Just a li’l confusing, that title…eh? It’s just a quote from my all time favorite movie, Forrest Gump. And having said that, this post is, more so than not, a li’l review of that movie. Oh yeah, I know…it’s a li’l too late a review for a movie that’s 11 years old, but what the heck!
Ok, first let me tell you why am posting this now. Well...it so happened that 2 days back I was checking out some community sites and while registering, they all asked me what’s my favorite movie. And, though I have a bunch of them to talk about, Forrest Gump is like the best one. I don’t know many people who like that movie as much as I do. In fact, most of them ask me what’s so special about that movie, that I’d watched it like a million times and can still do it another billion. And the truth is, I don’t know.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
The Magic Of The Illusionist
Ever been mesmerized by a magician? I have.
If you ever went for a magic show at the local fair as a kid, and was shocked to see a woman being "cut" in half using a saw and then sighed in relief when she was "joined" again and brought back to life, or was amazed by the guy who got into that empty trunk and just vanished, only to re-emerge from the crowd, am sure you know what am talking about.
Magic is every man’s fantasy. It could be just to amuse people or, for those who don’t believe it’s just an illusion, to make their every wish come true. Who wouldn’t love to make the nasty, useless politicians just vanish with the snap the fingers? Ok, that’s just my wish, ‘coz I just hate them. My point is, everyone has some wish they really wish they could make come true, by magic.
But this post is not about those wishes and how to make them come true. This is about a guy, a cool dude… named David Copperfield. Oh no, not the David who had a tragic and dramatic childhood, fell in love with Emily and Dora and finally married Agnes, as in the Charles Dickens classic. Am talking of that David Copperfield who can make that pesky neighbor of yours vanish in the blink of an eye. The illusionist! The magician!
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If you ever went for a magic show at the local fair as a kid, and was shocked to see a woman being "cut" in half using a saw and then sighed in relief when she was "joined" again and brought back to life, or was amazed by the guy who got into that empty trunk and just vanished, only to re-emerge from the crowd, am sure you know what am talking about.
Magic is every man’s fantasy. It could be just to amuse people or, for those who don’t believe it’s just an illusion, to make their every wish come true. Who wouldn’t love to make the nasty, useless politicians just vanish with the snap the fingers? Ok, that’s just my wish, ‘coz I just hate them. My point is, everyone has some wish they really wish they could make come true, by magic.
But this post is not about those wishes and how to make them come true. This is about a guy, a cool dude… named David Copperfield. Oh no, not the David who had a tragic and dramatic childhood, fell in love with Emily and Dora and finally married Agnes, as in the Charles Dickens classic. Am talking of that David Copperfield who can make that pesky neighbor of yours vanish in the blink of an eye. The illusionist! The magician!
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Both the audiences and the critics alike have hailed David Copperfield as the greatest illusionist of our time. And I agree. This guy is amazing. He has vanished the Statue of Liberty, walked through the Great Wall of China, levitated himself from the Grand Canyon and made audience members disappear and reappear in places they never ever expected. They say he became the first person to escape from Alcatraz, something that Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly attempted but never succeeded.
I had a VHS tape of his show where he made an airplane surrounded by a ring of spectators, disappear. But the main number was making the Statue of Liberty disappear from the eyes of hundreds of people watching it, from the multiple cameras taking continuous snaps of beautiful women with the Statue in the background from different angles , and the news and TV crews flying in the helicopters around the statue. And an estimated home TV audience of 50 million watched this live. It was one breath taking moment, even on a video.
Now isn’t that amazing? A guy whose résumé lists Statue of Liberty, an airplane, a 70 ton Orient Express train car, apart from the many people and himself as the “things” he’s vanished; and escaping from the Alcatraz prison, from imploding buildings, and a plunge over the Niagara falls, unhurt, as some of his best adventures. How cool is that!
I grew out of the fantasies of being a magician as a kid itself. After watching a handful of guys doing the same stuff… cutting and stitching, floating babes and the here’s the card you picked numbers, I was bored. But later, when I watched this guy in action, I was like…WOW! Magic and illusion can be this exciting? I’ve totally lost interest in those stupid card tricks and the across-the-table magic doesn’t excite me at all. But David Copperfield's tricks? They are different, and he never stopped making the world gasp.
If you never saw this guy in action, try to. Videos are good enough. And to give you a gist, here’s a clip from 15 years of his amazing shows.
I had a VHS tape of his show where he made an airplane surrounded by a ring of spectators, disappear. But the main number was making the Statue of Liberty disappear from the eyes of hundreds of people watching it, from the multiple cameras taking continuous snaps of beautiful women with the Statue in the background from different angles , and the news and TV crews flying in the helicopters around the statue. And an estimated home TV audience of 50 million watched this live. It was one breath taking moment, even on a video.
Now isn’t that amazing? A guy whose résumé lists Statue of Liberty, an airplane, a 70 ton Orient Express train car, apart from the many people and himself as the “things” he’s vanished; and escaping from the Alcatraz prison, from imploding buildings, and a plunge over the Niagara falls, unhurt, as some of his best adventures. How cool is that!
I grew out of the fantasies of being a magician as a kid itself. After watching a handful of guys doing the same stuff… cutting and stitching, floating babes and the here’s the card you picked numbers, I was bored. But later, when I watched this guy in action, I was like…WOW! Magic and illusion can be this exciting? I’ve totally lost interest in those stupid card tricks and the across-the-table magic doesn’t excite me at all. But David Copperfield's tricks? They are different, and he never stopped making the world gasp.
If you never saw this guy in action, try to. Videos are good enough. And to give you a gist, here’s a clip from 15 years of his amazing shows.
Remember. Magic... is just an illusion!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
A Few Miles Down Memory Lane
I haven’t posted in a while. I was a li’l too busy at work. And then, I got some time. But I didn’t know what to post about. So I’ve been going through many more blogs on the net. A lot of them had shared their memories and experiences with the netizens and reading them took me down my own memory lane, by a few miles at least. And I wondered. Did I have fun? Did I miss a lot in life? People talk about their college lives with so much excitement, that sometimes I feel bad that I never got to live that life.
Yup! I never experienced the “college-life” as we all know it. ‘Cause after the school days, I ended up in an institute where the word “fun” (as you and I know it) topped the DO-NOT list. When most of my old friends were enjoying the newfound fun in college life, I spent 3 years getting up at 5:30 in the morning and rushing to catch the bus at 6:40am, so that I reach my college by 7:30am, and change into the blue working dress and be in the “section” (oh, we didn’t have classrooms ‘cause we were “precision engineers” in the making, and so it was purely practical…surrounded by dozens of machineries and scores of tools and tones of raw and finished materials!) by 7:48am. It was followed by a hectic day, slogging our asses off, literally. The lessons weren’t in books and it was never something to be done sitting down comfortably. It was really physical and tiring. Hard labor, you could say. The day ended at 5:38pm (Yeah! That’s no exaggeration. Our working hours used to be from 7:48am-5:38pm), and then it’s time to run to the rest room and freshen up and rush to catch the next bus home. Reaching home at 7:30pm, tired and sleepy but no choice, it’s time to take a shower, have something to eat and sit with the assignments. Finish it off by 1am, taking enough care to do it right and neat, ‘cause any crap work, we would end up with a complete re-do command, and o’course that’s on top of the next days load of assignments.
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Yup! I never experienced the “college-life” as we all know it. ‘Cause after the school days, I ended up in an institute where the word “fun” (as you and I know it) topped the DO-NOT list. When most of my old friends were enjoying the newfound fun in college life, I spent 3 years getting up at 5:30 in the morning and rushing to catch the bus at 6:40am, so that I reach my college by 7:30am, and change into the blue working dress and be in the “section” (oh, we didn’t have classrooms ‘cause we were “precision engineers” in the making, and so it was purely practical…surrounded by dozens of machineries and scores of tools and tones of raw and finished materials!) by 7:48am. It was followed by a hectic day, slogging our asses off, literally. The lessons weren’t in books and it was never something to be done sitting down comfortably. It was really physical and tiring. Hard labor, you could say. The day ended at 5:38pm (Yeah! That’s no exaggeration. Our working hours used to be from 7:48am-5:38pm), and then it’s time to run to the rest room and freshen up and rush to catch the next bus home. Reaching home at 7:30pm, tired and sleepy but no choice, it’s time to take a shower, have something to eat and sit with the assignments. Finish it off by 1am, taking enough care to do it right and neat, ‘cause any crap work, we would end up with a complete re-do command, and o’course that’s on top of the next days load of assignments.
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So you see, college life for me was different. The fun for us there was the tiring works. We used to crib a lot those days, but believe me, after the graduation, we had trouble sitting idle. All of us were looking for jobs that would keep us busy the whole day. But that doesn’t mean we were just working and did nothing else in the college. We had our yearly Xmas celebrations, which used to be the biggest show in that part of the world; we had village camps, tours, cultural nights, sports and games. We had our 45 days of “implant training” when we were sent to a production unit of our college, some 500KM away. And the guy in charge of us was younger to us and so we had our share of fun, which was in fact a huge share. Umm, I think we did have it after all, in the right dosage maybe.
After the third year, we were sent to different companies to work or rather get our “industrial training”. I ended up in a new-to-me city in another state. Coimbatore. The company I got into was sad. It was a horrible place to be. We (that’s two of us) used to do our work from 8:30am to 5pm, but that was a lot for us though (compared to our college that is) ‘cause of the nature of the work. But luckily we were our own bosses there, and in fact boss to a few others too. But life used to be boring, our only entertainment used to be a movie every weekend, or going and staying with our friends who were in the other parts of the same city. Budget was limited, which explains why life was boring, I guess. We had to fight with our manager every month to get our pay, which, after a quick lesson in “how to swear in English”, he used to give us in installments, with a smile. With that li’l cash we used to have our li’l share of fun.
The company was a component supplier for many engineering biggies and the production department used to be “up and running” through the day and night. Our department was to design and manufacture new tools and moulds and also to make sure the production runs smooth. So, more often than not, we used to get “emergency calls” from the production department in the middle of the nights. This became too much to take and we had to do something about it. And, we did too. We used to lock the door from outside and get back in through the back door… and the “emergency calls” used to fall on deaf years. We used to wake up, irritated, but then the knocking stops when they see the door is “locked” and we go back to sleep with a naughty smile. We used to go out every evening just to kill time and walk around and get back to the room after dinner. Sometime we went for late night movies and got back by 2 or 3AM, walking some 5-6KM across the city. Our gates used to be locked and the watchman used to be on his rounds with a Great Dane assisting him. We used to wait for them to go round the corner before jumping the huge wall and sneaking into out room. The watchman seeing us was ok with us, and we never worried about the local police station which was just a stones throw away either. But the dog! Man, he was huge!! The scariest creature I’ve ever confronted.
Then one fine day…communal riots broke out. Bomb blasts killed many later on. We were there through it all. But it never affected our lives in any other way than just multiplying our boredom. The cinemas were closed. No movies for many weeks. Our only entertainment was shut down. Finally, a couple of weeks later, one cinema opened up and was showing Air Force One, the dumb movie starring Harrison Ford. But the public were not ready to go enjoy their lives after the serial blasts, and to add to their scare was a van loaded with explosives which was still ticking. The explosive experts were trying to defuse it. Well, that was in another part of the city. So we went for the movie. I still remember how we entered the hall and saw ourselves being a part of just a handful of the “daring” ones. We watched the movie expecting a bomb to go off under our seat anytime! We actually risked our lives for a dumb movie that showed the heroic tactics of an American President!! Was it worth it? I don’t know. But it was fun.
I had some good habits back then too. Because our fun was limited, we had more time to ourselves in that one year. So I spent the time reading a lot of magazines, novels, classics and even tech manuals. I even read a book that taught me how to fly a helicopter! I just had to get my hands on a machine to try it practically. Oh well, ok, but I could have tried it at least. And then I used to write a lot of letters. I was in touch with a lot of my old friends that way. I also kept a diary, which I used to fill in everyday…in detail. Apart from all that, I learned how to manage my budget. With the measly amount I got every month (trainees, u see), I used to buy a music cassette and a big book to read every month, buy every magazine I need, travel home once a month, watch at least one movie every week and still have enough for the daily chores.
We hated the life back then, and used to count the days, waiting for the training period to get over. However today, so many years later, when I look back, it makes me smile! And I have to admit that it never occurred to me back then that our sufferings would be pleasant memories someday!!
Life. It’s funny sometimes.
After the third year, we were sent to different companies to work or rather get our “industrial training”. I ended up in a new-to-me city in another state. Coimbatore. The company I got into was sad. It was a horrible place to be. We (that’s two of us) used to do our work from 8:30am to 5pm, but that was a lot for us though (compared to our college that is) ‘cause of the nature of the work. But luckily we were our own bosses there, and in fact boss to a few others too. But life used to be boring, our only entertainment used to be a movie every weekend, or going and staying with our friends who were in the other parts of the same city. Budget was limited, which explains why life was boring, I guess. We had to fight with our manager every month to get our pay, which, after a quick lesson in “how to swear in English”, he used to give us in installments, with a smile. With that li’l cash we used to have our li’l share of fun.
The company was a component supplier for many engineering biggies and the production department used to be “up and running” through the day and night. Our department was to design and manufacture new tools and moulds and also to make sure the production runs smooth. So, more often than not, we used to get “emergency calls” from the production department in the middle of the nights. This became too much to take and we had to do something about it. And, we did too. We used to lock the door from outside and get back in through the back door… and the “emergency calls” used to fall on deaf years. We used to wake up, irritated, but then the knocking stops when they see the door is “locked” and we go back to sleep with a naughty smile. We used to go out every evening just to kill time and walk around and get back to the room after dinner. Sometime we went for late night movies and got back by 2 or 3AM, walking some 5-6KM across the city. Our gates used to be locked and the watchman used to be on his rounds with a Great Dane assisting him. We used to wait for them to go round the corner before jumping the huge wall and sneaking into out room. The watchman seeing us was ok with us, and we never worried about the local police station which was just a stones throw away either. But the dog! Man, he was huge!! The scariest creature I’ve ever confronted.
Then one fine day…communal riots broke out. Bomb blasts killed many later on. We were there through it all. But it never affected our lives in any other way than just multiplying our boredom. The cinemas were closed. No movies for many weeks. Our only entertainment was shut down. Finally, a couple of weeks later, one cinema opened up and was showing Air Force One, the dumb movie starring Harrison Ford. But the public were not ready to go enjoy their lives after the serial blasts, and to add to their scare was a van loaded with explosives which was still ticking. The explosive experts were trying to defuse it. Well, that was in another part of the city. So we went for the movie. I still remember how we entered the hall and saw ourselves being a part of just a handful of the “daring” ones. We watched the movie expecting a bomb to go off under our seat anytime! We actually risked our lives for a dumb movie that showed the heroic tactics of an American President!! Was it worth it? I don’t know. But it was fun.
I had some good habits back then too. Because our fun was limited, we had more time to ourselves in that one year. So I spent the time reading a lot of magazines, novels, classics and even tech manuals. I even read a book that taught me how to fly a helicopter! I just had to get my hands on a machine to try it practically. Oh well, ok, but I could have tried it at least. And then I used to write a lot of letters. I was in touch with a lot of my old friends that way. I also kept a diary, which I used to fill in everyday…in detail. Apart from all that, I learned how to manage my budget. With the measly amount I got every month (trainees, u see), I used to buy a music cassette and a big book to read every month, buy every magazine I need, travel home once a month, watch at least one movie every week and still have enough for the daily chores.
We hated the life back then, and used to count the days, waiting for the training period to get over. However today, so many years later, when I look back, it makes me smile! And I have to admit that it never occurred to me back then that our sufferings would be pleasant memories someday!!
Life. It’s funny sometimes.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Nostalgia!
Night outs… Midnight teas… B’day bumps… Old torn jeans… Late night walks… Long chats… Pinches and slaps… Crushes on pals… Those fights on ego… Getting kicked out of class… Struggle for marks… Writing on desks… Fight with teachers… Tears for love…
Heaven…
This is an SMS I got from an old buddy of mine, about our school / college life. Sweet, eh? Yeah, I know. Just reading it got me nostalgic. Isn’t it funny that as kids we were in a hurry to grow up and when we are grown up, we wish we were still kids, wishing the school days had never ended?
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Heaven…
This is an SMS I got from an old buddy of mine, about our school / college life. Sweet, eh? Yeah, I know. Just reading it got me nostalgic. Isn’t it funny that as kids we were in a hurry to grow up and when we are grown up, we wish we were still kids, wishing the school days had never ended?
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I was never a smart kid in school. I was always the calm and quiet type. Well, not all that quiet, actually. I was rather the silent and deadly kind, though the deadly part is a well hidden trait. I was studious, or maybe I used to be studious, for a while, till they started teaching that water is not just something you drink or play or take bath in, but it’s a combo of gases, that geniuses call it H2O and it has a biography of its own!!
Yeah, Chemistry.
I could never understand those beehive shaped sketches they used to draw on the board. Molecular structure or something. Anyways, I used to top in class amongst the boys, was a bit artistic, which means I could draw pretty well in the science records. The school used to send me for the competitions in the earlier days but I never won a prize so I guess they got fed up and left me alone later. I used to enjoy quizzing and did win quite a few prizes in-house. But again, they sent another two guys and me for an inter-school competition and we returned with the consolation prize. We came out fourth. Oh, and there were only four teams in all. My teachers also thought I had a very good handwriting, which I think I successfully discarded somewhere on the way.
Blame it on the keyboard.
Whatever or however it was, we all still had loads of fun those days. After the early morning blues, it was always fun…
It was fun waiting for the bell to ring for recess so that we could go run and play in the courtyard, the teachers and even the Principal coming after us trying to catch us ‘cause recess is, supposedly, not to play and it’s a “crime” to do it;
It was fun waiting for the teacher once the recess is over, and hoping that she is absent so we could resort to “crimes” of a different order;
It was fun praying to every God we could think of, that the teacher doesn’t ask for the assignment as we totally forgot about it… ‘cause that teacher used to carry a cane;
It was fun breaking the rules by wearing sneakers to school when it’s banned; or removing the tie and stuffing it in the pockets as soon as the teacher leaves the room;
It was fun talking of a peek we got at the movie last night that had a very “steamy scene”, which o’coz wasn’t more than just a brief kissing;
It was fun sitting in a corner of the library and giggling over some “funny” questions asked by some “troubled” lady in the “Ask your Doc” column of the women’s magazine; yeah! We did that too!
It was fun helping a friend realize he’s in love with that girl who blushes on seeing him; and then wondering how mature they are when they get together and start talking about their future life, together…when o’coz the guy hasn’t even got his moustache growing;
It was fun having a crush on someone and our good friends immediately taking control of the situation and returning our favor by making us a “pair” and gossiping…
It was fun laughing our guts out at pranks played successfully on the easy targets;
It was fun irritating our teachers between the classes;
It was fun getting kicked out of the class for not doing the home-work;
It was fun going on picnics or tours in a group, a time when teachers turned friends;
It was fun when the teachers became our friends;
It was fun going to the school on our cycles and showing off as if we were riding Harleys;
It was fun breaking our heads for the exams and discussing the question paper with friends after it to estimate the percentage, which o’coz later became estimating the chances of passing the exam;
It was fun scribbling our favorite quotes on the desk; I even had a sketch of Michael Jackson on it. (Yeah! He used to be my idol once upon a time.)
It was fun fighting with friends for stupid reasons and then getting back together, with a dumb smile on our faces;
It was fun... ... ... ...
This could go on and on...
‘cause every small thing used to be so much fun back then.
Our worries were of a much lesser magnitude.
Sigh!
Yeah, Chemistry.
I could never understand those beehive shaped sketches they used to draw on the board. Molecular structure or something. Anyways, I used to top in class amongst the boys, was a bit artistic, which means I could draw pretty well in the science records. The school used to send me for the competitions in the earlier days but I never won a prize so I guess they got fed up and left me alone later. I used to enjoy quizzing and did win quite a few prizes in-house. But again, they sent another two guys and me for an inter-school competition and we returned with the consolation prize. We came out fourth. Oh, and there were only four teams in all. My teachers also thought I had a very good handwriting, which I think I successfully discarded somewhere on the way.
Blame it on the keyboard.
Whatever or however it was, we all still had loads of fun those days. After the early morning blues, it was always fun…
It was fun waiting for the bell to ring for recess so that we could go run and play in the courtyard, the teachers and even the Principal coming after us trying to catch us ‘cause recess is, supposedly, not to play and it’s a “crime” to do it;
It was fun waiting for the teacher once the recess is over, and hoping that she is absent so we could resort to “crimes” of a different order;
It was fun praying to every God we could think of, that the teacher doesn’t ask for the assignment as we totally forgot about it… ‘cause that teacher used to carry a cane;
It was fun breaking the rules by wearing sneakers to school when it’s banned; or removing the tie and stuffing it in the pockets as soon as the teacher leaves the room;
It was fun talking of a peek we got at the movie last night that had a very “steamy scene”, which o’coz wasn’t more than just a brief kissing;
It was fun sitting in a corner of the library and giggling over some “funny” questions asked by some “troubled” lady in the “Ask your Doc” column of the women’s magazine; yeah! We did that too!
It was fun helping a friend realize he’s in love with that girl who blushes on seeing him; and then wondering how mature they are when they get together and start talking about their future life, together…when o’coz the guy hasn’t even got his moustache growing;
It was fun having a crush on someone and our good friends immediately taking control of the situation and returning our favor by making us a “pair” and gossiping…
It was fun laughing our guts out at pranks played successfully on the easy targets;
It was fun irritating our teachers between the classes;
It was fun getting kicked out of the class for not doing the home-work;
It was fun going on picnics or tours in a group, a time when teachers turned friends;
It was fun when the teachers became our friends;
It was fun going to the school on our cycles and showing off as if we were riding Harleys;
It was fun breaking our heads for the exams and discussing the question paper with friends after it to estimate the percentage, which o’coz later became estimating the chances of passing the exam;
It was fun scribbling our favorite quotes on the desk; I even had a sketch of Michael Jackson on it. (Yeah! He used to be my idol once upon a time.)
It was fun fighting with friends for stupid reasons and then getting back together, with a dumb smile on our faces;
It was fun... ... ... ...
This could go on and on...
‘cause every small thing used to be so much fun back then.
Our worries were of a much lesser magnitude.
Sigh!
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The Colors (Of Our Skin)
Last weekend I watched “American History X” on DVD. Don’t be mislead by the name. It’s not a documentary by The History Channel. It’s a Hollywood movie by Tony Kaye starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong in the main roles. And it’is about racism.
Racism. The prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races.
The bloodshed between the colored and the non-colored has a long running history. White Rage, as we know it, has many forms - from the hoods of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan - A secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people) to the shaved heads and swastikas of today's apostles of Hitler - but only one terrible voice. Racism is not limited to the United States alone, but it’s a worldwide phenomenon, with a history in every "civilized" country.
A lot of movies have been made on the subject and “American History X” (1998) is just another one. But this movie, the directorial debut of Tony Kaye has the capacity to disturb the viewer. It recognizes that when it comes to racial and ethnic hatred, no one has the answers and there are no safe harbors. This post is a li’l review on the movie.
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Racism. The prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races.
The bloodshed between the colored and the non-colored has a long running history. White Rage, as we know it, has many forms - from the hoods of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan - A secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people) to the shaved heads and swastikas of today's apostles of Hitler - but only one terrible voice. Racism is not limited to the United States alone, but it’s a worldwide phenomenon, with a history in every "civilized" country.
A lot of movies have been made on the subject and “American History X” (1998) is just another one. But this movie, the directorial debut of Tony Kaye has the capacity to disturb the viewer. It recognizes that when it comes to racial and ethnic hatred, no one has the answers and there are no safe harbors. This post is a li’l review on the movie.
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Edward Norton displays a stunning performance as Derek Vinyard, one of the most impassioned members of the Venice Beach White Supremacist movement. The movie is done as a narration by Derek’s younger brother Danny, played by Edward Furlong. It’s a write-up he does as an assignment to school, on how his brother has affected his life and what he learned from it. 
A hater of everyone who is not a white Protestant (black, brown, yellow, whatever... is what he says); Derek rises to the top of a ragged group of hate-mongers. He is the disciple of Cameron, a hatred columnist, who is also the mastermind but stays behind the scenes to keep his record clean. Derek's followers include his younger brother who literally worships him; his girlfriend Stacey who thoughtlessly parrots his words; and a fat man named Seth, who finds strength in a group that he lacks on his own. Derek's mother, Doris, and sister, Davin, are worried about him. His dad was a fire fighter who was killed when on duty in a “black neighborhood”, shot by a black.
One fateful night, Derek uses deadly force to stop a pair of black youths from stealing his car. He kills them. The brutal, hate-driven murder scene was so intense, it really shocked me.
Anyways, Derek ends up in prison for some three and odd years, and, while on the inside, learns some hard truths about life from a fellow inmate, (you guessed it. A black guy!) and from the principal of his old high school, Dr. Sweeny who is the only black Derek ever listened to. Derek is put to work with the talkative black guy in prison and gradually they become friends. The prison is filled with blacks and just a handful of whites, which makes him expect an attack by the blacks anytime. But to his surprise, they never do, which he believes is coz of his friendship with the one black guy. On the other hand, the whites don’t like his attitude and more so his growing attachment to the blacks. And they attack him…in a bad way. Well, it’s torture. Ashamed of his past and pledging to reform, Derek emerges with a desire to change attitudes but he finds that words are just not enough.
“American History X” examines the various ways the hatred and racism affects a family. The film emphasizes that actions will have consequences, and that attaining salvation isn't as easy as saying "I'm sorry". The price for a change of heart can be, and often is, brutal. The final sequence in the film where Danny gets killed by a black is shocking, but not because it's unexpected, but because it illustrates this truth.
The movie ends with Danny’s words in the background, when Derek holds his blood soaked body in his arms.
“So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned.
My conclusion, right?
Well, my conclusion is, hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time.
It’s just not worth it.
Derek says it’s always good to end a paper with a quote. He say’s someone else has already said it best... So if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you would like.
“We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.”
Making such a movie is difficult too in this world of discrimination. The director Tony Kaye, had made no secret of his displeasure with the way New Line Cinema chose to edit the film. He threatened to have his name removed from the credits. Some have speculated that Kaye's actions were a publicity stunt. Maybe, ‘coz he is still listed as both the director and the cinematographer.
Why do people slaughter each other in the name of color, or even religion and God and nationality for that matter? India may not have racism as the world knows it, but we are not behind either in the issue. We have traditionally fought over religion. Thousands have lost their lives in the name of Gods and some place of worship. For what? Who gains from all these? Certainly not God and not the foolish people who go around killing either. Guess it’s the “leaders” who motivate such idiots to do the slaughter that gain. They become powerful somehow. And they end up ruling our nation, forming the bloody government.
I wonder when people would realize that no matter what the color of our skin, or what God we worship, we all bleed when cut and the blood that flows is always red.
PS: The movie is worth a watch, if you don’t mind tragic ending. I recommend it.
A hater of everyone who is not a white Protestant (black, brown, yellow, whatever... is what he says); Derek rises to the top of a ragged group of hate-mongers. He is the disciple of Cameron, a hatred columnist, who is also the mastermind but stays behind the scenes to keep his record clean. Derek's followers include his younger brother who literally worships him; his girlfriend Stacey who thoughtlessly parrots his words; and a fat man named Seth, who finds strength in a group that he lacks on his own. Derek's mother, Doris, and sister, Davin, are worried about him. His dad was a fire fighter who was killed when on duty in a “black neighborhood”, shot by a black.
One fateful night, Derek uses deadly force to stop a pair of black youths from stealing his car. He kills them. The brutal, hate-driven murder scene was so intense, it really shocked me.
Anyways, Derek ends up in prison for some three and odd years, and, while on the inside, learns some hard truths about life from a fellow inmate, (you guessed it. A black guy!) and from the principal of his old high school, Dr. Sweeny who is the only black Derek ever listened to. Derek is put to work with the talkative black guy in prison and gradually they become friends. The prison is filled with blacks and just a handful of whites, which makes him expect an attack by the blacks anytime. But to his surprise, they never do, which he believes is coz of his friendship with the one black guy. On the other hand, the whites don’t like his attitude and more so his growing attachment to the blacks. And they attack him…in a bad way. Well, it’s torture. Ashamed of his past and pledging to reform, Derek emerges with a desire to change attitudes but he finds that words are just not enough.
“American History X” examines the various ways the hatred and racism affects a family. The film emphasizes that actions will have consequences, and that attaining salvation isn't as easy as saying "I'm sorry". The price for a change of heart can be, and often is, brutal. The final sequence in the film where Danny gets killed by a black is shocking, but not because it's unexpected, but because it illustrates this truth.
The movie ends with Danny’s words in the background, when Derek holds his blood soaked body in his arms.
“So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned.
My conclusion, right?
Well, my conclusion is, hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time.
It’s just not worth it.
Derek says it’s always good to end a paper with a quote. He say’s someone else has already said it best... So if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you would like.
“We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.”
Making such a movie is difficult too in this world of discrimination. The director Tony Kaye, had made no secret of his displeasure with the way New Line Cinema chose to edit the film. He threatened to have his name removed from the credits. Some have speculated that Kaye's actions were a publicity stunt. Maybe, ‘coz he is still listed as both the director and the cinematographer.
Why do people slaughter each other in the name of color, or even religion and God and nationality for that matter? India may not have racism as the world knows it, but we are not behind either in the issue. We have traditionally fought over religion. Thousands have lost their lives in the name of Gods and some place of worship. For what? Who gains from all these? Certainly not God and not the foolish people who go around killing either. Guess it’s the “leaders” who motivate such idiots to do the slaughter that gain. They become powerful somehow. And they end up ruling our nation, forming the bloody government.
I wonder when people would realize that no matter what the color of our skin, or what God we worship, we all bleed when cut and the blood that flows is always red.
PS: The movie is worth a watch, if you don’t mind tragic ending. I recommend it.
I Love The Jungle!
One question: Which one would you prefer? The city or the country?
That’s a tough question, though it sounds simple, eh? I mean, I don’t think you can answer it that easy. No matter how bad the traffic, and how hectic the life, and how expensive the place, you still love the city. The country? Well, maybe for a break. A vacation. Right?
So how about the jungle?
Imagine… trees, shrubs, vines and grasses covering the land for miles around, the sunlight struggling to break open the foliage and grace the ground. No roads or even proper paths to take, but just follow your instincts. And you never know what’s hiding behind that bush over to your right. Scary? Or exciting?
I don’t know about you, but I love the jungles. I love Mougli. I love Tarzan. I envy them, even if fiction. O’course I love the city. I love the movies, the pub, the malls, my music, my books, and my computer, my TV, the Internet. Yes, I do love those. But I still wish I could go spend some quality time in the wilderness once in a while. Once, I did go spend a few days too. That was over 3 to 4 years back, and that was wonderful. Thinking about it brings a smile to me, and makes me want to go back there again. That wasn’t the first time I’d been to a place like that, but that was the first time I spent more than a day in there and that too not in a group or with any elders to control me.
It’s a place called BR Hills, and I went with my cousin who worked with an NGO that had a field station out there. It was one of the most wonderful times I had. Let me share my experience here.
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That’s a tough question, though it sounds simple, eh? I mean, I don’t think you can answer it that easy. No matter how bad the traffic, and how hectic the life, and how expensive the place, you still love the city. The country? Well, maybe for a break. A vacation. Right?
So how about the jungle?
Imagine… trees, shrubs, vines and grasses covering the land for miles around, the sunlight struggling to break open the foliage and grace the ground. No roads or even proper paths to take, but just follow your instincts. And you never know what’s hiding behind that bush over to your right. Scary? Or exciting?
I don’t know about you, but I love the jungles. I love Mougli. I love Tarzan. I envy them, even if fiction. O’course I love the city. I love the movies, the pub, the malls, my music, my books, and my computer, my TV, the Internet. Yes, I do love those. But I still wish I could go spend some quality time in the wilderness once in a while. Once, I did go spend a few days too. That was over 3 to 4 years back, and that was wonderful. Thinking about it brings a smile to me, and makes me want to go back there again. That wasn’t the first time I’d been to a place like that, but that was the first time I spent more than a day in there and that too not in a group or with any elders to control me.
It’s a place called BR Hills, and I went with my cousin who worked with an NGO that had a field station out there. It was one of the most wonderful times I had. Let me share my experience here.
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I went on a Monday. It was a 5hr journey by bus. Most of the road was in a very bad condition but once the bus entered the forest area, the feel was so extraordinary. It was so fresh and intoxicating. My cousin was already there and waiting for me there. She had to go out after lunch for her research, and I freshened up and waited for her to get back. She had rescued a baby squirrel from some predators and she left it with me for company. I spent almost the whole afternoon watching it play and trying to feed it. It got so close to us that the next day, even after letting it off, it just wouldn't go away. It came back to me when I called and it even brought another one like him along :)
In the evening the two of us went to a near by temple which was on top of a cliff. In fact, the road that ran through the forest area ended below the cliff. The bus service was to that temple. My cousin took me there not to pray, but for the great view from there... It was breathtaking. We watched a beautiful sunset from a cliff top, with nothing but endless green forest below us. And every evening we went up there and sat on the rocks...talking and taking snaps. There was a big lake near the field station, on the way to the cliff, and we sat on a rock on the lakeside till late evening and went back to the room.
It was what I would call “heaven”. I was so refreshed inside and I couldn’t imagine anything else that could make me feel so lively. However, I couldn't go on a trek as I had thought... because it was dangerous to go into the forest without a person who knows when a wild animal was close by... preferably a local guy. And that was something I really wanted to do. Well, some other time, I thought. So all I could do mainly was accompanying my cousin in the jeep as she went out to conduct surveys among the tribes there...traveling 30 to 40 kms into the deep jungle, having breakfast (packed and taken with us) somewhere, stopping by some stream etc.
The most common animals usually seen there are elephants and bison, I was told, but I never saw any of them. I was actually getting a li’l disappointed at that, but then for my luck, I saw some rare animals... which were usually not seen around. Lots of wild dogs, sambar (a deer of southern Asia with antlers that have three tines), spotted deer, barking deer, four-horned antelope (an endangered species...very rare), peacocks (the majestic looking males and many females), many varieties of birds...so beautiful I swear, wild boars and 3 huge 300 pound bears, which were the highlights! If really lucky we could have even come across a tiger they said, but it didn't happen. I wasn’t that lucky. I loved it though and when leaving the place on the fourth day, I was already planning for yet another trip... into the woods on foot rather than a jeep.
Well, that was quite a long time ago, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to do it so far. But I've decided. In my life I'll spend a few days every year in the wilderness like that... right in the woods. That's my idea of the perfect holiday, when I need a break from the hectic city life. Going to some foreign countries and staying in all comfortable hotels/resorts... that's ok once in a while, but I think this is what you should be doing if you need to recharge yourselves. Just the feel of fresh air in your nostrils is enough to charge you up. Believe me. Am so grateful to my cousin for giving me the opportunity, to experience the glory of Nature.
I missed a good camera when I was there. I could have taken some great snaps if I had one. And interestingly, though I was always hooked to my computer and music collection at home those days (I still am so), a good camera is all that I missed out there in the jungle. Not the TV, not computer, not the music. I guess the fresh air, the greenery all around, the placid waters of the lake, the chirping of the birds, watching the sun set from the cliff, the excitement of exploring and the suspense of not knowing what lies around the corner, the beauty of the whole place… it kept my mind so happy and excited, it didn’t give me a chance to miss anything else.
The jungles. You should try it sometime. It’s one hell of a place to be, I say.
In the evening the two of us went to a near by temple which was on top of a cliff. In fact, the road that ran through the forest area ended below the cliff. The bus service was to that temple. My cousin took me there not to pray, but for the great view from there... It was breathtaking. We watched a beautiful sunset from a cliff top, with nothing but endless green forest below us. And every evening we went up there and sat on the rocks...talking and taking snaps. There was a big lake near the field station, on the way to the cliff, and we sat on a rock on the lakeside till late evening and went back to the room.
It was what I would call “heaven”. I was so refreshed inside and I couldn’t imagine anything else that could make me feel so lively. However, I couldn't go on a trek as I had thought... because it was dangerous to go into the forest without a person who knows when a wild animal was close by... preferably a local guy. And that was something I really wanted to do. Well, some other time, I thought. So all I could do mainly was accompanying my cousin in the jeep as she went out to conduct surveys among the tribes there...traveling 30 to 40 kms into the deep jungle, having breakfast (packed and taken with us) somewhere, stopping by some stream etc.
The most common animals usually seen there are elephants and bison, I was told, but I never saw any of them. I was actually getting a li’l disappointed at that, but then for my luck, I saw some rare animals... which were usually not seen around. Lots of wild dogs, sambar (a deer of southern Asia with antlers that have three tines), spotted deer, barking deer, four-horned antelope (an endangered species...very rare), peacocks (the majestic looking males and many females), many varieties of birds...so beautiful I swear, wild boars and 3 huge 300 pound bears, which were the highlights! If really lucky we could have even come across a tiger they said, but it didn't happen. I wasn’t that lucky. I loved it though and when leaving the place on the fourth day, I was already planning for yet another trip... into the woods on foot rather than a jeep.
Well, that was quite a long time ago, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to do it so far. But I've decided. In my life I'll spend a few days every year in the wilderness like that... right in the woods. That's my idea of the perfect holiday, when I need a break from the hectic city life. Going to some foreign countries and staying in all comfortable hotels/resorts... that's ok once in a while, but I think this is what you should be doing if you need to recharge yourselves. Just the feel of fresh air in your nostrils is enough to charge you up. Believe me. Am so grateful to my cousin for giving me the opportunity, to experience the glory of Nature.
I missed a good camera when I was there. I could have taken some great snaps if I had one. And interestingly, though I was always hooked to my computer and music collection at home those days (I still am so), a good camera is all that I missed out there in the jungle. Not the TV, not computer, not the music. I guess the fresh air, the greenery all around, the placid waters of the lake, the chirping of the birds, watching the sun set from the cliff, the excitement of exploring and the suspense of not knowing what lies around the corner, the beauty of the whole place… it kept my mind so happy and excited, it didn’t give me a chance to miss anything else.
The jungles. You should try it sometime. It’s one hell of a place to be, I say.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
The Blue and The Green
In my last post I was talking about what my ultimate work place would be like. My two favorite places in the whole world are the beaches and the jungles. The Blue and the Green. The two colors of Mother Nature that I love. But in a beach, there are limitations. Like, it’s no fun sitting on the beach under the noon Sun, is it? Beaches are fun from dusk till dawn. The best place to be that time.
All my life I’d been to beaches with my parents or relatives to play in the water and see the Sun set, and as soon as it does it’s time to go home as if the show is over. When we friends go, we used to temporarily turn into frogs and take to the waters as if no world existed beyond the walls of the well.
As a kid I was told the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, but I always thought “east” is where the mountains are and “west” is where the oceans are. In other words, for me, the Sun rises from amongst the mountains and sets into the ocean! Isn’t that how we used to draw “sunset” and “sunrise” in our drawing class? Well, o’course that’s ‘coz I come from a beautiful li’l coastal town in the western shores of the Indian peninsula.
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All my life I’d been to beaches with my parents or relatives to play in the water and see the Sun set, and as soon as it does it’s time to go home as if the show is over. When we friends go, we used to temporarily turn into frogs and take to the waters as if no world existed beyond the walls of the well.
As a kid I was told the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, but I always thought “east” is where the mountains are and “west” is where the oceans are. In other words, for me, the Sun rises from amongst the mountains and sets into the ocean! Isn’t that how we used to draw “sunset” and “sunrise” in our drawing class? Well, o’course that’s ‘coz I come from a beautiful li’l coastal town in the western shores of the Indian peninsula.
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When I grew up and had more grey matter up there, I knew it’s different if I go to the eastern shores. There the Sun would rise from the ocean and set amidst the mountains.
Really?? Hey, cool! I wanna to see that.
Sure enough, I got to, when I went to a city on the eastern coast and spent over a year and a half there for my studies. The beach, as usual, was a wonderful place. But the one thing I missed on those beaches is obviously the beautiful reddish - orange circle, the Sun, on the horizon coming down and disappearing into the water. Basically, it was a li’l boring for me.
Then one evening, in fact a li’l late in the evening, around 20:30hrs, I was bugged and so decided to go to the beach with my cousin. We did, and we were sitting and enjoying the cool wind in our hair, when far away, at the end of the black sheet of ocean I saw a faint glow. It got brighter and brighter and soon I saw a glimpse of…the Moon!
Man, I tell you…I was awestruck! I’ve seen the “Full Moon”, rising up and glowing out there…looking so amazingly beautiful. And I’ve seen the “New Moon”, a crescent, looking like a bright polished hook, way up in the sky. But this…it completely blew my mind. It was a near complete Moon, really huge, bigger than I’d ever seen it, and it was rising up slowly, throwing a reflection on the dark water, making it sparkle. It looked like a thousand diamonds spread across a plain. The scene was so beautiful; I wished it would just stay on for ever. I missed my camera that moment. If only I had it with me, I could have captured perhaps the most beautiful sight of my life.
Now I stay far away from the beaches. Geographically, am on the Deccan Plateau, and this place is over 3000ft above Mean Sea Level. Sure, no chances of a tsunami hitting us, but that also mean this place lacks one of the most beautiful places to be. But then, this place is quite green, in fact, one of the greenest cities I’d ever been to. But of late the greenery seems to be vanishing. It’s a poorly planned hi-tech city and the ever growing traffic is too much for the existing infrastructure. So the authorities are busy cutting down trees and widening the roads and building flyovers.
Who cares about the trees and the green beauty anyways?
I do. I wish this city was like it used to be, less crowded, and greener. I think my idea of “be connected, work while you live your own life wherever you want to be”, my ultimate work place, would help a lot in that. Hmmm…. What do you think?
Really?? Hey, cool! I wanna to see that.
Sure enough, I got to, when I went to a city on the eastern coast and spent over a year and a half there for my studies. The beach, as usual, was a wonderful place. But the one thing I missed on those beaches is obviously the beautiful reddish - orange circle, the Sun, on the horizon coming down and disappearing into the water. Basically, it was a li’l boring for me.
Then one evening, in fact a li’l late in the evening, around 20:30hrs, I was bugged and so decided to go to the beach with my cousin. We did, and we were sitting and enjoying the cool wind in our hair, when far away, at the end of the black sheet of ocean I saw a faint glow. It got brighter and brighter and soon I saw a glimpse of…the Moon!
Man, I tell you…I was awestruck! I’ve seen the “Full Moon”, rising up and glowing out there…looking so amazingly beautiful. And I’ve seen the “New Moon”, a crescent, looking like a bright polished hook, way up in the sky. But this…it completely blew my mind. It was a near complete Moon, really huge, bigger than I’d ever seen it, and it was rising up slowly, throwing a reflection on the dark water, making it sparkle. It looked like a thousand diamonds spread across a plain. The scene was so beautiful; I wished it would just stay on for ever. I missed my camera that moment. If only I had it with me, I could have captured perhaps the most beautiful sight of my life.
Now I stay far away from the beaches. Geographically, am on the Deccan Plateau, and this place is over 3000ft above Mean Sea Level. Sure, no chances of a tsunami hitting us, but that also mean this place lacks one of the most beautiful places to be. But then, this place is quite green, in fact, one of the greenest cities I’d ever been to. But of late the greenery seems to be vanishing. It’s a poorly planned hi-tech city and the ever growing traffic is too much for the existing infrastructure. So the authorities are busy cutting down trees and widening the roads and building flyovers.
Who cares about the trees and the green beauty anyways?
I do. I wish this city was like it used to be, less crowded, and greener. I think my idea of “be connected, work while you live your own life wherever you want to be”, my ultimate work place, would help a lot in that. Hmmm…. What do you think?
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Modern-day Slavery!
A fairly big room with a diamond shaped ceiling, supported by a single tapering pillar in the center. The whole floor, covered with carpet and every door and window of designer glass panes, keeps the outside sound where it belongs… Outside! Orange and Blue boards divide the room into smaller cubicles with Gray desks and Black pull out trays. On each desk stand a black monitor with a matching black keyboard is in the pull-out tray and a black metal cabinet, the intelligent CPU, stacked away in a corner under the desk. The only wire visible outside is the “tail” of the mouse with a glowing red eye that lies next to the monitor. The rest of the room is divided into small cabins furnished with designer tables and chairs. A total of 12 split air-conditioners keep this not-so-huge-nor-so-crowded place at a constant 16 degrees Celsius. The concealed lighting adds a pleasant ambience to the room.
9:30AM. One by one they start coming in. A small team of young software professionals, dressed in formals. The boss follows half an hour later. Everyone’s with their computer, designing, coding, testing, debugging. They can’t see anything beyond their monitor because the boards block the view. Except for the occasional hushed discussions between some members of the team and the tap-tapping on the keyboard, it’s largely silent inside the room. Once in a while the intercom buzzes and somebody talks. Soon, the tea guy comes in and leaves a cup of tea on every desk. The work continues. The silence in broken when the intercom buzzes at 1PM. It’s lunch time. And there’s a rush. Half the team goes for lunch, while the other half stays and continues with the works. It’s their turn when the 1st half returns.
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9:30AM. One by one they start coming in. A small team of young software professionals, dressed in formals. The boss follows half an hour later. Everyone’s with their computer, designing, coding, testing, debugging. They can’t see anything beyond their monitor because the boards block the view. Except for the occasional hushed discussions between some members of the team and the tap-tapping on the keyboard, it’s largely silent inside the room. Once in a while the intercom buzzes and somebody talks. Soon, the tea guy comes in and leaves a cup of tea on every desk. The work continues. The silence in broken when the intercom buzzes at 1PM. It’s lunch time. And there’s a rush. Half the team goes for lunch, while the other half stays and continues with the works. It’s their turn when the 1st half returns.
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At the lunch table, it’s just the opposite. Some eat in a hurry and leave. They go out for a short walk and maybe a puff. Others chat and laugh and take a while to finish their food. And then it’s back to what they were doing before.
Tap-tap-tapp…!
A second tea comes right when they start feeling drowsy and find it hard to stare at the blinking cursor on the huge glowing screen before them. Rejuvenated, they get back to... tap-tap-tapp…!!
6PM. One by one they start leaving, only to go home, freshen up, eat and sleep and return the next morning.
This is a typical day in my office.
How boring!!!
Ha! So imagine living that life!!! Well, the story is almost the same at any software firm. We do the same thing day after day. A weekend comes, and we spend it at home doing the pending works or sleeping (which, by the way, also seems to be a pending thing these days), or go watch a movie, eat out and get back home. And some, they have to work on weekends too, ‘cause of the “project deadline”!
Work was considered necessary for living, but in today’s world, it seems we live just to work. Everybody is busy making more money so that they can go to expensive restaurants, watch movies in the expensive multiplexes, buy expensive watches and gadgets…
Slave to routine!
Am sitting in front of my computer in office right now and wondering why things are the way they are! I always wish that the place I work would be something really different from all these. A place where the routines are banned and slavery (to routine) is abolished! With the advent of wireless and other technologies today like instant messengers, VoIP (Voice over Internet) and video conferencing, it’s a breeze to stay connected to the rest of the world, no matter where you are. So then, why do we have to still go sit in the cubicles and suffocate ourselves in the name of money? Why can’t people just be given the freedom of being wherever they want to be, but just remain connected and do the work along with living their personal life?
I mean, wouldn’t it be just wonderful if we could sit at the beach and enjoy the salty breeze while we worked with an ever refreshing mind? Wouldn’t it be great if we could sit under a huge tree filled with exotic, chirping birds, with colorful butterflies fluttering by, and do the work on a laptop, listening to the stream flowing near by?
Obviously, questions arise.
Where do you get the power? (There is no power in the cities, where will you get it in the forest? Good question!)
How do you remain connected? (Net connections suck even in the metros, how will you get connected sitting under a tree, thousands of miles away from a city?? Good question again!)
How do you co-ordinate the works? (Working under the boss, you tend to ignore your work the minute boss goes out. What work will you do when you don’t have the boss anywhere around you? Hmmmm…)
Yup! True. But over a decade and a half back did we think we would be so much of a slave to technology? So, can’t there be some way to answer the simple questions? Well, am sure there are many solutions for the first two problems. But the third one? The answer could be just Robots!
I think the only reason why such relaxed “work places” would never work is, the human tendency to run away from responsibilities. Or to be too “relaxed” (read lazy) that work immediately takes a back seat. Yeah! If you were at the beach, would you be actually working or would you be sitting and looking at the horizon, wishing that someone special of yours was there next to you? And if that someone special is there with you, would you be working or…ahem… you know, be all over the beach?
I don’t think I’ll ever get to work in a place like that. Sad! But if it does, that would be my ultimate work place and (prospective employers, please note this) I’ll never quit that job.
Tap-tap-tapp…!
A second tea comes right when they start feeling drowsy and find it hard to stare at the blinking cursor on the huge glowing screen before them. Rejuvenated, they get back to... tap-tap-tapp…!!
6PM. One by one they start leaving, only to go home, freshen up, eat and sleep and return the next morning.
This is a typical day in my office.
How boring!!!
Ha! So imagine living that life!!! Well, the story is almost the same at any software firm. We do the same thing day after day. A weekend comes, and we spend it at home doing the pending works or sleeping (which, by the way, also seems to be a pending thing these days), or go watch a movie, eat out and get back home. And some, they have to work on weekends too, ‘cause of the “project deadline”!
Work was considered necessary for living, but in today’s world, it seems we live just to work. Everybody is busy making more money so that they can go to expensive restaurants, watch movies in the expensive multiplexes, buy expensive watches and gadgets…
Slave to routine!
Am sitting in front of my computer in office right now and wondering why things are the way they are! I always wish that the place I work would be something really different from all these. A place where the routines are banned and slavery (to routine) is abolished! With the advent of wireless and other technologies today like instant messengers, VoIP (Voice over Internet) and video conferencing, it’s a breeze to stay connected to the rest of the world, no matter where you are. So then, why do we have to still go sit in the cubicles and suffocate ourselves in the name of money? Why can’t people just be given the freedom of being wherever they want to be, but just remain connected and do the work along with living their personal life?
I mean, wouldn’t it be just wonderful if we could sit at the beach and enjoy the salty breeze while we worked with an ever refreshing mind? Wouldn’t it be great if we could sit under a huge tree filled with exotic, chirping birds, with colorful butterflies fluttering by, and do the work on a laptop, listening to the stream flowing near by?
Obviously, questions arise.
Where do you get the power? (There is no power in the cities, where will you get it in the forest? Good question!)
How do you remain connected? (Net connections suck even in the metros, how will you get connected sitting under a tree, thousands of miles away from a city?? Good question again!)
How do you co-ordinate the works? (Working under the boss, you tend to ignore your work the minute boss goes out. What work will you do when you don’t have the boss anywhere around you? Hmmmm…)
Yup! True. But over a decade and a half back did we think we would be so much of a slave to technology? So, can’t there be some way to answer the simple questions? Well, am sure there are many solutions for the first two problems. But the third one? The answer could be just Robots!
I think the only reason why such relaxed “work places” would never work is, the human tendency to run away from responsibilities. Or to be too “relaxed” (read lazy) that work immediately takes a back seat. Yeah! If you were at the beach, would you be actually working or would you be sitting and looking at the horizon, wishing that someone special of yours was there next to you? And if that someone special is there with you, would you be working or…ahem… you know, be all over the beach?
I don’t think I’ll ever get to work in a place like that. Sad! But if it does, that would be my ultimate work place and (prospective employers, please note this) I’ll never quit that job.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Tech-in-Kind!
Hey people!
This post wouldn’t actually come under the WANDeRiNG MiND category, but then I thought it was something worth writing about.
After the “renovation” of my page and the troubleshooting session, I was just browsing through the millions of blogs and write-ups online, at random. And here is something interesting I noticed while doing it.
There are hundreds of people out there who are trying to help the needy and many more doing it for the victims of the hurricane Katrina! Every other site I came across had a Red Cross banner requesting surfers to help them help the victims. I was curious. So I started browsing more specifically and was really surprised to see how the online community and even some software giants have come forward to help.
Show/Hide Full Post...
This post wouldn’t actually come under the WANDeRiNG MiND category, but then I thought it was something worth writing about.
After the “renovation” of my page and the troubleshooting session, I was just browsing through the millions of blogs and write-ups online, at random. And here is something interesting I noticed while doing it.
There are hundreds of people out there who are trying to help the needy and many more doing it for the victims of the hurricane Katrina! Every other site I came across had a Red Cross banner requesting surfers to help them help the victims. I was curious. So I started browsing more specifically and was really surprised to see how the online community and even some software giants have come forward to help.
Show/Hide Full Post...
America has been associated with many catastrophes in the past many years, some caused by them, some unto them. Hurricane Katrina was the latest which has left the city of New Orleans almost unrecognizable. Another hurricane (Rita) followed, but didn’t do much damage, but it still affected many. However, Katrina still rules the web. Last year, when the tsunami struck, thousands of lives were lost and thousands more were left homeless. They are still suffering and still living in the shock, while most of the world has already forgotten about it. Many of us had helped by donating a day’s salary and sending food and clothes and medicines to the victims. Many others from around the world helped in a different way. They networked the world through their blogs and websites and helped bring in the aid. Now, the online community has once again come to the forefront, to help the victims of the hurricane.
Check out the few examples of “Tech-in-Kind”
(Courtesy: the many websites and articles online)
Thanks to the many blogs and websites, right from Michael Barnett (The Interdictor) and his LiveJournal to the Times-Picayune Breaking News Blog, dedicating their time and effort to this, web surfers around the globe have access to unfiltered information coming out of New Orleans. Many sites and news stations used Google Earth to provide status updates of specific locations affected by the hurricane. With many netizens coming forward to offer assistance, the volume of information about and for the Katrina victims increased so much that someone had to come up with a way to manage them and put them to good use. And guess who led the way??? Microsoft, with its .NET framework! It developed a system to help locate people displaced or missing since the hurricane through KatrinaSafe.
In between all this, there was a villain too. And it happens to be one of the most trusted names in online payments. PayPal. They had to block some relief funds raised by the humor site Something Awful. The site had raised a whooping $28,000 in less than 9hr, until PayPal froze the funds. The reason? PayPal’s customer support was closed for the night!!!
Maybe they should consider outsourcing it, eh???
Anyways, Rich Kyanka, the founder of the site Something Awful, couldn’t figure out why the nearly $28,000 in Red Cross relief was locked. PayPal’s automated system reportedly explained that it had received more than one report of suspicious behaviour from his buyers. Mr.Kyanka was then asked by PayPal executives to fax in his driver’s license, bank records, credit card record and a written request to unlock the account. He was also told that it would take 3-5 business days to process the documents.
Now, that…I know is really painful. When I had to call my bank to find out about a missing 300 bucks (from my account), they asked me for a secret code which they never gave me in the first place. On that, they made me tell them my complete life history ending with the last 3 transactions I made from my account!!! All that, to get my money back.
Back to the villain: In the end, due to some arrangements PayPal had with another NGO, the money could not be donated to Red Cross and all of it had to be refunded.
The media says, “It’s really sad that the facilitating medium itself acted up and proved to be a villain. PayPal probably chose the worst time to play truant”. The ever-attacked, ever-so-evil Microsoft and the new am-everywhere Google (who also happens to be the new rival for Microsoft, even for its “evil” status) on the other hand actually are doing something wonderful. On the whole, the online community, especially the bloggers, has something to be proud of. And perhaps, like they rightly say, this is one of the more reliable mediums we could all turn to in the future.
A silent prayer goes out for the victims of the fury of Mother Nature.
NB: Have you tried Google’s Earth yet?? If not, you are missing out something really interesting. Recently Google thrilled me by showing a satellite image of…MG Road, and with that, my office too; in such detail that one could see the vehicles on the road! Man, I could have been out there and that could have made me famous..
the man on the moon-itor ;)
Ok, dumb joke, but seriously, you should try it. You can get it for free at http://earth.google.com/. NASA has a similar one too…but a much MUCH bigger download. It’s called World Wind.
Oh, and that’s free too.
Cool Tools!!
Check out the few examples of “Tech-in-Kind”
(Courtesy: the many websites and articles online)
Thanks to the many blogs and websites, right from Michael Barnett (The Interdictor) and his LiveJournal to the Times-Picayune Breaking News Blog, dedicating their time and effort to this, web surfers around the globe have access to unfiltered information coming out of New Orleans. Many sites and news stations used Google Earth to provide status updates of specific locations affected by the hurricane. With many netizens coming forward to offer assistance, the volume of information about and for the Katrina victims increased so much that someone had to come up with a way to manage them and put them to good use. And guess who led the way??? Microsoft, with its .NET framework! It developed a system to help locate people displaced or missing since the hurricane through KatrinaSafe.
In between all this, there was a villain too. And it happens to be one of the most trusted names in online payments. PayPal. They had to block some relief funds raised by the humor site Something Awful. The site had raised a whooping $28,000 in less than 9hr, until PayPal froze the funds. The reason? PayPal’s customer support was closed for the night!!!
Maybe they should consider outsourcing it, eh???
Anyways, Rich Kyanka, the founder of the site Something Awful, couldn’t figure out why the nearly $28,000 in Red Cross relief was locked. PayPal’s automated system reportedly explained that it had received more than one report of suspicious behaviour from his buyers. Mr.Kyanka was then asked by PayPal executives to fax in his driver’s license, bank records, credit card record and a written request to unlock the account. He was also told that it would take 3-5 business days to process the documents.
Now, that…I know is really painful. When I had to call my bank to find out about a missing 300 bucks (from my account), they asked me for a secret code which they never gave me in the first place. On that, they made me tell them my complete life history ending with the last 3 transactions I made from my account!!! All that, to get my money back.
Back to the villain: In the end, due to some arrangements PayPal had with another NGO, the money could not be donated to Red Cross and all of it had to be refunded.
The media says, “It’s really sad that the facilitating medium itself acted up and proved to be a villain. PayPal probably chose the worst time to play truant”. The ever-attacked, ever-so-evil Microsoft and the new am-everywhere Google (who also happens to be the new rival for Microsoft, even for its “evil” status) on the other hand actually are doing something wonderful. On the whole, the online community, especially the bloggers, has something to be proud of. And perhaps, like they rightly say, this is one of the more reliable mediums we could all turn to in the future.
A silent prayer goes out for the victims of the fury of Mother Nature.
NB: Have you tried Google’s Earth yet?? If not, you are missing out something really interesting. Recently Google thrilled me by showing a satellite image of…MG Road, and with that, my office too; in such detail that one could see the vehicles on the road! Man, I could have been out there and that could have made me famous..
the man on the moon-itor ;)
Ok, dumb joke, but seriously, you should try it. You can get it for free at http://earth.google.com/. NASA has a similar one too…but a much MUCH bigger download. It’s called World Wind.
Oh, and that’s free too.
Cool Tools!!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Firefox Issues!
Am new to Mozilla's Firefox, but the many plugins and extensions available for it, and the countless cool things you can do with it (like you can capture the complete web page as an image and save it, and wow, does the image have quality???) made me a fan of the Fox!
However, AM SORRY GUYS BUT THIS PAGE GOES NUTS WHEN OPENED IN FIREFOX. Am trying to figure out what's wrong here. It looks a li'l too ugly in it
(I use FF.v.1.0.6 and DeerPark Alpha1)
The post has gone way below the post title!! A mysterious gradient bar appears below the sidebar and the content area. Also, the borders look ugly!!!
So, if you are using FireFox, please leave a comment for this post and mention if the design looks ok in your browser. Pleeeeazeee...
I would be grateful :)
Thanx!
Update: Tuesday, 04th October 2005
Phew!
Atlast I got them to work fine. Now FireFox shows it the way I want it :) But yeah, it's taken up a lot of my "li'l free time". In office am busy with some design works. So will post when I get back most of my "li'l free time" ;)
Till then...
However, AM SORRY GUYS BUT THIS PAGE GOES NUTS WHEN OPENED IN FIREFOX. Am trying to figure out what's wrong here. It looks a li'l too ugly in it
(I use FF.v.1.0.6 and DeerPark Alpha1)
The post has gone way below the post title!! A mysterious gradient bar appears below the sidebar and the content area. Also, the borders look ugly!!!
So, if you are using FireFox, please leave a comment for this post and mention if the design looks ok in your browser. Pleeeeazeee...
I would be grateful :)
Thanx!
Update: Tuesday, 04th October 2005
Phew!
Atlast I got them to work fine. Now FireFox shows it the way I want it :) But yeah, it's taken up a lot of my "li'l free time". In office am busy with some design works. So will post when I get back most of my "li'l free time" ;)
Till then...
Lost in decoration? ;)
Hey people!
Sorry, but I haven’t been posting here. In the last few days, I’ve been too engrossed in browsing through the many sites and more so in adding “extra stuffs” to my page. As you can see, on the sidebar I’ve added a new Shout Box (man, I love those B&W smilies), registered with a lot of directories and rings (and hence those teeny tiny banners), put up a random image display down below, and also joined the Google AdSense (and there, now you notice the Ads by Google on the top and a bigger one on the sidebar). Basically, I was just trying out things, and then all of a sudden my mean-black-page started looking like a night sky… filled with bright stars!! So finally made them all less brighter too :)
However, I got too engrossed in all this coz finding the right kind of stuff on the net was a time-eater. Anyways, this may go on for a while, I mean the decorating stuff, coz am a curious head ;) but I’ll be back with more posts.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in joining the Google AdSense and making some bucks, then check out this article. It can help you to some extent.
Till then…
Sorry, but I haven’t been posting here. In the last few days, I’ve been too engrossed in browsing through the many sites and more so in adding “extra stuffs” to my page. As you can see, on the sidebar I’ve added a new Shout Box (man, I love those B&W smilies), registered with a lot of directories and rings (and hence those teeny tiny banners), put up a random image display down below, and also joined the Google AdSense (and there, now you notice the Ads by Google on the top and a bigger one on the sidebar). Basically, I was just trying out things, and then all of a sudden my mean-black-page started looking like a night sky… filled with bright stars!! So finally made them all less brighter too :)
However, I got too engrossed in all this coz finding the right kind of stuff on the net was a time-eater. Anyways, this may go on for a while, I mean the decorating stuff, coz am a curious head ;) but I’ll be back with more posts.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in joining the Google AdSense and making some bucks, then check out this article. It can help you to some extent.
Till then…
Sunday, September 25, 2005
About choices
After writing about Ms.Destiny, my musings on the subject was taken up for discussions with friends. A few of them believe that destiny is what decides where you go, but others say where you go decides your destiny, not the other way round.
However, even after all the talks and discussions, I still couldn’t make up my mind on this. I guess it’s coz of all the twists and turns my life has taken till now. Hmmm… Writing about all that could render this site unbearable to even the (one) hand full of visitors I get. Maybe I should go “Ah, what the heck! It’s my @#$%^&* page, damn it. I’ll write what I feel like. You can read, go and come back, or you can read, run and keep running.”
Hey, wait. That was just a thought, ok? I never said that. So do come back ;)
Warning: Reading this may give you a clearer, though not complete, insight into my past and the person I am. This in no way should reflect on the relationship we have right now, in a negative way. Please agree and continue ;)
Show/Hide Full Post...
However, even after all the talks and discussions, I still couldn’t make up my mind on this. I guess it’s coz of all the twists and turns my life has taken till now. Hmmm… Writing about all that could render this site unbearable to even the (one) hand full of visitors I get. Maybe I should go “Ah, what the heck! It’s my @#$%^&* page, damn it. I’ll write what I feel like. You can read, go and come back, or you can read, run and keep running.”
Hey, wait. That was just a thought, ok? I never said that. So do come back ;)
Warning: Reading this may give you a clearer, though not complete, insight into my past and the person I am. This in no way should reflect on the relationship we have right now, in a negative way. Please agree and continue ;)
Show/Hide Full Post...
Ok, let me see how my life turned out to be like this. Back in the school days, I never had much to decide and I guess you didn’t either. It was all about buying new books, getting new uniforms, new bags, shoes, pencils, cute li’l erasers and what not. Sit in the class, have fun with friends, pray that the teacher is on leave and we get a free hour, go to the library and fight over the latest issue of Tinkle or Disney, wait for the pickup in the evenings, go home and change and run to the ground to play. Some VIP dies or some “union” goes on strike and the school declares a holiday, we go “Hurrraaaaayyyy!” coz for us it was about the holiday and not the world’s problems.
Innocence!
We were the first batch of the school and never had seniors. After the class 10 we were all meant to split and go to different colleges/universities coz we didn’t have a 11th and 12th there and that was really painful. My class strength was always a small one in number… more like a closely knit family. Many of us wanted to go elsewhere, to some colleges, instead of waiting for the class 11 to be started in the school, coz colleges were much less stricter and far more fun. For some reason, I never wanted to go elsewhere. I wanted to stick to the same school, and so, hoped and prayed they would start class 11. And they did. So, my life in that school was extended by another 2 years. New guys and gals joined us, and we made new friends. Life… was fun again.
Hmm... let me see now. Here I made a choice! To stay back in school and not go join a different college or university. If destiny had a role, it was the starting of Class 11 in the same school I guess, coz if it wasn’t started, I would have had to join elsewhere against my will, right?
Anyways, I guess it was too much fun and too less study for us in school and that reflected in our final results. And obviously, the not-worth-mentioning results gave us fewer options after the schooling! But I was one of the “lucky ones”, and got into a highly reputed technical institute after that. Somebody was thinking of putting me in some college in Bangalore in between, but I decided to join this place instead. Everyone who “blamed” me for the poor marks in school, were greatly relieved coz I got into something which was “hard to get in” though I never could figure out what was so “hard” in that. It was a 4 year course, 3 years in the campus and the final year in some company, more like an internship.
And here, I chose to join the technical institute which decided the next few years of my life instead of some college in Bangalore (and Bangalore was just beginning to be a Silicon Valley clone back then). Did destiny play a role here? Is that why I didn’t find the “getting in” part that hard?
We slogged our a$$es off for the next 3 years in the campus. It was a strict…no, too damn strict institute and it was more like a punishment for not being responsible enough in the 2 years before that. But yes, I got to learn a lot of things apart from developing a new skill. In the 3rd year we got to choose from a list of companies that needed trainees for the next year, and me along with another 2 of my close buddies chose a really good company to go to. Unfortunately due to some confusion later, we had to reconsider and 2 of us had to decide on another not-so-well-known name. Next 1 year I spent in what was actually the worst company in that list we got. Our friends felt sorry for us, but there was nothing we could do. It was part of our course and we had to complete it. We used to count the days there. And in fact the whole one year made us hate the trade and start thinking of switching to something better. And we did too.
So, what is at play here? I did make a choice…to go for one of the best companies. But something turned up unexpectedly and the whole thing was called off and we were forced to take a second decision. That ended up in me getting the worst one on the same list. That wasn’t my choice at all, and it even led to a lot of events and sufferings in my life later on. Destiny????
After the internship, all of us were on our own, looking for new jobs while many continued to work in the same company they had the internship at. The management wanted me to stay back in the company, but I was least interested. I moved on, ended up in Bangalore in the next couple of months. In the next 1 year, I tried different companies but my mind wasn’t set to accept this. After a lot of thinking and consultation, I decided to change the path. Yup, I took my first step into the world of computers and software. What followed was another long stint in life. I lost many things, but also achieved a few valuable things.
Wouldn’t go into details now, coz that would be a li’l too much for you ;) Anyway, here I am today, designing my own web pages and blog, writing my experiences and thoughts, and you reading it. I did suffer a lot through out this journey, but I’ve also learned a lot of things and also had my share of happy moments and some beautiful ones too. All this was based on my choices in life. Sometimes I did have to rethink or change my decision coz of unexpected turn of events. Was that destiny? Am I being taken to where I’m meant to be?
That one thing is what I don’t understand still. If all my choices were easy and had taken me the way I wanted to go, where would I be now? What would I be doing? Who would be my friends? Would I have met all the people who I met here? (And mind you, some of them are the best things that have happened to me ever). How different would my life be if I never had to rethink or change my decision in the past? Was I meant to be in the field I am right now? Or would I have been happier in the other one?
I don’t know. It’s a mystery I’ll never solve.
End note: I shouldn’t be thinking so much about it either. Life is all about choices, and what happens in the course of life is based on those choices. Nothing is pre-written. If we have to reach somewhere, we have to make the move. It’s our life, we are in control.
And for the record, if I get a chance to go back and change any one choice I made in the past, I wouldn’t do it. Coz, doing so may change everything that followed and I may lose some really valuable things I have now.
Thanx all for reading this and sorry for bugging you with it :)
Innocence!
We were the first batch of the school and never had seniors. After the class 10 we were all meant to split and go to different colleges/universities coz we didn’t have a 11th and 12th there and that was really painful. My class strength was always a small one in number… more like a closely knit family. Many of us wanted to go elsewhere, to some colleges, instead of waiting for the class 11 to be started in the school, coz colleges were much less stricter and far more fun. For some reason, I never wanted to go elsewhere. I wanted to stick to the same school, and so, hoped and prayed they would start class 11. And they did. So, my life in that school was extended by another 2 years. New guys and gals joined us, and we made new friends. Life… was fun again.
Hmm... let me see now. Here I made a choice! To stay back in school and not go join a different college or university. If destiny had a role, it was the starting of Class 11 in the same school I guess, coz if it wasn’t started, I would have had to join elsewhere against my will, right?
Anyways, I guess it was too much fun and too less study for us in school and that reflected in our final results. And obviously, the not-worth-mentioning results gave us fewer options after the schooling! But I was one of the “lucky ones”, and got into a highly reputed technical institute after that. Somebody was thinking of putting me in some college in Bangalore in between, but I decided to join this place instead. Everyone who “blamed” me for the poor marks in school, were greatly relieved coz I got into something which was “hard to get in” though I never could figure out what was so “hard” in that. It was a 4 year course, 3 years in the campus and the final year in some company, more like an internship.
And here, I chose to join the technical institute which decided the next few years of my life instead of some college in Bangalore (and Bangalore was just beginning to be a Silicon Valley clone back then). Did destiny play a role here? Is that why I didn’t find the “getting in” part that hard?
We slogged our a$$es off for the next 3 years in the campus. It was a strict…no, too damn strict institute and it was more like a punishment for not being responsible enough in the 2 years before that. But yes, I got to learn a lot of things apart from developing a new skill. In the 3rd year we got to choose from a list of companies that needed trainees for the next year, and me along with another 2 of my close buddies chose a really good company to go to. Unfortunately due to some confusion later, we had to reconsider and 2 of us had to decide on another not-so-well-known name. Next 1 year I spent in what was actually the worst company in that list we got. Our friends felt sorry for us, but there was nothing we could do. It was part of our course and we had to complete it. We used to count the days there. And in fact the whole one year made us hate the trade and start thinking of switching to something better. And we did too.
So, what is at play here? I did make a choice…to go for one of the best companies. But something turned up unexpectedly and the whole thing was called off and we were forced to take a second decision. That ended up in me getting the worst one on the same list. That wasn’t my choice at all, and it even led to a lot of events and sufferings in my life later on. Destiny????
After the internship, all of us were on our own, looking for new jobs while many continued to work in the same company they had the internship at. The management wanted me to stay back in the company, but I was least interested. I moved on, ended up in Bangalore in the next couple of months. In the next 1 year, I tried different companies but my mind wasn’t set to accept this. After a lot of thinking and consultation, I decided to change the path. Yup, I took my first step into the world of computers and software. What followed was another long stint in life. I lost many things, but also achieved a few valuable things.
Wouldn’t go into details now, coz that would be a li’l too much for you ;) Anyway, here I am today, designing my own web pages and blog, writing my experiences and thoughts, and you reading it. I did suffer a lot through out this journey, but I’ve also learned a lot of things and also had my share of happy moments and some beautiful ones too. All this was based on my choices in life. Sometimes I did have to rethink or change my decision coz of unexpected turn of events. Was that destiny? Am I being taken to where I’m meant to be?
That one thing is what I don’t understand still. If all my choices were easy and had taken me the way I wanted to go, where would I be now? What would I be doing? Who would be my friends? Would I have met all the people who I met here? (And mind you, some of them are the best things that have happened to me ever). How different would my life be if I never had to rethink or change my decision in the past? Was I meant to be in the field I am right now? Or would I have been happier in the other one?
I don’t know. It’s a mystery I’ll never solve.
End note: I shouldn’t be thinking so much about it either. Life is all about choices, and what happens in the course of life is based on those choices. Nothing is pre-written. If we have to reach somewhere, we have to make the move. It’s our life, we are in control.
And for the record, if I get a chance to go back and change any one choice I made in the past, I wouldn’t do it. Coz, doing so may change everything that followed and I may lose some really valuable things I have now.
Thanx all for reading this and sorry for bugging you with it :)
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Destiny! Is it?
Do you believe in destiny?
What IS “destiny”?
But the question is, do you believe in it?
Do you believe that no matter how far you walk, how hard you work, or how bad it hurts, you'll always get to where you need to be?
Do you believe that no matter how careful you are when riding that bike, if it’s meant to be your time to say “bye-bye Dorothy”, it could happen even by a bird hitting the visor of your helmet and you crash landing at the wrong spot????
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What IS “destiny”?
- an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
- the ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events (often personified as a woman); "we are helpless in the face of Destiny"
- fortune: your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you);
But the question is, do you believe in it?
Do you believe that no matter how far you walk, how hard you work, or how bad it hurts, you'll always get to where you need to be?
Do you believe that no matter how careful you are when riding that bike, if it’s meant to be your time to say “bye-bye Dorothy”, it could happen even by a bird hitting the visor of your helmet and you crash landing at the wrong spot????
Show/Hide Full Post...
This question has always been pestering me. And being the confused “brainy” I am, I sometimes think it’s stupid. I mean, it’s our life. Every road we take leads to some place. At every junction we get to make a choice. Where the next road leads us is entirely based on the choice we made. So what’s destiny got to do with it? Aren’t we actually writing our destiny every time we make a choice?
Am at a main “junction” where I have to make an important choice and am really confused if I should go left or right or just follow the road straight ahead. Hmmm... what do I do? *Crash* Oops! A car coming from my right just crashed into a truck coming from my opposite side. Good Lord! I could have been just crossing the road when that happened. Guess my time hasn’t come yet…to say bye-bye. Oh well, the roads on my right and straight ahead are blocked now by the truck and that car and all those cars that screeched to a stop, some banging into others. What a mess!! Oh dear! Am late. Got to go, but which way??? Ok, the road to my left.
…And I continue the journey of life…
Now, here, did the accident “help” me make the choice? Or did it force me to take that decision? Did destiny make me take the left road by causing that car crash? Or am I still writing my destiny by taking the road and not bothering to actually make a choice and maybe take one of the other roads? I could have even helped someone in need at the crash scene, who knows!
Will anyone ever know?
My life has had so many twists and turns in its course. It's taken me all of my life to get where I am now. And I always wonder if whatever happened did happen for a reason. Is it my destiny that’s brought me here? Or was it just my choices in life? Are destiny and our choices one and the same? God! Am confused!!
All I can think of now is, destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
Needs more thinking…
Am at a main “junction” where I have to make an important choice and am really confused if I should go left or right or just follow the road straight ahead. Hmmm... what do I do? *Crash* Oops! A car coming from my right just crashed into a truck coming from my opposite side. Good Lord! I could have been just crossing the road when that happened. Guess my time hasn’t come yet…to say bye-bye. Oh well, the roads on my right and straight ahead are blocked now by the truck and that car and all those cars that screeched to a stop, some banging into others. What a mess!! Oh dear! Am late. Got to go, but which way??? Ok, the road to my left.
…And I continue the journey of life…
Now, here, did the accident “help” me make the choice? Or did it force me to take that decision? Did destiny make me take the left road by causing that car crash? Or am I still writing my destiny by taking the road and not bothering to actually make a choice and maybe take one of the other roads? I could have even helped someone in need at the crash scene, who knows!
Will anyone ever know?
My life has had so many twists and turns in its course. It's taken me all of my life to get where I am now. And I always wonder if whatever happened did happen for a reason. Is it my destiny that’s brought me here? Or was it just my choices in life? Are destiny and our choices one and the same? God! Am confused!!
All I can think of now is, destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
Needs more thinking…
Aah! At last...
I did it. Modified the green polka dotted template of my page into this..mean..black..thing :) Not a major feat, this..considering am a designer, a web designer that too, and all I had to do was change the images and layers and sizes and stuff. But it still is a step forward.. the first towards me getting up, dusting my ass, walking over to the comp and start "blogging".. All my previous posts (don't start digging for them, there's just 5 of them so far...this is the 6th!) need to be deleted or stacked away in the (e-)attic and me should start afresh. But what do I write about?
Hmmm.. This has always been my problem. Am "creative"... I mean, yeah, I can draw, sketch, paint, design... I was born with it. People ask me why I don't do a painting, or draw something, or think of a short li'l story with a cute li'l character and animate it??
I can write quite ok too. Again, people ask me why I don't write something... letters, articles, or create a blog and start posting??
Well, I have just two reasons for that.
Reason One. I can never come up with an original idea when I really wanna do something for myself. No idea why it happens, but when I decide to do a painting or a drawing or design or write something, for myself that is, I suddenly find myself staring at a blank wall! And for some weird reason, I don't even see any patterns forming on the wall to inspire me.
Reason Two. Am lazy. Am a lazy lazy bum ;)
I really have to get myself to do things am good at. Creativity is a gift. And I've been blessed with it. Why waste it? I've seen many of my friends struggle to make a simple neat drawing even with the right tools!
All said, and this basic redesign work done, I think I've just taken the first step to make me more useful to the world. No. Lemme rephrase that. I have just taken the first step to make me more useful to the world :)
Amen!
Hmmm.. This has always been my problem. Am "creative"... I mean, yeah, I can draw, sketch, paint, design... I was born with it. People ask me why I don't do a painting, or draw something, or think of a short li'l story with a cute li'l character and animate it??
I can write quite ok too. Again, people ask me why I don't write something... letters, articles, or create a blog and start posting??
Well, I have just two reasons for that.
Reason One. I can never come up with an original idea when I really wanna do something for myself. No idea why it happens, but when I decide to do a painting or a drawing or design or write something, for myself that is, I suddenly find myself staring at a blank wall! And for some weird reason, I don't even see any patterns forming on the wall to inspire me.
Reason Two. Am lazy. Am a lazy lazy bum ;)
I really have to get myself to do things am good at. Creativity is a gift. And I've been blessed with it. Why waste it? I've seen many of my friends struggle to make a simple neat drawing even with the right tools!
All said, and this basic redesign work done, I think I've just taken the first step to make me more useful to the world. No. Lemme rephrase that. I have just taken the first step to make me more useful to the world :)
Amen!
Friday, September 16, 2005
Motivated?
I was browsing through the many web logs online, at random, for the past few days. Had to design a site for a client at work, and so wanted to get a general idea of how the whole thing is planned. Seeing the way people have taken to this new way of logging, am really amazed. So many of them...many really good ones, some of them excellent..and some, just nothing..
People have taken up writing in a serious way! And many of them have customized the page templates to such an extent..it's a treat for the eyes.
Anyways, all the random browsing has gotten me motivated...and I thought.. "Why shouldn't I do something like that? Am a designer too, for crying out loud. Ok, I shall do it."
But again, I know it's gonna take a while..coz am a lazy bum.
People have taken up writing in a serious way! And many of them have customized the page templates to such an extent..it's a treat for the eyes.
Anyways, all the random browsing has gotten me motivated...and I thought.. "Why shouldn't I do something like that? Am a designer too, for crying out loud. Ok, I shall do it."
But again, I know it's gonna take a while..coz am a lazy bum.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
8+ months later...
Hmmm....after a long gap, am thinking of getting back to posting, a bit more seriously. Last post was on December 30th, 2004. A hell lot happened after that..in my life, my friends lives and the world in general. So, this is just a post to get me back into writing. Will soon be back with some more :)
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Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks in the title role, with a supporting cast of Robin Wright as the love of his life Jenny, Gary Sinise as Lt. Daniel Taylor, Sally Field as his oft-quoted Momma, Forrest Gump was one of the best movies of 1994. It won the Best Picture Oscar for a reason, along with the Best Actor by Tom Hanks. One of the reviews of the movie says…
“Ever find the grind of life getting you down? Is the day-to-day struggle threatening to drag you under? If so, there is a movie out there that can replenish your energy and refresh your outlook. Passionate and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic for the weary of spirit. For those who feel that being set adrift in a season of action movies is like wandering into a desert, the oasis lies ahead.”
Hanks is by far one of the best actors we have today. He had won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the movie Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump won him the second, the very next year. In Philadelphia his character, Andrew Beckett, is a gay law graduate with a promising career ahead of him, who finds himself to be having AIDS. The firm he works for fires him for an unjustified cause and he takes his case to a number of lawyers, including Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a black. But none of them is willing to represent him. . The scene where Andrew comes out of Miller’s office, feeling dejected and alone, is still one of my favorites.
Forrest Gump is basically one simple man's journey through life. And boy! What a journey. The movie opens with Forrest sitting at a bus stop, waiting to go see Jenny after being apart from her for years. Forrest strikes up a conversation or two with the people that come and wait for the bus with him. Or, more accurately, he keeps talking regardless of whether anybody is listening or not.
Forrest grows up in Greenbow, Alabama, where his mother runs a boarding house. He is a little "slow", his IQ being 75, 5 below the state's definition of "normal", but his mental impairment doesn't bother him, his mother, or his best and only friend, Jenny. In fact, the naiveness that comes through a limited understanding of the world around him gives Forrest a uniquely positive perspective of life. The movie is done as a flashback, with Forrest taking us through all the major events of his life and narrating them. During the three decades of his life that he takes us through, we see him grow up and going through school, college, become a star football player, join the army and become a war hero in Vietnam. He meets the President three times on different occasions…
(Forrest meets President Richard Nixon, who asks him where he is staying, and then offers to put Forrest up in a much nicer hotel. Forrest is shown making a phone call at the hotel to send a maintenance man to the suite, which is being burgled. It turns out to be the Watergate Hotel and implies that the phone call he made began the infamous Watergate scandal, without him ever knowing it!)
…appears in a talk show alongside John Lennon and he even becomes a highly successful businessman in the shrimping business with his fortune invested in “some kind of a fruit company” (oh, and that’s Apple Computers, by the way!!) by his friend. And through it all, there is one defining element in his life: his love for Jenny. She is never far from his thoughts, no matter what he's doing or where he is. He writes to her every single day, even when at war in Vietnam!
It seems Forrest Gump's warm reception was not universal. This is what I found from the net. But I think Forrest Gump has several messages to convey, some of which are less obvious than others. The most important of them however is a word of advice, not to give up on life. Why surrender when you don't even know what lies ahead or round the corner?
The movie, based on the novel by Winston Groom, is however said to be quite deviating from the book. I haven’t read the book, but really would love to. I haven’t been able to get hold of it, as the ones they sell here is the movie version. Anyways, it seems much of the beginning of the film is the same in the book, albeit Zemeckis's Gump is far more placid and naïve than Groom's abrasive, judgmental cynic. They say the film's quote of "Life is like a box of chocolates" wholly reverses the novel's sentiment of "Being an idiot is no box of chocolates".
Whatever be it, Forrest Gump is my favorite movie and will remain so. But why? Am not so sure yet, but I think it’s mainly because of the innocence of the character, which remains a child in heart and spirit, even as his body grows to maturity. And maybe for the message - never give up on life. And I love the innocence and the hidden wisdom in his seemingly stupid words.
The tag line for the movie was, "The world will never be the same once you've seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump"
How true!