Anjali's Blog - My Mother

Anjali decided to write a blog on a subject of her choice and interest, and zeroed down to one on her mother. Here's what she has to say about her mother.Anjali and Mom at Malwada Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Read More

What We Can Do Well

Things we can do well are:1) Lay bad roads2) Drive badly, park badly3) Blame someone else all the time4) Do whatever pleases us without worrying about others5) Throw trash all over6) Bribe, accept bribes, somehow beat the system7) Play loud music on festivals and erect shamianas8) Not do our job9) Criticize everyone else while not doing our job10) Spit anyplace11) Pee anyplace12) Rush ahead in queues13) Rush for anything free14) Steal anything if we think we cannot get caught (downloading for instance)15) Ogle at women if we think we cannot get...

Read More

The Paradoxes of Our Lives - Finishing Things, Beginning Things

Beginning things is about uncertainty. Finishing things is about contentment. Pic courtesy: Prarthana NargundkarWhat you start, finish. Don't start too many things before you finish certain things. Don't keep too many loose ends hanging. It's a sure way to feel frazzled.Reduce loose ends, one by one. Do the one thing you really love doing. And a few other things alongside. It's a sure way to contentme...

Read More

Anjali's Third Blog - How was Golconda

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Read More

Random Incidents

While travelling on one of the roads off the ORR, Amar and I hit upon a railway crossing. And it was closed as well. There were people getting off their vehicles for a stretch, for a breath of fresh air, peering at both sides of the track wondering where the train would make its appearance from and a few others, buying the fruits and food stuffs sold by the roadside. This being a rather small place, there were two sellers - both selling guavas.What caught my attention was the guava seller on the right. He was in his twenties, with his two or three...

Read More

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Movie Review

Finally watched 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'. It's decidedly long, at 3 hours, and like a reviewer noted, was more of a marathon when it should have been a 400 m race. The incredibly versatile Farhan Akhthar is brilliant as Milkha Singh, the Flying Sikh, who broke the World record for 400 m at the 1960 Rome Olympics, but came in fourth in a closely contested race. Hailing from Govindpura village in Pakistan, Milkha Singh witnessed the killings of his family,...

Read More

Signs of Greatness

What are the signs of greatness? Certainly the sweep of things, of the vision that no one else has. Then comes the courage to follow up on the vision (actually seeing that vision requires great courage too) until the dream becomes reality. Resilience, character, honesty, compassion, fairness, nobility, knowledge, selflessness and sacrifice are all part of anything great.To achieve great things, we need great minds, great people, who can in some part...

Read More

Tora, Tora, Tora - Movie review

A World War II movie on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour 'Tora, Tora, Tora' ("Tora" apparently means "tiger", but in this context, it was meant to be "lightning attack", indicating that complete surprise in attack has been achieved) are the code words to be conveyed back to the command once the raid is accomplished. Pearl harbour awakened a "sleeping giant filled with a terrible resolve" as the commander fears and America, which till then was...

Read More

The Bridges of Madison County - Movie Review

When did I first see this movie? A long time ago surely. Watching it now was equally good, if not better - if at all it seemed a lot more layered and rich.Meryl Streep as Francesca, the lonely housewife whose dreams are slowly dying as she grows older and reconciled to a life in the farm with her husband, and Clint Eastwood as Robert Kincaid, the lonely photographer who has no moorings and goes where his heart takes him. How the two get along in...

Read More

Swamy Ra Ra - Movie Review

Nice pic. Too much in slow motion though and I wonder why, so much so that you feel that the movie is fine in fast fwd. But nicely worked out script and shown pretty decently, some memorable characters and some familiar plots and outlines. But all in all, it tips over the half way mark which is good.An idol worth Rs. 10 crore is stolen and is doing the rounds of the market (liked the way the value increases from Rs. 0). Gets into the hands of a double crosser in a gang (why was he sent alone?). Before he is caught by his own gang members (who somehow...

Read More

Telegrams - Death Knell

The death knell (wonder what it sounds like) rang on the telegram itself, famous for ringing the death knell for many. In the good old days a euphemism for a sudden and unfortunate death was the telegram that said 'Start Immediately. XXX Unwell'. The smarter ones said their last prayers and set on a journey that sometimes lasted a couple of weeks. The naive ones really thought that someone was unwell and got a big shock, causing a few additional deaths in the aftermath and the sending of a few more telegrams. The telegrams therefore were a big...

Read More

Word is a Four-Letter Word, Selected Writings - Jug Suraiya

This book, of 1994 vintage, published by USPD, is a collection of articles written by Jug Suraiya for the ToI during the 80s and early 90s. It took me over a month to finish for two reasons - one being that the writing is rich and does not lend to easy glossing over as I do these days, and the second being that the articles belong to a time that I was growing up with and I could see many with a new perspective. Split into three sections - people, places and postscripts, it gives a good insight into the kind of a person Jug was - and also the kind...

Read More

The Paradoxes of Our Lives - To Grow, Go Within

If we wish to grow, we need to go deeper inside ourselves.Any job we undertake mirrors the quality of our engagement with it. It's either superficial (low involvement) or deep (high involvement).Pic. Satish NOur growth comes about only when our involvement is high i.e.e when we go deep within. The deeper we go into the job, the deeper we go into ourselves, and the more we grow as a pers...

Read More

Story Idea - The Curious Case of the Elderly Pilferers

Recently retired couple are having an idyllic life of peace and joy. One day, while watching a tv program, they find that they have both lived rather boring lives and that they need to spice it up - do something interesting and exciting. Also do something they always wanted to - make an impact on this society which they are not happy with at all - they feel the rich have too much and the poor have too little. They hit upon an ingenious idea to solve both their desires.Their nephew Rohit is an aspiring detective. He does not have enough work. In...

Read More

Come September - Movie Review

I watched this old favorite of mine once again and I fell in love all over again with Gina Lollobrigida with whom I had fallen in love almost thirty years ago as a college student. This time, I also fell in love with this wonderfully romantic story and the cheeky one liners that constantly keep popping up throughout the highly entertaining movie. Not to miss out on some fine wisdom to couples in love. Ahhh, sublime. Give me the oldies any day.Rock...

Read More

From Paris With Love - Movie Review

The great thing about this movie was that I never realised, until somewhere near the end, that I had watched it before - and not too long ago. There's a young chap who is an assistant to the US Ambassador in France - but his secret desire is to become a secret agent. He does small jobs for the CIA like bugging the embassies of other countries with bubble gum stuck under the tables, something which he does with less efficiency than a school kid who...

Read More

Consumer Experience - The Good Ones

While I retain my right to crib about the bad experiences I have as a consumer, I would also like to bring up the times when good consumer service brought a smile to my face. This incident happened a couple of months ago, but I have been meaning to write about it.1) Returning from Warangal on a two way ticket at the toll gate, I realised that I had misplaced the ticket (which I presumed was to be shown to claim the benefit on the return journey). As my turn approached and I did not find the ticket, I reached for my wallet and was about to tell...

Read More

Thought for the Day - Why We Must Not Lose Hope

It is easy to lose hope when one reads or listens to the news. What's happening we feel, when the fence eats the crop? Is there anything that is under control? Is there justice, law and order?Or will people get away with anything. Crimes, rapes, murders, cheating, plundering, looting, lying, thieving?Why we must not lose hope is because of this; the press rarely reports the good news. The bad news is splashed up front because it excites us all. The good news is hidden inside and not always reported. Anyway, what's to report in good news, many feel....

Read More

Why We Need More Bhuvaneshwar Kumars

Ever since the slim, almost frail, 22 year old young lad from UP came on the national scene, he has been impacting matches in India's favour in a quiet but highly effective manner. Both 'Quiet' and 'effective' make utmost sense when one talks about him. Carrying a mature and canny head that belies his years, a talent that is prodigious and more importantly well under control after years of training and dedicated practice, and a fierce competitiveness that balances both aggression and cold blooded efficiency, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is an unlikely hero...

Read More

Martha Marcy May Marlene - Movie Review

Another incomprehensible movie that ended a week of such movies. This time a young woman who joins a cult realises that it is not really what she thought it was. The leader of the cult is crazy, a rapist, a thief and perhaps a killer too and this is all revealed in flashbacks throughout the movie. The cult is also crazy, male dominated and has some weird rituals that are best left to them.The first scene shows the young girl escaping, calling her...

Read More

The Twelve Monkeys - Movie Review

This one drove me completely insane. James Cole (Bruce Willis) is in the future, circa 2035, after the entire human population on the face of the earth has been wiped out with a deadly virus planted by some terrorist organisation called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. He is sent back to the past to find out who planted the virus and to get a sample if he could by a bunch of futuristic and equally mad scientists who seem to have no clue of what they...

Read More

Aura - Movie review

An epileptic taxidermist who fantasises about the perfect crime goes on a hunting trip with his friend. He shoots a man accidentally, the owner of the resort and a criminal who is indulging in robbing money from vans transporting the local casino's profits. With the man dead, and some clues to what he does, Mr. Taxidermist takes over the role of a criminal easily - instead of worrying about being caught for murder. For someone who speaks little and...

Read More

Thought for the Day - The Link Between Love and Efficiency

Are we at our most efficient when we do things with love? I am inclined to believe that it is so. To get the best results with the least effort is what efficiency all about. Nothing can make work seem more effortless than doing it with love, nothing brings on the attention to detail, more enjoyment, more  perseverance, more care and compassion - to the job at hand - than doing it with love.However cold, scientific and calculating the word efficiency may sound, it could well be that the big daddy of efficiency is actually that four letter...

Read More

Father's Day at Daksha School

This time Daksha (Anjali's school) invited fathers to speak of what they do to the 1st and 2nd class children. I volunteered to do so on writing and sports. It was a learning experience for me.The 1st classThe 1st class children, Anjali's class, were first and we decided to speak to them about cricket. After a brief introduction by Anita aunty, Kamakshi teacher and Chandana teacher the session took off. Do you want to ask Uncle anything? The children...

Read More