan and their gang) got more screen presence than the great Khan. Asin kept screeching her dialogues, Jiah Khan always has this perplexed look on her face. The villain - Ghajini Dharmatma ( I felt like laughing like the Joker does for his introduction in The Dark Knight when I heard the name ) looks like the smiley which tells us that the guy at the other end is angry. He does a good job of maintaing that till the end - of course barring the times when he is with the ladies.
Well, the story is simple - the heroine is killed and the hero seeks revenge for it. But hey theres a catch - the hero keeps forgetting what happens after every 15 minutes.
That sounds like 'Memento' which is an undoubted classic. But the directors have done a good job by just using those parts which would suit the great Indian Movie goers taste. All said and done it is fast paced but a huge yawn nonetheless.

Lots of questions.

Like any patriotic Indian I feel saddened by the mindless massacre at the gateway and other places in Bombay. Unfortunately we did not react this way when there were blasts in most major cities in India in the course of the last year. My uneasy feeling is that we tend to react only when the numbers are high.

Why did people suddenly not rise up in unison over the killings in Kashmir ?
When the Guwahati blasts happened no one expressed this much angst ? Why can't we be one in our voice and unprejudiced in our anger towards terror ?

Condemnation is not the solution. Jaipur, Bangalore, Malegaon where given the same treatment.
In a classroom if a group of students behave badly - one smack where it hurts sometimes is the solution for the class to go on.

What happens when the school itself is attacked ? The parliament our country had been attacked in 2003. How would the United States have reacted if the White House is reacted.
Scores of people were killed in 1993 Bombay Blasts. The perpetrator is sipping cold coffee in his comfy confines.

This is certainly not a battle of equals. It is a battle of the patience versus cock sure stupidity. It is like the arrogant street speedster who believes that he can breach the gates of Rahul Dravid in the first delivery.

They say that when the patient get angry the world is not the same anymore.

Stale Sounds / Fresh Sounds

Just the way we get bored of stale or repetitive food. Same sounds irritate us. The same people shouting, screaming, scheming, singing, talking,speaking at/to us. It gets irritating beyond a certain point. That is why house wives get bored. That is why our 9 to 5 parents typically got irritated and bored when we mentioned that we got just pass marks in our exams.
Imagine a situation where our mentally battered father - typically murmuring some thing about his boss and how people keep buttering him to get their work done. At the end of the end he growls - you were supposed to get your Maths results today right ? How much did you get ? In class 6 or 7 every kid has this strange behaviour which makes every parent feel that their kids are lying or something.
The number comes out like balls of iron from the mouth. It is involuntary - fourty six and a half, 20 students out of 45 failed in this exam. I said that this is involuntary !! The last bit is never heard though.
The paper comes back on the face with the pace of Allan Donalds yorker. Cliches are hurled on after the other. Titles are served. It kind of ends with the start of the evening news. A sigh of relief is heaved.
A strange sort of determination fills us. The next time I am going to beat the topper surely. What does he actually do? nothing much he just reads he lessons daily . And wait a minute he cannot bat as well as I do (hehe). Oh yes that is the reason why he has the time. Alright I am also going to do the same thing from tommorow. It is gonna be me and him from the next test onwards.
I hear the fresh sound of stumps being thwacked into the ground.The cricket ground is visible from my room.Oh they are splitting their team too. Ah screw it let me refresh myself before I undertake the biggest battle of my life !!

A Quantumn Of Malice

Normalcy fuels Anger.

You are very angry with yourself or with something or someone. Walking down the road with friends. Something which happened just before this has got you very irritated. A thousand thoughts are reverberating in your head. You are busy making a list of people you want to torture, taking references from good old villain Ajit's villanous days. One of your friends, usually joky, cracks a real bad one. It lands into the meat of you cerebellum where you are cooking your anger in fire of wrath. You feel like cracking the skull of the nitwit who spoilt you recipe.
What reactions can you evoke. You fumble a smile at Lord of Bad Timing.

Although it is pretty normal of the guy to crack one from time to time. This normalcy irks at that point of time. You want the world to react to your sorry mental state. Just then you also see a couple fondling each other. Your singleton state adds itself to the burning pot with a plop.

We are like this only !

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali is the builder of the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. A true architectural marvel . It is also a heritage site. So I was pretty excited to visit the place. Although I visited the Golconda Fort a long time back I wanted to relive the magic.

It started raining heavily in Golconda from the moment we reached the palce. We had to take refuge in a shop nearby. It was pitiful because we had to wait for around 45 mins in a packed shop.

After the rain subsided, the drizzle continued but the atmosphere was absolutely set for a wonderful tour with the cool weather and a cloudy sky. Had Mani Ratnam been there he would have surely shot a song with the magnificent setting for the drop !!

Well we started exploring the fort reading all the boards displayed related to the historical significance of each and every aspect of the fort. The fort is like a complete town in itself, I believe a lot of people still live inside the fort area.
The fort was truly a great touring option with its minarets and beautiful views out to the city. On one side the traditional Muslim architecture could be noticed and a view from another side would give a view of the latest and swanky buildings.

But that is just the far view. If you notice the side alleys and wild outgrowth in the lonelier parts of the fort you can see packets of Lays and Bingo chips lying all around. The walls are scribbled with the love stories of various Romeos and Juliets. Rajesh loves Deepa, Aftab loves Noor , i guess they forgot to paste a photograph of their lovers there . The narrow passage ways stink and the side drains are clogged with Chai cups and Chips packets. Did the Sultan litter the place before the enemy attacked ? I could not beleive my eyes when i witnessed the dirt and filth inside the fort.

The mosque at the top most level of the Fort is very beautiful, the fact that no should go into the old Mosque with footwear is mentioned clearly but a lot of love stories are inscribed on the walls of the mosque and well, the footwear rule is flaunted ruthlessly.

That day was Vijaya Dashami so music was blaring from four speakers attached at the entrance of the fort (inside the fort). Colorful streamers hung from the ancient walls. Is this how heritage sites are maintained in our country ?? A heritage site should be left at its peace. I understand the religious needs of people. But to hold some religious function disturbing the peace of an ancient fort is unbelievable.

I was shaking my head at this entire spectacle of hypocrisy !!

We are like this only !!

Achievements Galore.

Last week although very bad for the world economy and corporates, it was a really successful week for India in two aspects. One the fact that writer Arvind Adiga won the booker prize for his book "The White Tiger" and the other one Sachin Tendulkar becoming the highest scorer in test matches.

While Arvind Adiga is an achiever in his own respect, Sachin has remained an icon for time immemorial. While going through the post analysis in the newspapers and blogs there are certain observations I am forced to make, at the same time a few questions pop into my head as a very conscious Indian. Achievement in sport and Literature simultaneously for any country just shows how much impact the country is having on the world. It also shows what may come out in the future.

The media must have devoured these news bits like piranhas but the pertinent question here is - Is this the maximum our people can achieve ?
The achievements though par excellent do not really give the true picture of what a capable nation like ours can do.

It is surprising what could be achieved with a little support and encouragement. There are so many budding writers, sportsmen, classical dancers, people who specialize in traditional arts like Bidri works etc (which by the way are dying).
Parents think that if children take up things other than science, medicine are being adventurous and would land up nowhere.

This brings into my mind funny incidents which usually happen in trains to me.
In a train (specially in the second class and in the long distance ones) people would ask me a question "Where do you work ?" when I say the name of the company ( in this case an IT company ) they would start off by giving their own judgements on the IT industry in India and how people make money. My Brother in law's .... is working in (IT company) why dont you join that company ?? they take everyone they see . . . (evil laughter follows).

The funniest one being :
A car comes to pick my neighbors son !!! Why cant you work in a company that provides these facilities ???

A waft I identify well.

I am in a subconscious state. My mind is fighting with my body. It is that state when I am aware of the inputs given to my brain by the all the senses, but I am just not awake. Then a very familiar waft hits my nose. In a trance I wake up and go the kitchen, my eyes can now perceive light. I perceive touch when a familiar warmth grips me. I perceive sound when my mother says it is 5:30 brush your teeth your coffee is ready.

Sometime in the mid 90's - An uncomplicated period, everything was routine and beautiful. Coffee would wake me up and I would take bath go to school, come back after school play cricket or football then sit down to studying. Throw in a little bit of extra curricular activities lots of fun with friends and we had a life which was a life which was rocking.

Shopping meant going to a market, bargaining with the shopkeeper, making false promises that we would come back to shop if the goods were sold at a particular price. The flashy stores though few would be avoided since the prices are automatically assumed to be high. Every brand though less in number would be fixed for example toothpaste had to be Colgate and washing powder had to be Nirma or Ariel and things like that.

Television meant waiting with baited breath for the one and only and favorite serial to come on air. Cable television is used only by the rich and snobbish people - They do not have the decency to allow us when there is an India Pakistan match in Sharjah, what good can they do. Doordarshan with its crappy graphics and VIBGYOR screen savers were a treat. Serials were quite mesmerizing and kept the viewer from guessing what would happen next. Traffic at that point would be a little less since the serials were on and by the way which city in India was awake after 7:30 or 8 ?

Prime time television was a mixed bag - a news show hosted and conducted by the best in the business. A comedy serial which should guarantee a few laughs here and there. A serious one to cater to the "family audiences". A count down show were film songs would be shown ( the top three songs would be shown for its entire duration ).

Intelligent discussions would follow as to what might happen next in the serial or what would be the next song in the countdown. People who would be proved right would have a momentary ego high. Predictions were tough but not impossible to make was the message every body got.

Sometime after the mid 2000's

It has just been a decade of the simple life. Checking the left pocket for the mobile phone has become a routine job. A sudden outburst of nervous energy happens when something in our head says "Check if you have the phone or did you leave it at the coffee table ?". We jump up to check if the phone is in our left pocket.


The coffee now forces me to stay awake rather than waking me up from sleep !!

The Madras Phenomenon

No it is not what happens to you or what you do after you sweat a bucket even in December.

After having traveled in MTC buses for years I have made a ground shattering observation with possible economic and philosophical repercussions !!!

Even in a relatively free bus, by that I mean buses which have enough places on them for people to stand comfortably, most of the people would be standing near the entrance/ exit door. It is not only because conductors usually sit near them collecting fares for tickets but also when conductors are not around.

Eliminating crazy college goers who compulsively foot board you get a small crowd who keep gathering near the doors. I have never understood this thing because you might rather stand comfortably in the middle of the bus than smell obnoxious fumes - a motley of pollution, sweat and deodorant.

Forgot about the similes, the point I am trying to make is ( :P ) it appears as if people are disconnected with reality . . . They know when their stop would come but still they wait near the entrance hoping against all hope that the bus would develop wings and take them to their destination ( they certainly are not big fans of harry potter either if they think that this bus has nothing to do with the mugle buses).

I have noticed a similar trait in many people who get into something just for the heck of it and then realize that it was not worth getting into ( lack of internal clarity ). When the "stop" comes literally they just run out like school children after the days over !!!

A lot of people take housing loans or any loans for that matter because they think they can stretch their own financial limits. Once they are in they cant come out but they wait in anticipation of something which they do not know themselves. Bailing out becomes difficult in cases like these ( the US financial markets for eg ).

Please do not blame me for this post, it is Insomnia which brings out such ideas !!!

A Movie, The Movie

Wall E is the name of the movie.
An invitation into the very headquarters of the creative head in Pixar studios.
Wall E is a story of a garbage collecting and assembling robot assisted by its man Friday - a cockroach. No one exists on the planet and New York city resembles a giant dump with holographic videos partly working on the sides of roads which is a usual futuristic concept . Amidst the costly plots in Manhattan, this robot is building his own garbage dump by packing all the waste that is left. The planet has become so polluted that it has become uninhabitable.

In comes EVE an evolved robot and certainly above WALL E in the robotic chain. WALL E over the years has accumulated a lot of things human and knows how to emote partly. EVEs mission is to retrieve any form of habitation. They meet and robotic romance happens before EVE finds a plant and goes back to the mother ship ( a la Noahs Ark ). What happens after that is a total roller coaster ride of adventures.

The creativity and graphics is not only spell bound but it also forces one to think of certain issues. The first being if humans keep wasting resources and may be end up in a nuclear confrontation, this is how the planet would up.

The second and the most important and immediate conclusion is one of frustration. The same sort of frustration is expressed when our country's medal tally in the Olympics is discussed. Why is it that our producers and directors spend hundreds of crores of ruppees in foreign locales shooting uneccessary song sequences and churning out duds .

The heroes of youtube !!

I have developed a passion for cooking quite recently after watching my parents (father and mother), aunts, grand parents dishing out delicious stuff like a food factory. So i thought that instead of asking them every time i wanted to make something i might as well get the videos on youtube.

I would like to praise these individuals who without any marketing have become quite a rage on you tube at least as far as the cooking section is concerned. I am sure there might be many other people who display their culinary skills. Keeping that in mind i am going to list some videos which are watched fairly frequently and the feel is extremely homely.

By the way i guess it would help a lot of beginners !!!

I guess if you feel like adding more you could in comments section.

The first dish is Aloo Palak.
The id of this cook is carpediem43 - The entire video is narrated in English. (btw there are other videos from the same person which at least appear del.icio.us !!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-csBdWwJM

I tried it and trust me it was yummy !!!

Because of my interest in South Indian (Tamil specifically) cuisine i decided to check out some videos regarding them.

I stumbled upon englishtamil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHTgfZzz__I&feature=related

This would take a little time but trust me it is good !!


And then for Rasam - oldernwiser0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXKc9EmXJ0c

I guess this is the easiest way of making it !!!!

I respect all the other cooks as well it is just that i stumbled upon these specific videos.

PS: It would be good if your actual names are revealed - not that your nom de plume's are not interesting !!


Ratatouille - Anybody can cook.