Two movies I can watch infinite number of times, and which make me happy, cheerful and hopeful of the future, movies which came in the early 1990s, and which I have seen so many times, and remain as fresh as ever - "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar" and "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa".
I am not going to analyze this too much. Last night, I had to make a very important presentation; I had to get up at 3 to work, because I ended up watching Shahrukh Khan (probably in the only performance which I unconditionally love) try and fail in getting Anna.
Similarly, the first song that comes to me when I get ready for a group song is always "Jawaan ho yaaron", and I don't know anyone who doesn't love "Pehla Nasha", the pure innocence of the youthful love never fails to send goosebumps through me.
Over the years, as I have become more cynical (reading too much Russian literature and watching von Trier movies hasn't helped I suppose :D), it is these kind of movies which can just make me feel good about myself/and the world.
P.S. The presentation went off fine, btw.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Kisi Shayar ki Ghazal...
It is 5:30 PM. I have a flight at 6:30, and the airport is still some distance away. I am getting fidgety. My driver misses a traffic signal, I start fidgeting some more. Then it happens...
An auto stops to the left of us. I turn my head. The auto is slightly ahead of us, so all I can see of the passenger are the legs. She is wearing a red salwar kameez, and sandals of the ethnic variety, like the ones you'd get at Janpath - I never liked Janpath stuff particularly but I knew someone who did, so ended up going there and buying a lot. A few memories return but only for a fleeting second as curiosity takes over and I crane my head slightly. I can see her hands now, they are small, and she is drumming her fingers, fiddling with the phone.- she has the same Nokia as I do. And she is wearing brown nail-polish.
I am interrupted by a small kid who comes to the window, peddling tabloids. He tries a few times, but finding me uninterested, goes to the auto next. She takes one and then brings out her purse from the other side, and pays him. And then my driver inches slightly ahead and I get a look...
Golden brown, texture like sun
Lays me down, with my mind she runs
The light turns green and we speed ahead. I try saying something; nothing comes out, I mutter to the driver to rush, and he complies. I make it to the airport and fly back home.
The song is still running in my mind.
An auto stops to the left of us. I turn my head. The auto is slightly ahead of us, so all I can see of the passenger are the legs. She is wearing a red salwar kameez, and sandals of the ethnic variety, like the ones you'd get at Janpath - I never liked Janpath stuff particularly but I knew someone who did, so ended up going there and buying a lot. A few memories return but only for a fleeting second as curiosity takes over and I crane my head slightly. I can see her hands now, they are small, and she is drumming her fingers, fiddling with the phone.- she has the same Nokia as I do. And she is wearing brown nail-polish.
I am interrupted by a small kid who comes to the window, peddling tabloids. He tries a few times, but finding me uninterested, goes to the auto next. She takes one and then brings out her purse from the other side, and pays him. And then my driver inches slightly ahead and I get a look...
Golden brown, texture like sun
Lays me down, with my mind she runs
The light turns green and we speed ahead. I try saying something; nothing comes out, I mutter to the driver to rush, and he complies. I make it to the airport and fly back home.
The song is still running in my mind.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Megalomania
I have a dream...
I have a dream that one day this world will fall on its feet and cry out "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are not created equal. There are some born to rule and some born to serve"
I have a dream that one day this world will fall on its feet and cry out "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are not created equal. There are some born to rule and some born to serve"
I have a dream that one day on the steppes of the Americas and the plains of Asia, people will sit down together at the table and praise the Lord for delivering me to the world.
I have a dream that one day what I say will be gospel and the leaders of men will be in attendance to my presence.
I had a dream today.
And then, I woke up and went to office to continue making slides.Wednesday, May 30, 2007
In and Around
As I was looking out from the office window, just decided to put down a few things which can be seen from where I sit.
My office faces an air-hostess training centre :D, so there is a constant stream of pretty young girls moving in and out, through the day. There are several reasons work doesn't get done during the day, not the least this one - since a lot of time is spent by me and my colleagues just staring out of the window. Another reason for a constant peep outside the window is the long line of the most expensive and good-looking cars that make an appearance in our porch. There have been Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Audis, BMWs and Mercs are a constant fixture.
Our office also faces a Barista, which we frequent very regularly (and unlike college, we order too!). During my nine months here, my order dish has changed quite a bit. I would initially favour the usual Brrrista but then moved to ordering Apple Smoothie, and having gotten tired of it, now order Black Currant Smoothie and an Apple Pie (with sauce). Our version of siesta is to go to barista after lunch, order something with caffeine (to avoid sleep during the afternoons) and chat around for a while - and we really look forward to doing that.
I like my job - and where I work adds to the satisfaction level tremendously!
My office faces an air-hostess training centre :D, so there is a constant stream of pretty young girls moving in and out, through the day. There are several reasons work doesn't get done during the day, not the least this one - since a lot of time is spent by me and my colleagues just staring out of the window. Another reason for a constant peep outside the window is the long line of the most expensive and good-looking cars that make an appearance in our porch. There have been Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Audis, BMWs and Mercs are a constant fixture.
Our office also faces a Barista, which we frequent very regularly (and unlike college, we order too!). During my nine months here, my order dish has changed quite a bit. I would initially favour the usual Brrrista but then moved to ordering Apple Smoothie, and having gotten tired of it, now order Black Currant Smoothie and an Apple Pie (with sauce). Our version of siesta is to go to barista after lunch, order something with caffeine (to avoid sleep during the afternoons) and chat around for a while - and we really look forward to doing that.
I like my job - and where I work adds to the satisfaction level tremendously!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
->
In the beginning of the year, I made a resolution that for the next 12 months, I would take life easy. It is to my credit that I have been able to sustain this for half-a-year. I have slowed down a bit, stopped thinking about my career all the time, gotten in touch with a few old friends, and generally have had a more chilled out life. Increasingly, however, there are signs that I am going to get back to the constant-fight-in-life mode once again. Spurred on by a senior's advice that I need to accelerate it a bit, I am now coming to terms with the fact that I have a tremendous fear of failure. And as philosophical it is to say that I need to get over it, I am not ready to. Yet.
Am spending more time in the office these days; though not working so much since I still need to shake off the habit of reading numerous blogs, and constant browsing through wikipedia. It has become addictive to the extent that I am up till 1 in the office since I spent the entire morning on turbanhead.com.
This blog is unlikely to see a lot of activity from now on. Don't have much to write since I don't think about very interesting things anymore.
But then, I could be very wrong about this prediction too.
Am spending more time in the office these days; though not working so much since I still need to shake off the habit of reading numerous blogs, and constant browsing through wikipedia. It has become addictive to the extent that I am up till 1 in the office since I spent the entire morning on turbanhead.com.
This blog is unlikely to see a lot of activity from now on. Don't have much to write since I don't think about very interesting things anymore.
But then, I could be very wrong about this prediction too.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
" "
In the last post, I mentioned Chasing Amy as one of my favourite movies. Now, I like almost all Kevin Smith movies, but in my opinion Clerks is not only more popular but also better made. Why, I like Chasing Amy a lot has to do with one piece of conversation that occurs in the movie and I reproduce it here for your benefit:
"Silent Bob: [to Holden] So there's me an' Amy, and we're all inseparable, right? Just big time in love. And then about four months in, I ask about the ex-boyfriend. Dumb move, I know, but you know how it is - you don't really want to know, but you just have to... stupid guy bullshit. Anyway she starts telling me all about him - how they dated for years, lived together, her mother likes me better, blah, blah, blah - and I'm okay. But then she tells me that a couple times, he brought other people to bed with them - ménage a tois, I believe it's called. Now this just blows my mind. I mean, I'm not used to that sort of thing, right? I was raised Catholic.
Jay: Saint Shithead.
Silent Bob: So I get weirded out, and just start blasting her, right? This is the only way I can deal with it - by calling her a slut, and telling her that she was used - I mean, I'm out for blood I want to hurt her - because I don't know how to deal with what I'm feeling. And I'm like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and she's telling me that it was that time, in that place, and she didn't do anything wrong, so she's not gonna apologize. So I tell her it's over, and I walk.
Jay: Fucking-A.
Silent Bob: No, idiot. It was a mistake. I wasn't disgusted with her, I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small - like I'd lacked experience, like I'd never be on her level or never be enough for her or something. And what I didn't get was that she didn't care. She wasn't looking for that guy anymore. She was looking for me, for the Bob. But by the time I realized this, it was too late, you know. She'd moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away...So I've spent every day since then chasing Amy...So to speak."
Kevin Smith plays Silent Bob and reserves himself the best lines:
[in Clerks]
"You know, there's a million fine-looking women in the world, but they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of them just cheat on you."
Sometimes, in the most unexpected of places, we learn about love, life and relationships.
"Silent Bob: [to Holden] So there's me an' Amy, and we're all inseparable, right? Just big time in love. And then about four months in, I ask about the ex-boyfriend. Dumb move, I know, but you know how it is - you don't really want to know, but you just have to... stupid guy bullshit. Anyway she starts telling me all about him - how they dated for years, lived together, her mother likes me better, blah, blah, blah - and I'm okay. But then she tells me that a couple times, he brought other people to bed with them - ménage a tois, I believe it's called. Now this just blows my mind. I mean, I'm not used to that sort of thing, right? I was raised Catholic.
Jay: Saint Shithead.
Silent Bob: So I get weirded out, and just start blasting her, right? This is the only way I can deal with it - by calling her a slut, and telling her that she was used - I mean, I'm out for blood I want to hurt her - because I don't know how to deal with what I'm feeling. And I'm like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and she's telling me that it was that time, in that place, and she didn't do anything wrong, so she's not gonna apologize. So I tell her it's over, and I walk.
Jay: Fucking-A.
Silent Bob: No, idiot. It was a mistake. I wasn't disgusted with her, I was afraid. At that moment, I felt small - like I'd lacked experience, like I'd never be on her level or never be enough for her or something. And what I didn't get was that she didn't care. She wasn't looking for that guy anymore. She was looking for me, for the Bob. But by the time I realized this, it was too late, you know. She'd moved on, and all I had to show for it was some foolish pride, which then gave way to regret. She was the girl, I know that now. But I pushed her away...So I've spent every day since then chasing Amy...So to speak."
Kevin Smith plays Silent Bob and reserves himself the best lines:
[in Clerks]
"You know, there's a million fine-looking women in the world, but they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of them just cheat on you."
Sometimes, in the most unexpected of places, we learn about love, life and relationships.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Random List
Movies, which never became blockbusters or won oscars (or filmfares), or even developed a major cult f0llowing, but are some of my personal favourites:
1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou!
3. Socha Na Tha
4. The Straight Story
5. True Romance
6. Chasing Amy
7. Dogville
8. Garden State
Just felt like noting them down somewhere!
1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou!
3. Socha Na Tha
4. The Straight Story
5. True Romance
6. Chasing Amy
7. Dogville
8. Garden State
Just felt like noting them down somewhere!
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