The Scene
Many of you may be still spending some money buying computer magazines. Here is an alternative from Warez–bb.org. I liked it and thought I would share it with you guys.
Lyrics - Omar Nadeem - Laut Aana
Lyrics Disclaimer still holds good. Click here to download.
[youtube=[www.youtube.com/watch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek70iEoZMQ8])
Laut Aana
kahaan ho tum, tum bin akele hai
mann mein woh baat, kyun samete hai
ye mann agar seh paaye tho, ke aankhein jab bhar jaaye tho
laut aaaana..ye yaadein yaad aaye to
laut aaaana..ye yaadein yaad aaye to
ye yaadein yaad aaye to
Lyrics - Omar Nadeem - Dil Ka Diya
Lyrics disclaimer still holds good. Click here to download the song.
[youtube=[www.youtube.com/watch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF4SiIKe7N4])
Dil Ka Diya
andheron mein gufaaon mein
suuni shyaamon mein kaali raathon mein X 2
woh zindagi kahaan
bhuj hai gaya ye dil ka diya
tere bin laage na mora jiya X 2
raahon (?) mein kyun hum phir jale
andhereon mein kyun hum fir jiiye
aankhon mein hai kaante bhare
saanson mein kyun fir tum base
bejaan hum anjaan tum
kisko kahein dard-e-jigar
hooo
bhuj hai gaya ye dil ka diya
tere bin laage na mora jiya X 2
judaai ka ghum jo tune diya
zehar dard ka ye maine piya
chodo zara guzra jo kal
is pal mein hai apna safar
aage ki na humko fikar
raahon mein hum gaye ab bikhar
bejaan hum anjaan tum
kyun fir kahein dard-e-jigar
bhuj hai gaya ye dil ka diya
tere bin laage na mora jiya
judaai ka ghum jo tune diya
zehar dard ka ye maine piya
meri yaadon se mere khwaabon se
meri zindagi se hai ab tujhko bhulaana
teri baahonke teri aahonke
teri har ehsaas ko hai bhulaana
bhuj hai gaya ye dil ka diya
tere bin laage na mora jiya X 3
judaai ka ghum jo tune diya
zehar dard ka ye maine piya
Movie Review - That Four Letter Word
Just a headstart for those who haven’t heard of this movie, visit the website. More about how to watch the movie here. Also, this movie is not to be confused with A Four Letter Word.
How does one review an Independent film? Amongst the ones that I have seen before, Before The Devil Knows Your Dead and Once are the most prominent ones. Mind you independent doesn’t necessarily mean a finished good with seething amateurish features; it is purely a qualification on the production part of the business. BTDKYD looked like any other studio production, where as in Once, one could see the so called independent flavour. That Four Letter Word is somewhere near halfway on the path to getting to Once.
The story involves a bunch of six friends, one of whom wants to make a movie, for amongst many other reasons, impressing a girl. Since there are six of them, there are a lot of threads running around and I don’t want to give the movie away. But the main theme is the battle between clarity and indecision. Clarity that we seek to have in our life in the manner of having a plan and indecision that we always seem to have irrespective of having a plan to execute or not. At the end all the characters seem to overcome this confusion and take seemingly meaningful steps forward at decisive junctures of their life. And of course, the movie making guy gets his girl after all, with a little help of a mad guest star. The BGM filled in very well, especially the final few minutes. The title credits and the accompanying rap song were amusing. The acting, apart from Cary Edwards’, seemed a bit choppy. It had the action-take-cut feel to it, didn’t seem natural for much of the time.
One major issue that I had was the ending and it is something I felt the same with Welcome to Sajjanpur. Why do we need happy endings? Why the scrummy final 1minute prologue type thingy to tie loose ends? I would have certainly preferred to see the climax as it had ended in reality, but then again one would say that after all films are just another way of escaping the reality.
All in all it was an okay movie on the face of it, but considering the efforts of the people involved, in spite of their lack of experience in actual movie making, its worth a watch. And since God is the script-writer for this movie, He has subsidized it for us to watch it for free.
God Gets Sued For Spreading Terror
Mr Chambers, a state senator for 38 years, said he filed the suit to make the point that “anyone can sue anyone else, even God”.
I believe Satan has the lawyers, but God still seems to have the judges and so He has got the case dismissed.
What next I say!
Doubting Thomas Finds Similarity in Blasts
I am not talking about Bangalore and Ahmedabad. This is between the blast in Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad last year and today’s blasts in Ahmedabad.
The first pictures to come on all the news channels were from TV9. I’ll get back to the Hyderabad part in a bit, but for a local Andhra Pradesh Channel to be the FIRST one to air pictures from Ahmedabad, means either a record response time or a larger than national channels/ firangi money backed channels’ ground network. I shall let you come up with your own options.
Now the Mecca Masjid blast, a TV9 cameraman was IN the Mecca Masjid, supposedly shooting the praying public at the mosque, for a religious program to be coming on the channel, with him at a safe distance away from the blast point, and the camera pointed at exactly the same angle as the blast. Strange coincidence ha.
In both the cases, I am sure TV9 made a quick buck with their feed being picked up by channels with larger reach. I cannot allude to the Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park Blasts in Hyderabad as I did not see the tv coverage.
I know it is a sick thing to come up with, but hey, with the kind of uncertainty we are living around in, there is a chance of anything to be right.
As far blasts are concerned, Kolkata and Chennai are the big ones which are left untouched, till now. Touch wood or whatever.
Hope
Hope is expecting your dead loved one to move their head to your side, give a rise smile and waking up from sleep, scaring the shit out of you. But then again false hope can only do so much. Everything shatters back to reality once the mortal remains are set on fire and you leave the place.
Fevi Kwik
It is advisable that one uses the Fevi Kwik Rs.5 pack judiciously. I will now qualify one such aspect of care.
It so happens that it comes with a cap for re-use. You use it once and put on the cap. A few days later, you pick it up again to glue something else. The cap opens, but the hole at the top is covered up with the hardened glue. There are umpteen options available to make it usable.
It so happens, that I chose to open it, by biting on the hardened glue. Spurted out did the remaining glue into my mouth, causing my tongue to stick with itself in folds , my tongue to stick to the teeth of the lower jaw, my teeth of the upper jaw to stick with the teeth of the lower jaw and my teeth of the lower jaw to inner side of my right cheek inside the mouth.
Instant panic allowed me to untwine my tongue and detach it from the teeth followed by separation of the now seemingly conjoined jaws and then the mouth. After a good 10 minutes of scratching my teeth and tongue with a screw driver, I had my mouth in a better shape than before and was able to talk. There is still some of it stuck to my premolars, but that is left to be fought with another day.
So now you know the moral of this story.
And by the way, this is not the worst I have put my mouth to trouble. A couple of years back, I gargled and mouthwashed with Dettol. Strong after taste you know. May be you can try. So strong, for the next 3 months, I could not taste anything I ate. True Story, Akshay, True Story.
ATM Is God
I go to an ATM to draw Rs.10,000. It is not my bank's ATM, but is part of the network. I wait in the line. I get my turn. I swipe the card. I hit the PIN. I hit the amount, that is , Rs.10,000. It asks if I would like a printed receipt. I hit yes. The money comes out. I count it. It is Rs.3,000. The receipt comes out. It is for Rs.3000.
Since I need Rs.10,000 in total. I do the math. I swipe the card. again. I hit the amount, that is, Rs.7,000. It asks if I would like a printed receipt,again. I hit yes,again. The money comes out,again. I count it,again. It is Rs.3,000,again. The receipt comes out,again. It is for Rs.3,000 again.
Since I need Rs.10,000 in total. I do the math,again. I swipe the card. again. I hit the amount, that is, Rs.4,000. It asks if I would like a printed receipt,again. I hit yes,again. The money comes out,again. I count it,again. It is Rs.3,000,again. The receipt comes out,again. It is for Rs.3,000 again.
Since I need Rs.10,000 in total. I do the math,again. I swipe the card. again. I hit the amount, that is, Rs.1,000. It asks if I would like a printed receipt,again. I hit yes,again. The money comes out,again. I count it,again. It is Rs.3,000,again. The receipt comes out,again. It is for Rs.3,000 again.
So, instead of taking home Rs.10,000, I take Rs.12,000. Then I remembered what ATM means. Automated Teller Machines right. Do you know what they do? They TELL you how much money you need. So better listen to them
P.S. The said ATM is the machine to your right in the Syndicate Bank ATM outside Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad.
The Law Of Life
"There is no escape from loneliness and separation…….." I told my self often.
"Wife, child, brothers, parents, friends…..we come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can't be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach ourselves from our mother's womb. All struggle and misery in life is due to our attempt to arrest this law or get away from it or in allowing ourselves to be hurt by it. The fact must be recognised. A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life. All else is false. My mother got away from her parents, my sisters from our house, I and my brother away from each other, my wife was torn away from me, my daughter is going away with my mother, my father has gone away from his father, my earliest friends - where are they? They scatter apart like the droplets of a water spray. The law of life. No sense in battling against it…"
Mushti Quote - Mushti Quote
Mushti Quote has got it’s own blog now. It shall be operated by a bunch of seemingly like minded people. The basis of Mushti Quote is stealthily hid in the site’s about page. If you want to become a part of the gang, just shoot an e-mail to mushtiquote@gmail.com.
Bewars
The are infinite number of advantages to being employed. But there is one advantage to being unemployed that you cannot get.
All one has to say into a phone is,
I am a student and…
and the lady at the other end who had started off with the great personal loan that she will offer, goes
Thank You Sir,
and thus the conversation ends.
Beat that.
Conversations with Strangers
I have noticed that I have start being a bit more chatty with strangers that I meet these days. The following are some pieces of information I have learnt from rank strangers.
Our watchman complained about robbers trying to whisk away vehicles in the wee hours. This was the second attempt in our apartment building, so I went to talk to the sub-control set up near Padmarao Nagar Park. The constable there told that only two days back they had caught one such robber, late at night in the Srinivasa Nagar area. It seems that most of these vehicle robbers and bike-gangs stealing chains are youth from rich families, who are addicted to alcohol/drugs. Most of these thefts are impromptu, based on finances and the pocket money cycle. They steal bikes and sell them for any price they get, sometimes even Rs.1000-2000! Since there is no pattern to these thefts, the police have been largely ineffective in finding out who they are and thankless that their job is, the times that they have caught these offenders, the rich-politically aligned- i am all powerful- super-dads have come to their wards' [1] rescue and all their police work has ended in them getting to see the offenders go scot-free. If only those super-dads had funded their son's vagaries properly, some random unsuspecting persons would not have lost their vehicles/jewelry. Just when I was feeling sympathetic to the lone policeman's cause, I was brought back to reality. The constable started asking questions regarding completing graduation in a single sitting. It seems he plans to become an Sub-Inspector soon and for that he ought to be a graduate. He was enquiring if I knew some place where one could just GET a degree. Then he went on to make his career-plans even more clear. The city , it seems, is not a nice place for constables like him from Godavari to start their SI career. A small time place would be perfect, especially with the election season coming. The small time people/complaints are too much of a bother for too little benefit, he says. All he would do is get SET with some local big-shot and that would be enough. Though one cannot generalize based on the above statements, but I am sure this kind of attitude is all pervasive.
There is this soup-vendor on the way from Big Street to Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane. More about the prasadams at Parthu's here. The last time I went to the temple, I stopped by to have some tomato soup. One year on, I did the same again. This time around I started asking a few questions. Now this stall had some Self Employment Group's name on it. The guy started getting a bit defensive after a few questions which I thought he deemed them to be invasive for his business. After telling him that I was a non-local and that I had been a customer a year back, he toned down, freed up with his answers and even added the " the moment I saw you, I knew I had seen you before" line. Now for the soup-deal. It is a franchise system, where one has to pay Rs.15,000 upfront. Each day he buys 4 containers of 4 different flavours, worth Rs.200, with an additional transit burden of Rs.50. On an average, he gets about Rs.250-300 per day, setting shop at 5PM selling one cup at a retail price of Rs.10 and closing at around 9PM. Though the franchises of a particular company have their own half kilometre no in-fighting radius, there is competition from other company franchises. So for 4 hours a day, considering the worst-case estimates, Rs.6,000 is guaranteed per month. This, apart from the day-job of a driver at L&T. Done with the soup I moved on thinking that if one is ready to put in their life into any which thing, there are bound to be ways to earn a decent living anywhere.
Indian Railways has these trains called Rajdhani Express. Supposed to be one of the better services offered by them. Starting this May, Airtel has taken over the maintenance of these trains, as I learnt from a fellow passenger who does a weekly Bangalore - Hyderabad trip. I was told this but there was no sign of the change. As luck would have it, an old rake had come and the up-gradations to the facilities were yet to happen to this train. The maintenance team was still Airtel's, but there wasn't much difference when compared to the normal Sleeper class. The toilets were stinkier than normal if I might add. The food was okay, but the chai-paise seeking staff was not. More on the economics of tea later. Let's hope that in due course, things will change in this regard in all classes, on all trains.
I am God
or so I would like everyone to believe, since I am about to predict the future by making the following announcement.
This blog shall be updated at a feverish pace till the end of this month and then, after the fever, cease to exist for a long time. At least a year I would like myself to believe. The reasons for this planned hiatus are pretty straight forward. Not burn-out, no way. I just want to concentrate on a few things which are lower down on the priorities-ladder, after climbing which, I shall get back to full fledged blogging like this again. Till then enjoy the flow.
Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon
Sitting there at the shore at Marina Beach, watching a bunch of kids umping around in the waves, made me reminisce all the times I have ever been to a beach.
Spending summers in Triplicane, meant a significant number of visits to Marina. But the farthest I could go back in memory was the time when I , as the only grandchild on my maternal side ( so much more attention ) , was there with the entire family and was bought a paper-fan, either through the entireprise of that seller or my persistence. But I still remember my father trying to explaining the mechanics of that paper-fan. Obvoiusly, from what I am now, I seem to have given that lesson a big pass. The next in chronology was the time it was just me and dad, when a huge wave took away one of my slippers along with, almost me. Though I had no special attachment to that pair, I felt very disappointed , when dad threw away the other one into the waves. The slippers got united with each other. I got united with a new pair at Mount Road Bata. There was another time, when I lost a pair, but this time was not all that pleasant. It was at the Hyderabad Zoo. I was running across the grass, to get near to a duck but got stuck in a marsh.
Marina is a part of me. I mean literally, there are some glass shards embedded in my right sole ( Yes Akshay. I am listening ) . Playing frisbee on the beach is not always a pleasant experience.
Continuing with beaches, the next beach on the list is Besant Nagar beach. The relatively neater of the two, this is the only place I have tasted Chukku Coffee, a good 10 years back. It is only recently, i.e., Saarang 2007, That I spent more time at this beach. To be precise, 4 times in 4 days, all till late night. The roads around Theosophical Society creep me out, as all the memories I have of them are my grandfather’s funeral, but the beach calmed me down after the first two nights. I have, some kind of attachment with water in general and sea in particular. The waves pounding on the shores create a kind of silence in the mind, helping me think a bit clearer than before. Also, though I never learnt swimming nor know how to swim, I have always felt very comfortable in the waves. Being alone in the waves is probably on top of the list of things I enjoy doing the most. Plus, any beach with a Murugan Idly outlet on the shore and your closest friends around will definitely leave you a lot of pleasant memories.
From here on I place the beaches in a chronological order.
1990 - Tarapore, MH
Went to beach from Tarapore, though do not exactly remember the name of the beach. It had those trees on the beach that they keep showing in the movies and the sand there was black. Sunset was brilliant.
1994 - Kovalam Beach near Mahabalipuram,TN
Bitter-sweet experience was this one. This was officially my first floating lesson. Had great fun trying to float. One big wave later, me, my sister and my mother were on way to join the sea. Luckily, we were pulled to safety. Fifteen years down the line and after many more such lessons, I am yet to float once.
1996 - Rameswaram-Dhanuskhkodi, TN
Rameswaram seemed to be a very quiet one. I mean the waves, they somehow didn’t seem to exist. It was almost as if we were in a pond or a tank.
Dhanushkodi, on the other hand, was a handful, so much so that did not even venture out into it. The waves were like the froth and foam in a Surf ad.
1996/2003 - Kanyakumari, TN
Kanyakumari has so much significance all with the Triveni Sangamam and what not. But the waves seemed to cancel out each other, giving a live example of destructive interference and more importantly removing all the fun out of staying ashore. But venturing out a little into the sea, onto the rocks is totally worth the risk. And the fall.
1998 - Konark Beach, OR
As part of a bunch of starved NCC candidates who were given a day off from their Camp, I got to visit the Sun temple for the second time. The beach, well, we reached very late in the evening and with a very protective Officer in charge of us, all we got to do is stand on the beach for a group photo. End of story. More on the camp later.
2003 - Kovalam, KL
The most dangerous beach I have seen. So dangerous, that the sign boards on the beach had Achtung all over them. Why German? Don’t ask me, but it was an awesome display of the sheer power that the sea possesses during monsoon times.
2004 - Juhu, Mumbai, MH
Had gone into the sea on a boat ride earlier in the day at Sunil Shetty’s water theme park ( whatever it is called ). That was a dampener, so was hoping that at least the famed Juhu beach would soothe me. All I have to say about it is that it is the most polluted beach I have ever visited and that those were the most exorbitant prices quoted for such tasteless pani-puris.
2006/2008 - Pondicherry
The Frenchie roads give Pondi a classy look. Getting to the shore off the roads, by maneuvering over the rocks is sure to give you the kicks if you get it right or deep cuts and bruises if you get it wrong. Waves were ok but the June heat wasn’t.
The beach across ECR just before entering Pondi, is worth a try. Water is too deep for novices.
Tip : If the waves are normal a few metres in to the sea but are very weak at the shore, this means the water is pretty deep at the shore.
2006 - Colva - Calungute, Goa
Though I spent 5 days in Goa, could visit only 2 beaches. Colva where we stayed and Calungute.
Calungute is another roughie and thoroughly enjoyable. Especially when you are with 60 other lunatics. We had wars with the sea amongst other things. The power of the sea there felt so good, that we visited it twice. The sand was very loose.
Colva was where we ventured well in to the sea. For, that is where we jet-skied. Did it so many times. Should have para-glided as well. Went out into the sea for dolphin viewing, but ended up being given a cold shoulder by the overtly shy dolphins. But all of this is not what I remember Colva for, for it was the nights at the beach, that gave me the best moments. The bon-fire was great; so was the cake-cutting; the kabaddi. The last hour at the beach from 3am that I spent alone on the beach with the crabs, is probably the most peaceful I have ever felt.
2007 - RK Puram - Rushikonda, Vizag, AP
Vizag. RK Puram beach. Rocks. Fear. Waves. Power. Fear. Waves + Rocks + Fear = Bruises All Over.
Waking up from bed, to watch the sun rise from behind the sea is a feeling I cannot put in words. But being bruised, battered and beaten by that sea, that I totally can. After deciding against going anywhere near the waves after seeing the rough waters, we were faced with waes which were pretending to say, Bachke Kahaan Jaoge. They roped us in and battered us against the rocks. All this in spite of playing safe.
Later in the day, we went to Rushikonda beach ( Opposite GITAMS. What I would give to rewind the clock and go there ) . This place is just great. It was a sea change ( pun intended ) from RK Puram. I recommend the hand-run boat ride into the sea. Don’t take the motor boat. It is an exhilarating experience, especially with the waves, at many instances, seemingly overpowering the boat and sinking us. No theme park ride ( again pun intended ) can s(t)imulate this feeling in us. I also recommend staying at the APTDC guest house ON Rushikonda. Pricey they may be, but the view is worth the plunge. Also, protect yourself against sunburns. Two of us lost a lot of skin off the face and back.
2008 - Clearwater Beach, FL
When Florida is mentioned, one’s mind fills up with a huge beach beaming with humongous crowds and lots of surf. Well all of that is crap in January, with the water freezing and the beaches totally empty. Was a damp squib, but the sand at this beach was too fine to be true. To hell with Clearwater, I’d rename it Finesand.
That is quite a number of beaches I have visited, but I hope I get to see a lot more, for it is the only place I feel at peace with myself.
( The above post was first written on paper in Chennai. First of its kind. Also, may be, the last of its kind )