Danish Cartoons

My mind wanders the most when I have a deadline to meet :-D

I found a good set of articles at Institute of Islamic Studies.
There is a good article on the Danish Cartoons controversy

These cartoons are extremely offensive as they make fun of the Prophet of Islam rather than any Muslim politician as if the Prophet was responsible for all that Osama bin Laden or his followers in Al-Qaeda have been doing. Whose fun do we make? One who is dead 1400 years ago and has nothing to do with contemporary developments in the world of Islam

More of it here.
There is an article on Islamic Feminism (my favt topic by the way) and many more illuminating articles.
I had read a few articles by Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer in The Hindu but I never knew the extent of his work.Why doesnt the media focus on such educated liberals rather than publicising the imams who issue fatwas at the drop of a hat?? Dr. Rafiq Zakaria was another such scholar who passed away last year.

Indian Muslims

I discovered this site of/by Indian Muslims. All kinds of views have been expressed there. Good links too. I especially liked the link to Urdu Poetry. Good effort :-)

!!!

Hey I saw Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Its different from the usual movies I see usually and umm it did make sense and it didn't make sense at times too :-D But what I wanted to mention here is this.. Joel and Clementine are the main characters of the movie. Clementine is this wacky girl who wears her "personality in a paste" orange, or blue hair colours!! (kate winslet by the way. she is beeeyouteephul. anything looks good on her). Now what I wanted to mention was-- she is supposed to be wierd, impulsive and all that and in one scene, in her home a Hindi movie song is being played in the background!!! I take offence.. Hindi movie songs should not be associated with wierdness. It wasn't even any Govinda song. It was 'mera mann pyaasa'
Even in Bollywood calling towards the end, the 'hero' plays a hindi song for his wife and she says "stop that infernal music" !!!! Ok agreed that the song was kind of wierd but still!!!!
We live on those. We must be the wierdest on earth then :-D
I cannot stand Jim Carrey. No not even in Bruce Almighty.. But he was so good in this movie ! First movie of his that I liked.

I want to go out somewhere today. In fact, I think I want to go out almost everyday. Im a gypsy stuck in the lab.. :-D

x-(

I get very irritated when every aira-gaira-nathu-khera thinks Im answerable to him/her. Arre my next hour is not charted out. Then why should anyone think that Ill follow a set pattern of life and if i dont why should I tell them why I dont. Do I ask why you are the way you are? Im least bothered about anybody else right now. Then God knows why people make it their business to pry in my life. That too a relatively unknown person!! just an acquaintance and she thinks I should tell her why i do something at this hr and not at that hr. yeah im pissed off and she deserved it if i was rude. This is the third or fourth time she has done this and my tolerance level hit its max grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Dont ppl have enough problems of their own that they go around worrying about others!! Na generally.. Why do people pry??

he he

A friend suggested that my prince charming should take an entrance test to woo me :-D Not a bad idea.. please take the nerd test below and let me know the score :-D
I was reading Frankenstein and it so happens that I get free time only at night. And yesterday It was close to 0030 when the creature was created :-D Scary!
Im also reading A Pelican at Blandings by wodehouse. He is the ultimate king of humour. His Jeeves and Blandings series are the best ones.

hmmm

Does sarcasm exist between friends?

I didn't think so too :-D

..

Im a passive citizen :-( I saw an accident today. A girl was lying on the road. I was in the bus. I just prayed that the people surrounding her will help her and carried on. Maybe thats the maximum I could do or maybe I could have done more. I did try calling up a trauma care number I had got from a chain mail. Turned out to be a fake number x-( (grrrrrrrrrr).
Hope she got some help.

before sunrise

I saw a beautiful movie today - Before Sunrise. Romantic but not mushy. Something which lingers on one's mind long after the movie is over.
There is a wise Chinese proverb which says marry someone with whom you can talk. Because thats the only thing that gets you through old age. I don't want to die old by the way and I dont want to die young either. I think Im not ready for it anytime :-D Im confused. Thats why God is omniscient :-D
Im on the hunt for the sequel now which is called Before Sunset.

I realised today that I practically live on music. When Im bored I listen to music. When Im sad I listen to music. (I hate sad songs especially mukesh songs.) When Im drowsy and I have to work I switch on something peppy. When Im happy I play something which matches my mood. Sufi music soothes me. Restless, lonely, ecstatic, partying, and even eating (I have a marked preference for restaurants which have a good music collection).. any mood and I need a tune. When Im not listening to it Im humming it. Its scary at times!! :-D Even when Im in company, there's something going on in my mind. Wierd ?
But then thats me :-D

hmphh

Pundit this has to make u happier grrrrr I challenge u .. take ur test BE HONEST nd lets see wat ur results are hmphhhhh

Calvin and Hobbes

One of the many reasons I love C and H. Find more here
I have a friend who looks like Susie Derkins :-D

Yaiyaiyaaaaaaa

I bought my first pair of jeans :-D And I totally, absolutely love it. And guess what! I saw my mausa mausis (maternal uncle and aunts) in my dream. They said they don't approve of me :-D Hilarious ? Wierd? or Im going crazy :-D

And I got a beautiful hard bind copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley gifted to me :-D It belongs to the horror genre it seems and its beautifully written. As soon as the day is over, I am going to read it. My dream - a cosy library with a huge french window looking out to the water fountain in the lush, green garden. Absolute silence except for the chirping of the birds and the rippling sound of the water. Adjacent to the window, there is a teakwood bookcase. And this book goes on to the third rack of that bookcase :-D

Something positive

A 'fatwa' against terrorists attacking places of worship
This is what I have often been ranting about in my blogs - lack of any fatwa against the killings. Though the bombings and killings have been condemned on a regular basis in the local mosques, there has been no media news about this. This is good news :-)

I saw Gone with the Wind yesterday :-D Awesome movie. The book has been my all time favourite. And Rhett Butler is the most romantic character I can think of. Its a 1939 movie. But its so well crafted, you can see what makes it a classic. Some movies create an atmosphere about you. This one did. Scarlett O'Hara is a powerful character. She is vain, selfish, but strong and determined and tackles her problems face-on. "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. " made much sense to me.
Vivien Leigh was perfect in that role. Sometimes I feel I'll have an end like Scarlett O'Hara.
But then, Im still searching for a Rhett Butler :-D Even a Barney of the Doctors will do :-D

Fortunes and tides

My orkut fortune for today reads : You will have some wonderful new experiences. I am waiting ;-D
Those fortune msgs cheer one up u know! Yesterday it said : Im well liked, adabadawada.... Chalo koi to kuch accha kehta hai :-D
I saw Iqbal on TV today. Liked it a lot.
And my latest craze in music is Fuzon. Try them out. Now I like that kind of fusion. Fresh. Even Faakhir is good to hear. Peppy. And he has a good voice. Bro I love u so much for getting an awesome speaker system.. well for other things too.
I have a copy of one nite @ call center by Chetan Bhagat. Its raining books :-D.. Lots to read and lots to do :-)
Working on weekends is soooooooo difficult. I have a deadline tomorrow but nothing done for that yet. Mind is very distracted. Focus.. that's what is lacking :-)

I have this urge to run away somewhere for a couple of days.. Mountains, rivers, greenery, mist, dew drops, breeze tinged with a lemony tangy smell, silence, sound of water hitting the stones, bird-songs and absolutely nobody else.
Option 2- a deserted clean beach. and me swimming with the waves.
There's a scene in Yuva's fanaah song where both kareena and vivek are floating in the middle of the sea. I want to do that someday :-) Swimming is something that I wish to learn someday. Its on the things-ill-do-before-i-die list.
Want to go trekking. want to bungee jump.. want to ski.. want to fly...
he he
I dont want to write that paper :-D

Hurray the weekend is here!!!

Fresh Blood

`Young' party to contest Assembly elections

More about them at LokParitran Party Home

Bus day

CELEBRATING THE STUDENTS' WAY: Yet another set of students on Wednesday observed `Bus Day', an occasion to express their affinity towards a favourite bus route. But it looks like the happiness here has grown to dangerous proportions, as many of the students travel perched precariously on all sides of the bus. — Photo: R. Ragu

This came in The Hindu today - a clipping about the Bus Day.. One of our profs contributed some more to the caption. It read as

These are Leaders of Tomorrow. Please postpone "tomorrow"

Books and blasts

After a severe drought of books to read in the past few days, I have now three books lined up for my perusal :-D - all of them belonging to a different genre.. Glimpses of world history by Nehru, Murder is easy by Agatha Christie, and Magic for Marigold by LM Montgomery..
So apart from the research work that I have to finish by this weekend, I can look forward to this too. I AM busy :-D
The bomb blasts in Varanasi is deplorable and should be severely condemned by all the religious leaders. Anybody who take lives so indiscriminately is not even human, leave alone talking about going to heaven. The people behind such crimes can't be anyone's friends.. These gruesome acts succeed in polarising the community. Plus we have the political leaders using these tragedies for their own means..

Anything can snowball into a big carnage these days.. We live in troubled times... Nobody is safe anywhere now...

he he

There was a young fellow from Trinity
who took square root of infinity
but the number of digits
gave him the fidgets.
He dropped Math and took up Divinity.

lifted from George Gamow's book called One Two Three .. Infinity.. Book looks interesting..

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I have uploaded the profile pic :-) with all due respects to the person who created this.
He he that pic loooks so unlike me......

ye haseen fwds

These paintings were forwarded to me. The girl is gorgeous and the paintings are well crafted.
Im really tempted to use one of these pics as my profile pic :-D Should I or shouldnt I.. mmmmm If yes then which one ? The 1st one in the 2nd row or the last one?

I saw Chronicles of Narnia. Either I wasnt in a good mood or the movie WAS really boring. I didn't enjoy it. mmmmm the kids were cute.. Peter was handsome. Story would have been interesting just that I wasnt in a mood to appreciate it that day that show plus the crowd was full of hooligans who had come to make noise and the kids were emulating them!!!
I really wished for home theater systems then :-( Half the fun of cinema in theatre was lost cos of those ruffians. Tell me in what way does cat-calling and other cheap antics give them pleasure!!
Back to the movie, war scenes reminded me of LOTR. Half man-half horse (centaurs i now remember what they are called) reminded me of Hercules, the series.. and lions are the favourite subjects of my nightmares.. How could I ever appreciate one in the lead role!! He he Mr. Tumnus reminded me of an Italian physicist who had visited us recently. He was very cute indeed :-D And everyone was so mechanical in the movie.
It was just too slow for my taste. Waste of money and waste of time.

Have a nice week ahead. Time really flies doesn't it?

chanda ki doli mein...

This pic was just my first attempt at uploading images :-D

By the way, we had a similar moon in the sky tonight albeit much smaller in size. It looked majestic amongst the brilliant stars. And then suddenly, lo and behold it started raining! A slight drizzle.. but very much welcomed after the sultry day we faced. Summer starts early in Chennai :-) 2 yrs back we had such a summer. It would be hot in the day but it would rain in the evenings. It was the most beautiful summer I had ever seen. I hope this drizzle today means this year we will have a summer like that one. I like summers more than winter inspite of the heat and grime. There's a cheerfulness in this weather. Mornings are bright and inviting. Sea breeze blows in the evenings. Icrecreams, juices, water melons, cottons, and MANGOESSSSSSSSSS... Many reasons to rejoice in summer compared to the gloomy winter.

The Shah of Blah

Hey the ratio goes like this --- > mean ppl:cute ppl = 1:3. Thats why life is beautiful :-D

Im currently reading Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I was prejudiced against him after the row over the Satanic verses and I took up this book too with much reluctance. And what I found there was a surprise. There are writers of all kinds and then there are the real writers- the ones whose writing is different. A different style, a different way of visualising things. Innovative, capturing. The ones whose books are remembered for their novelty. I think Salman Rushdie is one of them. At least this book tells me so. Now I'm tempted to read his other books. Are they as good as Haroun.. ? I now actually want to know what the Satanic verses row is all about.. Is he also a victim just as Sania Mirza is? But are the books available in market ?

My friend told me about a new fantasy series by Christopher ** - Eragon and Eldest. Thats also on my list of books-to-read.

I also saw the animation movie- Corpse Bride. Its good :-D .
A dialogue goes like this (umm the corpse bride wants to go "upstairs" to the living world so the dead old wise man asks her) - " Why do u want to go upstairs when people are dying to come down here ?? " :-D
I hope to watch Chronicles of Narnia this week :-D I AM busy!!!
Mind u I have also been working hard on what Im supposed to work hard on these days.

I'm a sucker for fantasy world.

I played cricket today :-D

Ok so I scored 0 and fielded one ball but still I PLAYED!! It was great fun.. I had more fun at the nets practising than actually playing. End result- my bat did connect with the ball. :-D I always used to wonder how ppl enjoy watching it on TV for 6 hrs at a stretch. Now I know that those who have played it will know the details and hows and whats of it hence they like watching it..

And I dont know so many ppl from our own dept!!! I sure made many friends today :-)

And I guess at some level, I AM sensitive to trivial stuff.. something simple that a friend said pricked me.. I guess Ill take some time to get over that..

A new week starts tomorrow.. Have a fruitful week :-)

Where is Physics!!! Its not engineering :-|

You scored as Mathematics. You should be a Math major! Like Pythagoras, you are analytical, rational, and when are always ready to tackle the problem head-on!

Mathematics	75%
Sociology	75%
Philosophy	67%
Engineering	67%
Psychology	58%
English	50%
Chemistry	42%
Journalism	42%
Art	42%
Biology	33%
Linguistics	25%
Theater	25%
Anthropology	17%
Dance	17%

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
created with QuizFarm.com

He he Philosophy and me!!! no way.. I always liked mathematics :-)

He he

Why is it that you physicists always require so much expensive equipment? Now the Department of Mathematics requires nothing but money for paper, pencils, and erasers ... and the Department of Philosophy is better still. It doesn't evenask for erasers - Isaac Asimov

:-D

Newsmericks

Newsmericks
She has a limerick for every issue!! Creative ones too!
Like she says : newsmericks - news in limericks form...

Miss you

Dear chicken,
I have been missing you a lot. Its been more than a week since I tasted you. At times, I feel this desperate urge to forget everything and everyone for a few moments of bliss with you. I would like you to know that my heart cries out not just for you but the many others who were to follow you - the cute white eggs - the smooth white things with the soft yellow hearts. Though, I must confess that the movie Chicken Run did poke my conscience a bit. But then. every good thing has an end. You were too good for your own good.
You can never imagine the agony my heart (rather my taste buds) go through when I read about the thousands of your kind being culled.
Got to go. Sorry for being abrupt but physics calls. We humans ARE this inhuman.
Deepest regrets.

Life is a dewdrop..

Ever wondered how it would feel after death? Leave the life after death part. Its everyone to his/her own beliefs. But before all that, just when a person has died, how he/she/it would feel? I mean just a few hours without any conversation with family or friends makes me feel so desolate generally. Imagine the soul wanting to talk to its dear ones and not being able to reach across! Just lying there thinking about what could have been, what it had left unfinished and what he/she shouldnt have done. Time machines could never have been wished for more then than any other time. Just nothing to do except wait for the Day of Judgement! Even when somebody close passes away, what I regret most is that there is no way I can talk to that person again plus there's one person less in the world who loved you for no reason. Kal Ho Na Ho is a profound statement and Im dead scared about the Na Ho part :-D.
In our place, it is believed that after a person is dead, the only way he/she gets in touch with the living is in the dreams. I have seen my dearest dead relatives in my dreams so many times and I used to wake up feeling happy that they remembered me enough to come visit me in dreams (:-D) .

Anyway, this is the wrong time to think about these things :-D. This year, I would really like to know what's lined up for me! My life could change for the better or for the worse. I have so many regrets of my-life-would-have-been-different if-i-had-done-this kind. This year, I plan to test the waters. Ill throw in my stones and see what patterns emerge. That's a better move than could-have-beens. The patterns so far have been good though I have not been good enough to appreciate their beauty. I think the future is beautiful too. My doubts are confined to - in which direction will the water flow :-) Time will tell.

By the way folks, its my birthday tomorrow!! :-D Wish me luck :-D

I'll make the most of this dewdrop before it gets absorbed in the earth :-)

Success :-D

Long long time ago I was cribbing about a code not working. After working on it in between big breaks the code finally works :-D Happiness!!

Chiffonesque

Check out this blog. She writes sincerely with a great sense of humour. I loved her posts. A delight to read them.

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Its time our politicians stopped using religion for their vote banks. We don't want to be favoured and we dont want to be left out.
It just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I wish for the day when we have mature politicians.
I, for one, have always fancied an army major or an air force pilot.. So any muslims out there do contact me :-D ;-)

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He he another valentine's without a valentine!!

RDB reloaded

We got to see RDB again in our very own OAT. Such movies are best suited to the OAT ambience.. Cos the enjoyment becomes a community affair in the sense of hanso saath saath, applaud saath saath.

Whenever positive scenes of laxman and aslam came up on screen, students lauded, whistled and clapped in the gallery. I guess close-knit communities have the danger of shortsightedness. So when people do come out of the cliquish groups, they will realise that things are not as bad for them as they think.

Much hooplah is going on abt prophet muhammad's pics in the papers. Ignore baba.. kisi ke kehne se kuch change nahi hota. The prophet himself used to forgive other's ridicule. Those who are out to exercise their "freedom of expression" expect us to react this way and we have been doing everything to please them.

PS (23.2.2k6) - I at times find great wisdom in the Letters to the editors section of The Hindu. This is what people had to say about this issue :

A strong faith should not be shaken by childish attempts to denounce it. (21st Feb)

Time and again, we forget the message and focus on the messenger. Do gods need us humans to protect them and their reputation? (22nd Feb)

..

Grrrrr currently working on a code which refuses to sort out x( After a while, one gets so used to the code that one can't identify the bugs.

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Too many good news today ;-D and two of my friends with whom I had lost touch unexpectedly contacted me :-D

Iran

India has again voted against Iran in IAEA! I dont know exactly if Iran is actually in the wrong or not. Iraq was also in this arena of suspicion. I feel Iran is also an Iraq-in-the-making. I hope India has a better reason for this other than pleasing the biggies.
A few years back, a beautiful Iranian girl in complete hijab used to study here. I used to admire her drive in coming all the way to India to pursue her studies.
My colleague had also gone to Iran for a school-cum-conference. He brought back delicacies, stories and photos from there. The delicacies were mainly made from dry fruits and were very tasty. The photos told us a great deal about their architecture, living habits and heritage. Imagine seeing the arches, minarets and kasheedakari seen in our Mughal palaces, ancient mosques etc in the local streets of Teheran!! Very beautiful. He had visited some ancient calcite caves too. Stunning pictures!! Iran is linked in so many ways to our own history.
Baghdad library was a storehouse of ancient literature and all that got destroyed. Hope the heritage and culture of Iran don't go the same way.

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I finally got my eyes checked :-D This is a big event in my life cos I have been postponing this for the past three years!! Have to put on glasses :-( Mere looks ka kya hoga ??? :-(( boooohooooooooooo

sarfaroshi

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-qaatil main hai!
Rahraw-e-rah-e-mohabbat rah na jana rah mein,
Lazzat-e-sahra nawardi doori-e-manzil mein hai.
Yoon khara maqtal mein qaatil kah raha hai baar baar,
Kya tamanna-e-shahaadat bhi kisi ke dil mein hai
Waqt aane par bata denge tujhe ai aasmaan,
Hum abhi se kya bataaen kya hamaare dil mein hai.
Ai shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat tere jazbon par nissar,
Teri qurbaani ka charcha ghair ki mehfil mein hai.
Kheinch kar laai hai sabko qatal hone ki umeed,
Aashiqon ka aaj jamghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai.
Ek se karta nahin koi doosra koi bhi baat,
Dekhta hoon main jise woh chup tiri mehfil mein hai.

We are now raring to die for our country's sake
Let's see how much of strength the assassin can display!
O traveller on the path of love, do not drop mid-way,
It is the distance of the goal that glorifies the chase.
Standing by the gallows the hangman makes a call,
Come, if there be any, by the martyr's zeal enthralled.
We'll tell you all, O sky, wait till the time arrives,
How can we at this stage, our secret plans unveil?
O martyrs in the nation's cause, kudos to your sacrifice.
Even in the enemy camp they talk of you with praise.
Fired by patriotic fervour, many a maddened youth
Has gathered at the crossing, itching for the cross.
Why are they mute and silent? no whisper, no talk,
Everyone that I see has got his lips locked.

kya jazba hai!!

rdb uncontrolled

sleepless me and no books to read. So I thought I might as well post something.

Warning: This could be a spoiler for Rang de Basanti. So those who havent seen it yet should stay away from my ramblings :)

RDB struck a chord at so many levels.

When the father says "SMS generation..char line kya bol diya samajhte hain lecture suna rahe hain" :-D I thought I say that to my father too!!!! He knows by now before I say it out that Ill say "lecture mat do papa" :-D Im a spoilt bad daughter.. no doubts about that :-D

When aamir says that beyond the college doors nobody knows him. I feel that too. Once I leave this field, Ill be mrs. anonymous. Its not as if I'm well known now:-D but there are a few who recognise me by my work and thats a good feeling. Should I give up that and get back to doing what every common girl used to do? They form a chunk of the many doubts I have these days. There's a big chasm between the world I belong to and the world I wish to belong to. But then I think one can't change everything in one go.. A bit by bit change is how life proceeds. I should reconcile myself with this too :-)
RDB says : Live life. Stop analysing. But then ye wholly possible bhi nahin hai na!

And I know so less of the Indian history leave alone world history!!! :-( The freedom fighters had a purpose and they faced larger and more justified problems. They did so much and for what! Our generation has had it easy in so many ways. I rarely have problems of that magnitude but still I crib so much about trivial issues like mess food. Should cut down on that. dont u think so? easier said than done for ppl like me :(

I got a good fwd on republic day: It says : "patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.."
Doesn't that make sense too? So hope we do our part in doing something for the country.

Well in the end, killing the minister sounded foolish to me. Agreed that he deserved every bit of it. Apart from being corrupt himself, to cheapen the sacrifice of the pilot was the foulest thing he could do. But then, killing him finishes all the evidence. He is branded as "amar senaani" And what punishment does he get? Everything is over for him after he dies na. Bringing out the truth in some way will humiliate him publicly and that was the best punishment he could have got. But then, this is imposs cos of the corruption prevalent at that level. system faulty hai. there was a dialogue in the movie Page 3 where atul kulkarni says something which goes as "system me reh kar use badalne ki koshish karo" All this sounds good theoretically but putting it into practice! But then every little contribution helps..

But I'm happy that I can't recall any instance where I have bribed anybody :-D Infact the officer who came for passport verification had given signals that I could be a bit meherbaan. But my lousy sounding Tamil came to my rescue and I acted ignorant and didnt pay anything. Got major blastings later at home and they forecasted no-passport-without-favors for me. But thankfully, I faced no such hassles and I got it. That was the only brush with bribery I faced ever in my life. Luckily :)

Everytime a MIG crashes, it IS a senseless loss of a person who actually does something useful. And who doesn't love his/her life!! To waste it cos of unreliable aircrafts is an issue.

He he Kunal kapoor looks so good!! Tall guys have been the flavor of the season. Zulfi syed, kunal kapoor... But zulfi syed, john abraham are good poster-type hunks. There is something more intense in Kunal kapoor. Or is it just my impression cos of this movie. Soha's role was also very intense and she played it out well. She is gorgeous too! A simple college-going-girl look.Everyone has acted very well in this movie. Maybe this has been The break of their lifetime.

No over-melodrama in the movie. That was such a relief! I was afraid Ill embarass myself by shedding copious tears as Im often bound to do in tragic endings :-D

Whats with aamir and patriotic movies these days?? But mind u, this movie was not just aamir's movie. Everyone in the movie played a key role. There is no special hero. Infact, aamir's too many chak-de-phattes got on my nerves. Whatever does it mean anyways???

Whatever music Rehman composes for a movie, it rocks. He is a genius. His simplicity is so much in odds with his talent! From the start, his music sets the tempo of the movie.

So overall, this movie addresses some real issues but has an unrealistic ending.

ps: Any idea how amitav ghosh's books are like? Should I try them out? Or maybe I should stick to Chaikin and Lubensky- principles of condensed matter physics :-D
or should I learn more about archimedes principle !! :-D wont forget the joke and maybe I should try that out... poor guy will get the lesson of his lifetime :-D ;-)
Why am I not sleepy yet!!!! :-((

no network rt now so the posting is delayed :-(

I saw Rang De Basani :-D

I saw Rang De Basanti :-D Loved the movie. Do go watch it! Thought-provoking.
Right now on cloud nine so will write more sensibly when I come down to earth :-D
And Im so much thankful that I work only in linux what with all the viruses loose on the net

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At times, its so difficult to put words in action.

..

Tadbeer ke dast-e-zareen se taqdeer numaayan hoti hai
Qudrat bhi madad farmaati hai jab koshish-e-insaan hoti hai.

Maybe I should learn something from this :-)

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Dreams are not meant for me :-(

musings

I think I should warn beforehand that this post is one of those breakfast-lunch-dinner menus type :-D So read it if u like it :-D

Our insti culturals are going on and we had shankar-ehsan-loy show yesterday as a part of this. My friends had come. Since, this was their first time here, they enjoyed the show a lot. But, for me, who has seen such shows so many times, there was no novelty and I got bored. In fact, last year we had a KK show and so most of the songs yesterday were a repeat for me. I know that its the atmosphere that matters but then I failed to gel in yesterday. My usual hangout crowd was missing :-). I enjoyed KK's show ten times better. And I discovered that I have a mortal fear of my feet leaving the ground :-D Thats why I make a terrible dancer :-D In all, I think I enjoyed kite flying more than this :-D, which I did in my last get-together. Maybe because we went to the beach and I love water in all forms. Guess Im a true piscean :-D
Anyways, the weekend is here. Last weekend was very hectic and after some 10 days of gruelling work I cant seem to debug another code now. So, Im just putting my feet up and rejuvenating myself :-D Hope I get back to full form next week. A major confidence booster this week had been my assessment. Mostly, it leaves me with a feeling of being inadequate for what I do. This time I felt like I knew the subject. I am always a bit scared of one of my co-advisor and I used to think that he thinks that Im a dumb girl. But I got to know from my advisor that he thought differently about me and that was such a major confidence booster!! Many more doubts and hesitations in my mind but "its the time to khisko" :-D
So I leave u with wishes for a very happy weekend and a very fruitful week ahead.

Ha ha :-D

Your results:
You are Supergirl

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He he good to start my day with. I can do with a bit of morale boosting of this kind :-D by the way ppl, panga nahin lene kaa kyaa :-D

Kannathil muthamittal

3 posts in a day! he he but while preparing the figures for the report it gets pretty monotonous and the mind wanders. So I was listening to this title song from Kannathil Muthamittal and I remembered the movie too. Its a very sweet touching movie by Mani Rathnam. By the way Im a big fan of MR. I have absolutely adored all his movies starting from Mauna raagam. Anyways, this movie is about a girl who has been adopted by madhavan and simran when she was a kid. Her natural mother is a LTTE member . When the girl comes to know of this she insists on meeting her natural mother. Both M and S take her to SL and what happens next forms the rest of the story. Simran looked very beautiful in simple saris and salwars. Madhavan was awesome as a father. There's something very attractive about superdads, about the way they are so protective about their kids, especially girls. I hate it when I see moms and dads pampering their boys.. But then if they are dads already, its too late for us isn't it :-D The kid acted so well. I think she got the national award. She really moved one to tears.
Visuals in the movie are stunning. SriLanka is so beautiful. Pure unadulterated green in many pockets. By the way its a good honeymoon destination too :-D Its closer to home and costs less money and time. One of my friend went there and brought such stunning photos back. Imagine waterfalls outside ur window! I wonder why only the heaven-like places in the world are under strife. Take Kashmir, Srilanka, Assam.. All these places are the closest to nature and yet we have bloodshed there.

Main yahaan

I like the song Tu jahaan from salaam namaste a lot. Especially the part sonu sings :-) Whenever I heard that song, I have felt ki kaash......... :-D Similarly in Main Yahaan hun yahaan from veer zaara. There's so much promise and care in those two songs. I wish we get that in our real life too :-) I guess they jus appeal to the almost dying romantic in me :-)

reports :-(

Ask me to write nonsense, I'll write pages and pages but I just hate writing reports where one has to be technically correct and grammatically sound and polished ughhhhhhhhhhhhh Im writing one now. And this is the 3rd draft cos everyday my advisor gets a new idea for a format..I'm so mentally blank now.
And they have fixed this assessment next week when the whole institute will be enjoying culturals and I'll sit and prepare my presentation. Even after this meeting is over, we still will have after effects of the meeting. Ughhhhh there's no life for the likes of us according to the admin ppl. Anyways we will see light sometime soon.

veer tum bade chalo
dheer tum bade chalo
saamne pahaad ho
guide ki dahaad ho

etc etc

too early

I woke up at 5 am today without an alarm :-D Its a once in a lifetime experience for me. And I spotted 3 kingfishers too. But I dont think this will motivate me to wake up everyday at this hr :-D

Creativity!

Check out Sharad Haksar's homepage . Good creativity! More on him on rediff

Coastliners and Taj mahal

Joanne Harris has been my favourite author and I have written reviews of her books in my own inadequate words in my earlier posts. I read another of her book today called Coastliners. This is also a good read. Its about a small island (so small that it doesnt even appear on the map) and its inhabitants who are deep-rooted in superstition and have lost all hope. They believe that only the patron saint of their island can now improve their fortunes and all efforts to do it themselves will be futile. Along comes a girl who had emigrated from the island with her mother when she was a kid. How they manage to change the local attitude and prevent disaster forms the rest of the story. As usual in JH stories, human relations, local community, mystery, intrigue and romance flavour this book. Every person in the community is given a distinct character. Even the villain of the story has a human side to him and u end up sympathising with him.
Some stories have the capability to create an atmosphere around the reader if u know what I mean. When u read the book, u can picturise the island, the people and sometimes its like Alice's trip to wonderland. U forget about the everyday lab trips and think u actually live on the island :-D I get that feeling with a very few books like Lord of the rings, all JH books and few more that i cant recall now.
Ill keep an eye out for her other writings.

A very hilarious movie I saw yesterday was "Tajmahal" the Akbar Khan version :-D It was hilarious in many parts but gross in many too. The brutal scenes could have been avoided. I couldnt recognise Arbaaz Khan in Aurangzeb's role :-D The lead pair were plastic. Zulfi syed was so covered in zulf (hair) that his acting talents got shadowed if they were any. he tried. I'm still fida over him cos he had killer eyes and an awesome height :-D This movie made me want to see Tajmahal, the makbara. I have seen it when I was 9. Hardly capable of appreciating the beauty. I want to see that again.
Another feeling I got from this movie was that if Aurangzeb had not been so rigid in his Islamic beliefs and had not tried to impose it on the local public, India would have been a strong country when the English arrived. I feel a ruler should not impose his thinking on his nation. His strong measures alienated so many princely states. All the good that Mughal rulers had done before him got ruined by his approach. Many people now dont remember the good work done before him and remember only his atrocities. Evryone should be let to practise their own religion. Thats what Islam also says. Being fanatic about it never serves anybody's purpose.

Happy new year :-)

A very happy new year to everyone and may everyone's wishes come true. I have many expectations from this year and I hope I am motivated enough all through the year to fulfil them. I never knew how the last year flew by. Time goes really fast these days and we'll be old before we realise it :-D. Scary rt!!

I guess I hit a blog-block in recent days and that accounts for this big gap. :-) But I have so many thoughts rushing all together in my mind now that I guess I wont be able to put down all of them coherently. Ill give it a try. Hope it doesnt bore anyone but as I put it down in my very 1st post on the blog, this site is for my musings and raving and ranting abt issues, and reading or not reading it is entirely upto the reader's discretion.

Anyways, this new year started with many bad news. First was the attack on IISc. We were shocked at that since it was so close to us, in the sense that I have so many of my friends in that place. And an academic institution was the least likely target according to me. And as I have always said, this kind of terrorism should be condemned by state and religious institutions alike. This is not Islam. This is just misuse of Islam by criminals and murderers for their own material gains. The imams and muftis who have been issueing fatwa left and right on relatively trivial issues should come out and condemn these attacks enmasse. As this is a very serious issue which really affects the whole community. I felt good when my father told me that the imam in his mosque has said time and again in his bayaans that this "jihaad" is not a jihaad and taking lives is not the path to paradise. Such messages should be sent out to people very clearly and what better people than the head muftis who have access to the media. These attacks also succeed in creating mistrusts and bipolarity in the country. By condemning these activities, we can also reaffirm that the 12% doesnt support this.
I didn't like the treatment of this attack by the media too. The terrorists want us to be terrorised. Agreed that everyone is a bit scared now. But then, now no place and no time is safe. Thats their purpose and we all know that clearly. But airing the fears like aaj tak or the other channels did is like serving their purpose. Even if someone is brave, these channels will shake his confidence. Instead of highlighting the "dehshat in cities" in ekta kapoor style why not highlight the inadequacies of the police, bureacrats etc.!! The media is these days only in search of garam news which will increase their TRPs. Responsible journalism is hard to find these days.

The other bad news were the rape cases in Mumbai, Delhi etc. These rapists should be given death punishments. I have stated this opinion many times before in my blog. To hell with the human rights activists who keep mum when there is actually a human rights violation. This must have been a form of new year revelry for them but the girl is mentally scarred for her whole life! I think we are just one step away from being satans these days.

Dumbledore

Amazing the way ppl research the harry potter books!!
Try these:

Dumbledore is not dead

and

Mugglenet

Warrior of the Light

If u like Paulo Coelho's books, you might like reading this too.

Books and papers

I read Pygmalion by GB Shaw a couple of days back. The movie My Fair Lady is an exact adaptation of this book except for the songs. But the songs have only enhanced the movie's charm. As I read the book, I could recall the movie very clearly. GP and AH have enacted their roles perfectly :-). The book in itself is very interesting though I'm a bit hesitant in trying out GB Shaw's other works as I generally stay away from heavy reading. So, I don't know what they are like. Long time back, I had similar plans to try out Don Quixote. I haven't done that yet. The book size scares me. I finished books like LOTR, Gone with the Wind, Far pavilions, etc in a couple of days but those books could hold my attention. But Im afraid to try the serious ones.

Currently, I'm reading Jim Corbett's Jungle Lore. I didn't realise that I had already crossed the 5th chapter. Finally, I had to put down the book as it was pretty late at night and tigers generally play the lead in my nightmares :-D. Jim Corbett has led such an adventurous life ! Our day-to-day life is so dull in comparison :-D.

Kumaun or rather the pahari stories hold some charm. Its an equal delight to read Ruskin Bond. Their love for the mountains shows in their stories.

Why can't the journal papers be this interesting !! :-( I have to go through a couple of them now :-((

114!!!

I again paid a library fine of 114/ :-( Ill never learn. Booohooooooooooooooooo

Lakshya

Saw Lakshya yesterday. A very good movie. Made an impression :-)
Have a nice weekend :-)

My ramblings

A really long time since I blogged and so many events in this period!! So I guess the jumble which I call my thoughts have accumulated and hence m afraid this will be a long post :-D

This month particularly has been a tough one for so many thousands..
Starting with the October 8 earthquake :-(
Even in normal times, its a tough life for people living in such terrains. Its frightening to imagine the hardships they must be facing now. And not to say the villages which have been wiped out without a trace. I wonder if they were on the map even before the earthquake. Tragedies of that scale can't be put in a few bland words so I'll refrain here. Whether those people lived in "the paradise" here or not, I hope they get to live in paradise after this.

Many of my friends had remarked that this time Diwali and Eid will be celebrated almost at the same time and hence there was a joint festive atmosphere everywhere. But then, the inhuman dummies had to interfere and spoil it for everyone. Yes- the Delhi Bomb blasts. I call them dummies cos calling them beasts insults the beasts. They have been brainwashed so thoroughly that taking lives doesn't affect their conscience. And these people talk about Jihad!! The earliest stories in Qur'an condemn such killings. Was it Prophet Adam's son who killed his brother and was condemned forever? How can they even celebrate their festival after making it a black day for so many hundreds! I have heard so many conjectures about these bomb blasts from people. One, after their force being weakened by the earthquake, the militants wanted to make their presence known. Two, this was such an effective way to bring about a communal divide and thankfully it didn't succeed like the Godhra set-up. Three, this is a good way of bringing about a breach in the apparently improving Indo-Pak relations. Four, this was in protest to the Red Fort sentence. I think if these people are captured, they deserve worser punishments than death. Well, hundreds of brains and hundreds of conjectures.
I think the Imams who were very active few days back issuing fatwas on Imrana and Sania's skirts should come out in huge numbers and issue fatwas on such criminals who spoil the name of Islam for their mercenary aims.
Personally, I have spent a part of my childhood in Delhi and I have fond memories of shopping in Sarojini Nagar and Chandni Chowk (well not-so-fond-memories in CC cos of the sleazy men who seem to exist everywhere). I love that city and I was shocked to see that being targeted.

Then we had floods in Chennai!! Thats a news cos it hardly ever rains here and it truly poured when it rained here. yeah I wasn't caught in it but I was surprised to see the pictures in the newspapers. One could hardly believe it. As is usual, only the poor bear the brunt of nature's furies :-(

Then the train accident in AP! Each story these days on the newschannels has been a bad news.

There has been a debate going on down south here about what should be the decorum followed by the youth these days and such hilarious arguments have been put forth! A "lady" mind u a "lady" says that girls should pin up the duppattas in the right places cos indecent clothes make even the decent men think indecently :-)) What about the hundreds like us who wear the most modest clothes and still get teased in the buses!! Putting forth such ridiculous arguments only gives them license to do what they want. Im sure they will tease a girl even if she is covered from head to toe in purdah. I think such morals should be taught to them right when they are in their cradles. And these ladies play a vital role there. Like my friend says, what makes the men think that they have the freedom to expose their hairy legs in bermudas but can't stand the same in girls :-D

Anyways sleepless me rambling on endlessly. Will stop here. Belated Happy Diwali, Eid mubarak and Have a nice weekend :-)

Garfield

Garfield has such strong fundaes on food and sleeping that Im planning to learn something from him :-D check this out .
There was once a comics strip where G says " you don't take naps. the naps take you" so true!! :-D Thats a cat with an attitude!

I completed 1 year of blogging this September. Why do I blog ? - for the same reason people write diaries. But why do people write diaries? Its just a catalogue of thoughts, impressions, etc etc.. Lets see how long I continue blogging. :-)

Iran, the mess and the good old days

I was disappointed by India's decision to vote against Iran. I used to say that Im pretty anti-US and won't ever live there. I used to be proud that India was not a puppet to US and was quite independent. But if India actually starts following their diktats, where does one run to now! I hope India rectifies this blunder. I dont even see the need to collaborate on the civil nuclear energy front. I thought we were quite self-reliant in that sector !
badde log baddi baddi baatein.. apne palle nahin padhti ye sab :-(
Whats unbelievable is that nations still haven't learnt any lessons from the Iraq fiasco ! Maybe every nation is busy safeguarding their own interests. But come on! what can a country which can't cope with a natural disaster in its own homeland do to others. Oh maybe it will use its WMD on the "errants"!!

All said and done I hope we get back to the NAM policies of which we were an integral part. Infact even as a kid, I was proud of India being a part of NAM.

Very hungry now. Hope there is something good in the mess. Rather than the food in our "Mega Mess", what sucks more is the attitude of the servers. They seem to think we peck on food which can get very irritating when we return back after a day of hard work. So every mealtime, we have to ask for more. Reminds me of Oliver Twist asking for more. One would think they were giving us food in charity. He he that place is unexpectedly turning out to be a good training ground for us to fight for our "rights". Whats pathetic is that its supposed to be the last place for such a thing to happen.

I suddenly recalled the old classic song "ye zindagi usi ki hai" from the vintage movie "Anarkali". Was listening to that now. Beena Roy was oh-so-gorgeous and I actually don't remember the male actor in the movie. Was it Pradeep Kumar? He he my grandpa looked like PK in his younger days :-D These were the movies which we lapped up so eagerly in our childhood days. I don't recall my childhood days much, for which my friends usually make fun of me :-D. But I do remember these movies, and the days I spent in my hometown in those days very clearly. I think I was more self-centered even as a child, in the sense that I had my own private world and was always busy in that :-) So I dont recall anything that happened to others :-D After all, we pisceans are famous for being dreamy :-D

Movies and themes

I saw Salaam Namaste a couple of days back. A friend said its not my type of movie and that set me thinking whether we should really look for ideologies or themes in movies.
According to me SN was a very confused kind of movie. It was a fun movie in the beginning but very loud in the 2nd half and reminded me of Chalte Chalte (watching it was a painful experience) . Lousy ending too. What did they want to show? 1st half says live-in's can be a paradise. True. We can chuck the guy whenever we wish unlike marriage where one has to suffer with the wrong person for the whole life for the same reason that live-ins are taboo here - divorce is as much frowned upon in the conservative societies as live-ins. 2nd half of the movie says "but marriage is the best bet".
Kuch kuch hota hai says love grows out of friendship. Dil to pagal hai says friendship need not mean love. Paheli was a big-time googlee. I'm still confused about what it wanted to show.
I think the best option is not to search for morals in the movie. Its just a story which is supposed to keep you entertained for 3 hours.
The situations shown in the movies are/need not be a part of every person's life. Everyone lives a different life and there can be as many circumstances as there are people. So, I feel society should also let the person live as they wish. True that we get only one life to live and we live that life according to how society wants us to live like. But then whats the whole point of this cycle of birth, survival and death? If drifting is what we are supposed to do, then why create this cycle at all. Surely, there must have been some greater purpose behind all this!
I also saw Madagascar last night. ( Last few days, watching movies has been the only productive thing I have been doing :-D ) The movie was hilarious and I want to watch it again. This was screened in the hostel under the open sky and was a late night affair. Looking forward to many more such get-togethers. :-)

.

Saw a cute movie called Socha Na tha A low key movie and very endearing :-)

..

I repeat

Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwahish pe dam nekle
Bahut nikle mere armaan magar phir bhi kam nikle

:-(

Nothing ever happens here !!

My crib these days has been that nothing ever happens here! Like somebody has said
Subah hoti hai shaam hoti hai
Zindagi yun hi tamaam hoti hai

Life becomes monotonous after a point. My activities in the past few days have been restricted to shuttling between my room and lab. So I have been doing little somethings to please myself like solving crosswords, listening to music whenever i can (liked a bhupinder collection. will get it soon) , watching an occasional movie, treating myself to chocolates occasionally and the latest is by putting in jhankar beats in my day to day life :-D
So I have become a major crossword buff. I still can't solve it completely without the previous day's paper but I'm improving :-D
I saw My Fair lady (again) and To Kill a Mocking Bird this week. MFL is awesome and can be seen n number of times. Audrey Hepburn is very adorable in the movie. And Rex Harrison as Prof. Higgins is hilarious. No wonder these movies are called classics. I intend to read GB Shaw's Pygmalion now :-)
TKaMB had Gregory Peck and two very cute kids. Its a very faithful adaptation of a book by the same name. The movie leaves behind an impression on the viewer.
We had seen Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn a couple of years back in an American Film Festival screening in Chennai. As usual, this trip was not preplanned and was more memorable for the same reason. We don't go out on such outings anymore :-( Anyways, AH was a princess in the movie who escapes her boring life. She happens to meet GP who is a reporter. He gives her shelter with the intention of getting a scoop on her story. They eventually fall in love but then the princess decides not to shirk her responsibilty and gets back to her royal duties.
AH was so convincing as a princess in this movie and she was equally exceptional as a flower girl in MFL. GP was very handsome in both RH and TKaMB. I guess God has stopped making such handsomes anymore :-D I noticed that Dev Anand's mannerisms resemble GP's a lot :-D
Yesterday's movie here was Catwoman. It was unintentionally hilarious. I saw only the 1st half. Couldn't sit beyond that. I think Halle Berry has more attitude than what was shown here. Anyways I wasted an hour there.

I read this US congressman's comments on our Foreign minister and was so shocked and amused. Our Indian ministers show more taste than that. They might prefer to call their Indian colleagues colourful names but they are most respectful towards the foreigners :-D ( I don't know if its age old habit but I have noticed this among the students here too. They might be carelessly rude towards the other fellow students but they are oh-so-polite and sweet to the foreigners :-D Its fun to watch them.)
The whole world has been mocking/berating/despising/condemning US for "liberating and democratising" Iraq and Afghanistan. And they are back on track with the same policies for Iran and Syria. And they think that anybody who does not agree with their policy is dense!!!!! How dense can that be !
I read an article which said that as far as americans are concerned, the other nations don't exist. Well it seems now that as far as Ams are concerned, parts of their own nation don't exist as was shown in the New Orleans tragedy. Mails have been circulating these days comparing NO and Mumbai floods and how efficient it was here.
We Indians might be loud and expressive but that helps in every way. We stick together and help each other out in calamities. Within a year we have had Tsunami, Gujarat floods, Mumbai floods etc but we are back on track :-D and we provided relief materials to US!! What defines a developed nation ??
Sania Mirza gets a loud support everywhere she plays as we Indians are everywhere !!! :-D Ok we have had out share of riots but they are more politically motivated rather than being the pulse of the nation.
As much I see around me, I think right now, India is the best place for Indians to stay :-D

Magic in the air..

I have been hopping in and out of the magical world the past few days. I wish real life also had a bit of magic in it..

I read two really good books belonging to two completely different genre -
Harry Potter- Half Blood Prince

Well for those who haven't read it yet I advise them to check this website out as the rest of my monologue on this book might be a spoiler for them.
I liked this part better than the previous book The Order of Phoenix. I think OoP was a bit monotonous and a bit dull. HBP has more variety and spice in it. Ok I admit all that stuff between Ron and Hermione was a bit boring but new insights into Voldemorts life were interesting. All the while I felt Voldemort is the HBP and it turned out to be Snape!! And I think Dumbledore's death after a seemingly wasted expedition seemed out of place. I'm sure that chain has a more vital role to play and Dumbledore's role doesn't end here.
An interesting analysis on Dumbledore's death has been given here. Going through the website, I realised how passionate some Harry Potter fans could be. :-)

Second book I read was Joanne Harris' Blackberry wine.

I found it exceptionally good. I even think she is the best author I have ever read in my life. I have indeed read the classics and the superhits in literature but l I think I like her best. I have mentioned her books here earlier - Chocolat, Five Quarters of an Orange, Holy Fools. I still have to read the rest. Some time in my life, I intend collecting all her books.
Like her other books, food is always a background theme. Here, a wine bottle tells the story of a writer Jay who is facing a big writer's block after his first novel. He rediscovers some old wine bottles in his cellar and that takes him back to the past. On an impulse, he buys a flat in a remote village untouched by the damages of the modern life. And then between flashbacks to his past, the story moves on in the new village ( -called Lansquenet. Chocolat is also based on the people in the same village). The story is garnished with magic or what seems to be magic like in the book Chocolat. :-) An enchanting experience :-D
A new book of hers is releasing this year. Will look forward to reading that and the others which I have not yet read.
Check out the Joanne Harris website.

Paulo Coelho's new book called Zahir is also releasing this year. I read the first chapter of the book from his website and I get the feeling that this book will also be an experience in itself. I did not like his Eleven minutes much. It had a good theme but I don't think I understood it :-D plus the girl faces so much in her life that I could not digest it. But I think this book will be different mainly so because the main character in the book travels a lot :-D and he learns things in his travels. I thought it might be on the lines of Alchemist. Wouldn't it be fun to travel like that without the confines that we live within in our day-to-day life !! I have been fascinated by so many characters in literature who live like that ! In fact, I liked Strider of Lord of the Rings more than King Aragorn :-D

We followed the Landing of Discovery on Tuesday very keenly :-D The minute to minute update had an Armageddon feeling to it :-D My childhood dream had been to become an Aeronautical engineer. So that day was also laced with I-wish feelings. Anyways hope I have great days ahead as a good Physicist :-D
Have a nice weekend :-)

Weekend movies

This weekend, I saw Bees Saal Baad and Junglee on TV. Well a portion of Junglee.

I was seeing BSB for the first time and had seen Junglee on DD when I was a kid. Waheeda Rehman was gorgeous in BSB. I think after Madhu Bala, waheeda takes the beauty queen crown. But I somehow couldn't stand her acting in the movie. There was so much coquettishness on the screen!! And the story also progressed really slow. But my sis was determined to see how they end the movie. So I too sat through the whole thing. "Kahin Deep jale Kahin dil" is a very beautiful song. It has a haunting feeling attached to it. Kudos to Lata for singing the way its sung. But then, she is always Lata the great :-D

Next in the queue was Junglee. Saira Banu was beautiful. Just couldn't stop myself from gushing about her hair. It must have taken so much of maintenance!! But I couldn't sit through that either. I used to love watching these movies in my childhood. Maybe I have grown out of them.

And there was football wutbaal hai rabba. That movie sounds good only in English. So finally I spent the better part of my weekend curled up on the bed with a book and dozing off to the fairyland :-)
Now thats what I call a weekend well spent :-D

Baghdad Burning

I came across this really good work courtesy Rediff. This is a blog by a resident Baghdad citizen who eloquently gives an account of the situation in Baghdad. It is called Baghdad Burning . Do go through it. This very clearly reminds me of Pre-Independence India I read about in books and seen in movies and documentaries.
I always used to wonder about surah lahab in Qur'an. I now wish it applies to the criminals in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Do check it out: Baghdad Burning

Imrana case

Recently the Imrana case was making news in the papers and followng her lead many other similar cases came to light. I feel this is a shame to the muslim society. The shariah courts when issued the fatwa on Imrana to get a separation from her husband should also have stoned the father in law to death. Why should Indian Penal Code be applied to the beast alone? (Muslim personal law is another issue but im not knowledgeable enough about it to talk on that). Whether the couple gets a separation or not is their decision. I think they should be left alone. And at the same time, FIL should be sentenced to death. I believe rape does deserve a death sentence as in case of a murder the victim at least dies and thats the end of it. But the rape victim lives with the trauma all her life. A murder can be a spur of the moment thing but a rape is a deliberate act.
When I discussed this case with somebody I was shocked to hear him say that this issue should have been resolved internally and this shouldn't have been brought out in the open! A crime like that should be unreported!! To save the pride of the community !! The community is very hollow if it really hides its skeletons this way.

Inspite of all the preaching I hear from people, I believe that the muslim clergy is taking the society 1500yrs backwards. It has a great potential. It can mobilise masses. The prayer congregations can be used for the betterment of the society. Instead, the bayaans I hear second hand from my father tell me otherwise. So if the clergy wishes the best for the society, they can start by preaching the empowerment of women. Women in prophets time had a better (or rather the best ) status than what they have now.

In the same breath, I say that women are being oppressed not only in my religion but in others too and others need not use this for finger pointing. Like a teacher tells us so often- clean your own 1 square area ( without dirtying the neighbours sq. area :-D) and its ensured that we will have a cleaner place to live in.

Sorry for the serious tone of this post. I'll get back to my movie reviews next post onwards :-D

morning ragas

This weekend Mr. Jala Dosham and Ms. Bukhara came to visit me. They refused to leave me alone for a single moment. Mom prepared a ginger concoction which drove them away finally.

Apart from that, I went out for shopping with my family. It was nice fun. Its a long time since I have done that. Then I saw the movie 'morning ragas' on TV. It was ok kind but the most impressive parts were the songs. I like hearing a few carnatic compositions. Im not an expert in any of the classical music streams. I just listen to them for pleasure. And I like one composition called 'mahaganapathim'. The sceneries in the movie were too good. And the colours were brought out really well courtesy Rajiv Menon's photography. His movie in tamil called Kandukondein Kandukondein is also a pleasure to look at.

At the same timeslot, the old hindi movie called Khoobsurat was going on in another channel. I have seen it n number of times but still enjoy it everytime. It has good comedy, funny punch lines. And Rekha's family in the movie speak in rhymes. That was fun :-D We were in a dilemma as to what to watch and finally decided to give this a ditch.

Black again in OAT

Black was screened today in OAT. Its an awesome movie but I was not too keen on seeing it again. I can not take such heavy stuff and I believed that such masterpieces should be seen only once. But I went anyways to see the movie cos my friends insisted. Now our OAT (Open Air Theatre) has a different ambience to it. It is constructed in the amphitheatre style and is surrounded by trees. So on a clear night with the stars shining bright, I have enjoyed movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Devdas, Veer Zaara, all the LOTR series, HP series and so many more. A k3g is also fun here cos the students reactions make up for the gham part and we end up enjoying every scene.

When DTS system was installed in OAT, a special screening of the colour Mughal-e-Azam was shown. That was an experience in itself and it took me almost a week to get the Mughal grandeur and Madhubala's beauty out of my mind.

So Black today in OAT was different from watching Black in the theatre. The audience applaused at rani's achievements, laughed with her, whistled at amitabh's genious, and were pin-drop silent in the serious scenes. Like my friend said, no movie is a serious movie in OAT. And to top it all, it started raining halfway through the movie :-D. But we continued watching the movie inspite of it :-D. As a result, I can forecast that Im on my way to catching cold pretty soon. So I better go do something about it.
Have a nice weekend :-D

Paheli

I saw paheli yesterday and was disappointed with it.

Plus points: Gorgeous costumes, colourful sets and hence a beautiful movie to look at; beautiful Rani, usual SRK and good acting by the whole cast; Chamatkaars by the ghost so an enjoyable movie for the kids ( including me :-D ).

Minus points: I actually hated the ghost SRK. He got all he wanted. I had thought that the living SRK must be a heartless creature. But he happened to be very human in the movie. He obeys his father, misses his wife, writes them letters which never reach them, and is made to look like a petty creature in the end. He is left to die in the desert :-(

Yeah ok I know its a woman oriented movie but somehow this movie failed to convince me. I feel there is something lacking somewhere.

I want to know the actual folk lore too. Is this a truthful adaptation of the original folk lore?

Overall, I liked parineeta far better than Paheli.
OK now I feel I have had enough of movies. So no more movies in the theatre for some time. Ill content myself with the OAT movies.

Good day :-)

Parineeta

I saw Parineeta today :-D Its awesome :-D.

There was so much colour on the screen and mind you it never looked garish. Everything on screen was beautiful. I read in rediff reviews that Vidya Balan can sleepwalk through the movie without a single dialogue cos she has speaking eyes. I believe that now. The lady is very beautiful and has given a superb performance.

I hated Saif so much in the parts where he is jealous and so rude to Lolita. Credits go to Saif's acting :-) Being a hopeless romantic, I was overjoyed at the ending. :-D I'll remember this movie. I actually dont mind watching it again on the big screen :-D

Next in the queue is Paheli and now me waiting for the double mazaa cos of two Sharukhs :-D I already support the ghost SRK and dislike the living SRK. May the ghost win lacchi :-D I wonder how they end the movie. Does lacchi die and join the ghost Sharukh like its always done in hindi movies? :-D Or does the ghost become a living person aka City of Angels? I would prefer the 2nd choice. Are there any handsome, charming, well-mannered, sharukh-lookalike ghosts floating around me ? :-D :-D

Ok I have done enough of gushing about the movie and now Ill get back and enjoy the rest of the day:-)
Good night :-)

Sivamani

I was listening to the songs of Swades today for the nth time and noticed another thing. One of the percussionists is Sivamani. I have seen sivamani perform live in the insti culturals.

Once he was invited along with Louis Banks and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya and it was to be a fusion concert. Everything about that show was too good for words. A solo by Pt. HC was followed by the jugalbandi between these three. Sivamani's percussions made their own place in the concert inspite of Pt. HC's genius. He was a complete showman in the sense that it was a pleasure to watch him too. He would throw his sticks in the air, the sticks would perform their own acrobatics and still would manage to land on the drums to create music :-D That was my first insti culturals and it was quite an experience.This was in 2K1.

The next year Shankar Mahadevan was invited for light music show. Anybody who has attended the last few culturals would agree unanimously that this one was the best. Other artists have to compete really hard to outdo that performance. The show was charged with untappable energy - be it SM on stage, or the students on their feet in the gallery dancing to the vibrant tunes. And there was a surprise for us too. Sivamani was in town, he had heard that SM is performing here and so he just dropped in to join the show !! SM + Sivamani was a deadly combination.

In the following years, we have heard artists like shaan ( he had bad throat that day, and still obliged to our encores! a sweety :-) ), udit narayan ( this was the worst, with him singing all the tere naam numbers!! and a very annoying compere ), KK ( again a good show ) in the light music section. But none came close to that show :-D

The things I like about this place include the culturals, the campus, and...........
well let me think about them and get back to you :-).

Sob sob

I'm so angry at my negligence. I paid Rs. 108 as fine for late return of the library books today. Late returns are usual and I feel no grad student is complete without these nuances. But so far my fines never ran upto this amount , that too for just 4 books and moreover for books which I hadn't touched since the day I got them from the library. grrrrrrrrrrrrr

I could have had a nice dinner for that amount. sob sob.. Such is the way of grad life. :-( I will put in a demand to name the topmost floor of the library after me. After all I have contributed so much to it.

As I was returning from lunch, I saw a bunch of monkeys hanging upside down from the tree and playing with each other. I was thinking these monkeys don't have to worry about anything, and whatever worries they do have are a part of our life too. So why the heck did humans evolve from apes?? Couldn't we have stayed that way! It isn't even as if we got rid of some problems by evolving.

OK by now you would have realised these are the ramblings of a person who really wants to go take a nap now instead of sitting in front of my USB (the Ugly Square Box). So I better get back to what Im supposed to be doing right now.

Good Day :-)
My 108.. booohoooooooooooooooooo

snakes and panthers!!

These days we were cribbing that nothing exciting ever happens in our lives. We wake up, get ready for the same old lab, stare at the same old screen the whole day, and get back to room and crib again that our life is monotonous. So the person in the heavens above has heard our pleas :-D Today we came to know that a snake has been spotted in the route that we take to go to our department. And mind you its not just any snake. Its the king cobra himself! :-D We knew the campus has plenty of snakes but we were told they are harmless ones. So now that we have a real poisonous snake which can attack us anytime, the adventure starts :-D Everytime we pass that way, we can imagine we are passing through a dense forest infested with snakes and ferocious animals ( we see a lot of these in our mess these days! they spend half their time looking at others instead of eating! ughhhh ). The evil spirits wander near that forest and their den lies at the edge of it ( our acad secn qualifies for this. Its inmates spend their time devising ways to ensnare the innocent passersby and waste the rest of their(Inn passersby) lifes wandering in the acad secn corridors). Ok now I realise my fantasy has reached the bizarre level so lets leave the evil spirits out of this..so fast forward...

Anyways, anything doesnt attack until it sees itself in danger. And believe me Im the most innocent looking creature around so I have no fear although looks can be deceptive :-D Will try to avoid keeping really late hours :-D thoda bahut darr makes us real human beings :-D.

I had a classmate who had to do her summer project in GMRT near pune. Thats a very deserted area and panthers were regularly sighted there and this female used to return from the library to hostel at 11 in the night!! Had to admire her daring. She has also seen fresh pugmarks near her hostel and still she maintained the routine. In her place, I would have abandoned my project and returned home the very first day :-D The feline beings are very graceful and majestic to look at but I love them on Nat Geo Max. No closer than that please :-D

Ok now, Ive gotta finish whatever epsilon-delta I hoped to accomplish today and pack up early. So bye for now.

Btw I havent seen any of the movies I thought Ill see. I missed a real good chance to see Hitch last week when it was screened at OAT and I was absconding from the campus. Paheli, parineeta are still on the cards and a friend suggests that 'Batman begins' is also a must watch. Main kya kya dekhungi!! Plus the motivation to work is seriously lacking these days. Maybe Im celebrating or rather mourning the passing of half of 2K5 so soon. Time really flies these days!!

And hey I was listening to the songs of Swades and wow the music really rocks!! My pa used to call ARR "the tin ka dabba man" in his initial days. But ARR doesnt stop surprising you everytime!! He has used such a variety of instruments!! Song 'aahista' has beautiful santoor pieces, Ye jo des has shehnai, and Pal pal has beautiful flute work. Too good!! and Vividh bharati uses the shehnai piece for its announcements. I came to know only now. I have lots to say about vividh bharati but i guess that demands a totally new blog for itself. This cassette was a gift and was a really good gift :-D.

Bye for now finally :-D

..

Bad food, worser mess staff, rains at last, bursts of work, bursts of boredom- thats what has been happening with me these days. So nothing much to key in today.

Hey but Im looking forward to seeing Parineeta. It will be a serious story so Im a bit sceptical about watching it but dekhte hain and I saw the first half of Finding Neverland on Star movies today. Had to miss the later half as others in the common room were not too keen on watching it. I liked the part I saw. Hope I can catch the rest of it sometime soon.

Tata now.

Sunil Dutt

One really sad news was the passing away of Sunil Dutt. OK I agree many good people are lost to the world unknown to the major mass and we mourn Sunil Dutt because he was famous so we knew about him. But then he also showed that being famous can be utilised for a better cause.
I have grown up as a kid on the movies shown in DD. One of the memorable movies was Mera Sayaa. I have watched it as many times as it was shown on TV. Sunil Dutt is so devoted to his wife in that movie. I wish my hubby also wont sign up for shaadi.com as soon as I pass away :-D
I was hooked to aaj tak, star news and ndtv that day and followed the whole coverage. Like I said earlier I was utterly-deliciously-jobless those days :-D. The huge crowd which had gathered for the funeral was such a tribute to the man! Come on everybody has a news channel to watch these days. Why would anybody be a part of that huge mass in this heat if they didnt feel anything for him! Doesnt it feel good to know that so many people will remember him and prayed for him that day! Hope atleast a bunch of people miss me when I go :-D Abhi bahut door ki baat hai :-D Till then Ill try to make the bunch as large as possible (not the sunil dutt-way but kuch na kuch to kar hi loongi :-) )
By the way, star news coverage was awful. I wish the ekta kapoor scriptwriters stay away from the news people. There was so much senti on screen that it literally made me cry although for a different reason. Another chatpati piece on screen was to see both Salman and Vivek Oberoi give a shoulder to the body. Ofcourse there was a scapegoat in between to separate them. I was expecting fireworks on screen anytime :-D.

Me back!

Im back after a looooooooong vacation :-D. I did exactly what I said I'll do before I left - ate-slept-watched tv :-D Ahhh! the bliss of doing nothing!! :-D
I watched Bunty and Babli. But I must say the movie was a let down. I didn't enjoy it to the extent I expected. Jokes were good. Movie improved a lot after Big B came on screen. But still parts of the movie were so jarring. I was actually looking at my watch which I have never done even in Main Hoon Na. But then that was a different thing altogether :-D. Rani looked awesome as usual and Abhishek also looked cool. Good performances from both of them. But still there was something lacking in the movie :-( The most jarring parts were the songs which were totally unnecessary- Nach balliye and the Ash item number. Putting in Ash doesnt buoy up the movie in any way. So overall the regret remains ki mere paise barbaad huye :-(

Hey a yash raj movie called salaam namaste starring saif and preity will be released around august it seems. Im looking forward to that too! :-D

This vacation I also saw the song Wo lamhe and Mahi ve ( faakhir) n^n number of times on TV. Both of them are really good songs though my bro says I watch Mahi ve mainly for faakhir :P Believe me I like the song more :-D Then, I saw Lion King on Disney. Mast tha! I actually saw it twice :-D
I also went to the beach with the family and had a blast there with my sibs :-D. The previous night had been a full moon night. So the tides were pretty high. Mom next day was shocked to see the tons of sand dropping from our dresses :-D Talk about illegal sand ferrying!! :-D U know it was so nice to see so many familes and kids back there on the beach in deep waters even after tsunami. Marina has returned to its normal state :-D
So after all the pampering and cosseting at home, Im back here :-D
Back with a fresh enthu! Dekhte hain kya gul khilaati hun ab !! :-D