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Rains…again!

The following is a post that I wrote a couple of years ago. And I still miss those rains. Even though I was in Mumbai the whole of last year, I wasen’t in town during the rains. And this years its the same story. It doesn’t rains in Atlanta that much, and I HATE IT!

It was one of those nicer days when clouds gather around the city, and for once, rains were to be seen in the afternoon. We went to a south indian restaurant today, andto make the experience memorable, I ordered Filter Coffee and Mirchi Bhajji :-)

God I miss rains, getting drenched and having those tangy roasted corn by the street, playing football in the ground full of dirty, murky water. Or cuddling up in the warm blanket when its pouring outside, and sipping a hot cup of tea with pakodas on the side.

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just want to be inside one of these pictures… hoping that it rains in mumbai on 3/4/5th :)

this is bullsh*t

Return interest paid with compensation for 7/11

The railways is out to recover interest charges paid to 7/11 victims by contesting that they were not late in paying the compensation. And you know what, the interest charges is a meager 4-6% of amounts around Rs 10000-30,000. So now the victims should either return the hefty sum of 400-1000 or contest this ridiculous decision in court (the avg fee to do so would be around 5,000). What a bullshit!

Check this story

school ramblings

I know ravptor is going to hate me for this, but here is how my last month has been, in the school.

My class

we’ve started off with this tiny class of 45, in the summer, with people from all over the places, and from a variety of backgrounds. In fall we would merge with the 2Yr batch. I thought it would be difficult for me to fit in, considering how finicky I can get about making friends, especially when I gotta spend so much time with them. But after one party, and a 6-pack, 2 tequilla shots and couple of car bombs, normalcy was restored.

i have been missing my home and my sweetheart so much that I started watching gurudutt movies again. I don’t study at right time, I sleep in the day, watch movies or read at early mornings. Life is so messed up. My accounting midterm was nothing short of debacle, and I’m sure my strategy presentation is going to be nothing special as well. Thanks to my fellow classmates, two of them were full time Auditors with two of the big four, and about half a dozen were full time accountants, the standards set in the class are very high. Unfortunately we don’t have object oriented programming in the curriculum else I would’ve kicked their @SS. The good thing is I can’t wait for the finance class to begin, I’ve got an I-banker in my study group :-)
Only three of the last 2 days have been great, those two days were when Vru was here, when I didn’t have to think “so, what is the plan today?” and now she would be back again in Altanta after a month. Till then I have to live and do things randomly….

Finally found this one on youtube… this comes from Pyaasa, one of the Top 100 movies of all times by Time Magazine. Probably the saddest song ever… but I love it.

If you can’t watch the video, there here is the link, open this in another browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR4vL_5hUV8

Interesting read

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2008/bs20080327_469776.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_business+schools

I’m happy to see someone have a similar perspective on doing an MBA during the recession.

next attempt…

been thinking of writing satire… so many things that I would like to talk about… but it’s so hard.

anyway, Mumbai has been on boil since Raj Thakaray accused Big B of being more loyal to UP that Maharashtra/Mumbai. Then Biharis got beaten up in Mumbai, and one Maharashtrian family was attacked in Ranchi. This thing is so uncalled for, I don’t know how these people think of such illogical accusations. I thought only the people with oil wanted to go back to 4th century, now the people ruling our economic capital wants to join in. All the best, doomsday is not far…

Wish me luck ;-)

SRK vs Aamir

Just to take the discussion further…

ravptor - TZP is a canvas that was conceptualized by someone else but the coloring was done by Aamir…
vkris - I agree. And I don’t know why I can’t be critical about this fact. May be because I feel the original or the doctored (if any) content is still of the best quality.

ravptor - SRK did it once, twice actually… Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hinduatani and Swades…
vkris - Please do not include PBDHH and Swades in the same sentence, unless you’re saying they’re contrasts. One was a typical SRK & his cohort’s attempt to make money from a film that talked about anything but reality. The director went on to say the movie is about corruption in politics, which it was not. Swades was a director’s film; it was the simplistic treatment that the protagonist, which is remembered. If you would have put any other good actor in Swades, it would have been a hit anyway. It was not the actor, but the story and music that appealed to the audience. One of my dear friends had returned to India after rejecting an offer is US partly because he was inspired by the words and music of that movie. Swades is not a phenomenon, it is an attempt to stir the souls of some people who have what it takes to make a better India, and it was well received by the people.

vkris - One more thing. Please tell me, did you like Chak De? Which particular scene was most inspiring? Most of the people talk about the scene where the girls introduce themselves, and (I think you know it) that scene has been copied from the movie Miracle, the true story about the United States Ice Hockey team’s coach, Herb Brooks, took a squad of college kids up against the legendary USSR at the Olympic Games. What particular plot/scene was really taken from Coach Negi’s life, I don’t know. That’s where it hurts me. You go and tell people that the movie is based on our own hockey coach, who did win something, but then add clichéd patches like Indo-Pak rivalry, match fixing accusations, etc. Why does a story about an Indian hockey coach need to be INDIANSED further? I think not. Pray enlighten me….

Application Status

Finally got my essays started, however, I haven’t spent enough time with them to really write something good. I need more time, more time, more time….

Taare Zameen Par

Finally saw TZP yesterday, and liked it very much. So much was said about the movie that the air of expectancy was making me believe that the movie could turn out to be over-hyped and disappointing. Thank God it was neither, and more importantly, it made us sit back and enjoy a simple yet thought provoking story of a dyslexic kid.

I feel we’re lucky that Sanjay Leela Bhansali didn’t think of a similar plot, because the movie would have got the same treatment as Black did. And for all those people who liked Black, here is a point to ponder about. Do we really need to show the courage and effort of not-so-privileged children in the backdrop of a dark and sobbing canvas? TZP tells us why the look of the movie should remain simple enough so that people could empathize with the characters. Black was a stark contrast, where the audience could only sympathize with Rani’s character. I got to know the difference between sympathy and empathy quite late in my life, and I feel the contrasting feel of TZP and Black illuminate the gulf between simplicity and grandeur.

The story, the script and the music were all coupled with each other in a seamless manner. Lyrics made the songs meaningful, and Prasoon always does that. Especially when it comes to mother-son relationships which were portrayed in two of the best songs I have ever heard, Luka-Chhipi from RDB and Tujhe sab kuchh pata hai na maa in TZP.

The casting was superb with the parents and teachers looking genuinely disoriented about the problems which Ishaan faces. Aamir played a wonderful second fiddle, and by now he knows what not to do in such roles. For a few moments in the second half I felt like Aamir would steal the show, but thankfully he did not even try to do anything special and played along with the tune of the movie. I do not think at any point of the movie did Ishaan looked like acting, it was very natural.

A few months ago, while some friends and I were heading towards NY Penn station, Ravi and I began discussing about who is a better actor SRK or Aamir (it is always both of us who get in to arguments/discussions). My stand point was (and I still stand by it) that Aamir is a better actor because he plays the person as it is. We always remember his unique roles by the characters he played. Rangeela, Sarfarosh, Ghulam, Lagaan, DCH, RBD and now TZP, we will always remember Aamir for the roles he played, and the way he did it. And that is the mark of a good actor, who is always known by the character. Unfortunately SRK can’t be remembered for more than a couple, since most of the roles he plays (which was very funnily shown in OSO) are very similar. And since last 3-4 years, most of his movies (at-least from the KJ camp) are shot in NY, we usually see him opening up his arms wearing a sweatshirt/jacket on Brooklyn Bridge. What I also believe is that SRK is wittier that Aamir, and hence he tends to entertain all kinds of people, which makes most of his movies a super-hit, and hence he is a much much bigger super star than Aamir. I hope Ravi (who writes for Passion for Cinema) would agree with me some day :)

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