Celebrating New Year eve atop Kumara Parvatha

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Tuesday, December 30, 2008

4

Plan:
To leave for Kukke Subramanya tonight. Trek Kumara Parvatha and celebrate new year eve atop the hill under the dark open sky. Also planning to visit the temple the next day.

Hum-sufferers:
Ethapay, Pujar, Byre and yours affectionately...

What to expect:
> The pain of carrying sleeping bags, tents, food and water bottles to the top
> hot Sun of Dakshina Kannada
> picturesque western ghats
> severe cold during the night
> clouds
> leeches
> camp fire
> loads of fun and guffaws

All in all another great adventurous outing

What not to expect:
Rain

Food:
On the new year eve, we have to settle down for bread slices, jam and biscuits :(
But on Jan 1st night, I am gonna try prasadam in Kukke temple. I am told the food is tasty there..

Would be missing:
Bhai, he had to back out from the trip because of some crazy project schedule planned by some crazy sadist chap [Bhai calls him PM]

Mode of transport:
KSRTC

C ya guys.. in the next year! Wish you all a very happy new year..

Slumdog Millionaire and its rich music

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , | Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2008

3

The dictionary definition of the word ‘chug’ reads as, ‘To move or travel while making dull explosive sounds’.
I no more agree with this definition after I listen to the song ‘O sayaa..’ from Slumdog Millionaire, music scored by The God of music A R Rahman himself.

The movie is quite in news before its release in India because of the Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in four categories. I believe even the audio is not released in India, but thanks to piracy I got to lay my hand on the music of Slumdog Millionaire. BTW, I did not know who Danny Boyle was until I Wiki’d for his bio. After reading which I had to laugh at my own ignorance. It’s the same guy who has directed Trainspotting and The Beach. That adds Slumdog to my must-watch list.

Coming back to the definition of ‘chug’, the other day while I was traveling in train back to home, had a discussion with a friend about the sound of chugging of the train wheels. We were discussing the rhythmic noise it produces. I am amazed to see how ARR has used the same rhythms in ‘O sayaa’ of Slumdog. I think Shivmani and ARR when combined can extract fine quality of music from any noise in the world. ‘O sayaa’ must be picturised on some train sequence in the movie. The song begins with a pacy techno beats and magical voice of ARR complementing it. Then begins the chugging of train wheels. The beats transform to crescendo further. Now chugging of train wheels is accompanied by other orchestration and gets transcended to classy music. By this time I bet you would have started swaying involuntarily. To describe the transition of sound from chugging of train wheels to rhythmic beats, I am falling short of adjectives. So I would settle for the phrase ‘Its so Rahman!!’ Listen to it to experience the sheer genius of ARR.

Not only this, I found many other tracks of Slumdog great. As in one of the interviews Danny Boyle says that he wanted ARR to score ‘something very pulse-y’ for this movie. ARR took 2 months to conceptualize the music and just took 2 weeks to deliver this incredible product. There are also many other pulse-y numbers and classy background scores. I loved ‘Jai ho’ sung by Sukhvinder – the resonant voice of Sukhvinder makes the song even more splendid, ‘Ringa ringa ringa’ sung by Ila Arun and Alka Yagnik – brings back the memories of controversial ‘Choli ke piche’, ‘Gangsta blues’ rapped by Blaaze makes me consider him as a special talent, ‘Paper planes’ by MIA – an original song of MIA herself is used by ARR, also sounds good. ‘Lathika’s theme’, ‘Mausam & Escape’, ‘Riots’, ‘Liquid dance’, ‘Millionaire’ proves the eminence of ARR in the modern era of music. There is also a surprise track in this album, ‘Aaj ki raat’ of Don with some top-up beats by ARR. No wonder ARR won Golden Globe for this album.

Though I have downloaded the music, I am a chor with some usool you see :) So I am planning to buy the Audio CD of this album. Guys, don’t miss to listen to this audio.
I consider Slumdog Millionaire as one of the best works of ARR till date. I hope ARR wins Oscar also for this.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan...

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, December 01, 2008

9

There were numerous terrorist attacks in various towns and cities of India in the past, but the recent attacks on Mumbai is the one that made by blood boil, to the most. No! Not because of the magnitude of it. Because of sheer ease with which the terrorists infiltrated into our country with loaded ammo. Because of the ruthlessness they displayed in killing hundreds of helpless civilians on the streets of Mumbai. Because of holding the best and efficient lot of the security @ bay for 60 hrs. And all this is done by just 10-12 well trained, brain washed bastards in their 20s!

The death toll has reached to 200 almost. The magnificent 100 yrs old heritage hotel is damaged now. Many of the brave soldiers and police have lost their lives in fighting against the terrorists. There is condolence expressed from every nook and corner of the country. At this juncture, being a responsible citizen of the country, I have few points to raise.. I need answers…

To political leaders:
  • Is this brutal incident which killed 200 helpless people and damaged a heritage hotel of India enough to open your eyes?
  • There is enough evidence that the attack was backed by LeT. Stop playing diplomatic game with Pak at least now. I am not saying to declare a war against Pak. But this is the best opportunity to be more aggressive and combat home groomed terrorism in Pak.
  • High time to tighten the loopholes in the border security via the air / land / sea routes.
  • Publish the detailed usage of the funds released for border security.
  • Stop blame game.
  • And please be sorry for the whole nation, for the families of the brave hearts who died in the encounter and also for the families which lost their kiths and kins in the terrorist attack.

To media:

I was glued either to the TV or news websites during the entire Operation Cyclone. I consider you did quite a fair job of the coverage. But in the hush to be the first one to cover the news, mobbing the hostages who were just let out of the captive and covering the footage of the critical positions of the NSG commandos in and around Taj and Nariman house was quite unpardonable mistakes you did.

  • I just wonder none of you bothered to think the same info could be used by terrorists to kill more NSG commandos. Dint it come to your mind that you are actually putting the lives of our commandos @ stake?
  • There were also instances of reading out the news before processing the facts and figures. AFAIR, at least thrice the Taj hotel was announced clear of terrorists but firing kept happening and grenades kept blasting quite later too. And all the hostages were finally rescued hours much later.

To NSG, Military, STF, and Police force:

I salute you for your courage and thank you for saving so many lives. I deeply respect your sincerity and commitment but have some questions to ask you too!

  • Why was the info revealed by captured terrorist in UP blasts during interrogation neglected? I believe the captured terrorist during Feb 2008 UP blast revealed the vital facts about terror attacks on Mumbai. Is this a thing to be taken lightly?
  • I never thought infiltrating into a nation with heavily loaded ammo via sea route was so easy. Please explain how could this happen.
  • I admire the perseverance you showed for 60 hours continuously. I agree you had to play it defensively caring for the lives of the hostages. But isn’t there a better option than to wait and counter attack the terrorists holed up in buildings? Just to mention, Russian soldiers injected some anaesthetic gas into the AC duct when Chechan soldiers had held 800+ people inside a theater.Does India have any such chemical warfare techniques first of all?

To Supreme court of India:
  • We Indians want the captured terrorist to be executed without mercy. We don’t want to see another Afzhal guru episode here


Of late….

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Friday, November 07, 2008

6

Its more than a month since I posted any thing in my blog. Not that the life was uneventful, I just did not slip into the groove of writing some thing, that’s it.

The month of October was quite happening. I was on the gap between projects, lemme get it straight, yes I was on bench nearly for 20 days :)

In those on-the-bench-days I was reporting to my office in Koramangala. I had all the free time in the world, I frequently visited Landmark in Forum. I used to sit and skim through some of my favorite and latest releases. I read few pages of ‘Go kiss the world’. I remember, I started admiring Subroto Bagchi from the days his columns use to appear in TOI [I think his column used to feature fortnightly on the business page]. I think I should buy this book. Picked up ‘Three mistakes pf my life ‘, but some how it did not inspire me to finish it. I loved Chetan Bhagath in ‘Five point some one’, loved him less in ‘One night..’ now I have become very skeptical about loving him in ‘3 mistakes..’. BTW, currently Im reading ‘PS: I love you’ by Cecelia Ahen. Again my instincts told me to pick this book. But after reading it for 300 pages, Im finding it boring. The theme of the book is fresh and inspiring, but the events that happen with the characters in novel look very repetitive. Lemme see if I can complete it or not. There is book festival starting in Palace grounds, Im planning to go there this weekend.

In the 1st week of Oct during Dasara, there was a music concert by Shaan, sponsored by a private builder in Palace Grounds. I had been to the concert with a huge gang of buddies. It turned out to be amazing fun. There was also this Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni’s play ‘Any thing but love’ being staged as part of Times festival, but I came to know about it on the same day and did not get passes for it.

Of late, did not get to watch any good movies. I watched Ru-ba-ru for the sake of Shahana Goswami [she is my recent celeb crush ;)]. The idea of the movie was fresh, but ultimately seemed like a failed attempt.

Felt bad to hear Kumble hanging up his boots. He is one of the most committed cricketer I have seen. And a great gentleman too. Dada also retiring after this last Test in Nagpur. I loved Dada for his aggressive histrionics as a captain and as a player too. Who can forget the gentle strokes on off side and his straight sixes over the head of the bowler. The BCCI buffoons seem to be targeting another favorite player of mine, Dravid. Its disheartening to see Dravid failing continuously in this Test series. BTW, check this splendid article by Dravid about VVS on latter’s 100 Tests feat. Both these great players seem to share a nice camaraderie, which is evident from the article. If these great guys are bidding adieu to cricket in the next 1-2 years (forced exit or wishful exit), there will certainly be a void created in what is considered to be the strongest batting line up in world cricket.

Now having been allotted to a project in the last month, I have landed into a whole new milieu, a whole new project with whole new faces. Now the most interesting part is I have been traveling by train to my office!!!! No Im not posted in Mumbai, Im very much in our own namma Bengalooru. Till I start to avail the company provided transport, I am going on my own. I traveled by BMTC for first few days, but every time I got stuck in traffic jams or did not get a seat to rest my ass or every time a manner-less co-passenger stamped my foot, my blood used to boil. And some one suggested the idea of train from/to KR Puram from/to Majestic. I have the luxury of choosing this option, as my current office is close to KR Puram. I have been saving nearly one and a half hour of travel time since then. Even you guys can try out train if your office is in Whitefield / KR Puram or any where near these places. Im not saying this option is better than company provided transport, this has its own woes, but still a lot better than traveling by BMTC.

Ummm.. what else..? that’s all I could think of @ this hour in the night… bye… chau..

Rock On!!: the ‘Magik’ of friendship

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008

4

Few years back when Sid had slapped Aakash for a nasty joke of the latter, I had cringed on my seat. But in the end when Aakash says, “aaj.. abhi….. just turn around” and Sid hugs Aakash in that hospital, I had felt those were the most memorable moments in the Indian cinema I have ever experienced. Who can forget DCH?

And now it was a deja vu. The difference here is Joe gives a proper mukka to Aaditya and when they reunite for the sake of re-creating 'Magik' on stage, they both hug each other. And the warmth in the friendship is rejuvenated. Silence is the best orator in such moments. And this time I said Waaaawwww!! The subtleties of friendship indeed were captured at the best again.

Before I go ga-ga over this movie, lemme tell you that from the day I came to know Farhan Akhtar is making his acting debut in Rock On, I was dying to watch this movie. I am a great fan of Farhan and I believe he is one of the best directors in the contemporary Bollywood. I also was curious about the plot and his role in the movie. And when I listened to the music of the movie, I just got restless to see the movie on big screen.


I watched the movie yesterday and I had already read innumerable reviews of the movie [many were plot spoilers] and I was actually left with no element in the movie unknown. Then I stopped reading reviews as the curiosity had killed the cat already. Now having watched the movie I felt no review had actually captured the essence of the movie [neither am I making an effort to do that… Im just writing a nice experience I lived for 2+ hrs]. Some reviews said Rock On is just another version of DCH in the backdrop of a rock band. I disagree My Lord! This time it is just not about ego clashes amongst friends, it is also about following your dream, it is also about compromising in life at the stake of our dreams, it is also about the price people pay to re-live the dream, it is also an attempt to say it is never too late to re-live your dreams.

I had read it somewhere that friendship is fighting for each other and fighting with each other! It is so true. I have hated almost all those movies in which the second hero comes in the way of a bullet shot by villain to save his jigari dost, the hero and that was all the epitome of friendship depicted in Bollywood. Bollywood have churned up zillions of movies based on friends fighting for each other, but there would be few movies based on friends fighting with each other. Even if there are many of these kinds, I bet any succeeding in narrating it effectively [DCH and Rock On are bench marks in this].

If you feel that was enough of ga-ga over the movie, lemme start with the actual review :) I assume that you readers have either watched the movie already or would know everything about the plot of the movie from the other sources. So I am not even going to mention about the plot here. I will just say thumbs up to Abhishek Kapoor for giving us the gem of a movie. Hats off too to the guy, who has done the casting for the movie.

Farhan Akhtar is superb and lives the role. Arjun Rampal’s not so expressive face actually works on his favour to portray the role of Joe. I liked his looks especially, the bandana, the long hair and his moustache. Purab Kohli as Killer Drummer is apt. Luke Kenny is just fine as Rob. Prachi Desai is so so so sweet as wife of Farhan. I would love to watch more of Shahana Goswami in future. Every one fits the role so perfectly.

Saving the best for the last, about the music of the movie.. I liked all the songs. Rock on – the title track, Socha hain and Tum ho to being my favorite. Zehreeley zehreeley is my super favorite :) [any idea who is this Suraj Jaggan who has sung this…?]. Undoubtedly Rock On is another remarkable entry in the CV of Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Farhan Akhtar seems exposed in many songs, but that goes well with the heavy rock music. At first I could not believe that Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics. I couldn’t digest Javed Akhtar writing a song like Meri laundry ka ek bill, ek aadhi paDhi novel.. etc etc. Its not so easy for a great lyricist to come up with such free flowing and ordinary yet lovable lyrics.

Wait wait wait its not over yet. As the movie was not the only best thing that happened for the crowd in Fun Cinemas yesterday!! Guess what… Yesss 4 guys of Magik did appear on the dais after the movie. All 4, Farhan, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny had come down for the promotion of the movie. The atmosphere was just electric. We were all shouting at the top of our voices. Farhan sang few lines for us. They distributed [read frisbie’d] few audio CDs to the crowd. I cudnt catch any, neither cud I get autograph :(

Guys, all in all it’s the best movie I have seen in recent times. Go watch it if you have not caught up, watch it again if you have seen it only once !!

cafe masala

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Sunday, August 17, 2008

9

Hemanth was wriggling his bike past the other vehicles in the traffic. I was the pillion. My phone rang. That was the 3rd time Sri was calling me in last 20 minutes. She asked me, “Where are u guys?” This time she was angry. I chose an appropriate lie from the template I usually carry, “We are in the Brigade road signal”. We were actually some where near Rajbhavan. “K.. come soon..”, she cut the phone. We reached Brigade Rd signal five minutes later. While waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, a chick in frilled white skirt crossed the road in front of our bike. I told Hemanth, “I wish it was windy today” and grinned. Understanding the gross intention behind my dialogue Hemanth laughed. I imagined a ‘Marilyn Monroe act’ by that chick in the middle of the road. I bet Hemanth was also thinking about the same. We guys know how kameena our brain is. But I get angry when any female comments, “you guy are mean”. The word mean makes me angry, I prefer kameene :) If you gals have just coined the word ‘kaMEANe’, No I hate that word too. The signal turned green and our bike cleared the last hurdle to reach our destination, Eva Mall.

We reached Eva Mall. I got down from the bike. Hemanth told me to face the music first and drove to basement to park the bike. My phone rang for the 4th time. “this is too much…”, this time it was Rakhi speaking. Before I could reply, I saw Rakhi and Sri waiting near the entrance of the Mall. I said, “we have reached, I can see u gals..”. I could listen Rakhi saying, “at last.. they have come” to Sri before I cut the phone. I strode towards them. Both of their faces were angry red. I think this angry red shade is inimitable by any artificial coloring agents. The shade can be seen only on the cheeks and the nose tip of the females whom you have made to wait for an hour for the dinner. I greeted them and blamed on the traffic for reaching late. Though every one curses Bangalore traffic, but it surely has rescued all the late comers/goers like us. Seeing an Archie’s gift wrap in my hand Sri’s angry red face shed its inimitable shade and returned to the usual fairness. The very sight of her BDay gift had pacified her. It was for Sri’s BDay treat we four had gathered for. Café Masala in Eva Mall was her own choice; we guys had no problems with any hotel in Bangalore as far as we are getting a free meal. Hemanth appeared making ‘we are really really really sorry’ face. Sri patted hard on his back in acknowledgment. Rakhi said “you guys are so late I think the reserved table would have been given away to others by this time”. This time I genuinely felt sorry for the girls for the effort they have put in to come early and book a table.

Sri was enquiring the receptionist for the booked table. A suit clad guy escorted us to the table reserved for us. It was a table for four. Sri and Rakhi sat next to each other, leaving Hemanth and me no option to choose but to sit next to each other. The very next moment I felt the place was just nice for both of us guys, as we got to face the people in that room, where Rakhi and Sri were facing the boring wall hanging behind me. My eyes took no time scanning all the beautiful females in that room and shortlisted few of them for the further scrutiny.

starters
As decided before only, we chose to go with buffet for dinner. My eyes were planted on a female on the diagonally opposite table. That was a gang of 6 adults and 2 kids. The female I was looking at must be wife of one of the three morons there. I believe any guy however intelligent looking he is, who accompanies a beautiful female becomes a moron for the other men in that premise. This could be called as one of the postulates in the huge book called Letch Sutra which I am penning. Hemanth and I are no survivors of this rule, as we became 2 morons with 2 nice looking females for other men in that hotel.

Ok.. the starters started descending on our table. We were waiting for it with our sleeves folded. Hemanth felt it wudnt be too nice to make Sri wait for her BDay gift till the end of the dinner. He handed over the gift to Sri. Sri said thanks to both of us with a 10 inch wide Julia Roberts smile. I told her to unwrap it and see the gift. As if she cared to wait for my consent, she had already started unwrapping the gift. Most of the females I know unwrap the gift similar way, they do it with so much of care not hurting even a single piece of cellophane used to wrap it. Unlike we boys who love tearing any paper given to us. The gift was a soft toy, a puppy peeping out of its dog house. The roof of the house was pink in color and Sri lovvved it. She re-iterated, “Thank you so much guys”, with a 10 and a half inch Julia Roberts smile this time. We started belting the buffet.

Hemanth was teasing Sri for her weight issues, Sri in return was pulling Hemanth’s leg for his lazy looks. Rakhi was laughing for and against the three of us. Sri was also giving a fair share to my canine teeth and receding hair line. Though my canine teeth are not the things I am very proud of but my receding hairline has never been a concern for me. My mother and my sis worry about it a lot. Chhmnn.. I forgot to update you on the beautiful female in the next table. How rightly some one has quoted, ‘all the desirable things on earth are either illegal, banned, expensive or married to someone else’. In between our conversations I made it a point to check her out. Every time our eyes met, My heart got a mild electric shock. She looked the most beautiful when she was sipping the soup from the edge of the spoon. The strands of her hair slid down to taste the soup in her spoon. She displayed the slightest discomfort and quickly grabbed and restricted them behind the lobes of her left ear. I felt she flaunted her left cheek to me. This time my heart failed almost. Aloo tikki in my plate appeared like pacemakers to me for a moment.

main course
We were done with the starters that were served to the table. That means we had to walk to the place where food was kept for buffet. That also means, that opens the door of opportunity for Hemanth and me to check out some more females on our way to the food and back to our table. We did it no different. I got to see the face behind that English music that was being played all this time. It was actually a talented singer, who was singing all this time, which I actually had thought was a tape that was being played. All I could say about his singing was it was melodious but I did not understand it. I cant distinguish the genres Jazz, Blue, Reggae.. et al. According to me there are only two genres of English music. The music I like and the one the one which I don’t. So this talented guy was playing the former.

I stuffed my plate with all the varieties of food that was there and returned to the table. While returning I got to check out another female in deep necked black dress flaunting her not-so-nice cleavage to all the men in the room. In my early teenage days I had this weird perception that all females would have perfect cleavages. May be I had developed this prejudice after seeing some Hollywood actresses. As I grew up, the facts and ‘FIGURES’ ‘BUST’ed this myth. Hemanth and Sri followed me to the table with full plates. I think Rakhi was still surveying the variety of food there. I occupied my seat. Hemanth insisted on swapping his seat with Sri’s. Sri sat next to me. May be Hemanth was interested in sitting next to Rakhi or may be he was uncomfortable sitting next to a guy u see. That’s quite normal. Rather those kinda abnormal instincts are not yet considered normal in India. Rakhi came and sat in her place. One pokari kid of my diagonally opposite table looked least interested in food and was running around the table. He was whirling a woolen hood (kinda) in one hand. Once it slipped out of his hand and hit Hemanth’s back. Thank God it did not fall in any of our plates. Sri felt amused but Im sure Hemanth must have felt like folding that kid in his woolen hood and throwing him away. Hemanth hates all kids. I too hate kids when they act unruly. All kids act unruly all the time.

delicious desserts
Sri started taking all our snaps. Sri took the snap while Rakhi had spoon in her mouth, took snap while Hemanth was cleaning his lips with the napkin. Forget how she took my photo. I look bad in all the poses. So it did not really matter for me. We started the final round of course, the delicious desserts. I again made sure each variety of desserts has occupied a fair share on my plate. After getting it to the table, I glanced all the other plates to check if I have missed out any thing. Sri said, “basundi is yummy”. Shaks.. I missed out taking basundi. Sri told me to taste it from her porcelain bowl. I tasted and said I will take a full bowl in the next round of desserts. Sri exclaimed, “you wanna go for another round…?!?! there is still space in your stomach..?” I said, “my digestive organs stretch or shrink depending on the price of the buffet” All grinned hearing my comment.

We decided to leave the table only after I finished my second round of desserts. I bore an expression of killing 100 enemy soldiers in the battlefield. Sri paid the bill. All 4 us walked out of the hotel. My eyes were still hunting for the babes around. Bingo!! There I saw 3 RED HOTT babes waiting in the lounge. They bore Arab/Iranian looks. All were blondes. One of them had her eye brow pierced. Sri and Rakhi insisted on using the stairs to go down. I had no problems with walking but missed the sight of those 3 HOTT babes.

I said aloud what I was thinking, “those must be some exotic dancers”. Others nodded in agreement. I continued, “I believe they will be paid only 3 to 4k per performance”. I could see disagreement on Rakhi’s face. She was about to give the right compensation details of exotic dancers, but Hemanth quipped, “Oohhh 3 to 4k per PERFORMANCE is it..?” and winked @ me. He stressed the word performance. I giggled and said, “I was talking about dance..” and laughed. Sri caught the ‘mean-ing’ of ‘performance’ this time. She said, “thooo u guys are always like this”, looking at Hemanth n me as some lower forms of life.

We came to the entrance of the Mall. Hemanth and Rakhi went to the parking lot in the basement for getting their respective vehicles. By that time, the same 3 babes appeared in the coffee shop. They did not seem interested in spending lot of time there. Two of them came out of the coffee shop. The third one was buying some frappe (kinda) inside the shop. All the three were wearing short white tops and skin tight jeans. The waist line of the jeans and the short white tops seemed like lovers who have fought for some silly reason; both just did not wanna meet each other. Leaving me no option but to stare at the fair skin exposed to the cold air of the night. Sri noticed me letching, she said “Ananth.. Stop it.. ur acting too cheap today”, she was slightly angry. I smiled sheepishly. By then Rakhi and Hemanth drove their two wheelers to the place where we were standing. Rakhi looked like a fat Eskimo in her heavy jacket, Sri wrapped herself in stole and sat behind Rakhi. I again became pillion for Hemanth. We all thanked Sri for the nice treat. Rakhi n Sri disappeared in the traffic, I asked Hemanth to drop me till the door as it was already close to 11 in the night.

Huliyuru durga and Hemagiri beTTa (part 2)

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , | Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2008

4

Heights of serenity

As we were walking in the direction of the new hill a group of people standing in a t stall called us and asked weather we were trekkers. this obvious from our nike,woodland shoes and t shirts. they asked us whether we climbed huliyu durga. when we replied in the negative they told us they had scaled the peak several times in their youngster days. they also mentioned a chap named chitradurga koti raja climbs the peak like as though it were a lolipop. we said ok and moved on. the new hill called as hemagiri betta was quite 'climbabale'. it was very slopy though.we climbed enough so as to be in line with the height of huliyudurga. from that point we could get a 3 dimentional view of huliyudurga. it looked majestic. i was wondering whether there really was some way up there. we sat down on the rocky slope of the mountain and laid back. it was a great feeling. the weather was just right. we were at an altitude of perhaps more than 2000 meters.it was cloudy with the sun playing hide and seek every now and then. there was the cool breeze and absolute silence. i felt like sleeping there for the rest of my life. ananth pulled out the apples from our bag. for the next 10 minutes it was just the apple and us. we were tired and nothing feels more relaxing than sitting there alone and munching on blood red apples. "so hows work goin" asked Ananth. " its just fine. one of my friends just got promoted" i said rather sleepishly."ok lets change the topic" Ananth said. i was glad he said that. we discussed about our family back home, the daily rat race routine,what we would be doing 10 years from now and things like that. it seemed more of philosophy than practicality. it went down well with the hilly breeze, the solitude and the apples. i saw a chameleon come out of a creek and perch itself on a big rock. it was looking up somewhere and ducking changing its colors instantly. as i turned back and looked up there was a eagle above the hill and it seemed to have noticed the chameleon. we finished our apples and started the climb uphill.

We were still half way up the peak. there were a couple of small ponds on our way up. it was a pretty wide hill top with a ganapathi temple on one side. the locals had told us that people visit the temple only during a fair held once in the year. truly, there was not a single soul in site. we explored the peak a bit and came across a natural sofa like setting carved out into the huge rock. there was ample space to sit leaning against a back rest. there was a pond in the front with some kind of crotens lining the edge of the pond. in front of the pond was the edge of the hill from which we could see the endless horizon ahead lined up with hundreds of peaks and mountains. it was bliss. we were pretty tired and immediately slumped down the moment we sat. it was really serene out there. absolutely quiet.no lorries no autorickshaws no sound just peace. the breeze blew occasionally making the grass sway in one direction with a low whistle like sound then silence again. it seemed like it was thundering somewhere and we were able to hear the echo of the thunder.


We lay there gazing lazily at the beautiful sceenery in fron of us. it was starnge local people didnt find it so interesting.why do they have to when their internal mind is at so much peace. no deadlines, no promotons, no EMIs. just sow the seeds and go to sleep or take the sheep out for a walk thats it. i wonder what pleasure people derive out of spending hours at the forum mall. ananth suggested we doze off for a couple of minutes. i actually liked the idea but did not fancy
dying out of snake bite or something. i suggested we just lie down but keep our eyes open. on the darker side of it,the spot is ideal for bumping off someone.not even your ghosts will ever find your body until atleast the next fair. just then i received an sms "happy friendship day" it was from a colleague. it was almost 4 in the evening. We spent some time on the hill talking bout films etc then decided to come down. the downward journey was butter.

'top' class journey
We passed by the same set of shops and lanes we came across in the afternoon.and reached the local bus stop. i was feeling bored that the day was about to get over and a good trip was coming to an end. but i guess only i was thinking so. the fun was far from over for mr ananth as he was sketching something in his mind. i learnt about it after the next 30 minutes. we waited for our very reliable KSRTC bus to turn up but it dint turn us down. it kept up to its reputation and did not show up. there were a lot of rangeela busses but it was being filled like a garbage truck. there were people everywhere. inside the bus, aside the bus, over the bus everywhere. they were spilling out from every nook and corner of the bus. it seemed like the bus was about to burst open. i remembered a fevicol ad once aired on TV. and i had one chance to be a part of that crazy stuff. ananth said "come lets travel atop the bus for a change.I have done it twice before and i tell you its total fun" I was like " what the hell??!!! are you crazy ? these drivers drive like hell. do u want to risk your life ?" ananth didnt sound amused. we waited for some more time. there was no sign of KSRTC. we had two rounds of cucumber laced with chilly powder. still no sign of KSRTC. "come lets go" i said.

Ananth climbed up like spiderman and sat on the roof. i grumpily followed and landed on the roof. it was a nice feeling. soon we were joined by few others and the bus started. i was feeling on top of the world. this was a never before experience. the cool village wind was hitting me in the face and the view around was awesome. just then ananth warned me and i ducked in the nick of time. one had to be very alert for tree branches which were abundant in the forested area. the roof top conductor displayed a couple of stunts as he walked by the railing of the bus dispensing tickets this, even as the bus was moving. suddenly the bus started to pick speed and we were shaking like drunkards. it felt like we could be thrown down any moment. this was the second time i realised my already screwed up, cheap life was at stake. but luckily the driver slowed down soon thereafter. it was an experience of a kind. i suggest you guys try it out sometime if you have a already screwed up life that is. as they say happiness comes in small packages our over the top journey was cut short as the conductors signalled us to get down as a couple of seats were empty. we cursed as we came down. the next moment i was inside the bus sitting in the last row next to a lungi clad old chap who was smoking beedi on my face. ananth had already dozed off.his eyes were closed, mouth was open and he was swaying about the center of axis of his body. he looked like mini gatotgach who could anytime fall on the kaurava army after being hit by karna. ananth was hit by sleep.

We got down in Magadi and got into a rangeela bus waiting for us. he dint leave soon after we got in though.it was filled like a garbage truck. 30 minutes into the journey and ananth was into the second half of his incompleted sleep. his eyes were closed, mouth was open and he was swaying about the center of axis of his body.30 more minutes later he woke up himself and started speaking about thriller movies and novels. one where several people after being invited to an island end up dying one after the other without a clue and it remains a mystery as to who killed whom. we then moved on to james hadlee chase novels agatha christie. i was simply nodding my head and looking out of the window.suddenly ananth popped me this question. "Will you write in my blog? I mean i want to try something new this time so for a change you write and i publish it" I stuck out my tongue like a cobra and continued to look outside the window. Writing isint new to me. I have written tens of mails to my PL TL PM DM and all those abbreviated higher ups you can think of in a software company and each mail was more or less like a blog just that it was on some technical issue rather than a weekend trip but this would be the first time I would be writing a blog. Kya karta boss ? public ki demand thi, toh Billa ko likhna hi padha...

Huliyuru durga and Hemagiri beTTa (part 1)

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , | Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2008

3

We were returning back from our trip to Huliyuru durga sitting inside a Rangeela bus when suddenly Ananth popped me this question. "Will you write in my blog? I mean i want to try something new this time so for a change you write and i publish it" I stuck out my tongue like a cobra and continued to look outside the window. Writing isn't new to me. I have written tens of mails to my PL, TL, PM, DM and all those abbreviated higher ups you can think of in a software company and each mail was more or less like a blog just that it was on some technical issue rather than a weekend trip but this would be the first time I would be writing a blog. Kya karta boss ? public ki demand thi, toh Billa ko likhna hi padha.

Rangeela bus and 'Chellenging star' Darshan
As is the case with me as always, nothing about this trip was planned. Actually the bus conductor decided it for us. "where does this bus go?" was the stupid question i asked the conductor as we hopped into a Magadi going bus. he rolled out the names of some places which i forgot as quickly as he had mentioned it. Ananth asked him whether the bus goes to some place called Huliyuru durga. As Ananth and the conductor were busy deciding on the venue i was busy watching Rakshita. It was the Kannada movie "ayya" which was being shown on dvd coach. Darshan was the hero playing a cop and he was mouthing some explosive dialogues .."illegal agi janagala mele weapons use mado nimgulige ishtu kobbirabekadre legal agi weapons use madoke license iruva namage yeshtu kobbirabaradu ?!!!! niyyatatagi yella ketta vyavahara galannu stop madi. idu ayyan warning alla, ORDER ORDer ORder Order ..." just then somebody patted me on my shoulder and said"ayya kutkollike solpa seat kodayya" some old lady with all broken teeth was asking me for a seat.it was actually an implicit order. chivalrous that i am i gave up my seat. Ananth too gave his seat to a lady.

We reached Magadi at about 9 and started hunting for something to eat. Ananth suggested we try out the local vendor by the roadside. there was tatte idli dosa onion bonda and uppitu. one thing thats worth mentioning is the food served at this roadside eatery would beat the best of hotel foods available in bangalore. it was so very tasty and we relished nearly 4 dosas tatte idli and bondas. the bill: Rs 18/- !!!!!!!!

We soon hit the roads for huliyuru. it was a ksrtc bus. we were sitting in the last row and the driver drove like he was participating in motocross madness. needless to say our kidneys and livers were getting displaced every now and then.

Where there is a hill, is there a way?
In the next couple of minutes we were standing in front of a tall hill. it was a monolith, a one piece rock they called Huliyuru durga. maybe for the first time in years i felt scared to my bones, not by looking at the hill but for the stunt we did in the next 30 minutes. after climbing half way to the hilltop through steps, we hit a dead end. the steps ended there and there was no mad made way further up, but that was not what we were told. a shepered told us get in through the bushes and find a way up there is one in there. we trusted the shepherd u know. we are so used to trusting our PMs when they say "u can do it" arent we? but as usual we were asking to get screwed.


Above scary pic is the aerial view of Huliyuru Durga.

Ananth boss took the lead. he disappeared inside the bushes. I followed suite. inside the bushes it was actually difficult to say wheather we were climbing up or climbing down. we were keeping our legs on whatever was visible. a branch, a tree, a twine or just anything which could take our weight. ananth was determined to find a way up. after following him up to some distance i realised we were going somewhere we were not even sure of + it was not even clear how high we were from the ground.i realised my already screwed up, cheap life was at stake. i realized i had not married yet and there were other hills to explore ;). though i had climbed this up somewhere i was sure i could not climb down. there were leaves all around and i cud not even see where i would be falling. my hands and legs were trembling. the last time i had realised such fear was during my power electronics lab when i was not getting the desired output on the CRO in the final practical exam. i had survived that one. i just prayed God to pull me out of this one safely. Ananth was blissfully unaware of my feelings and busy trying to see if he was already at the top. what he was not aware was that even if we reached the top and dug our flag there it would require atleast a rescue helicopter to get us down. A fact he would agree with after the next 30 minutes.

We scampered down the thing whatever that was we had climbed on to and started looking for alternate routes through the thick growth of bushes. at one point i was running through a new found route through the bushes but stopped short from a huge spider web. i am scared of spiders and luckily for me the spider was not at home at that moment or else i would have anyway jumped down from the hill. at one point there was a huge beehive but again luckily at that moment they were busy with their honey buisness. then, after searching madly for quite some time the truth dawned on us that there was indeed no man made way up there. all we could see was plain barren rock. from that point we could see another huge neighbouring hill at a distance and there seemed to be some kind of a temple at the top. annth said that we had to climb atleast one complete hill that day as we had come so far. so we started for the new found hill from down town.

(lets trek Hemagiri in next post)

Welcome the new author

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2008

2

Guys,

I had been to a day long trekking trip to hills in MagaDi with my friend Jagadish last weekend. It was evident that I was going to post about this in this space. But having known that Jagadish is a keen observer of facts and a good thinker, I thought that he could be good blogger too. So this time I wanted him to write for my blog about our adventurous [read foolhardy] trip to MagaDi.

Though he appeared a bit hesitant in the beginning, he accepted it and composed a really really really long post for me. I am actually confused where to run the scissors to cut down its length.

May be I will publish his write-up as next two or three posts. I enjoyed his writing style, hope you guys like it too..

welcome the new author and my great friend Jagadish to my blog space..

Lost in translation

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , | Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

4


The other day, got to see this marvel which won Oscar for the best original screenplay, 2003. I donno how could I miss such a nice movie all these days.

"For everyone, there are those moments when you have great days with someone you wouldn't expect to. Then you have to go back to your real lives, but it makes an impression on you. It's what makes it (life) so great and enjoyable".

- Sofia Coppola, in one of her interviews


If the above statement struck a chord in your heart, there is no reason why you would not like the movie Lost in translation.


Most parts of the movie is shot in Tokyo's Park Hyatt hotel. Bob Harris [played by Bill Murray] is famous actor who has been staying in Tokyo to endorse a Japanese' whiskey brand. He has a wife, to whom he whispers the three magical words mechanically before he hangs up the phone every time she calls him, but doesn’t actually mean it. He has kids, who miss their dad, but 'they are OK with it' [as he says]. He is a man who is undergoing mid life crisis. And the female lead, Charlotte [Scarlett Johansson] is a young female married to a fashion photographer, who actually wants to be a writer or a photographer but she knows she is not good at either. Basically she is bored by the monotony in her married life.


The movie beautifully depicts how once strangers, share a great camaraderie after spending few memorable moments with each other. And if you expect them to start liking each other and sleep together, no you are wrong! They share an intimate relationship which is more beautiful than just what you expect. The movie ends with an amazingly beautiful climax, making you feel you have just been released from an incredible experience that you will cherish for a long time.


The director justifies the lead actors’ relationship in the movie as, "I liked this relationship. I've had friends like that where you have a flirtation but you're just friends. I wanted it to be more innocent. If they slept together, that would bring in reality".


That says it all, Im not going to elaborate more.


Watch it for the sake of brilliant acting by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson
Watch it to experience how nice a movie can be made..
Watch it for the ethereal bond two strangers share during their ephemeral encounter...
Watch it for the portrayal of a nice camaraderie between the opposite genders..

Thinking out of the body!

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008

10

These topics spur out occasionally while conversing with colleagues / friends. Though I dont wanna tag these discussions as purely philosophical, but they have small dosage of philosophy in it... beware!

One such discussion with my colleague dealt with the subject of sufferings the human beings undergo on earth. Suffering can be because of poverty, hunger, lack of basic needs, ill health or because of any external or internal factors which we believe will affect our lives. When I mean suffering, I mean a person being unhappy for what ever reason.

Our discussion went beyond blaming any country/Govt/System/life style for one's unhappiness.

Why should there be a gap between rich and poor? Why people in Ethiopia starve and rich people from big cities of world are obese..?
Why people in Kashmir get killed for none of their mistakes? Why kids are orphaned for no fault of theirs?
Why people fight with each other?
Why do people have to suffer from incurable diseases?
Why people are born physically or mentally challenged?

And now a very important question, How is the share of unhappiness and happiness credited in each person's account?

Haan.. there we are, we are discussing the very basic question, First of all why should living beings suffer or be unhappy? Though this question seems to project me like a selfish happiness monger, but that makes perfect sense because I am not begging for the happiness of only my family, I want the whole world to be a peaceful place and tenure on earth a life long vacation for every one who is born here.

My team mate who seems to be conversant on these topics, started justifying the concept of re-incarnations, human race being the best form of life, all people suffer on the basis of paapas they have committed in previous janmas. More the sins, severe the punishment on earth. He also enunciated the mention of earth as a prison for human beings in Garuda PuraaNa [or some thing, I dont exactly remember]. He also said the souls attain moksha after clearing all punishments for all their cumulative paapas of all janmas [pretty lengthy process eh... :-/].

Though I am not a firm believer of the concept of re-incarnations, I half heartedly agree with it till I have a better concept to believe in. Actually speaking my dissatisfaction is not towards this theory but on the whole system of it. Assume souls 'wear' different bodies in different incarnations; the memory is not a thing that gets transferred across different janmas. What I mean is nobody will ever have knowledge of the severity of the sentence s/he is going to serve in this prison. And when the punishment actually begins, all of us suffer without knowing the reason for suffering.

Isn't it like a child who gets beatings from his teacher without knowing the mistakes for which he is being punished..?

I am OK with the punishment as long as I am told the reason before I get spanked.

Now that’s a damn serious issue!

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008

10

Its not a sunny MON morning. Im just about to settle down on my chair, my TL comes striding towards me and says, "I want the current defect to be closed by EOD. It’s a damn serious issue, customer needs the solution badly.."

My reflexes to all such ‘orders’ will be relatively slow on MON mornings. After tasting life the previous weekend and seriously infected by MON blues it ought to be slow right..? I looked at my TL as God would look at a child who is praying to him for a lolly pop. Imagine how would that Supreme power who controls the swaying of every grass blade on earth smile when being pleaded for a lolly pop by a kid. Ya.. I held a similar expression on my face. I could see him speaking some thing further but I was lost in my own thoughts.

He says some blah blah defect is a damn serious issue… WTH..!!

This morning I saw a new toddler working in a petty hotel near by my house. He must have been forced to quit school and made to join this hotel to join hands with two more little boys who have been working there since few years. He must have come from any village near Mandya/Mysore. Now this guy and his future is a new prey for the everlasting struggle for survival.
Now that’s a damn damn damn serious issue…

The other day I saw an aged homeless lady taking shelter in front of a closed shop near my house. She continued to be seen around the same place for quite some time. I have tossed few coins on her spread out sack few times. From past few days I am not seeing her in her usual so called shelter. I donno where that old soul has moved to. She was too feeble to walk around, some thing bad might have happened to her…? God forbid. May God bless her, where ever she is.
Now that’s a damn damn damn serious issue..

Last FRI, inflation was shot up to 11.05%, highest in last 13 years, Now that’s a damn damn damn damn serious issue..

My dad seems to be getting acquainted to his illness than to fight it out with his gumption. Now that’s a damn damn damn serious issue…

And my TL says some zilch of a defect is a serious issue for some gappu customer located in some gappu land…. WTH…

I was still smiling like a God in front of a kid who is praying to him for a lolly pop :)

Bullfighter beats craftsman again :(

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, June 09, 2008

6

The final score, 6-1 6-3 6-0

The final match lasted for one hour and 48 minutes, which is the shortest final in terms of time on court since 1980.

Federer committed 35 unforced errors in the match


Now any Federer fan will be more than disappointed by the above lines and Im not an exception. I watched Fedex beat Monfils in Semis, was shocked by the number of unforced errors he committed there also. If Monfils was more precise with his inherent raw power, he would have made Fedex bite the dust no doubt. With his current form [with virus affecting his health] I was skeptical about Fedex winning his first ever French Open. But I never thought he would surrender so easily to the bullfighter Spaniard.


Being an ardent fan of Federer, can you believe I switched off the TV set after seeing the way he lost his second set 6-3. Federer was committing myriad of unforced errors, dint deliver a single ace in his serves, was missing out heavily on placing his favorite slice shots.. and in answer Nadal was running with his lightning fast legs to every nook and corner of the court to send back the ball with twice the speed that it reached his bat.


I wanna write nothing more on it.. Im heartbroken…


I want Fedex to win French open at any cost next year.. I want him to come up with all the right answers for the puzzles Nadal has been posing to him on clay court from past 3 years..

Mussanje maatu; an average entertainer

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Monday, June 09, 2008

3


Dir: Mahesh
Cast: Sudeep, Ramya
Music: V Sridhar

First of all, the reasons why I wanted to see this movie – The posters of the movie seemed interesting, The director was a debutant, Sudeep was donning an interesting look, Music was superb and last but not the least – my intuition said its gonna be an interesting movie. Hence I went to see Mussanje Maatu.

Pradeep played by Sudeep is an RJ, a happy go lucky person, meets depressed Tanu [Ramya] in a train from HubLi to Bangalore. Pradeep hesitantly inquires the reason for her depression, but does not get an answer from Tanu. And predictably by the time Pradeep alights in his destination, Tanu would have left. Pradeep keeps searching for the interesting girl he had met in train. Along side, the screen play gives an elaborate introduction of Pradeep’s job profile. He consoles, suggests solutions and fills hope in the lives of depressed callers in his show Mussanje maatu. Thus he is quite an integral part of many lives of radio listeners in the city. As the viewer was given a glimpse of Tanu’s depression, she also gets to dial in to the show hosted by Pradeep. Then they get to meet up, talk, shop together, roam together and what else… Pradeep falls in love with Tanu. If you are a regular watcher of commercial movies of South Indian languages and is used to the little predictable twists here and there and a happy ending, you can never go wrong in guessing the rest of the story.


Talking about the different technical departments of the movie, debutant director seems to have chosen a safe script and is heavily influenced by the usual masala in the movies. His talent needs to be assessed when he comes up with a more creative attempt. Sudeep is refreshing with his hip new look suiting his profession, looks ultra slim too. Sudeep impresses with his mannerisms and dialogue delivery, but his-both-hands-always-in-pocket-style looks repetitive. About Ramya, she has gone past the mark of chubby and looks plump; she has to think seriously about reducing. I did not find her acting special in the movie. Rest of the cast has nothing much to do. I seriously don’t understand why Anu Prabhakar accepted the role of Ramy’s friend, she has no special role to play in the story.


What disappointed me was so-so cinematography, less effective dialogues and below average art direction. Not to blame the cinematographer [Sundernath Suvarna] completely for his work, may be viewers' expectation has increased seeing other cinematographer's works post release of Mungaru Male, GaalipaTa etc. Though the scenic beauty had nothing to play special in the movie, but it is sad to say there was not a single scene in the movie which made me say the camera work was ‘waaaww’. Oh did I forget to mention there are lot of scenes in the movie shot in and around Sankey park..


Any love story keeps open the gates for plausibly effective dialogues, but this movie had no such dialogues. About the art direction, it disappointed me in the very first scene. Viewers needed no extra effort to notice the yellow cloth (!!) bearing the name HubLi, which was pasted poorly on the actual name board of which ever town they shot that very first train station scene in.


Now what impressed me most is the music of the movie. ‘ninna noDalentho’, sung by Sonu and Shreya is another gem of a romantic number, ‘kaddaLu mansanna’, sung by Kunal Ganjawala is simply superb and rest of the songs are also very pleasant. Thumbs up to new music dir, V Sridhar for his commendable debut.


All in all, an average movie..

PS: pic courtesy oneindia.in

Ohh dear...

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008

10

The question is not how I lost it. Nor it is where did I lose it. Its a fact that I lost it with my utter carelessness. Its unfortunate that I lost my cell [Nokia 7610] which was of worth Rs. 12800/- when I bought it 2 yrs back. Im not the kinda of guy who throws around his cell and searches for it all the time, nor Im of the kinds who throws away his cell to vent his anger. I had hardly dropped it 5-6 times (!!!!!!) in past 2 years, had hardly a scratch on the screen. That must have given you an idea of how much I used to love my cell. Now its in the hands of some unknown, lucky, dishonest bastard.

To give you some more glimpses of my love story with my cell, that was THE BEST high end cell phone that matched my requirements for the best price. It had a large screen, bluetooth, 1 MP camera, 32 MB phone memory and 64 MB MMC. More over I can claim 7610 was the best look- wise also. Some of the new phones are loaded with features but can never come closer to the design of 7610. U can imagine a sense of achievement I had felt buying it in my own hard earned money 2 yrs back.

I had utilized the phone to the extent that I could call I almost exploited the phone. I had un/installed myriad of games/applications/utilities, It was a handy camera tempting me to click each and every thing I came across [statistics say i had clicked nearly 1500 pics using it, not to forget I even had won a photography contest]. It was a personal diary, it was a database of quotations, it was a personal expense manager, rarely used for surfing the net also... it was basically everything for me. Now its all like a sweet dream. Its all gone. I have lost a dear of mine.

Have to add the story of me going to the police station to register the complaint about the loss of cell phone. I entered the police station and went to SI sitting there jobless, 'My cell phone got lost and I wanna register a complaint'. SI asked me, 'u wanna give the complaint as...?'. I repeated politely, 'my cell phone got lost'. SI corrected me, 'cell phone got lost or you lost it?!?!'. Ohh MG! I got irritated for SI letting me know the 'accountability' factor of losing my cell. NO.. actually he was right in saying it. It is right to say, 'I lost it'. If any one has to be blamed it is only me.

After registering the complaint, I casually asked the SI, 'cell phone sigo chances eshTu Sir?'. He reluctantly said, '1000s of people keep losing mobile sir..' and grinned. I said, 'isnt it possible to track using IMEI number?'. I found him perplexed digesting the concept of there is some thing called IMEI for a cell phone, using which one can track where the lost cell phone is and take appropriate action. Psssttt... Such is our police dept..

Currently using my cousin's old cell phone. Guess the model.... it is Nokia 3315 :-/ The once famous, now primitive Nokia model. Im not gonna buy a new cell for next few weeks, umm months may be. I wanna punish my self using Nokia 3315. Every time it rings err better to say beeps, it should remind me that Im the whole and sole responsible person for losing my dearest 7610.

"Things are there to be used, people are there to be loved. But unfortunately we love things and use people" :-/

I do not have a blot on my left index finger..!! - part 2

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

7

Let me just clarify my views on voting and politics. First of all I love my country, I have concerns about keeping my city and my coutry clean, I have not only concerns for the distressed but also have stretched a helping hand many a times, not that I have never voted, I have voted thrice before, but its just that I have lost faith in existing system of politics.

I was reading today's TOI and want to quote few lines stating the reasons for low voting percentage in BBMP areas.

Did the repeated calls of residents' associations, NGOs and media go out and vote unheard?
What went wrong? Is it the wrong day-weekend chosen for polling? After two holidays - Basava Jayanthi, Shankar Jayanthi, it was SAT and then again SUN. A four day weekend that anybody would look forward to, not withistanding that this is the summer vacation.

or Was it also that in efforts to tighten the poll process, did the Election Commission go overboard and dampen the spirits of voters? Was it the low-profile campaigning, ban on posters and banners which denied voters information about their candidates?

or is it because of faulty voters' list? or was it becuase of lack of faith of urban middle class in political process?


There was another column by Suresh Heblikar which more or less summarised it under the heading 'Why the poor vote and rich don't',

The poor need houses, books, schools, rice, and subsidized seed. The parties know this and they promise all these things in their manifestos.

 The rich are genuinely not interested in the democratic process. The rich do not need to approach politicians to get things done. That is because politicians who come to seek donations from them satisfy all their wants.

The middle-class urbanite does not need the government either. He can afford to buy all his day-to-day needs from private suppliers.

Similarly, the young do not feel the need to participate in the democratic process. Today’s youth no longer stand in queues before ration shops. All they are looking for is a hassle-free day and a fun filled night life. The only way to reverse this trend is to make the parties understand the needs of the young, urban and the rich.

What ever could be the reason or let the reason be a sum of all the things mentioned above. But one thing is for sure that after discussing this with my cabbies and some of colleagues [with varied opinions], I have been feeling the guilt of not voting :-/ I will still stick to my political views expressed in my previous post, but except the one that I will regret for not voting this time.

These are some of the artciles that made me repent over my decision of not voting. How is 18% for majority!? and Baby Steps: A Perspective on Voting

Guys, if your constituencies fall under 2nd and 3rd phase of elections, I request you to go out and vote. Choose the right candidate [choose best out of the worst at least]. Vote wisely.

PS: Guys, if you are oriented towards a political party or a fan follower of any of the names I have taken in my previous post, Please dont wage a war of comments on my post! Im not interested in discussing which shit stinks the least. But if you have got any suggestions on voting / voters powers, democracy etc please share them across.

I do not have a blot on my left index finger..!!

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2008

0

The first phase of elections for 89 constituencies in Karnataka got over yesterday. People of urban Bangalore have proved they have no faith in any party or any Govt come what may. I admit I did not vote this time. Many of my teammates/colleagues did not vote too. Its evident why the voting percenatge is just 44% in BBMP areas.

Today morning when I boarded my cab with no blot on my left index finger, a healthy but hot argument stirred up in my cab. When the discussion progressed, Nagaraj said its a shame on my part to not vote, Hemanth said how could I just not vote and act so irresponsibly, Nagaraj also said 'you have no power to point your finger at Govt that comes to power after election'

My argument to defend my decision was as below
> "almost all politicians are corrupt" [gave examples of former CM HD Kumaraswamy and few other biggies' asset declaration]
Got right stats from NDTV now. Kumaraswamy's worth has gone up from Rs. 3.76 cr in 2004 to Rs. 49.72 crores in 2008, Congress's Dinesh Gundurao's assets worth Rs.20 crs, BJP's Hemchandra Sagar's assets worth Rs.71 crores. R V Deshpande leads with whopping Rs.145 crores.

> "How does it matter to me? I mean no political party has established and proved its relevance to youth of middle class and higher middle class in urban areas."
Hemanth gave some valid examples for this like, a party or a person inflicting reservation in esteem educational institutions and the approval and construction of new fly overs / under passes in Bangalore to avoid traffic congestion.

> "Did we feel the absence of a Govt in past few months? "

> When every one of my cabbies converged to a point that almost all politicians are corrupt, and we have to choose best out of the worst. Then i retorted saying, "Dont forget guys, its our money, they are looting and riding on"

> I posed another strong question from my side to them. "Tell me one thing, do you guys vote for a party or a person? let me just rephrase, do you still vote for the most corrupted contestant in ur constituency just because he is from a party you support?"

While some of my cabbies took a moment to answer that, few other came with an answer 'I still vote for him!'. Now I had got a strong point to defend my decision of not voting. I said, "when you are ready to vote for the most corrupt contestant, isn't my decision of not voting at all better than your decision?"

The discussion touched every aspect of our filthy politics ranging from educational qualification of contestants, their criminal background, their asset declarations, my disorientation to any political party, the family run political parties, parties built by humble farmers, parties that brouhaha over Hindutva. As expected the discussion went on endlessly without substantial conclusion. But I felt good expressing my views and discussing how important is it to exercise our power to vote.

(to be contd...)

Sandalwood vs Bollywood

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , | Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008

7

My friend Suksy posted this article in his blog recently. After reading which I started composing a comment, but the comment evolved into a post, which I am posting it here.

Suksy discusses about Kannada cinema, its quality and does a fairly good comparison with Bollywood. Suksy takes on the period of Kannada cinema from ‘Om’ till date. I also would like to comment on the same period as I have grown watching these movies. Analyzing the quality of Kannada cinema and commenting on it from the time 'Om' was released is actually a Herculean task. No critic would do proper justice in this job, 4get about movie enthusiasts like me. But, still I am making an attempt at it.

Suksy makes some of the very valid and some arguably valid comments in his post. Let me pick few of them and discuss. I prefer you guys to read his post and then come back here.

Suksy says, "Is it because we do not have good story writers? or is it because we do not bother about the social message that the film should portray? I'd rather think it is more because of the latter."

Let me not boast we have the best of story writers who could compete in the arena of world cinema. But there is also a possibility that not all movie makers have an eye for good story. Most people think of making a movie that goes with the current trend. Whether its ‘machu’ or ‘maLe’. Hence a good story remains on paper for eternity.

Suksy: "Personally, I feel that Mungaaru Male did not have a good story, but it was okayish for time pass"

I object my Lord! :) No I am not going to defend saying that MM had an amazing story. My point here is quite different. I would like to say, movie is mostly about narration and not entirely about the story. Even if u have a simple story or a story that has been told zillion times before, don bother unless the director is touching the hearts of audience through his narration.

And on comparing Bollywood and Sandalwood, first of all we should admit that the sensibilities of the audiences are different. When I mean sensibilities, I dont mean I would like to judge who is more sensible, I just mean the sensibilities which are influenced by geographical locations, customs and other myriad of factors are different.

I agree with Suksy’s point that Hindi cinema has a wider 'reach' when compared to regional cinema. I partly believe that could be one of the factors for Hindi movies to incur less loss or make more profit. But I also believe in 'NOT ALL HIT CINEMA IS GOOD CINEMA'. Therefore its not right to call a film industry to be more successful just because it produces 100 hit movies every year. I would call Dhoom-2 a trash, no matter how much of profit it made.

Suksy: "(Bollywood) films are not so cheap imitations of any other regional language movie or from a Hollywood movie"

Bollywood is not a land of only original ideas, 'Bheja fry' is a rip off of a French movie called Dinner game. 'Hey Baby' is ripped off from 3 men and a baby, 'Shourya' is a desi version of A few good men, and recently 'Krazzy 4' from The Dream Team, where as 'u me aur hum' from The Notebook. These are just few examples of how 'original' Bollywood script writers have been in recent past.

Suksy: "(Bollywood) actors know to ACT!"
What about Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi..

Suksy: "The violence is not glorified and there are a lot of other emotions in the movie which get glorified putting the violence aside."
I quite agree, there is more bloodshed in regional cinema than in Hindi

Suksy: "There are many radical directors like Madhur Bhandarkar, Ram Gopal Verma etc who think out of the box."
Yes. I personally regret we people dont have an answer when it comes to MB and RGV.

Talking about comedy movies, if most of Kannada comedies are gross [i never like Sadhu kokila, doDDaNNa, tennis KrishNa comedies], Most of the recent Bollywood comedies are mindless. I just cant bear Priyadarshan kinda comedies. The new addition to the list being Anees Bazmee. 'Welcome' is such a mindless crap. If Hindi cinema has to get wiser in comedy movies, Kannada movies seriously lack sanity in comedy movies.

Lemme raise another point. One thing that Bollywood easily beats Sandalwood is in the case of 'style'. The style of the movies which is a direct reflection of the bucks spent on making the movie is a serious limitation for a regional film industry like Kannada, having a limited market. But Bollywood movie makers are following a dangerous trend of making stylish movies which seriously lack substance. The flashy trailers look good only for trailers, but when it comes to hold the movie goer for 3 hrs, style wont suffice, u need substance for it.

Another thing about Hindi cinema is about the good looking actors/actresses. They are much ahead in when it comes to host six pack abs or voluptuous figures, when compared to Sandalwood.

How is it possible not to mention about music.. Bollywood has a long list of talented music directors giving some amazing tracks for each of their movie. But Sandalwood is not far behind. There has been a great leap in the quality of music in Sandalwood in the recent past.

The debate might go endlessly, but keeping our pride for Sandalwood aside we must admit Bollywood scores better as a whole. Sandalwood needs to gear-up..

Cheap 3ll

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008

4

I would have named the title of this post as Crazy4 [ya, a cliché of course] if Bhai had joined us in a long drive on bicycles. But Bhai cudnt join us and we were 3 of us, Pujar, Byre n Me. Hence the name of the post ‘cheap 3ll’ :-)


My original plan was kinda too ambitious to try in hot Sun. The plan was to peddle till Nandi hills and return! Though its not an impossible task, but wud be too much for amateur bicycle enthusiasts like us. Bhai’s absence also made our long drive cut short till our good old college, gr8 Sir MVIT, which is 20+ kms from my home.


Pujar n Me left sharp @ 6 from my home. Byre had told us dat he wud join us near Hebbal. Pujar n Me reached Hebbal @ 6:35. Then 3 of us started peddling towards our college. It was fun to peddle in the morning sun. After peddling almost for an hour, we felt the need for a pit stop n do some pet pooja. We stopped @ Yalahanka, had fairly tasty Idli-vade. We bot some apples for munching in future pit-stops. I have heard people saying about plantains as energy booster, but its always pain to carry plantains. It gets pilpila very easily no matter how carefully you pack/keep it. That’s why its our usual practice to carry apples as natural energy boosters.


Peddling, panting and making fun of myriad of things on the way we reached our college around 8:30 AM. The ride was not @ all a problem except for our paining bums. Lemme boast about my coll now. It is spread across 130 acres of vast land. Hence it was easy for us to get lost if we come out of our class rooms. The road to our college also leads to a village named SuggaTTa in the backyard of our college. Many transport vehicles, BMTC bus and vehicles of villagers pass through the compound of our college. That could be a reason for the security guard of our college for letting our 3 bicycles inside the college compound without verifying our identities.


After giving a brief visit to SuggaTTa we came to the college premises and to our favorite aDDa, the foot ball cum cricket ground. We rested for a while there. It was really nostalgic to sit in the same place where we spent most of our time lazing around during our BE days. Nothing seems to have changed in the college, the mud path towards the ground, the trees, the somari kaTTe around the trees, the good old football ground. Its quite an irony that whenever we think of college we get the picture of football ground in mind but never a classroom or a single lecturer :-)


Since it was SAT, there was not much of crowd in the college.


Our college has a pretty decent facility to host inter collegiate/inter club cricket matches in the grounds. And there was a match about to begin in few minutes and we decided to add to the finger count of spectators. It was quite painful to park our already paining asses on the stone seats near the boundary. The stones underneath showed no mercy on our asses. We sat there for more than an hour cheering the players occasionally but often inventing new positions so as to apply less thrust on our asses. We decided to leave from there as the match was boring. We visited another endearing place of ours in the college. Yes the rest room :-) During our days in the college we used to claim it to be the best rest room, we also had names like Taj Mahal [no offense meant to ny one] and White House referring to the white marble and white paint on the walls of the rest rooms. After using the rest rooms we felt it was not well maintained compared to our time. And felt those days of glory will never return ;-)


We munched some thing in our college canteen, and headed back. On the way back the scorching Sun made us drench in sweat. But we dint have to peddle much, as we got many slopes.


Reached Hebbal around 12, the point where we had begun the crazy adventure. Byre peddled straight but Pujar and Me took a deviation towards the ring road which connects to new BEL circle, from then on towards IISc via Ramiah College. Despite the hariyaali of Ramiah College, the stretch proved to be strenuous in hot Sun. what seemed like a cake walk in the morning, now the same Rd seemed like an eternity. At last I reached home around 1.


Now sitting on a properly cushioned chair and composing dis post. May our asses rest on ice :-)

5 . sm 1 in Rangashankara dis weekend

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008

8

'Five point some one' play will be staged in Rangashankara, both the days of this weekend. Having cherished the book so much, Im dying to see it transformed into a different medium.

But the ticket fare is quite too high… Its 200 bucks..! I have seen 'oDakalu bimba' b4 in Rangashankara, I remember the price was not so high.

Hmmm.. I know its just 200 bucks.. but come on, its more than the price of a movie ticket. [Damn the multiplex, I’ve never been to ny of the multiplexes n ll never talk about it]

It’s the similar dilemma I face every time I go to buy an original DVD or book.. the price ll be just too high..

Hmm.. To spend or not to spend…

Into the wild

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008

3


Went to the DVD library, started glancing @ the new Eng releases neatly kept aligned in the shelf. I had no particular movie in mind. A movie called ‘Into the wild’ caught my eyes. The DVD cover contained the picture of a young guy sitting on the roof of a maxi cab, staring at the horizon with his baggage lying beside him and a clear sky in the background. Quite an interesting pic isn’t it? I told the boy in the DVD shop to get me that DVD to have a look @ the theme of the movie. Boy reached out to the shelf and handed over the DVD to me n said some thing funny. He said, “Sir, this movie is about life..”. It was queer to hear that from a lad like him, he must be some 11-12 years of age. I contained my laughter and smiled @ him. Reading the brief plot of the movie on the hind cover of the DVD, I was quite impressed about the plot of the movie. I dint bother to see the director’s name, lead actor seemed like a new guy. Many a times the movies which I have watched/bought by mere gut feelings have turned out to be gr8 movies. Pinning on the same gut feeling I borrowed that DVD.

Now lets talk about the movie. The movie is about a guy called Chris McCandless who is just out of his college. Tired of his parents’ troubled relationship and in an attempt of soul-searching he leaves his home, parents and a younger sister, donates his fairly huge amount of savings money to charity and heads towards west coast. When he wanders around the states of USA, he indulges in many professions, masquerades under a pseudo name called Alexander Supertrump, gets lost in the wilderness, canoes down Colarado River crossing the border of USA illegally! In course of his sojourn, he meets variety of people, some nice men who offer Chris a job, some wanderers like him, some gentle men who question his purpose of wandering, some naturists etc etc. As the last phase of his travel he heads towards a region of Alaska, where there is no trail of humans around. He finds an abandoned maxi cab and starts living in it.


The movie unfolds in its own pace, with no hurry of what so ever; after all, the protagonist has all the time in the world right..? The movie has two interlaced narrations by both Chris, the man himself and his sister Carine. Mostly narrated by the latter.


There are moments in the movie when Chris burns his currency, when he refuses to settle down with a wanderer couple, when he turns down the offer of a teenage girl to bed her, when he aimlessly stares at nothing, u might get frustrated and feel like shouting WTF this guy wants in life? But what I admire the most about the movie is this movie is like reading a fine book. I think that’s a great compliment on its own for the movie. Whether it’s the alphabets of Chris’s letters/diary which marquees along on the fore ground or the way Chris’s journey is divided into chapters like ‘Birth’, ‘Childhood’, ‘Adolescence’, ‘Manhood’ and the last chapter ‘Getting of Wisdom’. The camera captures the finest details of the nature, emotions of Chris n his parents, as would have penned down meticulously by a writer.


The movie is based on a novel by the same name by Jon Krakauer and directed by Sean Penn [yes ur rite, academy award winner for his role in Mystic River]. Actors have done a gr8 job, kudos to Emile Hirsch who plays the role of Chris in the movie.


One last thing about the movie is u may get disappointed if ur expecting the story to be some serious soul searching one would do fleeing away from home. I was stunned when I found ‘Into the wild’ is based on a true story! I would still reco u this movie, if you enjoy ‘reading a book’…

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)