DCH Vs Wake Up Sid

Watched 'Wake up Sid' last weekend. I found a number of similarities between "Dil Chaahta Hai" (DCH) and "Wake up Sid".
Here are a few that I could think of.

1. The obvious one - Both movies have characters named Siddharth, fondly called Sid.
2. The stories begin with the comepletion of their final year exams and the farewell party (Well, in DCH, the flashback begins that way)
3. Both the Sids fall in love with older women (Konkona's character is not the same age as Dimple's in DCH ... but yeah, older than Ranbir's character anyway)
4. In DCH, Sid (Akshaye) has a misunderstanding with Akash (Aamir) and the two dont talk to each other for a while. The same thing happens between Sid (Ranbir) and his friend.
5. The conversation between Ranbir and his dad at the breakfast table (about him joining his dad's business) is similar to the scene in DCH where Aamir has the exact conversation with his dad.
6. Ranbir meets Konkona at their farewell party. Aamir meets Preity at their farewell party.
7. Ranbir's friend gets dumped. Ditto - Saif in DCH.

Ok... Its pretty obvious that I had nothing better to do than think about the similarities between the two movies and write them down diligently :)
Thank you for your patience :)

The crooning topi-wala

Whats so great about Himesh Reshamiya??? Why is the world going ga-ga over this self-proclaimed rockstar? Or is it? The promos of his recent movie 'Radio' are all over the place. It looks as boring as his 'Aap ka saroor' and 'Karrzz' (whichever way he spelt it). In his usual tone, he is sitting by the side of a 20 something girl and thinking about another 20 something who he loved and lost. I guess, this sort of a scene is a must in all his movies. Shenaaz (with virtually no acting experience) seems to emote better than Himesh. In the trailer, one sees Shenaaz asking Himesh "Whats your relationship status?"; to which, pat comes a reply "Its complicated". His absolute dead-pan expression does not convey anything!! Don't know what the producer was thinking before signing on Himesh for this film. What the hell, its his money. He has to live with it :)

A 60 year old man imprisons his wife and daughters for years together fearing they would get corrupted by the ‘big, bad world’.

2000 (!!!) women get flogged by temple priests in the name of tradition.

A woman gets caned for drinking beer at a local bar.

What kind of world are we living in?? Where does it stop? Is there no end to the brutality?
The priest in-charge of the so called ‘flogging ritual’ claims that they have been practicing this for 300 years! Why didn’t this come to the light of the local authorities earlier? With news hungry reporters around, such an act wouldn’t have gone unnoticed if it had indeed been happening for a while now.
Such horrendous acts take place… a few idiots like me blog about it, write to newspapers & news channels hoping for some action… but they’re long forgotten. Nothing is ever done. Nothing will ever be done.

Destiny's child

The constant thought running through everyone's heads is "Is what’s happening right now good for me?” "Should I try and intervene?” When we are unable to do as we please, we try to blame fate, saying "What ever is destined to happen, will happen". Is that cliché really true or is it just a myth? Or just a reason to leave things be.

When we find ourselves in situations that we cant really tackle, more often than not, we turn to the big guy upstairs; or to "some supreme power", for all those agnostics out there. We spend all our free time praying at temples, churches, mosques and other places of worship. The belief is that the Lord will either solve our problem (Haha…fat chance!) or at least give you enough strength to pull through it or help you come up with an amicable solution. Working towards the possible betterment of a problem is a risky proposition. One can either fall flat on his/her face or end up making the right moves which eventually solves ones problem.

Fortune befriends the brave
As uncomfortable as it is for them to do so, these set of people bravely take it upon themselves to do what they feel will improve a bad situation. Regardless of the outcome, they make sure that they have put in their 100%. Embarrassment does not deter their courage. And even if it does not end up as expected, they do not regret trying. As long as failure does not affect them adversely, they march right on past it. This is of course a healthy way of handling things, but for the weak hearted, its not good idea to be going down that road time and again.

Latch on to a star
Fear of rejection, fear of getting one's heart broken, fear of losing - such worries dwell on the minds of these people. They leave it totally up to fate to decide what’s best for them. In times of crisis, fate and God are their two best friends. If things do not end up as expected or as they want, they blame it on their fate (and sometimes take it in their stride).

It is possible to carve one’s fate, but no matter how hard you try (you should give it your best shot, of course), only if something is destined to happen, it will.

Interesting trivia

Read in one of the many Harry Potter forums that Sirius Black's death is in fact forseen by Sybill Trelawney in the book "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". She says "When thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die”
Later in the 5th book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) in the dining room at Grimmauld Place, we see thirteen people including Sirius dining together and during the commotion with Mrs.Weasley, he gets up first. I'm not sure if J.K.Rowling is even aware of this conincidence!

A dangerous dip

I usually get terrified with the very idea of taking a dip in a holy river/lake (irrespective of fact that its supposed to posses divine powers). My dad made me take a dip in one such holy river (Tamarabarani) last weekend. It was one of my most scary experiences. My plan was to just fill my palm with a little bit of water and sprinkle it on top of my head. My dad had other plans. As soon as we reached the temple ghat, he requested one of the ladies there (a local resident, who was busy washing clothes) to take me with her and make me take a proper dip in the river. I, of course, was terrified.

Before I tell you what actually happened, let me rewind back to when I was 8 years old. The four of us (me, my bro, mom and dad) had gone on a pilgrimage to Haridwar and Rishikesh. Regardless of the fact that Ganga is polluted as hell, a dip in the river is something that elders like my dad think is customary. So, the four of us proceeded to the ghat. As per usual, I refused to take a dip. A few minutes later, my dad caught me unawares, lifted me up and ducked me under water. He kept me there for a few seconds after which I came up spitting water as well as fire (directed at dad)! Ever since this incident, I have had a sort of phobia when it comes to taking a dip in a river. I'm not entirely sure if this can be clubbed with hydro-phobia :P

Anyway, back to the Tirunelveli-Tamarabarani incident... I held on to the lady's hand and proceeded down the ghat steps. Even though I was hesitant to go deep into the river, the lady kept taking me further and further in. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3..... finally, I was at the penultimate step, prior to the start of the river bed. During my first dip, I forgot to hold my breath and so came out spitting the excess water that I swallowed. I had also inhaled some amount of water through my nose. Basically I was a little short of turning blue. She was not 'satisfied' with my first dip as the top of my head was still bone dry. I went in two more times after which she said that I could go back up. As I proceeded to walk back up the steps, the current in the river started pulling me (and the lady) away from the ghat. We had no control over it. As I was being pulled away, I started going under. My mom relised that I was drowing and started screaming for help. No one in my family can swim.
Meanwhile, my brother was busy clicking photographs! Even though I was several feet away, my dad's reflexes kicked in. He came down a few steps and extended his hand towards me. Little did he realise that the steps were extremely slippery. He slipped and fell into the river, but somehow managed to get up without hurting himself. Meanwhile I was flapping my arms and legs trying not to drown. In my bid to stay afloat, I realised that as I was holding on to lady who was trying to rescue me and in the process drowning her too. A few minutes later, I managed to feel and locate a large rock on the river bed. I kicked hard on it and sprang up. Finally, my rescuer got hold of me and pulled me back to safety. I saw shock and terror written on all three faces staring down at me.

When I was drowing, for a few seconds there, I thought my end had indeed come and that this was how I was gonna die. I thank my lucky stars that I was rescued in time.

Unity

I'm absolutely sick and tired of how the general public is being treated in this country. The recent incident of the attack on girls at a Mangalore pub is deplorable to say the least. This group calling itself 'Ram Sena' is an insult to Lord Ram himself. They might as well call themselves Ravan Sena. What right do these men have to barge into a pub and hit and molest these women! Who gave them the right??? What's the government doing? The law-enforcement authorities are busy giving protection to politicians, industrialists and celebs. Any policemen left out from these appointments are sent to 'safeguard' the public against such hooligans. And even when they do arrive on the scene, it’s either too late or they arrive just in time to pick up the pieces. How is it that the media is able to reach the spot well in advance to capture these incidents on tape?
It is rumored that the media was intimated about the Mangalore fracas well in advance. Why didnt even one representative from either the electronic or the print media inform the law enforcement authorities?? Is it because they would have lost a good piece of news if the police had intervened and stopped the sevaks from wrecking havoc? If so, the media is as much responsible for what happened as much as the Ram Sena sevaks were. Whats gonna happen to these thugs? Nothing. They'll be put behind bars for a few days after which their leader will take them out on bail. Shouldn’t this be a non-bailable offense? What about those poor girls who have gone though such trauma? I cannot imagine what they must be going through. I am sickened by what’s happening around the country in the name of cultural policing. No one has the right to commit such heinous crimes with the excuse of upholding Indian culture. Is it cultured to treat women like this??? Why are extremist groups like these being banned or disbanded? These groups are as bad as terrorist outfits.
I am deeply disturbed and distraught. I don’t know what else to write. I just hope and pray for a better tomorrow.

Ro(w)dies

The current season of Mtv Roadies makes me feel sick to my stomach. I used to actually like the first few seasons. They were really about survival of the fittest. Tasks were interesting and challenging. Elimination of a roadie did not throw up a huge controversy. Now the show is just filled with manipulation and back-stabbing. Each participant plots against every other participant.
Maybe its all made up, but the entire 'Roadies' generation is filled with foul-mouthed, arrogant and dis-respectful bunch of youngsters who think its cool to use swear words.

In the earlier seasons we had Mr.I'm-too-cool Raghu throwing off attitude, and now there are two of them! Two bald, bespectacled men sitting and passing judjement on people. These men sit on their high horses and call people hypocrites and other such awful names. Hosting/conducting a reality show is one thing; inviting youngsters to audition and participate in a TV show just to humiliate them in front of millions of people is downright rotten!

Last night's episode had this innocent babe from Haryana who had quite a tough time answering the anchors' questions. Raghu and Rajiv were throwing accusations at her, calling her all sorts of names and making her feel bad about who she is! I do not understand why anyone would go through so much torture and humiliation just to get on a TV show. Granted, you get noticed and receive a huge cash award; but it’s not worth demeaning oneself in this manner. Ex-roadie Ashutosh alias Ashu's key to popularity was his notorious behaviour on the show. It even got him an entry into 'Big Boss'(another piece of trash).

In my opinion the perfect reality show is 'The Amazing Race' on AXN. Its a test of strength, wits & intelligence. Shows like Roadies and Big Boss must be banned for the mere idiocy and vulgarity of their content.

India under siege

With the current spate of terror attacks in the country, leaving the house and getting back safe seems to be a blessing. The attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Hotels as well as the rest of Mumbai has saddened me to a great extent. Over a 100 dead, 187 injured and still counting! These stats dont seem wake up the authorities to the growing threat surrounding this country. Every time a attack of this magnitude takes place, politicians begin playing the blame game. The opposition starts questioning the party in power and try to manipulate people into voting for them in the next election. With the elections coming up, I'm sure BJP is going to cry itself hoarse pointing fingers at Congress for the terror attacks.Why dont both the parties (rather everyone involved) unite and try to solve the issue instead of gaining political mileage out of it??

When is all this gonna end? Didnt the authorities get whiff of this on their radar? Such an organized crime wouldnt have gone unnoticed. Is our security system so bad that there have been more than 10 such incidents in 2008? Unless the government or the requisite authorities take stringent action, this is will continue. I wrote a similar post in Jan 2007. Sadly, nothing has changed.

4th September 2008

I ran from one hospital to another, begging for an ambulance, while my grandfather lay unconscious at home.
That fateful morning, when I was just stepping out for work, my grandpa called out to me and said that he was feeling weak and was going to faint. My mom & I made him sit down and gave him a glass of water. A few minutes later he collapsed.
Shocked and completely unaware of what to do next, I frantically called up my aunt and told her that grandpa has fainted.

I ran out to get a doctor living next door; however, she wasnt in. At once I took out my bike and rushed to the nearby hospital. When I said that I needed an ambulance, pat came the reply, "Madam, the driver is not available. We’ll dispatch one in half an hour". I was furious! I yelled back saying "An ambulance is meant for emergencies and this is indeed an emergency"!

However, they refused to comply. I was given the number of another hospital in the area. When I called that number, I was re-directed to another place. This went on for a few mins, during which I realised that I need to personally fetch it from somewhere. I rushed to the second hospital, where I had a row with the security there about parking my bike in the car parking zone. The guy made me remove my bike and park it elsewhere!
On enquiring about an ambulance, I was asked to wait. Ten precious minutes later, a doctor arrived on the scene and began enquiring about my Grandpa's medical history! Finally, with an ambulance & a doctor in tow, we began our journey back home. We had lost almost 20-25 mins.

As I entered my house, I saw the doctor next door attending to my Grandpa.
I saw the grief-stricken faces of my mom, aunt and cousin and realised that it was all over. The doctor whom I had brought tried to revive him but to no avail.
I wonder if the hospital(s) had reacted on time and dispatched an emergency vehicle, my Grandpa would have survived.
At 85, he was a little weak and had lived a full life. He had had a massive attack. I guess it wouldn’t have been possible.
But, if it had been a young and relatively healthy man/woman in his place, those precious 20-25 mins could have been crucial.

Such disregard & disrespect for medical emergencies is found only in this country.
The Indian Medical Association should make note of the fact that there are no ambulances available when there is the dire need for one.
Hospitals like the ones I went to should not be allowed to function in such a relaxed and haphazard manner.
We paid dearly because of the inefficiency shown by the hospital staff. I hope and pray for a better system to be put in place so that this does not happen to another poor soul.

I've lost the will to write!

Working for an IT company has made me a robot. I go to work at 9, sit at the computer all day, come back home at 10 or so, eat, check my email and finally hit the sack at 11.30. Weekends are no different. If I don’t go to work, I sleep, watch TV or go out with friends. My hobbies such as reading or even blogging (which is what I’m doing right now), have been cast away due to either lack of energy or even interest (to a certain extent).
As a teenager, I mostly read pulp fiction, though mom constantly urged me to read more of Paul Theroux, P.G. Woodhouse, Bill Bryson and others. Nowadays, I find it hard to concentrate even on a little piece of written matter for more than 15 minutes. Is it my job that has made me this way or have I just lost interest? As software engineers, we have been molded to solve problems by writing programs and documenting them in the worst possible manner. We are taught to copy and paste code in just the right places that we do not bother to read what's in it.
Has this made my attention span so short that I’m already planning to give up finishing this??
Whenever I get some time off, I feel like doing something that doesn’t exercise my mind too much. Watching the idiot box and sleeping don’t require much thinking; although they are brain – numbing activities.
I've lost the will to write! Help!

Mumbai Nagariya

My recent (first) trip to Bombay was one of the coolest trips I’ve been on. I haven’t been on that many, of course.

Our flight was slated to take off at 6.15 PM… and Air Deccan, well, being Air Deccan, was an hour and a half late. The ‘beauty’ in flying with this airline is that the seats are not numbered or reserved. Their mantra is “First come first serve”. We had to rush to the plane to get our seats. We wanted 3 in a row. My friend rushed ahead of the 2 of us and caught good seats. My friend kept murmuring “I’m never flying this airline again!” - I had to agree with her!

We reached Bombay (sounds better than Mumbai) at around 10.15 PM. By the time we collected our bags and got into a cab, it was 10.45. We were going to stay over at my friend’s aunt’s place in Colaba. The drive takes almost an hour from the airport. I think Bombay is the only city in which 3 girls can travel by taxi after 11 PM. We reached Colaba by 12, had dinner and went to bed.
Mumbai has an old world charm to it that is so overwhelming. The old Victorian – style buildings are so picturesque that my friend and I took more pictures of the buildings and roads than of each other.

Since our shopping was confined to mostly Colaba and the surrounding places, we narrowed our focus down to Colaba Causeway. The place consists of a steady stream of road-side stalls along with stores housing some of the biggest brands in the business. Name a brand and you’ll find it in Causeway. It also houses the famous Parsi colony – Cursow Baug. The Gateway of India was a 10 minute walk from the place we were staying in. It’s funny that we never got to see the Gateway up close. We were too busy eating – out and shopping. :)

Matunga was our next target. The place is full of South – Indians, especially Tamilians. With a temple, a few dosa – idli eateries and Nalli surrounding it, Matunga looks a lot like Mylapore (if you’re a Chennaiite).

One of the most beautiful sights I saw in Bombay was of Haji Ali bang in the middle of the Arabian Sea. There is a 500-yard long causeway that leads to the shrine. With sea on both the sides and no railings for support, it’s quite an exciting as well as nerve racking walk down to the dargah.

I have one grouse, though - Mumbai is quite dirty and smelly. I guess with millions of people waltzing in and out of the place every year, its bound to get crowded and dirty.

Our trip was coming to an end and we did not want to get back; but did so with a heavy heart and an arm full of shopping bags. Our flight back home was late, as usual (thanks yet again to AD). Nevertheless, the trip was worth the wait and I would kill to go back. As they say, “Maut aur Mumbai se koi vapis nahi aata”.

JBJ reprise

I dont know if I can publish a retraction to my own post, but I'm doing it anyway. Finally watch Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. In my opinion, its one of the worst movies of 2007. I can even put it as "One of the worst movies of the new millenium". Never did I imagine that I would be talking like this about the man who gave us Saathiya and Bunty aur Babli. Its too early in his career for him lose his touch, so i guess he has just side-tracked a tad with JBJ. Shaad, get back on track, dude!

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom rocks!

I've listened to the title song "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" a million times and I've not grown tired of it yet. Shankar-Ehasaan-Loy are amazing. Cant say the same for the other songs in the album. But the title song rocks!

The film that changed my life

The film that changed my life is "City of Joy". Based on the book by Dominique Lapierre and directed by Roland Joffe, City of Joy is a tale of this bunch of daily wage workers in Calcutta into whose world comes an American - Patrick Swayze. The reason I was so enchanted by the movie is that it touches upon the rawest of human emotions. It talks about poverty and sacrifice in such a manner that it doesn’t make you depressed, rather it motivates you to do something for the betterment of the under privileged. The scene that touched me the most is the one in which the American doctor acts as a mid-wife to a leper. The family is overjoyed that the baby is born with all its fingers & toes intact.
I have watched the about 5 to 6 times and every time I do, I learn something new from it. This is one movie that made me THINK; something we rarely do after watching these so called rom-coms!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I know there are thousands of people around the world who think that FRIENDS is just an overrated sit-com not worth their time. I couldn’t disagree more. I adore it.
For those who feel the way I do, read on.
I’ve been watching Friends, ever since it first aired on Star Plus (before the latter turned completely Hindi centric). I can surely say, I’ve watched almost every episode 4 to 5 times and some of the episodes maybe even 10 times. I know it sounds crazy but I just can’t seem to get enough of it. In my opinion has been one of the best sitcoms ever to hit television. It could not have got all those Emmys just by being ordinary.
Every character is unique. Monica, the finicky, obsessive, clean-freak who lets you eat cookies only if you promise to vacuum the apartment later; Rachel, the self declared fashion queen, who gossips like there’s no tomorrow; Chandler, quick-witted, commitment phobic, chilled out guy who is always trying to get in touch with his feminine side; Joey, the dumb but sweet neighbor to the girls, who never remembers the name of the girl he spent the night with; Ross, the geek of the group who still thinks that it was ok for him to cheat on Rachel cos “They were on a break!” and Phoebe (alias Pheebs), the craziest among them all but the sweetest.
I guess I’m gushing but I can’t help it. Let me list some of the best lines from the show.

Phoebe and Monica are out with two guys. Phoebe’s date is foreigner who can’t speak English and Monica’s date is that guy’s interpreter.

Monica: “My guy has coupons. You guy can’t even say coupons!”

The first episode. Rachel has run away from her wedding and is taking refuge in Monica’s house.

Monica: “Joey, don’t hit on her. It’s her wedding day!”
Joey: “What? Like there’s a rule??!”

Joey buys a couple of hideous bracelets for Chandler and himself.

Joey: “Look! We’re bracelet buddies!”
Chandler: “That’s what they’ll call us!”

At the hospital, when Karen (Ross’s ex-wife is about to give birth to Ben).

Ross: “Where is she? She must still be in the cab….”
Rachel: “Don’t worry Ross, it’s probably $1 for the first contraction and 50cents for every additional contraction!”
Ross stares at her
Rachel: “What! It’s ok when Chandler does it?”
Chandler: “You have to pick your moments”

Rachel wants to get an annulment from her marriage to Ross.
Ross is trying to convince her not to.

Ross: “Common… just once in a while when you fill out some form, you check the box that says Mrs instead of the box that says Miss. Its right next to it!”
Rachel: “Oh! I was under the impression the boxes were far apart!”

Let me end with…..

Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?
Smelly cat, smelly cat, its not your fault...

Salaame...

I guess I’m writing this too late, but I want to make my voice heard. Just finished watching Salaame Ishq. In my opinion, it is probably one of the most over-hyped, substance-less (if there’s such a word!) movie I’ve ever seen. The promos made it out to be this love saga which will bring a tear to the eye but what I got were stomach cramps. Ok… I think I’m being a little too harsh here. Let me give you the low-down on SI.
6 love stories, 6 beautiful endings is what Nikhil Advani promised the audience. And what he finally cooked up was a 3 and a half hour long boring tale of these 12 odd people dealing with love and life in their own boring (forgive me for using this word twice) way. Here, I must mention that the only stories that really held my interest were John – Vidya’s and Govinda-Shannon’s. The final scene of former couple was heart wrenching, with both Vidya and John (surprisingly) putting in amazing performances. Govinda as the innocent taxi driver is cute as well as witty. Even though Anil and Juhi’s story did not hold my interest for a long time, their performances did. Salman as Rahool (?) was boring (with a capital B). His dialogue delivery is stilted and incomprehensible. Half the time, I found myself leaning towards the screen trying to figure out the words that were tumbling out of his mouth. And why the hell does he have a wired accent?? Priyanka is ok as Kamini, the item girl, but gets a little too irritating at times. Sohail and Isha are cute though they did not get much screen time. All things considered, Salaame Ishq is worth watching only for Vidya, John, Govinda and Shannon (maybe even Sohail and Isha). The others just slow down the pace of the movie.
I wish Nikhil Advani comes up with a better movie next time and shorter one, please!

Make us feel secure

We've come a full circle. Life used to be so uncertain in the 17th, 18th and even the early part of the 19th century. Common cold, high fever or even a few broken bones were termed deadly. It is the 21st century now and things havent changed much. Even now, I cant be sure that I'll be alive and kicking tomorrow. I may have to finish writing this soon because if I'm not around tomorrow, this would be an unfinished train of thought. Jokes apart, life now, is uncertain for different reasons.
Militant outfits are mushrooming like never before. Bomb blasts and shoot-outs are so common that people have become de-sensitised to violence. The recent blasts in Mumbai, Varnasi and Delhi have shown how fragile life is.
Talking about uncertainity is not going to get us anywhere. What are we going to do about it? Security in public places should be beefed up. And I dont mean, just a dozen more policemen. Recently, I was at this multiplex watching the flavour of the season, Dhoom 2. At the entrance, there was this guy checking our bags. He was doing quite a good job of it. After the movie, we went to a mall to just do some harmless window shopping. The mall has about 5 to 10 entrances. There was an armed security guard only at the main entrance. And even the tommy gun that he was carrying seemed to be of no use. It was so huge that it would take him a day or two to lift, aim and shoot. It resembled one of those long stemmed rifles on display at museums. Wonder if he got it from one such place.
My point is, why make a farce of having a security guard around when the guy cant even pick up his so-called weapon?
Why has there been no such incident in the recent past in the US or the UK? Cos they have really woken up after 9/11 and the London bombings. We should be doing the same thing. Copying good stuff from the west is not that bad an idea. What say?
Authorities, please wake up to the real fear around us and make us feel secure.