Even the city of Djinns hasn't been enchanting enough to sustain interest after 100 pages. I bought this book from Eloor. I've been hearing stories about it since quite some time. There was a book exhibition during Literati -Board of Student Welfare annual fest this year. This book was part of that but money constraint did me in.

What a morale booster this book has been. Here is the book(much much better than the Five Point Someone balderdash) which is a must for the underdogs at IIT(me too). I have found a much needed solace in this book. I wish I'd known about it being so good.

The book truthfully describes the discreet charms of being an IITian. And yes I've spent five lacklustre semesters doing just that without any avail. It will definitely take me the next three as well in doing just the same. I hope I've the last laugh.

It was very hearting to know that an IITian is not made in just the classroom. It takes four years of nourishment to produce this unique species. Author has gone to the lengths of taking even the incorrigibly egregious Mess food into account, that it is a part of a long-term strategy to make us invincible world-beaters.

So I know that it is not bad to waste time at IIT after all. It depends on how you waste it. Perhaps it is better to waste time than sleep in the lecture theatres. Besides, this diversity is the reason that IITians have taken every field they have touched upon by storm. I was astonished to hear that Jagmohan Mundhra-the director of Provoked, is a pass out from IIT Bombay graduate. He went on to pursue the MBA programme at Michigan State University. He stayed on to do his M.A. in Advertising and a Ph.D in Marketing from the same University. Finally, in 1973, he wrote his doctoral thesis on “Marketing of Motion Pictures”. Well, that has given me another option to think about after I pass-out.

The fun lies in reading the chapter you think is important. Instead of following the conventional approach, I decided to hop and that has been fruitful.

Another day becomes history...

It's quite a common notion that parents burden the young shoulders of their children's with their unfulfilled ambitions. Every parent wants to see a glimpse of Hritik/Aishwarya, Sania/Sachin and who not in their children. As if everyone is an all-rounder. But is it really that iniquitous on part of the parents to expect some of their dreams being achieved? After all, it's due to them that the child is getting to see the world. I know that not everyone can cope up with their parents' expectations. But then I ask where does the fault lie, or then who is to be blamed?

Perhaps, in this mad rush around them they forget that it is their child through which they wish to live up to their dreams. Children are not machines or beasts of burden. They can't be treated like one. But somewhere down the line, I believe a line needs to be drawn. I think that the parents have a say(to some extent) over deciding their child's future. At least they are not wrong in expecting their child to become a good responsible citizen of the country. But they shouldn't over-burden their child with sky-high demand which can be detrimental for all in the long run. They are justified in identifying and nourishing the talent of their child. But just pushing a child in a wrong direction, while slaughtering her/his talent is not the solution. There is one factor which dilutes the efforts in this direction- lack of communication. I feel that there is a need for child to confide in his/her parents up to a certain age. Theirs' should be a reciprocal kind of relationship which is beneficial for both.

In Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan does try to convey this message to an extent. First-half is good. Second-half could have been better. Full marks to Darsheel Safary. It seems Aamir Khan did make him work hard! Best part of the movie is that the director focuses on only the key issue. He doesn't indulge much in song-dance sequences or keeping the hero(Aamir himself) above the rest. Perhaps the hero is the child Ishaan Awasthi. The title song has been choreographed heart-renderingly well(in whatever manner it has been shown in the movie).

I realized that I have my own reservations for books. I left Chances Are... after finishing the first chapter. The writing was too disorganized. May be sometime later, I'll have enough courage and patience to rush through it.

Probability is...

Of late I have developed a habit of reading first three-four pages of a book before I decide whether I'll continue with it or not. Not that this method does not help. The only bone of contention is the time I spend in choosing the next book to be read. After much ado(about nothing) I chose this book called Chances Are...:Adventures in Probability by Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan. One of my friend got this book from USA and since then it has become some sort of a rage in the hostel. It is always like that. For instance, some time back A Train to Pakistan became a hit just like a Hollywood blockbuster. More recently The Satanic Verses developed a cult status and could be found circulating from room to room.

One of my friend got so inspired by the probability book that he got it photocopied and has been advising others to read it.

Over the years the study of probability and stochastic processes has gained a lot of momentum. Since the foray of Investment Banks and Consultancies in the placement scenario at our campus, the demand for the courses dealing with these topics has seen a steep rise. People these days are more busy in formulating business plans. There is a mad rush for management and finance related courses.

I did a course dealing with probability this semester and just avoided flunking it. All along I knew that I can score easily in this course. But somehow that notion didn't translate into concrete results. Descartes was not right in his idea of 'I think, therefore I am' over here.

But I must say that I have some interest in economics. I like the way government and RBI deal with the market and sometimes it becomes very challenging to analyze the prevailing bullish/bearish trends. Moreover, every small change can have immediate global-level consequences which can leave you gawking sometimes.

No movies for me until Jan 2. No compulsion or anything like that. It's just that I'm at home and would like to maintain the decorum. Otherwise, in hostel I have the bad habit of starting with the second as soon as the first is over. I can't do that here. So when I saw The Wizard of Oz recently it left me pining for more. But he good news is that soon I'll be going to watch Taare Zameen Par which undoubtedly attracted unwanted attention in Gujarat. Yes, yes the same Narmada dam controversy which hit Fanaa last year, though it seems that situation is not that serious.

This reminds me of the the following song.

First step, your last breath
everything's been planned
there's questions, and answers
you'll never understand
I hold on, but let go
I give you room to breath
Remember, the best things
will never mind to change
starting at the ending
It won't break, while your bending
been there, and back again
and when the music ends..
-Ashley Parker Angel

Kahan Raja Bhoj, kahan Gangu teli

I recently read this book called The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Dame Agatha Christie. It is touted to be the best Agatha Christie book due to its unconventional techniques like unreliable narrator, twist-ending and the controversies it fell into upon its publication.

This is the first(and probably the last) Agatha Christie book I've ever read. Having read the complete Sherlock Holmes series, I found this book extremely pitiable.

To start with, the plot was pretty dumb and cliched; a tragic love affair in which the woman kills the man she loves who is then murdered by another dumbo. This is just her fourth book and Hercule Poirot has already considered retirement. He does a great favour to the family of the deceased(who was a friend of his) and makes an entry into the case like a hero in some Bollywood movie. It reminded me of Dashrath Singh's entry in Bunty aur Babli. He acts smart and collects some evidences which are quite visible to even an untrained eye. In between he displays his prowess in French and throws in stupid one-liners or ambiguous phrases. I was most surprised to find the detective eyeing girls and thus concluded that this book is some sort of a potboiler and nothing else.

And the way the mystery is solved is much more of a comedy than a thriller. He starts with a particular person and then shifts focus from that person to the next and until the last person is left(who is actually the murderer). Even a five year old child could do that. If you don't know anything, it's the best way. No brains required. Not like Sherlock Holmes or for that matter Mma Ramotswe who use much more deductive logic and skills to reach the solution. This is the biggest difference between the two.

Sherlock Holmes is really a great detective. His mannerisms are immaculate. The way he carries his proceedings, without jumping to stupid conclusions(which he considers to be a detective's greatest shortcomings and he is quite right in thinking so) and always solving the mystery in a sweeping fashion. His, is the final word on the whole story. At least he never said after every case that it was his last and suddenly in the next case he announces his return. Almost each of his case has been carved out in near perfect manner which keeps one engrossed till the very end.

Now I shall decide which book to read tomorrow. The IITians by Sandeepan Deb is definitely a big contender. So is The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

Books and coffee... What better way than this to spend 30 blissful days?

The holidays that separated two semesters

My internet connection has been quite stubborn lately. I have wanted to write so much all these days. Now, I forget what all was there to share through this opaque medium.

I have read a few books in the last couple of weeks. Currently, I'm reading a book called The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I was in Eloor a few days back and I saw this book(by sheer chance) lying in some obscure corner. I sometimes feel that I have an eye of catching not-so-common things. But this notion is immediately subverted by the conscience.

The Great Gatsby is a good read. I finished it recently and found myself liking the style of the author. A lot can be said about Jay Gatsby but then the debate becomes redundant with same old cliched jargon comprising of materialism, loss of humanism, hypocrisy and other middle-class traits. This has been a subject of much consternation in one of my lecture classes this semester. The professor was unable to accept the stark reality of diminishing class strength, loss of respect for lectures and the importance given to exams and grades.

Les Misérables

Ahem. Certainly it doesn't mean that I have read the Victor Hugo masterpiece. It's too big, I must say. But think broader. The title doesn't conceal that much. Does it? Just to make it clear, exams are going on and I couldn't care less. The only problem being that they are too obstinate to leave me in peace.

It is this visit to LSR which turned out to be a disaster(got ousted in the Prelims itself in Lit Quiz) which keeps on hitting my mind. The questions were slightly tricky and unlike the weird(and much more interesting) questions which are offered at quizzes in IIT they could be cracked by raking one's brain a little bit. Me, Mitesh and a second-yearite Anshuman. The last two did the job and the first one was dazed and confused. Otherwise, the trip was worth it considering that it was 'LSR'.

My friend introduced me to this private library called Eloor(just click on it). It was a nice experience and the collection has impressed me to become its member. The greatest advantage is that they charge just 10% of the book's cost and the initial charges are just Rs. 1000 for a lifetime of membership. Besides, they can get you any book you have been looking for without any extra cost. Isn't it amazing?

Zee Studio is doing lots to promote classic Indian cinema. After treating the viewers with Ritwik Ghatak's ground-breaking cinema, it's time for Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy. Ajantrik(pictured on left) and Bari Theke Paliye were the two movies of the former director which were shown. I caught up with the first one. Ajantrik depicts a moving relationship of a taxi driver with his cab. The driver looks after his car as if he is tending his son. When the car has a fallacy, he is too adamant to not to replace it with a new car. He buys new parts and indulges himself into the job of fixing the car once and for all. Though the world laughs at him, but it is the inner peace which he gains when in the end he is able to restart the engine. The movie clashed with my opinion that a machine is a machine and should be used like a machine. There is no reason for empathy. If it stops working, then either fix it or just throw it away. Even if it has worked hard and made you feel better then also there is no reason to empathize with it. There a lot of demonic machines out there which can never make you feel better. Instead, they will leave no stone unturned to give you jitterbugs.

...............kho naa jaaye yeh.... taare zameen par.....

I saw Jab We Met. And if you have seen Ahista Ahista then the 2hr. and 22 minutes you spend on the former are a complete waste of precious(due to majors) time. Well, the latter one was a little worth watching. Inspired by White Nights(yes yes the same one which inspired Saawariya)- a story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, it was a slow paced romance. Once again the songs proved to be the big bone of contention. This is the biggest problem with Bollywood movies. The songs completely slacken a movie's flow. But the way songs have been handled in No Smoking, I was very impressed by the approach. The songs were used to highlight certain thematic elements of the movie and in fact didn't seem to break the momentum which had been gathered.

In Ahista Ahista a boy(Abhay Deol) loves a girl(Soha Ali Khan), who has earlier eloped but is then betrayed by her boy-friend(Shayan Munshi(that if you know who he is!), and by the time he proposes her ex-boyfriend appears out of the blue and feeds her a thrilling story which she believes in and ditches the new guy in her life. Jab We Met goes one step further(kahaani mein twist) and the girl, now replaced by Kareena Kapoor, goes back to her new lover(here played by Shahid Kapoor).

So nothing new in fact.

Just to remind the reader, my major exams are going on. We are supposed to study for them. The reason being that the two hours per course which you are supposed to spend writing exam, are completely wasted. I am not denying that you need to sit through the whole exam, or sit at all. But just in case you are unfortunate... So it is better to study a little and then spew a lot. Thus wish me lots of best of luck and bid me farewell for now...

Analyze this...

For some time now, I have been thinking of sharing this link.

http://brokensandglass.googlepages.com/home

The anonymous person has beautifully expressed his feelings. I have no idea how often he updates these pages but only recently he added this page 'Wings of Butterfly'. The site also provides links to some bizarre sites that deal with The Metamorphois by Franz Kafka which can be rightly called 'King of the bizarre'.

To Markov chains and circuit relays...

I spent the whole day understanding stochastic processes and power protection. In between, to not to lose contact with reality, I read a few pages of Linguistics by David Crystal and the evergreen ToI.

Just to get a feel of Markov chains I wiki-ed the term and found that they are used in myriad applications. From Music theory to biology the usage was marvellous. Then I looked up Stochastic Process and found that the Brownian motion which is exhibited by pollen grains floating on water surface is an example of continuous-time stochastic process. A very interestingly comical link which I found was of Markov Bible. The Markov monkey claims that each time you open a book of the Bible, the content will be different from that obtained the previous time.

Though the practicality of what I was studying increased by enthusiasm, but the latter part of the theory couldn't keep me awake for long.

Next I went over to Power System Engineering and it proved to be much more soporific than its predecessor. Even the match wasn't interesting enough.Test matches have lost their sheen to the much more exciting 20-20 format. Who wants to wait for five days when three hours are enough to decide? The common man seems to have given precedence to instant satisfaction, over class and beauty(aesthetic contentment) which comes out in full flow only in Tests.

The relays and their hardware were too bizarre and gross to digest. So I switched over again to Linguistics. It told me the importance of communication and how it differs from language in a very fundamental way e.g. the mention of the word 'automation' by a manager can have far-reaching consequences for the company. The workers might consider it to be a threat pertaining to attrition. Whereas the manager simply wanted to stress upon efficiency and optimization. This is 'communication gap' which can sometimes wreak havoc upon the company. Another point it stressed upon was that the 'speaking form' of English is very different from the 'writing form'. What is actually taught is the latter one with almost negligible stress on the former -a subtle mistake upon the part of the linguists scholars and teachers.

The drag carries on to the next day which will then be carried to the next and next and so on. Procrastination is my way, otherwise it's the highway!

It has taken me five semesters to understand some basic facts. But the discovery of these obvious facts has been bewildering me for the past few days. Well, it's a pity that it took so long even when the first year would have been enough for a prudent and straight-minded being.

I have realized many things which will take a very long time to explain over here. I'll thus be precise and straight-forward in my dealings with the reader.

I could never imagine that some day I'll be such a hard-core movie buff. What is even more amazing is that this passion has come at an expense of academics, which I have willingly accepted. Considering that before coming to IIT I kept my nose to the grindstone, it was difficult for me to acknowledge this paradigm shift.

The best thing to happen to me is of course Quizzing. A wannabe quizzer, I am still surprised that how this passion developed in me. I can still remember how miserable I felt after attending the first quiz in August last year. It was a Format A event and the presence of so many people inside a tiny SAC Common Room, gave me fearful jitters. Moreover, the plight of sitting ignorantly and gaping at each question and its answer is too embarrassing to reminisce.

But I know I have come a long way since then and that's not even a drop in the ocean. Even now, many a times I'm left completely clueless as to what's going on. That's the beauty of quizzing. The more you learn, the more you are motivated to learn. People say that quizzing is just remembering some bizarre pieces of information. Well sometimes it is that way. But an experience of a year tells me that quizzing is much more than that. To put it simply it is just about being as much aware as you can be regarding your surroundings and your world. It has made me much more culturally aware and has helped me transcend that ignorance which is actually a void in common man's persona. It changes the way you perceive the world.

All this has put motors and transformers in the back-stage. What can I do? If they have failed to enrapture me then it is not my fault. I know how pitiably I studied the machines course. Though Signals and Systems was much more interesting, even then it doesn't hold that much importance which I have bestowed upon quizzing and cinema.

Are these times contagious
I've never been this bored before
Is this the prize I've waited for
Now as the hours passing
There's nothing left here to mature
I long to find a messenger

Have I got a long way to run...
- Collective Soul

It never has been better.....

In the past two weeks, I have seen over 10 movies. So, I don't have the patience to upload the poster for each one of those. Being Cyrus was the most bizarre film I saw last week. The same goes for the Herzog-Klinski nexus as seen in Aguirre, the wrath of God. Others include a documentary called Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky(On the sets of Offret) which gave profound insight into the direction style of the cinematic poet.

Haasil was the most horrible movie among the ones seen. Apart from a strong(yet cliched) performance by Irrfan Khan, there wasn't much substance in it. By the end, I was completely pissed off. Stupid songs, a silly good old love story and 2 hrs 40 min of pure nonsense. That's what it was! Actually someone had suggested me this movie. May be I do better by myself than listening to others(at least some of them) in matters as grave as cinema.

The others don't merit attention because they were kind of inconsequential. La vita è bella didn't meet my expectations. At least as compared to Schindler's List(which I saw four years back), the director didn't consider Holocaust as serious an event as it should have been. At only some instances, the movie appealed to my taste. But considering the insipid performance delivered by Roberto Benigni(who surprisingly won an Academy Award for it) and others, it failed considerably to satisfy me. Some may argue that the Holocaust was presented from a different perspective, but I believe that in the light of the most degenerate event in history of mankind, there is no scope of laughter and a cock and bull story of people playing game to win a tank.

I like the bizarre. I generally like pitting my wits and senses against something eerily unusual. I can't explain that different sense of satisfaction which is reached after doing this.

But I definitely need to cut down on my movie-watching time. Majors are just round the corner and am already in deep water in a couple of courses.

Very strangely, I haven't been able to read a book since I finished the great odyssey. Though I have started On the Road by Jack Kerouac and The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, yet I find them boring after reading a few pages. I suppose it is just that cycle which goes on time after time. After a few days, I may regain my tempo.

Of aliens and odysseys

2001:A Space Odyssey is a beautiful book. It is the best science-fiction novel I have read. The name may divert your attention and will probably fill you with wonder about the antiquity of the book and its relevance in present context. But that is where the delusive charm of the book lies.

Written before the man had landed on Moon, the book breathtakingly answers some of the most poignant questions that have mystified mankind. The author makes several assumptions regarding the future and most of them seem to be correct to a large extent. For instance, Moon has been conquered by humans but with an exception. A self-sustaining colony is yet to be built. Moreover, there hasn't been any manned mission beyond Moon and won't likely be possible before the end of next decade. Another interesting innovation of that of a computer as capable as HAL900 is still lacking.

Wherever the author focuses on the progress made my mankind he is clever enough to leave a cautionary note. He doesn't want us to live in any fool's paradise and let the sense of complacency overwhelm our thoughts. After the monolith T.M.A.-1 is discovered and its unique scientific proportions noted by humans, it is some sort of a reminder of what to expect and what not to expect. He always pits the human race against the mysterious aliens who created the monolith millions of years ago, when we were still sub-human, lived in caves, were afraid of fire and foraged almost daily.

There is always an attempt to trivialize the efforts of humanity when he explains our actual relevance in the infintely large universe. What makes us think that we are the only living creatures and there is no from of any intelligent existence on any other planet, in any other galaxy? This is the result of our sheer narrow-mindedness which mars our thinking and doesn't allow us to think beyond certain perceptions and beliefs.

The author doesn't leave us over here. The end is as mind-boggling as David Bowman's journey through Star Gate. Bertrond explains Yaan about the impounding perils and urges him to exercise great caution and wisdom , which ultimately may change the course of the humans yet-to-come. This is the author's assessment of the problems concerning humanity. It was in those early deformed stages that some wrong path was chosen and it is here they we have landed today. He doesn't explicitly state that we are in some danger, but he is able to dive the point home that we are constantly in the danger of imperilling ourselves and the more we develop, the lesser the time we have to enjoy those developments.

It is these questions which haven't lost their significance in age of globalization and nuclear power. They still loom large over our heads, and in our constant endeavour of escaping them we are only endangering our positions. Be it 2001 or 3001, the author's vision still holds goods. It is our perception which ultimately matters and as he said "The truth is as always, far stranger than our perception".

Hatred.....

I don't feel like blogging these days. Not due to the minors. Nor due to a lack of topics. I don't know. But I often think about blogging. While reading a book, while watching a movie or while completing daily chores, my thoughts wander onto blogging.

The problem is that as soon as I face the blog, a deep sense of loathing engulfs me. Everything about this blog is so superficial and ephemeral. It is just like any ordinary blog, and so unlike me. I want it to reflect my persona. Just like a piece of art. A stupid list of movies, books read, a few goddamn links and last of all that stupid 'movie-meter' thing which hangs at the bottom. I hate it all. And if someone discusses anything related to blog, I hate it more so.

Sometimes I feel like deleting all the entries. They are all phoney and useless. There is very little sense in them. Pieces of shit... But logic overpowers impulse and somehow they are all safe(for how long???).

Why can't I write something more meaningful? Why can't I write something which truly reflects my very own way of writing, however meaningless it may be?

I have been working on this problem for quite some time now. But no solution is in sight. But I'll definitely bring about a sea change to this godforsaken thing... That's certain......

Auto-psychoanalysis....

I go straight to my room from here. I will read Vernon God Little. ......I sat in my class thinking about what I will do after classes are over.... I may feel sleepy. It's just 6:00 pm. ........there was a nagging feeling which weighed me down........ So I shouldn't sleep. Then I may watch a movie. I will watch Alien today. It's a great Ridley Scott movie.........Oh my God...such a terrible feeling of loneliness..... What next? In between, I will have to take dinner. What if someone comes in between? What if a QC event is held? What if an EDLC event is there? You never know... Last moment the rep comes and says,"You have to come for the event! There's no one else."......don't have a good feeling about the events.......heart is heavy.......don't know.....why am I afraid.....rather...what is scaring me.....the person there was staring at me..........

(I reach my room and end up wasting half-an-hour staring out of my window. A friend drops in and we have a long conversation on arbitrary issues. Then I pay visit to another "intellectual" friend of mine. We share some wisdom and thus gain, a trifle, by it. It is dinner time by then. Next....)Shit! All time wasted....there is so much to be done......there I am with guilt etched upon very thought of mine.....what to do...how to control those desires.....shit.........*(^%$#()*&*

(Late at night......) Still haven't started Vernon God Little.....why do I indulge in trivial activities only to repent later....so much time wasted.......this never happened in school days......has the IIT system been responsible for all this.....or my own actions....my own deliberations.....shit.......where is all this leading me.......

As I write all this, balderdash it may seem, but it means hell to me. I have spent two months of this semester doing this. Those confused feelings, those states of utter bewilderment, they are all taking a toll on me. Movies cheer me up. Sometimes books too. I always go home, heavy-hearted and come back to hostel light-hearted. Home makes me feel better. But I am none the better at home. I succumb to all kinds of cravings over there.

I don't have a good feeling about it. It has started raining just now. Days of torturous heat, sweating and now rains will take that all away. It's so easy for the rains to ease the weather which starts getting on my nerves. May be a rain exists which will those bizzare desires of mine.....someday...perhaps..... I am waiting.........

Some thoughts......

The thoughts I will put forward have been held for long in my memory. I still don't know, what stopped me from wording them.

Lately much of my energies have been diverted to cinema. Having an enviable collection is not enough. Though it gives me great pleasure when I think of the great works which I possess, and what an honour it is.

And the story doesn't end here. The collection is still growing, though the pace has slackened considerably over the past couple of months. Yet the ones I get, are those which I have cherished for long or those which need to be added for the betterment of collection.

My pace of watching movies has also grown significantly. Lately, every alternate day I try to watch a movie. A small desire in the initial days has matured into an insatiable hunger for more and more and more...

Yesterday I saw Kal Ho Naa Ho. But for the songs, the movie was heart-rendering. Songs were good, no doubt, but they dampen the momentum of the movie, and in some cases just bring it to a stand-still. That's the major problem with Bollywood movies today. Another bone of contention was Saif Ali Khan's lack lustre performance. He is just not fit for emotional roles. Look at Parineeta, Hum Tum and the climactic scenes of Kal Ho Naa Ho. He has failed miserably and is only good at doing comical roles or the likes of Dil Chahta Hai.

Much to my dismay, I try to extricate thematic elements from every movie and that too while watching. It gets boring very often. For instance when Naina's mother was explaining the meaning of relationships to her, I was busy putting those moral values in a larger frame of reference. A thought occurred to me(and occurs very often after watching a Bollywood film) that most of the Hindi films deal with relationships, love and marriage. Although they may differ on certain aspects, but more or less they pertain to the general concept of relations.

This "Analyzing.." business may not be so boring for Western movies though. All the more, it makes sense to analyze them, and a good movie may require a certain level of intellect to deal with them. Rear Window was one such case. This Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece is pretty complicated as far as relation between the protagonist(played by Cary Grant) and his girl-friend Lisa are concerned. I was only able to acknowledge the theme of ethics of voyeurism and marriage in the movie. But Wikipedia told me that the movie had much more food for thought than I could possibly imagine. I was bewildered that people had done so much research on a not-so-interesting movie.

Anyway, my passion for cinema is still amateur and I have to travel many miles before I can confidently put forth my prowess in Cinema. The beauty of cinema is not an easy thing to admire. But I am prepared to devote unbounded time towards this beautiful art and wish to gain as much as I can.

I proposed, I don't know who disposed...

Circumstances demand that I should be a little more regular in the noble art of blogging.

I have been generous enough(to whom?) to update this blog with the latest movie or the book. But the main point of creating a blog seems to have lost its purpose.

For instance, just before doing the honours I was building up a chain of thoughts to be translated into words over here. But as I type, each link breaks open and this is what I am writing.

Just to give this entry a more important look, let me inform the respectable reader that I last saw Chak De! India and am currently reading The Story of My Experiments With Truth by M.K. Gandhi.

Gandhiji has brilliantly put forward his life's journey, and with inspirational candidness has succeeded in mentioning his short-comings as well as all his juvenile wrong-doings. It's very rare these days to find someone admitting his/her faults and weaknesses. Such display of honesty has touched my heart. Though the pace of the book has been a little sluggish till now, nonetheless I'm hoping that it'll turn out to be a great read.

That's the problem. As I write, a feeling of sleepiness creeps in. This problem has definitely played a major role in abstaining me from blogging. Bah....

UK goes the Brown way

After months of speculation, Tony Blair finally submitted his resignation to the Queen. His popularity had been dwindling since quite some time. Many attribute this to the policies which he had followed during his tenure. People were angry that the country had been dragged into the genocidal Iraq war.

I was surprised that how a person at such a lucrative post, could resign so gracefully. Such a 'miracle' is not possible in a country like India. Though Tony Blair was emotional during his last speech in the Parliament, nonetheless, it was done honourably and with a certain grace which is remniscient of old warriors who relinquished their title. Perhaps, this reflects the depth of democracy in UK.

India is claimed to be the biggest democracy in the world. But this honour is only quantity-wise. There maybe democracy as far as Lok Sabha elections or State elections are concerned. But when it comes to a political party there is no such thing as democracy. If Congress wins then Sonia Gandhi has to be the PM. If not then the person who will be PM has to be the puppet in her hands. If BJP is in power then L.K. Advani or Atal Bihari Vajpayee has to be the PM.

Unlike UK the political parties here work on undemocratic principles. Each political party here is characterized only by one or two leaders. The rest of the politicians are merely there for the sake of it. In UK each member of the political party has his/her say in the proceedings of the party. So the most efficient man gets the top job. Moreover if during the course of his/her term as PM , the members are not satisfied by his /her policies then he/she has to resign and give way to the more popular candidate.

Why can't such a democratically sound system be implemented in India? Even aftre 60 years of independence, we are far away from being a true democracy. Then why carry this ostentatious tag of being the world's greatest democracy?

Meanwhile, Tony Blair is seemingly feeling the pangs of being a common man once more. But after being touted as the successor of Paul Wolfowitz as the chief of World Bank, he has been chosen as representative of the Quartet(comprising of US, UN, EU and Russia) in the Middle East as some kind of a 'peace broker'. What a pretentious post to give, which has little significance and almost negligible consequence. What little he can offer, remains to be seen.

As fas as Gordon Brown is concerned, he will be really pleased with himself for shiting his base to 10 Downing Street. After all he got the job after a wait of more than a decade. He has two years to prove his mettle and reform public opinion. May be he can help his party to gain the reputation which has suffered in the hands of the ex-PM.

If anybody has an inkling as to what Gordon Brown will offer has PM, please do tell me. I have very little knowledge about it. Anyway, one can wait and watch. I am particularly interested in how it will benefit the Anglo-Indian relationship. My fingers are crossed and I hope that yours' are too.

Yipee! It's the Harry Potter month!

After two years of waiting all the Harry Potter fans will be finally rewarded on 21st July. The most awaited book in the world Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will roll out in a festival like opening ceremony. Being a great Harry Potter fan, only I know how is it to wait for a book. Each passing day, is making the wait all the more tougher.

As I have written before, there a few mysteries which J.K. Rowling has to unravel. For instance, in the third year Harry helped Peter Pettigrew, who then escaped Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Later Dumbeldore explained Harry that when a wizard helps another one, there is a certain bond which forms between them. So this bond is yet to be explained by the author. Another point is that whether there has been any chemistry between Severus Snape and Lily Potter. I am an avid Harry Potter fan. So I constantly keep in touch with sites like The Leaky Cauldron and Veritaserum. There I got to know that some rumours were strife about the two. I have been thinking about visiting this site called Mugglenet.com. It is supposed to be good.

And there are some trash websites too. Dumbledoreisnotdead.com is one such site. Even to think about Dumbledore not being dead is ridiculous. It is very well known that some authors go to any extent to revive ceratin important characters deemed dead long ago. But Dumbledore was killed using an Unforgivable Curse- Avada Kedavra. He clearly dies and is thrown down the Astronomy Tower. So such theories like he is not dead and then to support them by showing logical fallacies is balderdash.

Besides, the journey of Harry potter becomes most perilous. He may be accompanied by Ron and Hermione. But it requires high amount of mettle to threaten him, nevertheless. Snape has to definitely help him out. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible with all these dark curses surrounding Horcruxes. Oh! I am just holding my breath.

There is another surprise too. The fifth installment in Harry Potter movie series is realeasing world-wide on 13th of this month. Perhaps, due to double bonanza I have coined this month, The Harry Potter month. Anyway, never in the future a book and a movie are going to be released together. I will miss it so much. There will be a tiny void in my heart for this great legend. Through these years I have come to admire this hero so much that it is impossible to think about an existence without him.

I hope that history repeats itself, sometime in the future and there comes another great being as Harry Potter.

All that I left behind...

Somehow, I felt uneasy. Something was asphyxiating me. Was it lack of air? May be. It is that air which others also breathe. I didn’t know what to do. They call it presence of mind. But groping madly in the darkness to tell others that they deprived me of oxygen isn’t exactly presence of mind. They were so very mean. Never before in my all these years of existence had I seen such people. Were they the same people who surrounded me and smiled when I looked at them and sympathized with me when I was sad? I believe it is my fault. My mind had been shrouded by gullibility all these years. Oh boy! What agony it was… How am I ever to feel better while carrying this mental stigma with me? As an infant the air was all around me. I used to feel it inside me, in my veins, my heart, my mind and my soul. But now? Things have changed so much. I longed to go back to those wonderful days of existence. Suddenly, I noticed that I couldn’t do that too. I opened my eyes and felt the metamorphosis. There was an infinite wall that separated me from that side of the world. I noticed my faint reflection in that transparent wall. The monster I had become, horrified me out of my wits. I looked around me and found everyone to be the same. There was hatred, jealousy, greed, and anguish all around. They detest me from what I am and what I am going to be. Perhaps, I can do without air in this environment or may be I will learn to live without it. Only time will tell. The symptoms are suggestive of that. Will it be difficult? I don’t know. I only know that this is the order of the world. Like it or not. It’s not my choice. They wanted me to become like that. God knows what the future holds for me. I can only hope for the best and that’s what I am hoping.

Too hot to handle!

It is too hot these days. The month of May was unexpectedly pleasant. But June is turning out to be a genuine torture. I have to go to institute these days for project work. Standing at the bus-stop, the piercing sunbeams are awful. By the time I get into the bus, my back is drenched and beads of perspiration start dripping onto the ground from my face.

What next awaits me is a seemingly long and dispiriting journey to the IIT bus-stop. Morning is the time when one realizes that how populous Delhi is! As a result, my incapability to find a seat, leads me to stand in utter despair. The jostling and shoving crowd gets on my nerves. By the time I reach institute, I have had the worst time of my life.

To make the matters worse still, even a short walk from the bus-stop to the Main Building is heavily taxing. Sweating profusely, I pave my way to the lab where I am supposed to do my project.

There’s no place like home. That’s right! But these days I have rather become critical to this fact. I am not having a good time even at home. Everything that I touch is hot. Or if it is cold then the nature and my grasp do everything to take away its coldness, something like the Midas touch. The water flowing through the taps is geyser-hot. I wonder if there is any hot spring near by which may contribute to this effect. Even to think about a bath is a terrible notion. Moreover, I am too tired of getting up every 15 minutes for a glass of water, how refreshing the end result may be.

Perhaps the afternoon hours are the most burdensome. Accompanying the torment are the typical summer season winds known as loo. It slaps my face with sheer disregard of my plight and leaves me cursing the season.

Newspapers are flooded with articles on global-warming these days. Suddenly the media has woken up to this issue and seems hell bent upon informing each and every person about it. Or may be is it that the authorities have woken up to this fact that something needs to be done at this stage to ensure a safe future for the generations, yet to come? Only time will tell so. A recent development is that all the countries in the world are imploring Uncle Sam to cut down its Carbon emission (which is humongous). But it doesn’t seem to be paying off.

I think that the pangs of global-warming are too obvious to be described. They can felt everywhere. Perhaps the heat is all around and has even ‘heated’ the people. Look around and one can notice the unrest anywhere. After the tiff between Dera Sacha Sauda and Akal Takht in Punjab came the unsettling feud between the government and the Gujjar community. The unrest spread from Rajasthan to the adjoining states only to be called off in time after a meeting between the Gujjar community and the BJP govt. in the state. Though the meeting made an headway, but at a cost. The cost was the lives of many innocent people and the inconvenience which was faced by the commuters.

To return back to my plight, no amount of ice-cream, AC or iced-tea can work against this sweltering heat. As a result, I have been feeling more ‘heat’. Even the simple act of thinking about heat, leaves me disgruntled. The only thing I can do is to wait, and wait for the Rain God to be generous and sing bhajans to appease him.

Check out these new trailers of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, scheduled to be released on July 13. These are better then the previous trailer which was released in a hurry long time back and was pretty disappointing.

At Apple Movie Trailers...
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harrypotterandtheorderofthephoenix/trailer2/

At The Leaky Cauldron Video Gallery...
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/videogallery/video/show/670

Both are different. So don't think that these are two links of the same video! I liked the one at Apple Movie Trailers more rather than the one below it. But both offer a glimpse of the movie in their own manner.

I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood prince in July of 2005. The Counselling session conducted for the new admissions was over. I had even been informed about the branch which I had inherited. I had been very eagerly awaiting the sixth installment in Harry Potter series. there was so much I wanted to know. For instance, Harry would receive his OWL grades, whether Hermoine would make a fuss over her grades too(I had assumed that she will get nearly perfect score), who would be the Prefect, and the most of all about the fracas in which the good side of the Magical society was involved.

Thus I got ready around 8am. My mood was utterly jovial. I had already got a copy booked for myself at the local bookstore. In around 20 minuted the book was in my hand. I cannot describe the sensation. It is too good to be elucidated. As soon as I got home I delved into the book and everything else was forgotten.

It took me three good days to finish the book. I wanted to read the book slowly. This was to ensure that the sense of reading a new Harry Potter doesn't desert me too soon. I like this feeling very much. It's a special one.

There are many aspects of the book which I would like to consider. Firstly, the style of writing is crisp and clear. It is unlike its predecessor which was unnecessarily lengthy and contained irrelevant sub-plots. Probably, while writing the book J.K. Rowling had in her mind a mature reader. The fabric of the plot has been woven with caution so that too many details aren't let out. Throughout the book there is a sense of anticipated danger. A feeling of despair, darkness and something evil as well as disturbing, runs through the book.

Another point to ponder is Dumbledore's death. It is extremely unwelcome. Perhaps I had become very sad and disappointed by the end. He was at the forefront of the war against evil. He was a master strtegy maker and had a charismatic personality. He was the only one whom Dark Lord had ever feared. Moreover Dumbledore's omnipotency was his biggest strength and a boon for the Magical World. Now in his absence the onus lies on his followers and none are as capable as him. Harry may have faced him several times and may contain the power to love(according to Dumbledore that's a great power), but still he requires extraordinary skills to slay Dark Lord.

J.K. Rowling has conceded to the fact that the last two books are linked. This means the seventh novel will resume from the point where the sixth one left. I am expecting that the last one will be very exhilarating as well as convincing. After all the author is supposed to tie all the loose strings together. Many questions have been left unanswered.

At last… freedom! Last Wednesday was a very fortunate one as my majors got over. Since a few days I have been waiting to, though in vain anxiety, to update the blog. But for those who don’t burn the midnight oil during the lean period, exams are always a nightmare. To cut several big matters short, the exigencies of the semester finally got over.

Being an average guy, the results of the exams are always a source of bewilderment. The reason behind this odd assertion is that an academic stud knows he/she has fared well. Also a not-so-caring person knows that he/she is getting passing grades or not. But being average is certainly a different phenomena.

Yesterday, I sneaked out some time to watch Sunset Boulevard. The dramatic opening sequences were amazing. The ancient manor belonging to an ageing silent film actress Norma Desmond and the gloom prevailing over the characters as well as in the background was to raise my hair. There is a nagging feeling of anticipated agony and depression. The despondency of the protagonists has been carefully portrayed. The incessant efforts of her butler/ex-director/discoverer (though his background is revealed very late into the movie) to keep her in a state of paranoia were very successful. The narrator who is an unsuccessful writer falls in her trap. Later when he tries to extricate himself of her psychological captivation, he has to pay the price of his life. The end was somewhat disappointing. It didn’t meet my expectations. When the tension has been building up, there is a notion that something amazing is going to happen. But nothing of this sort happens. Even the grim background score had managed to create a momentum which was punctured by the uncaring and vague ending.

This reduces my list of movies to be seen by one. The decrement is insubstantial judging by the length of the list. Perhaps it is going to be an exhilarating experience to watch so many movies. Anyway I am game.

Here is a short story about which I was reminiscing recently in my lonely room. I liked the story for its palpable simplicity and the implicit truthfulness. It appeared in TOI on the Boxing Day of 2005. Here it goes...

A Place in Paradise

Many years ago, in the northeast of Brazil, there lived a couple who were very poor and whose only possession was a hen. They managed to scrape a precarious living from the eggs laid by that one hen. On Christmas Eve, however, the hen died. The husband, who only had a few pennies to his name, which was certainly not enough to buy food for that evening's meal, went to seek help from the village priest. Instead of giving him money, the priest merely remarked: "God never closes a door without opening a window. Your money will buy you almost nothing, so go to the market and buy the first thing you're offered. I will bless that purchase and, since Christmas is the time for miracles, something will happen that will change your life for ever."
The man wasn't entirely convinced that this was the best solution, but he went to the market anyway. One of the traders saw him wandering aimlessly about and asked what he was looking for. "I don't know. I don't have much money, but the priest told me that I should buy the first thing I was offered." The trader was very rich, but even so he never let slip an opportunity to make a profit, however small. He took the man's few coins and in exchange gave him a note scribbled on a piece of paper. "The priest was quite right. Now I've always had a kind heart, and so, on this festive day, I'm selling you my place in Paradise. Here are the deeds!"

The other man took the piece of paper and moved off, while the trader glowed with pride at having closed yet another excellent deal. That night, while he was preparing for supper in his house full of servants, he told the story to his wife, adding that it was thanks to such quick thinking that he had become as rich as he was. "That's shameful!" said his wife. "Fancy behaving like that on the day Jesus was born! Go straight to that man's house and get the piece of paper back, or you'll never set foot in this house again!" Alarmed by his wife's anger, the trader decided to do as she said. After much asking around, he managed to find out where the man lived. When he went in, he found the couple sitting at a table that was completely bare apart from the piece of paper. "I've come because what I did was wrong," the trader said. "Here's your money. Now give me back what I sold you." "You did nothing wrong," replied the man. "I followed the priest's advice and I know that what I bought from you is blessed."

"But it's just a piece of paper. Besides, no one can sell someone else their place in Paradise. If you like, I'll give you double what you paid for it." However, because he believed in miracles, the poor man refused to sell. The trader gradually increased his offer, until he reached the sum of ten gold coins. "That's no good to me," said the man. "In order to give my wife the life she deserves, I need one hundred gold coins. That is the miracle I'm waiting for this Christmas Eve." In despair and knowing that if he lingered any longer, no one in his own house would have supper or go to midnight mass, the trader ended up paying one hundred gold coins to get the piece of paper back. As far as the couple were concerned, the miracle had happened. As for the trader, he had done as his wife had asked. His wife, though, was filled with doubt. Had she been too hard on her husband? As soon as midnight mass was over, she went to the priest and told him the story.
"Father, my husband met a man who said that you had told him to go to the market and buy the first thing he was offered. My husband, seeing a chance to earn some easy money, wrote him a note on a piece of paper, selling him his place in Paradise. I told my husband that he wouldn't eat in our house tonight if he didn't get that piece of paper back, and he ended up having to pay one hundred gold coins for it. Did I go too far? Could a place in Paradise really cost that much?" "Firstly, your husband was able to show great generosity on this, the most important day in the Christian calendar. Secondly, he became the instrument of God through whom a miracle was performed. But to answer your question: when he sold his place in Heaven for a few pennies, it wasn't even worth that much; however, when he bought it back for one hundred gold coins simply to make his wife happy, that, I can assure you, made it worth much much more."

( Based on an Hasidic tale by David Mandel. Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. This story is courtesy HarperCollins Publishers India. HarperCollins are the publishers for all Paulo Coelho titles which include Alchemist, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Fifth Mountain, Manual of the Warrior of Light, Pilgrimage, Valkyries, Veronika Decides to Die and The Zahir .)

The last few days have been a complete waste of time for me. My minor tests are starting soon and still I lack the much needed enthusiasm to study. Only two courses are interesting this time. Finally, to create the atmosphere of anticipated minors and to redirect my grey cells to maggai I cut down on my book-reading and movie-watching time.

For some time now I have been downloading movies in large number from the LAN. It is a peerless source of excellent movies which range across most of the conventional as well as non-conventional genres. Classic, cult, noir- you name it and it is there. Many downloaded ones are exceptionally bizarre and off the beaten track. But there is one small hitch. The LAN may have a huge never-ending collection of movies. But my search is restricted to only the notable ones and they are being consumed with a huge pace. And those benevolent spirits which supply me those movies rest in some fourth year guys who will pack up after the majors and bid us good bye. Naturally, I have to keep my eyes and mind open to keep on checking whether a movie is available or not. Generally, at different times of the day one is bound to get different results owing to the presence of the particular source.

Moreover, there is lots of music ranging from hard rock to classical, to be downloaded too. Besides, my taste is slowly evolving to accommodate more number of bands and singers. It seems that I have a huge preference for boy bands over girl bands and singers. I downloaded Dixie Chicks and Led Zeppelin. Clearly, the latter was much better. Perhaps by the end of the majors I should be able to amass a great amount of stuff. May all my desires be fulfilled…. I have also been attending quizzing events. In one of them the quizmaster asked a question related to Ed Wood Jr. He is famous for directing the most pathetic and shadiest movies in the history of cinema. The shadiest movie was to be identified. Somehow, I recognized the poster shown, at first instance. So I told him the answer promptly and won points for my team. While giving more information about the movie he mentioned that he had a copy of the movie. I immediately became interested in possessing one. Overcoming all unwarranted hesitation, only recently I approached him. He said that he will try his best to arrange a copy for me. Soon it may work out that I come to possess the worst movie ever….Pure luck!!

Monty Python and the Holy Grial

Yippee!!The minors have ended at last. I don't know why but this time it seems that I have done a nice job. Sometimes you have the feelinig that the exams have ended in just the right manner as you wanted them to be. Nither badly, leaving you depressed and frustrated nor very well, giving you airs of self-achievement. For me this feeling is pretty good. But putting it straight it is only seldom that I get to fell this kind of feeling.

Coming straight to the point, I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail after the minors. Well!! What a movie it was... The screenplay was developed to keep the temperament of the story going. The funniest act was the virtual horse one. My friend, who was watching the movie with me and I have enacted that scene several times, much to the disappointment and amusement of the onlookers. A person who is shown to be narrating the movie is killed by one of King Arthur's knight. The police is later called to investigate the crime.

The movie is a spoof on King Arthur's quest for Holy Grail. Terry Gilliam seems to have done a briiliant job. The end was rather interesting. The King and his army were interuppted by 70's police as they were heading to attack the French. The police arrests King Arthur and then the movie comes to an abrupt end. I was rather amazed by the sequence of events. Anything was possible in the movie. Once, the animator who had created the dragon had an heart-attack and died. The dragon also died simultaneously and thus King Arthur and his valiant men moved ahead in the quest of the grail.

Whenever I think of the movie, these scenes don't fail to amuse me. It was one of it's kinds. Looking ahead to watch a similar movie..........

Casino Royale - A 'royale' experience....

Only recently I saw Casino Royale in a movie hall. Earlier I was sceptical about it, as I had heard negative reviews from my colleagues. But the opening sequence in which he kills the former british secret agent and his associate in order to gain 007 status, did a great deal to remove even the last remaining specks of doubt in my mind.

Further, in the movie the great Parkour(a physical discipline) sequence(when James Bond tries to catch hold of Steve-a bombmaker) was mind-blowing. Though he ends up blowing the embassy building of Nambutu, still the fast-paced action is a treat to watch. Next, he is taken to task by M. But that arrogance and recklessness don't desert him. He is hot on trail of Le Chiffre and his clandestine organization. Clue after clue(ELLIPSIS), he manages to thwart the enemy's attempt to blow up an aeroplane in the nick of time.

Come Vesper Lynd- an accountant at the HM Treasury and the plot alters its theme. The cheeky conversation on train to Montenegro between her and James Bond changes the mood of the story. The stage is now set for a high-stake poker match in which MI6 has entered James Bond to bankrupt Le Chiffre. Though many other players also start the game, but later it turns into a one-on-one battle between Bond and Le Chiffre. There is a huge amount in drama in between. Valenka-the henchwoman of Le Chiffre poisons the drink of James Bond. But later he is rescued by Vesper using a ventricular defibrillator.

Though James Bond's triumph may convey the feeling of climax, and the resultant vindictiveness on Le Chiffre's part may indicate the end of the movie. Still the mega-climax is yet to come.

The ultimate and the most sensational climax comes into lime-light, when it turns out that Vesper Lynd works for the non-disclosed organization(who are the malefactors) . Betrayal in the name of love and loneliness after Vesper's death seem to harden James Bond's heart(who had earlier resigned, but later takes it back). He has finally learnt his lesson- never to trust anyone, however close he is. The movie's character lies in the fact that unlike its predecessors it is supported by a great storyline. Though it misses out on trademark BMW car and hi-fi gadgets. But Daniel Craig and Eva Green seem to have done a decent job.

So, it is finally the woman who crushes the love, the trust and that hope of a secure future in the male protagonist's heart. Our hero is once again left in search of love and future..........

The end of the movie? Well its the same iconic line which defines James Bond's persona "The name's Bond. James Bond".