Every tear you cry
fills an ocean
in which one day
I will drown.

International Women's Day 2006

for Baby

you only truly love somebody
when both sides of the coin
look exactly the same

You must stop
being a dreamer,
she said.

... like someone
who chooses to sing
only because he stutters
when he speaks.

I had an interesting converstaion with my buddy Ally this morning, on a problem that has many around the world very concerned over its effects.

Dude, tell me everything you know about PMS!

Well - for one, I know that the Church very strongly condemns it.

What?? But what has the Church got to do with-

You're talking about Pre-Marital Sex, right? :)

Abbe yaar, tu bhi na! ... I'm serious, you bugger. Tell me what you bleddy know about PMS!

How the hell should I know about this stuff man ... go ask Pudding! (his girlfriend Sandra)

Dude, I cannot ask her - she is the reason I'm asking you. Because these days whenever I ask her to go out with me, she starts complaining that she's going through PMS! .... I know that all women get it sometime, but of late our dame has been bleddy getting it all the time! Iss month mein already teen baar ho gaya ... my love-life is getting screwed, boss!

Maybe she should see a doctor.

I told here the same thing, but she says no use wasting money on doctors because this is a natural change her bodily system is undergoing .... And you know what she told me is the cause behind it -- Global Warming!!

Global warming?? She can't be serious!

I'm telling you dude, she's saying that as the climate gets hotter and hotter, she is going to get more and more PMS ... which means I am bleddy going to get nothing!

I think your Pudding is pulling a fast one on you, bro.

But what if it's true dude - what if she is the first woman in the world to experience this kind of change due to global warming?

Holy shit, man! ... yeah, I guess there does have to be a first. Maybe we should report her to the New England Journal of Medicine!

Abbe, paagal ho gaya kya?? We have to keep it a top-secret! ... Goverment's will fall dude; there might even be a Third World War over global warming! Where women are involved, anything is bleddy possible!

You know, you're right. This could turn out to be a very serious matter.

Yeah dude, I know. Anyways, I'm fed up of Pudding and all her bleddy nonsense. So this weekend I'm going to see a movie with Moushami - remember that Bong chick I was telling you about? So far at least, she has not shown any symptoms arising from global warming!

Make hay while the sun shines?

Yes dude ... and these days it is shining hotter than ever! :)

... And what is Love
but a captivating illusion
in a forbidding reality?

Thanks for all your comments on the Rang De Basanti post. What my friend xFreakx said finally was quite interesting -- "you don't expect anyone to go watch a movie and get awakened to those levels ... its finally entertainment!"

And entertainment it is. Which is why I'm wondering why people (and that includes the production team) didn't just call it another time-pass flick in the first place. I realize now that the so-called message was only intended to be ancillary to everything else. So take away the cinematography and the music, and what you're left with is-- a flop! (unfortunately even good acting cannot rescue a watery storyline).

Fair enough. And that is why I fully agree with Patrix when he says we shouldn't bother sending our films to the Oscars anymore. Because obviously the jury there expects more from a film than just its ability to provide its viewers with time-pass.

xFreakx also said something about a kind of subconscious awakening. Is a subconscious awakening really an awakening? Frankly I'm not too sure.

I remember how after watching that Karate Kid movie when we were kids, the first thing I wanted to do was sign up for karate classes. Hell yeah! I would be the underdog who'd surprise the bully's in school by kicking the shit outta their ugly asses when they least expected it. But did I do it? Well, I did take up karate in school but that didn't last long; and soon Karate Kid was history.

I guess in a way we are all wannabe Karate Kid's - you and me. And movies like Rang De Basanti make you believe that you could be that Karate Kid if you wanted to ... that you could make everything all right again by throwing a few punches here and a few kicks there. But in reality it is an entirely different story.

But y'know, having said that, I remember something our michelle once said to me: I watch movies to get away from reality. Why do you watch them?

:)

***

They say an unextinguished cigarette butt can set off a forest-fire covering thousands of acres. That certainly seems to be the case with the worldwide protests we're seeing over some caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that were published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in many other countries. The Danish publication says they never expected the repercussions to be so widespread and so violent. And now it is quite obvious that the cartoon issue is being used as an excuse for violence on other things that the Islamic world is pissed off about.

I do not understand why religious leaders do not stop their followers from resorting to violence at the slightest provocation .... why not talk some sense into people who look up to you for guidance instead of inciting them to go on the rampage. And why can't religion just stick to being a personal set of beliefs instead of turning into a collective nuisance?

I know I wouldn't be the slightest bit peeved if someone said or published anything about Jesus or Mary, the reason being that for me they will always continue to be Jesus and Mary. Nothing anybody says or does will change that. And I am sure there are many followers of the Islamic faith who feel the same way about the Prophet.

Peace, love, and not so many lost sheep.

O.K. I know I am going to get a lot of flak for this post, but what the hell, it's never stopped me before. So here goes.

Rang De Basanti -- An immature film for immature audiences.

If Mr. Rakeysh Mehra keeps making films like this, he's going to have to insert many more y's into his name before he sees a change in his fortunes. To me this film is like a brightly coloured cocktail that looks good in the glass, but one that you just cannot drink because it tastes so bludy awful.

And yes, I did taste it. I went to see it yesterday afternoon and came away thoroughly disappointed. It looks to me like the makers of this film were determined to pack in as much entertainment as they possibly could in the first-half, and then after the interval you get the feeling that they're saying: Okay folks, we've given you what you came for, now let's wrap it up quickly and go home!

In the first-half Aamir Khan appears to have gone back into Dil Chahta Hai mode with all the youthful mauj-masti ... only this time it's a bit of an overdose (there is also the fact that the wrinkles on his face are now starting to show). There are a few catchy tunes to keep you awake and a steady stream of one-liners that I did not find even remotely funny; though others in the audience seemed to be lapping it up with relish. The second-half of the movie is such utter nonsense, it's surprising that someone like Aamir would want to have anything to do with it. Perhaps it was the failure of Mangal Pandey that pushed him into it.

If this was never intended to be a serious movie with a serious message, then I guess it would have been okay -- we've come not to expect too much from Hindi movies anyway. But after listening to what Aamir and the rest of the production team had to say on NDTV recently, I thought they were actually trying to get a serious message across.

And honestly, I didn't expect that message to be something as jejune as: "Don't just sit there and complain, go out and change the system. Join the armed forces, the civil services; get into politics and make a difference!"

But what was really shocking was the way the film goes about conveying this message during the second-half. First Aamir and his pals assassinate the country's Defence Minister (whom they blame for their air-force pilot friends' death in a faulty MIG) and then after realizing their folly, go live on All India Radio and tell listeners not to do what they have done; that they were wrong! No, the right way to change the system is not to finish off all the politicians and bureaucrats, but to join their ranks and do it from the inside! ... Seriously, what do they think we are - a bunch of primary school students??

And how many young men and women do you think will be inspired to join the armed forces when the movie itself shows the Indian Air Force and the Defence Ministry in such a bad light? ... After watching this film, I doubt there will be too many out there eager to be strapped down in a flying coffin, just so they can be called martyr's.

So now do you see why I call it immature? Because the film is childish and contradicts itself.

I think film-makers like Rakeysh Mehra tend to forget that there are people in the audience who expect more than just the regular time-pass fare. 'Change the system' it seems. Well, I'm sure educated men like Mehra know fully well that the system cannot be changed. The rot has set in too deep. Changing it would be akin to taking out so many bricks from the wall that eventually the wall itself will come crashing down. And in a country like India, a collapse like that could be disastrous. Hence, I tend to side with those who argue that a corrupt system that manages to preserve law and order is better than having no system at all ... which would result in anarchy and chaos.

With all due respect to those of you who think it deserves a 5-star rating, I personally would not give Rang De Basanti anything more than one-and-a-half stars out of five. One star because all the actors put in quality performances, and an extra half because Alice Patten did such a wonderful job of her Hindi.

BFN.

For Bun.

Come little girl,
that I shelter you from the world,
that I shield you from hurt,
that I melt into my embrace your sorrow
before it even comes.

Come, that I hold you near,
that I give you a love and caring I have never known,
that I longed for but never saw.

Come, that your life speak of the beauty and joy
which I want you to live for the two of us.

- Denis Guiet

life is nothing
but a mutual benefit
association

... and those who use us
often bring welcome relief
from the weight
that bears us down.

Greetings of the New year! Many thanks for all the good wishes. I hope 2006 turns out to be a fruitful year for each and every one of us.

I attended a wedding reception last evening where I met many old friends. Now the thing with old friends is you never can tell how they will greet you. Some will be thrilled to see you and quickly start to reminisce of the good old days, while others will pass you off with the casual hi-hello-it's been such a long time routine and then slip away to the bar, never to be seen again all evening, save the occasional patronizing glance in your direction.

And to some people knowing what you are doing career-wise is all important. If you are working at a BPO here in India, or happen to be a customer service guy with Dubai Airport Services, you won't get more than a cold hi-hello. But if you've been kissing some white ass in Silicon Valley for the last 5 years, you will get 10 minutes more of talktime.

But why do we do that? Why do we judge people by what they do? .... And these are not just causal acquaintances - these are the very same guys you spent the best years of your life with, in school and college. So what if they didn't reach the heights you reached in your career? They probably didn't make the right choices, or get the right breaks, or simply screwed up somewhere or the other. That in no way should diminish their worth.

Because if it weren't for them you wouldn't have any of those fond memories you cherish so much. Those friends may be worth nothing to you today, but the memories they've left you with are priceless.

As is often the case, when we don't know the value of something, we tend to forget its worth anything at all.

***

I sometimes ask myself this question: What is it that people like about me? I remember playing a little game once with the other guys and girls in our church youth group. We were told to sit in a circle and were each given a sheet of paper on which we had to write our names in bold on the top. Then we had to pass it to the person next to us who had to write on it the one thing he/she liked most about you. And that went on till the sheet with your name at the top came back to you. So what you were left with is a sheet of paper telling you what everyone in the group liked most about you. And reading that was quite a revelation.

I know I still have that sheet of paper somewhere, and I remember how great I felt the last time I looked at it. Someone liked my singing, another liked my sense of humour (yes, yes I know), and there was somebody who wrote that they liked my smile (something I never got before). But I wonder: if that exercise were to be repeated today, would they write those same things about me?

Peace, love and old wine in old bottles.