Life's Onward Journey...

" When can I submit my answer sheet ?" I asked the invigilator in the examination hall. First he gave me a look as if saying " I can see on your stupid face that you don't know anything and will never qualify this exam ". Finally after a pause he said " Not before 11:00 hrs, madam ". It was just 10:25 and that meant I had to wait for full 35 mins. I decided to flip through the question paper and recheck all the answers I had marked. Then I looked at the watch and it said 10:45. The thought ran through my mind "Oh my God! How will I get the tickets?" I was in Aligarh on that day, which was 21st or 22nd June 2001, the release date of 'Lagaan'. The reason for my being in Aligarh was the All India Entrance Examination for M.Sc. (Biotechnology). Giving company to me was my poor brother who was sitting somewhere in the University campus while I was answering and re-answering the question paper. I had full confidence that no matter how we...

Even before watching ' Kites ' I had thought of this title for my blog post. I am happy I didn't have to think of a new title after the end credits started rolling. The question which kept coming back to my head every 5-10 mins was "WHY???" Spoilers Ahead! An Indian man making money by all wrong means in Las Vegas with dreams of hitting the jackpot someday. His prayers are answered when the daughter of a millionaire (or a billionaire) falls for him and he pretends to reciprocate. Only till he finds 'love' in the fiance of his girl-friend's brother (It's complicated!!!). And why do they still call it 'love'??? Anyway... they had no other choice but to elope. And there begins a long chase in train, cars, trucks, lorries, motorbike, and even a hot-air balloon. At the end of this whole chase half of the policemen of the Las Vegas Police Department and the Indo-Mexican couple is dead. And then comes the part which always irritates me.......

Lakh mana le duniya, saath na ye chhootega Aa ke mere haathon mein, haath na ye chhootega

...But I can't help falling in love with you Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you. Like a river flows, surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, somethings are meant to be. Take my hand, take my whole life too, For I can't help falling in love with you.

Finally the judgment is out. The man was proven guilty of murder of more than 50 people on the ill fated night of 26th Nov 2008. That was the least which he deserved. The next morning when I picked up the newspaper from the door step I could not help but notice the subtleties in the picture on the front page. It showed muslim men celebrating the verdict. It seemed to me a deliberate attempt to showcase to the country (and to the world) the patriotism of an average Indian Muslim. I have been wondering about the reasons why this needs to be done. Then, today I stumbled upon this article "Why can't Rahim behave like Ram or Robert?" It speaks out some of my thoughts.

(A quick post for the sake of humanity) I have never seen such a crap in the name of India and Indian wedding before. Stay away from this one if you love yourself. P.S. The only tolerable thing about this movie is Sendhil Ramamurthy .

This post has been caged in the 'drafts' folder forever now. Finally I am letting it free with a compromise that I won't be able to discuss each of these movies in detail. That is because of my laziness and also because I don't remember all that I wanted to write initially. Most of the stuff which I write in my posts reviewing movies are thoughts that come in my head while coming back from the movie theater. I try wording the beginning and the end of the post and the points to highlight in between. It has become a habit now. I did that each of the time I went for a movie in the last one month but those lines died in my head eventually. But since movies are what I eat and drink, I am trying to fish out some of those thoughts (for the betterment of humanity) and posting them in this long-ish post.  Well Done Abba I would not have seen Shyam Benegal's 'Well Done Abba' if I wasn't emotionally blackmailed by a friend last friday. And I am glad I did. It i...

The domineering moon masks the faint stars which are very much there. Sometimes it's not the moon, but the thick grey clouds. Still their presence cannot be negated. They are just not visible, but they are shining out there. It takes a clear moonless night to witness their glory. And it takes unshakable trust to feel their presence even when they are hidden from the eyes. And for this kind of trust to form, it takes a few dark and lonely nights.

It finally got over earlier today. The feeling has not sunk in yet. Actually my mind is completely numb after the high level stress it had to deal with. Will write more once I start feeling something.

This is the closest Karan Johar ever came (or will come, may be) to the so-called meaningful cinema. And I think he deserves an applause, specially for not making Kajol (in flowing dupatta or chiffon sari) and Shahrukh Khan (in that signature pose of his) dance to a romantic melody in a dream sequence. I managed to watch the movie in spite of the hullabaloo surrounding its release. Actually I had booked the tickets in advance thinking everything will eventually calm down. Till I reached the theater I wasn't sure whether the show was on or cancelled. The situation was completely under control with the police and media persons surrounding the theater and there was no sign of any hungama. Thank God. I am not an ardent SRK fan (except that I really liked him in Swades and Chak De). In the past few years we saw him giving average performances in Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Billu. So, this time too I sat in front of three big screen with almost zero expectation. Now I don't...

My last week's astrological forecast said that everything on job-front (and other fronts) will take a U-turn and be perfectly fine sometime very soon. I smiled. Then I read the forecasts for other sun-signs and as expected something or the other matched with almost all of them. I smiled again. :)

Picture courtesy: http://www.crosswindschurch.net/images/footsteps.jpg Is it possible to just take a few steps back and undo the hundred steps I walked thinking it was the right direction...

Feels good to be back. Amongst many other things which were on my "Must do while in Bombay" list , taking a stroll at the sea face came first. I missed doing that so much. Evenings there were spent in having tea at a road-side dhaba along with some pakodas. That used to be my daily getaway from the lab. There was no place where I could just take a walk without million other people staring at my face. In the last many years, a walk at the sea-face (either alone or with a buddy) or a long chat sitting on the rocks has helped me in regaining my sanity on many stressful and frustrating days. I was eagerly waiting to get the same feeling. And I did. The rocks and the waves crashing against them seemed the same. And talking to those friends after more than a year (2 and a half years in case of one) also felt the same. I am happy. Picture courtesy: Pavitra

From welcome hugs to good-bye kisses. From counting days before arrival to counting minutes remaining before departure. In the race between us and time, the latter has always won. It arrives punctually before us, thus shortening the moments between 'arrival' and 'departure'. What stays back are new memories in a new chapter of life, ending at "... to be continued (hopefully) ".

Life to hai hi out of control, Aur dimag to bachpan se hai 'gol' (read zero). Ab ye kehte hain ki hothon ko kar ke gol, Seeti baja ke bol.... Aal izz well. Ye bhi karke dekh lete hain... :) Spent a really stressful day yesterday. First half of the day was spent in worrying whether I will get the ticket for the first-day-any-show of my hero's movie. Second half was spent in processing 10 blood samples and painting the white blood cells with four different colours, first on the outside and then inside. Was able to do everything except remembering that it was Christmas. :( Serves me right. Will wait for 25th Dec 2010 now. In between the two kind of stresses I spent some 3 hours with the 3 Idiots . And every minute was worth it. It took me back in time, to school and college days, the good old days of exams...sorry not so good days of exams. I remembered how I could never cram, how I could never write more than a page or two in response to essay type questions, how I failed to ...

Dear Heisenberg, You will be delighted to know that your 'Uncertainty Principle' of quantum mechanics can be applied in other scenarios as well. One of those is the state of scientific research at many of the institutes in this country. Research being a group activity there are people involved at different steps, e.g. administrative staff, purchase and store staff, technicians, clinical or other collaborators, the principal investigator and the graduate students. Apart from the general scientific temper and aptitude, often the graduate students are expected to coordinated with all the above mentioned staff and people for the smooth working of the system at least till the time they graduate. There is always at least one student in this weird hierarchical setup (in which each and every person has the capability of being the rate-limiting step) who drives the system. I was very fortunate to do my Ph.D. from an institute where the system was relatively more organized. But being a...

Waheeda Rehman climbs up the stairs holding a book ( Meghdoot ) in her hands as Dharmendra croons this haunting melody. The song ends as the lady climbs down the stairs and the man remains oblivious of her presence. A song so simple, yet meaningful. A perfect song for a lonely, breezy night. Somehow, whenever I listen to these lines "... dil behel to jayega is khayal se, haal mil gaya tumhara apne haal se " I feel that they describe a smaller degree of sadistic-pleasure. :) Love this song.

Waiting for 25th December 2009. Been a year since I fought and snatched tickets from the rowdy telugu crowd in Hyderabad and managed to watch the first-day-second-show of Ghajin i . Been two years since I pestered my lab junior to get tickets for TZP while I was giving a presentation on my research in Pune. Been three years since I got a chance to be the lucky one to get the last ticket for the preview show of Rang De Basanti . Been many many years...since this silsila of craziness has been going on....and it will go on forever. Love of my life (of 20 years)....here i come. :)

What was the first thing which made me rush and watch the first-day-first-show of this movie? It was the fun-factor which is quite evident from the official website of APKGK ( http://www.ajabpremkighazabkahani.tips.in/ ). The other interesting features were the songs (i love most of them). The story is of a good-for-nothing boy (and his equally worthless friends) who promises his mother that one day he will do something great and make her proud. There are many sub-plots in his way to fame. And of what value is fame if you don't have the love of your life by your side by the end of the story? Prem succeeds in achieving everything (like in most hindi movies). I got slightly bored with all the slap-stick comedy in the first 15-20 mins. But slowly the movie got interesting. May be I liked this movie so much because I really wanted to like it as it reminded me of those good old movies Andaz Apna Apna, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na . Amongst them the resemblance to Anda...

I didn't realize it when she said goodbye and we drifted apart. In a flash of a second, she was gone. ...Gone light-years away from me. Today I see her smile from this distance, but I wonder, when did those lips curl into that smile... How many years have passed since then... And how does she look today... Magical she was, and still remains for me. -A man in love