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ESP (The Sixth Sense, Part 2)

ESP (ExtraSensory Perception) is most commonly called the "sixth sense". It is sensory information that an individual receives which comes beyond the ordinary five senses sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It can provide the individual with information of the present, past, and future; as it seems to originate in a second, or alternate reality.

There are theories concerning individuals who possess ESP and how they acquired this ability. One theory holds that some people such as seers, prophets and diviners were bore with the gift, which was inherited by their relatives. Another theory hold that it is a primordial sense which has decreased in populations as their cultures advanced. Still another theory claims ESP is a supersense, which evolves in the nervous system.

That was just for your reading pleasure. Am in no way trying to claim my 15minutes of fame by saying I have a sixth sense and I can see the future. No. But like I mentioned in my previous post, I believe that the ESP, or sixth sense, is a part of everyone whether they like it or not. It is a normal part of the human psyche and not abnormal or reserved for special or gifted persons. Psychical research does support the theory that everyone is born with ESP capability, though some may possess more than others. Most people have experienced at least one ESP experience in their lives. Maybe many of us just don't give it a second thought, or just dismiss it saying, "I think I have had a deja vu of this!"

Think about it.

Anyway, here I continue to share a few more of my past experiences, 'coz they have always made me wonder.

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From 1993, fast forward to 1997-98, when I was undergoing industrial training in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu, India). I used to stay with my friend in a room provided by the company we worked for, and our lives used to be real boring unless we go out and watch a movie or spend time with other friends during the weekends. Every weekend we made it a point to meet another friend of ours who used to stay with his dad in another part of the city, and then all 3 of us together watch a movie. If that guy's dad went visiting the rest of the family back in their native land, we used to stay over for the weekend and all three of us used to have some fun.

One day, it so happened that we were totally bored and found ourselves with no options but to go stay at out friend's place, even if his dad's there. We took the bus and went all the way, and after getting down, we were walking to his place just talking. I suddenly felt something was weird and not right. I felt we won't be able to stay over at this guy's place and will have to go back to our room. I turned to my friend and told him so. He casually asked what could happen that we cannot be staying over there. And my reply was, "What if his mom and sisters have come from native?" My friend was cool and he told me not to worry 'coz that situation was very unlikely. Why would all of them come here all of a sudden anyway?

So we walked and reached our friend's house. We went up and knocked at the door. And what do we see? The door is opened by his mother!! I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless for a while. When I got back to my senses I realized that the whole family was present there having decided to enjoy the weekend together. Well, we just spent some time there with them and later went back to our room for the night.

There were two other incidents of "having a hunch", where I was meant to take a decision. In one I lost while the other saved our lives maybe.

The first one was when I had to leave my sick dog…a bitch (in the proper sense of the word) alone at home and go somewhere for a day. My mom and sister were with my grandparents and my dad and I were to join them. But my little pet, which I loved so much, was sick and she wasn't moving around much. I was worried about her and told my mom so when she called. But mom said it's alright and there's no need to worry as we would be back home the very next day, just a matter of few hours and she will be fine. I couldn't be sure though and thought of taking her along with us instead of leaving her all alone with no care, but later decided not to, 'coz I didn't want her to suffer due to the travel. So I left her with a cozy little mattress and food and water, hoping she would be fine, and went to my granny's place. But all the while I was really worried about something.

Next morning we left from there and on our way back just dropped in at my aunt's place. A few minutes after we reached there, my aunt's phone rang and the call was for my mom. I was suddenly gripped by this terrible fear something I didn't know. My mom took the phone and as she spoke I saw her face change too. Yup, our little bitch was dead, left all alone when she needed us most. I knew it was gonna happen, but I ignored it. And I had never been as sad in my life as I was that day.

The other one was when I had to go book tickets for my cousins and myself when 4 of us planned to go to our native together from Bangalore. At the ticket counter, the guy gave me tickets on the driver's side of the bus, somewhere in the rear half. That's never a safe place to sit when you travel long distance, coz buses and trucks from the opposite direction will be just ripping past you. One mistake and you could be the victim of a freak accident. I lost a friend in one such. He died coz he was in the wrong seat, and a truck from the opposite side suddenly lost control and hit the bus, exactly where he was seated. Ever since, I haven't really enjoyed traveling sitting on the driver's side of the bus. But sometimes, I don't bother much and just go with what's available.

When the guy at the counter offered me those seats, I didn't wanna ask him for a change and thought will settle for it, coz that was a festive season and getting tickets itself was a problem. But then something told me I should ask for seats on the other side. Even though I hesitated at first, I went ahead and asked him. He checked and finally I was able to get seats for all of us on the other side of the bus. It so happened that the bus we took met with an accident just about an hour before it reached the destination. Another bus coming from the opposite direction slammed into our bus right in the rear half of it, on the driver's side of course. It was a bad hit and a major part of our bus was ripped off. Many were injured, including us, though we escaped with minor ones. But a mother and daughter lost their lives in the accident. I later realized that they had occupied the seats somewhere where the guy had originally offered us.

Our luck was somebody else's bad luck.

...to be concluded in next...

The Sixth Sense

Everyone is aware of his or her five basic senses, seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing and tasting. What everyone is not so well aware of is their sixth sense, that sense of otherworldliness, a connection to something more and greater than their physical senses are able to perceive. This is the entrance to the world of the unseen encounter, the unheard communication, the unfelt touch of someone from the spiritual world trying to make a connection with someone in the physical body.

Everybody's heard of the sixth sense and stories surrounding it. So many movies have been made with the theme like the boy who saw dead people as in M. Night Shyamalan's movie The Sixth Sense, or the man who saw the tomorrow as in Iyyer, The Great, an old Malayalam movie. But have you ever had a hunch, an instinct or an intuition? Some experts claim that such hunches might actually foretell the future. Others aren't so sure. Here's a story I found on the net.

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Alex was cleaning his double-action, six-shot revolver in preparation for a bunting trip later in the month. In this pistol, when the trigger is pulled the hammer is cocked, the cylinder revolves, and the hammer falls on the next chamber, all in one smooth motion. For safety's sake, Alex normally kept five bullets in the revolver, with the hammer resting on the sixth, empty chamber.

Before cleaning the gun, he later said, he removed the five bullets and set them aside. When finished cleaning, he began to put the bullets back in the cylinder. When he arrived at the fifth and final bullet, he suddenly got a distinct sense of dread. It had something to do with that bullet.

Alex was bothered about the odd feeling because nothing like it had ever happened to him before. He decided to trust his gut, so he put the bullet aside and positioned the pistol's hammer as usual over the sixth chamber. The chamber next to it, which normally held the fifth bullet, was now also empty.

Two weeks later, Alex was at a hunting lodge with his fiancee and her parents. That evening, unexpectedly, a violent argument broke out between the parents. Alex tried to calm them down, but the father, in an insane rage, grabbed Alex's gun, which had been in a drawer, and pointed it at his wife.

Alex tried to intervene by jumping between the gun and the woman, but he was too late -- the trigger was already being pulled. For a horrifying split second, Alex know that he was about to get shot at point-blank range. But instead of a sudden, gruesome death, the pistol went "click." The cylinder had revolved to an empty chamber -- the very chamber that would have contained the fifth bullet if Alex had not set it aside two weeks earlier.

Had Alex actually predicted the future, or was this just an extraordinary coincidence? Does a sixth sense really exist? It’s been a hot topic with researchers for a long time.

Am not sure about it either, but I did have these strange hunches and intuitions in the past, and not just once, but quite a number of times that I remember at least. Let me share a few here.

Long back, when I was a kid, I remember telling my sister one day that she's gonna fall down and hurt herself that day. She didn't take it seriously, but it turned out that she did actually fall and hurt herself that same day. I don't know what impact that really had on my sister back then but she thought that I did "predict" the future. But that wasn't any sixth sense. It was just a coincidence. But later, years later, in October 1993 if I remember right, something happened which really shook me.

Back then I was in senior secondary school, and it was a crucial year for me. But more than the textbooks and classes, I was interested in music, movies and the stars. With my pocket money, I used to buy many magazines and books that otherwise my parents wouldn't let me have 'coz they were worried about me losing my grip on the studies. These magazines I used to keep them in my room, inside a shelf, hidden amongst the many books and papers. Then one day we all went on a 4-day trip from the school. We had all the fun and were back to our hometown by about dinnertime on the 4th day. As I said bye to my friends and walked home, I suddenly had this weird feeling inside. It was a kind of intuition, that my mother has taken my absence as a right time to clean up my room and shelf and that she had found out my little secret, the magazines hidden under the books. I was really scared that moment. It wasn't a big deal actually. It wasn't like they were some "forbidden" books. But I was still scared. I reached home and my parents were having dinner. I spoke to them for a few minutes and went to my room to freshen up. The first thing I noticed was, my room was indeed cleaned. I rushed to shelf and checked inside. Yup, my moms actually cleaned it up, and guess what; all those magazines and books that I had kept from them were missing!

Of course I had to answer a lot of questions to my mom after that but what really shook me was the fact that I actually "saw" it coming. I should have dismissed it as just a coincidence, but I couldn't. I mean, I was coming back from 4 days of fun with friends and there was no reason why I should have suddenly been worrying about my mom finding out my secret which, to begin with, wasn't as serious as having killed somebody and buried the body in my backyard.

I couldn't dismiss it that easily. I sat and let my mind wander, as usual. I tried to remember if something similar had happened any time earlier in my life. The only incident I could remember, other than my sister hurting herself, was something that took place a few years earlier when celebrating a festival with all my cousins. That day we were all having a great time bursting crackers and enjoying fireworks. In between, one of my cousins was trying to light a flowerpot - that conical stuff which shoots up fire like a fountain. It wouldn't light up even after repeated tries. So she left it. After sometime I saw her going to give it another try. I suddenly sensed danger there and told her not to do it. I told her it's gonna explode instead of just shooting the fire up. She just gave me a blunt look, which ideally would have translated to "Such a coward". I let her go. She went ahead with her intentions, sat down and tried to get it work. And then - the flowerpot exploded. It wasn't a big one, and so it sounded just like a small cracker. My cousin sat there, stunned. Everybody ran to her and asked her if she was hurt. She said no, she was just fine. Minutes later, she was missing and I found her sitting in her room, with tears in her eyes. She had indeed burnt her hand.

Could that have been a hunch that told the future, or just another coincidence? I had dismissed it back then as a case of me being more sensible than my cousin but now it seemed like it was kind of a sixth sense that was telling me what's gonna happen. I discussed these incidents with a friend of mine and he too had some stories to tell me. So I started believing that the sixth sense or whatever that is, is a part of everyone whether or not they like it. It is a normal part of the human psyche and not abnormal or reserved for special or gifted persons.

…to be continued…

Of 4 Great Movies!

This year so far, quite a few good movies have come out, which is quite refreshing. I was so bugged watching the same old mindless actions and movies heavily loaded with sfx just for the heck of it. Being an animation and vfx enthusiast, I shouldn't be saying that, but then, I hate movies badly made or movies with bad sfx. And I never enjoy movies with flying cars and ships, tall ultra modern structures and high-tech robots as cab drivers and stuff…the stories set in 2500AD or whenever. I have never watched any of the Star Wars movies. Every time I say that, my friends look at me like am crazy. A movie buff, a guy who loves animations and sfx, and never seen the ultimate out of this world movie, Star Wars?

Nope. I haven't. And that's kind of the reason why I haven't seen it too. Out of this world. Somehow, I don't enjoy them. Star Wars, Fifth Element, Total Recall, Minority Report… many more I guess. The few I liked are The Matrix (especially the first part) and Terminator (maybe coz it's set in our times, though the machines come from 2035) trilogy. A movie like Mask of Zorro, which hardly had any CG works and one like Pirates of the Caribbean, which used CG skills so seamlessly that the movie still had the classic feel to it, is always so welcome in my heart.

Ok, let me get to the movies I saw recently.

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First it's Rang De Basanti, which is targeted at the young generation. It's a film about awakening; about standing up for ones beliefs.

A young English filmmaker comes to India to make a film on the Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and their contemporaries and their fight for freedom from the British rule. But due to lack of funds, she decides to recruit students from Delhi University to act in her documentary. She thus meets and befriends a group of youngsters. These youngsters could be anyone of us today and their lives mirror the kind of lives the youth of today lead - namely a self centered and materialistic existence where ideas like patriotism and making a change are strictly the stuff history books are made of. As the story moves on, it turns out that more than just telling the world about the efforts of the young revolutionaries and the enormity of their contribution to the freedom movement in India, Sue's documentary makes these youngsters stop and stare at themselves for being the actual descendants of these great men and never recognizing and celebrating their courage and spirit. The tagline, A Generation Awakens is so aptly chosen for this movie. It's a highly inspiring and very thought provoking movie. But I certainly wouldn't agree that it's the best. A lot of flaws did exist. Many veteran actors were cast just for namesake and that was a total waste of talent. But it was a wholesome entertainer, with some great music (the song Roo-ba-roo is beautiful) and good performances by the young actors.

Aamir Khan who almost passes well as a college student even in his 40s yet again after DCH, plays DJ who passed out five years back but still wants to be a part of the University because he doesn't think there's much out there in the real world to look forward to; Siddharth of Boys fame plays Karan, a cold and silent character, the son of an industrialist played by Anupam Kher; Kunal Kapoor, quite a looker, plays Aslam, a middle class Muslim boy who is a poet, philosopher and guide to his friends; Sharman Joshi plays Sukhi, the group's baby, innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing - girls; Atul Kulkarni is Laxman Pandey, the fundamentalist in the group, and the only one who still believes that politics can make the world a better place and Soha Ali Khan plays Sonia - the sole girl in the group, engaged to Ajay, the dashing airforce pilot, payed by Madhavan. Overall, a good movie. Enjoyable. And it carries a message, which is just great considering the amount of junk our movie industry churns out every year.

Another movie I enjoyed is the John Abraham - Nana Patekar starrer Taxi 9211, the story line for which is "inspired" by the Samuel L Jackson - Ben Affleck thriller Changing Lanes (2002). It's said that director Luthria has only taken inspiration from the film and not copied it blatantly. I did find some scenes to be carbon copies however. Anyways, the casting is great and direction and the performance by the actors are excellent. This is the first movie I liked John Abraham's acting in. And Nana Patekar, even though in his usual short tempered role, was great 'coz in this he wasn't the person who gives long speeches and hard hitting dialogues. He was just a short tempered taxi driver who lies to his wife that he's an insurance agent. John is an irresponsible rich business man. An accident involving the two builds the whole story. And the two stubborn men try destroying each other's lives but end up destroying their own. Well, almost. It's been done pretty well, and the chemistry between the two actors did the movie real good. And this movie has a pretty good message too. I enjoyed it more than Rang De Basanti, to be frank.

A movie that's making news now is Being Cyrus, an English movie from India. I watched it on video, but the copy was too bad to even understand the dialogues well, let alone enjoy it. But from the li'l I did see and understand, I could tell you it's a very well made movie with a dark storyline and great performances by the entire cast. Just a handful of them but doing a great job. It's more like watching a play in a theatre.

The only English movie I watched recently and liked is, Crash. I wanted to watch Brokeback Mountain, but I missed it at the cinema. Will watch it for sure on DVD even though I hate gays ;o) Anyways, Crash is movie about rasicm in all its complexities. Here's the synopsis of the movie.

A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. A black television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple...

They all live in Los Angeles. And in the next 36 hours, they will all collide...

I won't try to explain the storyline or what exactly it is about, 'coz I think it's a movie you gotta watch and feel it. It's a film that challenges audiences to question their own prejudices.

A few lines from the movie that I really loved :
"Live your life at the point of impact."
"Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other."
"You think you know who you are. You have no idea."

A movie well done. Do watch it.

Bush Batter!

Just wanted to share this here.

Somebody mailed me this link sometime back and ever since I have been addicted to it. Whoever created it, which I guess is a guy named Dan from whose site it comes, must really hate George and this I say is the best way anybody who hates the guy can take their frustrations out.

Check it out.
http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm

Just drag the guy around and drop him and do whatever you want.

I warn you though. It's quite scary how much you start enjoying this "torture game" ;)

Rambles and Mumbles

Been a long time. 2 months and 3 days to be more precise. And I've been too busy and then too bugged and soon too frustrated to be in mood to jot anything. I still am a li'l aloof and so have no idea what to write about. But then I thought I'll just do the ramblings and mumblings on a text file rather than in my mind, so that I have something to post at least. Well, here I go. Get bugged. Feel frustrated. Kill yourself. I don't care. And thanx in advance for not blaming me for it :)

I posted last on my birthday. So lemme start with that. My birthday.

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It wasn't something great, but it was a nice one. All my friends and cousins and uncles and aunts wished me, by phone or by sms. Oh, don't be of the impression that I have loads of them though. Just a few good friends and relatives. In fact, more of my girlfriend's friends wished me than my own old friends. Funny, eh? But that's how it's been always. My friends never remember my birthday. Even in school, I used to wish all my friends for their birthdays…and send them cards etc. And they used to be like.. "Wow! You remembered!" That was good enough to make me happy. I never cared if they did the same to me. I was more excited when I used to get cards from unexpected sources. Like the one I got from Parry's, the toffee company who had conducted some game once and I had participated. They sent me a sweet li'l card on my following birthday, which totally made my day!

Well, that was a long time ago when Internet and websites were a distant dream. Today, to be frank, I get most of the birthday wishes from the umpteen websites I have registered with. They don't make me feel special 'coz I know, unlike the one somebody at Parry's sent me, it's an auto-generated e-card and lacks any human emotional value.

Anyway, this year, the company where I work also celebrated my birthday, making me cut a yummy cake and smearing my face with some and giving me a small gift etc. Then when I went home, my sweetheart gave me a tiny party too...with just the 2 of us. It was a really sweet one and is something I always look forward to :) Then I went to my aunt's place and they made me cut yet another cake and had dinner there and hogged on a lot of ice cream for dessert too.

Well, that was my birthday. A simple and nice day.

At work however, things have been a mixture of feelings. I have been going through a lot of pressure and some fun and quite a lot of irritations and frustrations. Am into designs and stuff, and so my job is a lot more pleasant than the coding and programming team here. Well, for me at least, it is. I enjoy the work when deadlines are set. Keeps me engaged the whole time, with no time for worries. That's the only way I can keep my mind from wandering into the unwanted territories. So I enjoyed those days at work. But once I finished those works, a lot of stuff came up which were highly irritating. And something the company was to do for us in February, is still pending. So I have been pushed into the frustration zone and there I still linger. Not a pretty sight, I tell you.

Ok, forget that. Now what else happened in the 2 months and 3 days? Ummm... well, after a long wait, I got a new phone. A Sony Ericsson K750i. Quite a gadget. A cool 2MP camera with loads of options, just like a regular digicam, a cool mp3 player that comes with my favorite MegaBass option from Sony (it's become a replacement for my Creative Nomad MuVo, which by itself is a cool gismo), a good FM tuner and a great, superfast processor which renders 3D games damn nice. Wanted a Nokia as am too used to them, but then nothing was available that could beat the K750i for its image and sound quality. Oh yeah, am a gadget freak and am pretty happy with the one I got :)

I watched a few movies too which I really enjoyed. Will write about them in the next post. And you can read it if you haven't killed yourself by the end of this. Ha! Ha!! (snort! snort!)

In the last 10 days, my parents were with me and it was their 30th wedding anniversary on the 4th of April. So, as a celebration, we planned a short trip with a few friends and relatives to Coorg, a district at the Karnataka-Kerala border. It's known for its incomparable scenic beauty, lush green valleys, coffee plantations, teak wood forests & majestic mountain ranges. It was a nice trip, in a group of 9. The climate there has however changed a lot now which I presume is inevitable considering the global warming. And the roads of course were horrible too and that left everybody too tired for much walks and treks. The trip could have been better, but still it was a good one and is one I made after a real long time. A much needed break from this city pollution and traffic.

Talking of this city, those who have known Bangalore a few years earlier, would be crying inside now to see its plight. This place has changed so much. I remember how pleasant the days used to be here back in 1999. Throughout the day, throughout the year, we used to wear a jacket and go out. I still have many jackets I bought back then, now rendered useless. The place has become so horribly hot and polluted that during weekends we prefer to stay at home rather than get burnt alive outside. The temperatures that used to vary from 14C to 27C now swing between 19C and 37C. The sales of air conditioners, coolers, fans and refrigerators were never this huge here. People are switching to whites, lights and cottons from the ever-fashionable denims and corporate dressings. The daily travel to work and back is like a test of patience and self-control. While reaching the office on time is the greatest achievement of the day, finding a parking space for the vehicle on a weekend is that of the whole week. The once green garden city is now the city of a lot lesser trees; and never-ending traffic jams, flyover constructions, potholes and road repairs and corrupted politicians, government employees and cops. And even with all these bottlenecks, the cost of living here is soaring sky-high. Shopping malls just pop up like mushrooms.

I once had a dream of settling down in Bangalore, but now, am not so sure. Don't blame me for that. Am allergic to heat...and dust...and pollution...and crowded places ...and...irritating people...

Oh, shuddup!

Growing Older!

Damn! How time flies when you don't want it to.

Today, am officially a year older!
And am fishing for wishes...heehee.

Yeah! It's... like we used to say once... my "Happy Birthday".
Just entered the last year of my 20s... Gosh! That does make me feel like a fossil.

Not very keen about celebrating b'days...err...I mean, my b'days. Not 'coz I don't want to, but I usually don't have anybody around me that time. But yes, I get calls from all the people I really care about, and in the last 4 years, I've had the one person with me to make it special.

Well, I guess that's a lot more than I could ask for :)

Oh well...

Free n' Wild

Manfred the Mammoth, Diego the Saber-toothed Tiger and Sid the sloth were the weirdest herd I ever came across. Their adventure entertained millions around the world in 2002. If you’re wondering what am talking about, well, am talking about the animated movie Ice Age. This funny and enthralling movie, set 20,000 years ago, during the titular Paleolithic era, is one of the animated movies I enjoyed a lot.

The story line is simple. The unlikely team encounters a dying human mother who relinquishes her chirpy toddler to the care of these creatures. Hoping against all odds to return the little guy to his migrating tribe, the members of the herd need to establish trust among them, which apparently is not an easy task in a harsh world of predators, prey, and pushy glaciers. How they become a team is kind of similar to how the lonely ogre and the irritating donkey became a team in the "greatest fairy tale never told", Shrek. Manny is annoyed with Sid, and after he saves Sid's life from a pair of (prehistoric) rhinos, he just can't seem to get rid of him!! Diego joins a little later, trying to steal the human kid from the pair and take it to his own pack.

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The movie is real funny and the show stealers are Sid and Scrat (a…err…saber-toothed squirrel? He’s kind of half-squirrel half-rat, and hence the name, I guess) especially Scrat even with the short appearances he makes now and then. The pun in the dialogues is hilarious. Overall, a great, wholesome entertainer. Am eagerly awaiting it’s sequel, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, which is to come out this summer.

Few days back I watched Madagascar, yet another animated movie, this time from the makers of Shrek and Shark Tale. Yes, am an animated movie enthusiast too…heehee. Well, basically, am an animator, you know. Anyways, if Ice Age showed the "humane" side of the animals (or maybe it’s the "animale" side), Madagascar in a way deals with the inhumane side of humans. Maybe not directly, but it sure does, I feel.


So, what’s the plot? It’s about 4 animals, best of friends. Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller) is living large on steak and applause at New York's Central Park Zoo. The same goes for Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer, who is annoyingly whiny. Well, that’s the character). The only complaints come from Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) who always dreams of the wild, the world beyond the fences of the zoo. A bunch of penguins successfully break out of the zoo in the hopes of reaching Antarctica. This prompts the zebra to realize that he could visit his wild roots and he breaks out of the zoo on his 10th birthday. His three friends break out as well in the hopes of returning him to the zoo. Things go wrong. The escape bid is seen by us simple-minded humans as a sign that the animals desire to return to their natural habitat and soon the bunch of “don’t-know-what’s-wilderness” wild animals are boxed and shipped by animal rights people, to be released…where else…in the wild. But a series of unfortunate events ends with them getting thrown overboard, into the sea, in the boxes. And that’s how the animals hit tropical Madagascar, ruled by King Julien XIII, a lemur (hilariously voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen). And then the trouble starts. The king enlists the "New York Giants" to scare off the predatory Foosa. But Alex, his own lion instincts aroused by starving and missing his fav steaks, digs his teeth into Marty's butt. He'll take his steak where he can get it.

The movie wasn’t up to my expectations, as someone made me expect a little more than it delivered. Like one of the reviews online says,

Less like Shrek, meaning hilarious and heartfelt, and more like Shark Tale, meaning manic and exhausting, Madagascar will keep kids distracted without transporting them to wonderland. Unlike recent age-crossing animated goodies, Madagascar is juvenile and deeply generic.

Now, for a moment, just think of what the animals that we keep in the zoo could actually be wishing for. Most of them never know what their real home is like, what their life actually should be like. If they ever get to go to the wild, would they survive? Tarzan grew up in the jungles, and when he finally came to civilization, he was in trouble. But he had Jane with him. What would animals do if they had to go from civilization to the jungles, which ironically is their real home? They should have been born free, free and wild. It’s sad, I feel. The first time I thought about that is when I watched Born Free a very very long time ago.

Anyways, Madagascar the movie, is an enjoyable one and has it’s share of laughs to offer too. Cohen as King Julien - the lemur, steals the show from the entire cast whenever his character is on screen. For me, the best part of the movie was the song "I like to move it, move it", featuring Julien. God, that was hil-LLarious, and I guess even the team at DreamWorks loved it. It’s featured in the movie, and again during the end titles. And a special music video comes as a bonus with the movie too.

It’s worth it.

Nuts!

…for what I am.
…for being the way I am.
…for not being able to change myself.
…for hurting so many of you.
…for hurting YOU.

I hate myself…for being me!

The Question Is, Why?

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

- Neil Gaiman (English born American Author of “The Sandman”, b.1960)

Ok, I don’t hate love. But is love really an overrated factor in life? No, I need to be more specific here. Not love in general, but that love you have for a special someone. That’s the one am talking about. Let's see...

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You meet a person of your opposite sex (err… or maybe your own, in case of gays or lesbians), you become friends, get closer, know each other so well, and one fine day realize you can’t live without each other. You sit and think.

Is the friendship turning to something more?

After much brooding and brain scrambling, you come to a conclusion.
Yes, am in love.

You look around. You see yourself in a wonderland, filled with green meadows, beautiful flowers, clear blue sky, crystal clear stream, butterflies fluttering by. You search for someone you can break this new discovery to. And finally when you do, they all flaunt you. Make fun of you. Feel happy for you. Or maybe even feel jealous of you. But you don’t care. You get on with your newfound life. Your new found interest. Your love.

The first few months, everything goes great for the two of you. It’s just love everywhere you go and in everything you do. And why not? You are best of friends, now more than that. But as life goes on, things start changing. Something seems different every time you care to look around. The wonderland has fewer flowers. There are signs of a thundershower in the sky. The stream is much drier than it ever was. You don’t understand why. You suddenly seem to be too obsessed with your love. Your best friend is now someone you often have arguments with. Sometimes even fight with. Somewhere along the way, you left the fact that your love was your best friend who stood by you through it all. You tend to find faults with that person which you never cared about earlier. Sometimes that ends up in turning you whole life into a hellhole. One fine day you decide 'maybe we should be just friends'.

And that’s where you end. Just friends. Not even the best friends you used to be. It’s a total fall out. The question is, why?

Why is it that we tend to hurt the person we love so much?
Why is it that as friends we have no reservations whatsoever but as lovers things change between the same pair?
Why is it that as friends we understand each other better but as lovers we seem to have so many misunderstandings?

I know what you must be wondering now. “What happened to this guy? Did he breakup with his girlfriend or something?” Oh, no. Never. But we did go through some bad phases. And at times I even thought I shouldn’t be ruining her life like this. I thought maybe I should let her go ‘coz she’s never gonna be happy with me. I told her that I got such thoughts. And she asked me if I could actually get her out of my system.

I thought about it (just for a second, heehee).
Hell. No. I can never get her out of my thoughts. I go nuts if I don’t see her even a day. She’s my dream. How can I ever let go of that?
And she told me, neither can she.

And we were back to being normal people again :)

Somebody had asked me, is it really worth being in a relationship? Sure there are quite some moments filled with love that you may cherish, but so often you have problems cropping up and you end up hurting each other. Is it worth all the trouble just to enjoy those few nice moments?

Yes. It is worth all that and more...for me atleast. Even though we have had so many bad moments and have been at the verge of killing each other (exaggeration, kindly note...we ain't that bad ;) ) the fact remains that the moments we cherish are the best we have ever had and will anytime overlay the bad moments. Like the warm hug after "settling a fight". That is so amazing, that no matter how bad or stupid the fight was, everything disappears...just like that.

The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other. I feel, instead of just falling in love with your friend, maybe you should try befriending the person you love too. I don’t know if that’s how it works, but it ought to, right?

I have a fool in me. One who feels too much, talks too less, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. I need to tame this fool. And life can be a lot better. It’s a thought worth trying. I would, 'coz I dont hate love.
And my special someone, is really worth it.

Like someone said,

Dance as though no one is watching you.
Love as though you have never been hurt before.
Sing as though no one can hear you.
Live as though heaven is on earth.

Naheeeeeee...!

Damn it!

It’s happened, just like I was afraid it would. I’ve been tagged!!!
And hence the melodramatic (??) title for this post.

(For those who don’t know what “Naheeeeee…” means, it’s “Noooooooo…” in Hindi... Err... Hindi movies to be more specific… used mostly by characters who are getting abused, tortured, tormented, raped, killed and so on. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?)

The deal is, I’ve to give a list of 15 things I would like to do before the age of 40. Grrrr… Nivi.. I’ll avenge myself for this.

Hmmm. now…me being the dreamer I am (not the ones I dream with my eyes closed, but the ones I do with them open.. and somebody said such people are dangerous. Ahem! Point to be noted by some people… *wink* wink*) I have a long list of “wish I could do” and “man, I have to do that” things. Picking just 15 from them that I think I wanna do before am 40, ain’t that easy. And right now, am too busy to even write and post something. But somehow, I manage.

So, 15 things to do? Before the age of 40? Now that’s something to wish for, considering that I’m fast entering the last year of my 20s. That leaves me with just 11 years, but what the heck! Here goes…

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1. First things first. I wanna fly to Australia. No silly, not growing my own wings for that. I mean I wanna go to Australia. I’ve been planning on this for quite a long time. And I even dropped it a couple of times from my list of must-do things, for various reasons. But now, with support from all sides, am working on it and hopefully this will be the first thing to be granted in my long list of wishes. Probably before 30.(Fingers crossed tight. Ouch!)

2. “Drop the bomb and snatch Sin.” I know what that sounds like, but don’t worry, am not planning on a WW3. Those who know me and the Sin am talking about, and is aware of the issues we face in getting together, would have got the picture now. And for those who don’t, am sorry, but it’s hard to explain. So I wouldn’t go into details on this now.

3. My DreamWorks. YES, am talking about DreamWorks, the Hollywood production house, and NO am not planning to buy it out. But I wanna set up a small studio like that and grow big from there on. Am an animation and sfx freak. I love cartoons. I love comics. I love superhero movies like Spiderman. Am a graphic designer and animator by profession, and I’ve struggled and sacrificed a lot to be where I am now, even if it doesn’t seem like a big achievement when seen by an onlooker. My own studio, like DreamWorks and Pixar, is my ultimate dream. Am working on that, and just for y’all to know… if you ever come across the name cubixart sometime later in your life, remember me. ’Coz that’s where am gonna start. That’s gonna be my studio name. (www.cubixart.com)

4. Repay my debts…both in kind and/or cash. Yes, I owe a lot of them both to a lot of people, even if they never asked me for anything in return, for their unconditional support in the most crucial phases of my life. My parents, my sister, my cousins, my friends, all included. My only concern is, am late in doing it.

5. Be a hunk. Woo the babes.
(hahahahaha… Me? A hunk? Wooing babes? God! Hahahahahaha…)
Ok, jokes apart, am talking of working out. Getting into shape. (No wooing or shooing babes involved here, I swear). Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would call me FAT! Hmmm…I think this should have been first on the list. Anywayz.

6. Dream room, in a dream house. Now that’s one of my crazy dreams. ‘Coz everybody has a dream house and so do I…but my dream room, is different. My dream house can be on the beach, in the country side, in the jungle or even a lush green hill station. But wherever it is, I have this dream room in there that’s totally…completely planned, designed and built in my mind. From the material of the door hinges to which button switches on what. I have no intentions of discussing that here though, ‘coz it’s my dream room and it’s gonna be there only in my mind till I actually build it. It’s gonna be unique and now y’all know something like this exists in my head ;)

7. Adopt a child. My humble contribution towards the millions of needy children in the world.

8. Horses. Dogs. I love horses. I love horses. I love horses. Such beautiful creatures. And I love dogs. Such faithful and adorable beings. I wanna have a lot of them around me. That’s gonna be a long term plan. Not something to be done before am 40. But atleast, I’ll have a couple of dogs and maybe a horse. Now don’t picture me on a horse in the streets of Bangalore. Nevah! This is definitely gonna be in Australia only. Be a part time cowboy maybe :)

9. Fly a helicopter. Another of my long cherished dreams. I love ‘em choppers. Always have had a fascination for them. Amazing machines. I so badly wanna fly one. Not just fly IN one. I used to say I’ll do it at least once before I die. But then, what’s the point in trying to fly it when I can’t even figure out if it’s the controls or my walking stick that am holding????

10. Travel the world. Ok, maybe not travel the whole world before am 40. O’coz I could do it if I wanted to, right? That crazy old scientist did it in just 80 days when even the Wright bros were repairing bicycles, didn’t he? Anyways, the point is, I wanna travel to as many places as I can before am 40. I wanna travel in such a way that I can enjoy every single moment of it. Am not that keen on taking a flight and going and staying in some star hotel and going around in a cab, nope. I wanna live every moment of that travel, to the fullest.

11. Learn to dance. No classical dance nor to be a great dancer. And I don’t mean just jumping around like a mad monkey in a discotheque. Just wanna learn to move myself to the music. Just get into the groove. (I can hear someone laughing…)

12. Go trekking... into deep jungle. Back to the jungle. I love it. And I wanna explore it. Deep. Deeper. The last time I went to the jungle, I really missed trekking into it. I was like a child who was taken to Disneyland but not allowed to take any of the rides. It was terrible.

13. Drive an off-roader, top speed, filmy ishtyle. I love cars. I love a few classic ones. I love a few that “has class”. And I love many of the off-raoders. I love driving too. I just wanna rip across the terrains in a sturdy vehicle, once at least.

14. Be romantic. Am very unromantic as of now. Am quite horny, but not so romantic (heeheehee) I don’t buy her flowers. I don’t sing sweet li’l stupid songs to her. I never went down on my knees and said “Marry me” or “Be my valentine” to her. I never took her to a couples only party and jived to the music. I never had a candle light dinner with soft music playing in the BG. I never popped surprises at her. I never bought her things I would have really love to. In other words, am never romantic. So it’s high time I did something about it. I wanna take her to the beach and walk on the wet sand, holding her hand and the cool breeze on our face. I wanna spend the evening with my arms around her, enjoying the sun set. I wanna jump out of the corner with a bouquet of flowers, just to see the surprised expression on her face. I wanna do a lot of things. And all that and more before I start using dentures.

15. And the last but not the least thing I wanna do. Kiss in the rain. Do I need to elaborate on that? I guess not ;)

Phew! Ok, this is a quick draft. Didn’t do any mathematics to find out exactly what 15 things I would like to do in the next 11 years. But these are the 15 things out of the many more that I wanna and may do. Things I may not be able to enjoy much at an older age as I would now.

Do pardon me.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

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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So yesterday, I just let my mind wander into that fascinating world of Forrest Gump. Just wanted to see if I can really figure out why I love it so much. Is it the movie I love, or is it the character?

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.

“Hello. My name's Forrest Gump
You want a chocolate?
I could eat about a million and a half of these. My momma always said life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Momma's talking nonsense, of course. You know exactly what you're going to get in a box of chocolates. You just have to read that little piece of card inside the lid.”

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.

Particularly outside the United States, the film was viewed as extended and undeserved praise of ignorant naiveness, a stereotypical trait widely associated with Americans in some quarters. Others note that Gump's successes result from doing what he is told by others, and never showing any of initiative of his own, in contrast to Jenny's more forthright and independent character who is shown descending into drugs, prostitution and death. Still others point out that much like Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," it was a premature overly generous homage to the Baby Boomer generation. Like Joel's 1989 single, the film celebrates what that generation witnessed (but to which it did not contribute), criticizes what that generation condemned (but to which it does not offer corrections), and yet absolves it of any responsibility for its shortcomings and failures.

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.

“My momma always said life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Momma's talking nonsense, of course. You know exactly what you're going to get in a box of chocolates. You just have to read that little piece of card inside the lid”

“My momma always said you could tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear.”

“Stupid is as stupid does.”

[Speaking about his Vietnam days]
“We was always taking these real long walks, looking for this guy named Charlie.”

“The best thing about visiting the President is the food! Now, since it was all free, and I wasn't hungry but thirsty, I must've drank me about fifteen Dr.Peppers.”

[In the Watergate hotel; on phone with security]
“Yeah, sir, you might want to send a maintenance man over to that office across the way. The lights are off, and they must be looking for a fuse box, 'cause them flashlights, they keep me awake.”

[When his girlfriend Jenny runs out of rocks to throw at the house where her father molested her]
“I guess sometimes there just aren't enough rocks.“

[Speaking about Lieutenant Daniel Taylor]
“He was from a long great military tradition. Somebody from his family had fought and died in every single American war. I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to.”

“Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know that ain't something you can find just around the corner.”

“Bubba was gonna be a shrimpin' boat captain, but instead he died right there by that river in Vietnam.”

“That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.”

“My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.”

“Mama always said, dying was a part of life.”

“We were like peas and carrots, Jenny and I.“

“I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both.”

[When Lieutenant Daniel Taylor asks him: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?]
“ I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.”

And my personal favorite:
“I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.”

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!

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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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.

Remember. Magic... is just an illusion!

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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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.

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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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!

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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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.

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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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.

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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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?

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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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.