Interior decoration...

My heart melts when I see birds gathering feathers to be placed in their nests to comfort their little ones... And this one just outside my window is smaller than my thumb! Sometimes life throws so much beauty at me that I am incapable of handling...

Kim

Hats off to you, Kim Clijsters... Totally respect you, lady!

H1N1 and the city...

Today I was greeted by a very unusual sight that I've never witnessed in my city before... I saw majority of the people wearing green-masks to protect themselves from the virus. The masks are being sold like hot-cakes at every chemist shop.

With two deaths so far and so many fresh cases being reported, the fear and the panic is understandable. With most reported cases being kids and students, schools are closed. Quite a few office-colleagues of mine have taken off or are working from home as there's no-one to babysit their kids who are now happily staying at home for the schools are shut. Also there's apprehension amongst parents regarding the spread of this virus at creches. Most private doctors, fearing backlash, are referring every damn case with diagnosis of a flu to the over-burdened Government centres for H1N1 screening. The crowd outside the Naidu Hospital is overwhelming.

Pune is ailing. My city has never looked this sick before :-(

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Ad...

I was clean-bowled by the creativity behind this ad!

Disclaimer

What I find very irritating is the fuzziness and the fine-print involved in EULA's. Hence when I came across this disclaimer, while looking for a software-tool, I was absolutely delighted. It said -
"This code is offered unsupported. If it breaks you get to keep both halves."

Meghadoot...

The early messengers of monsoon are here! Today Pune is tucked in a blanket of fluffy gray clouds. It rained yesterday... thundered & poured... and I just loved it.

Yes, there was water-logging, traffic-jams & the power was off. Water must have gushed into the homes of the poor, their roofs must have leaked, many bikes must have skidded and cars must have hit their brakes a thousand times... Soon the roads will start telling and as every year, Pune & Mumbai will re-confirm their unpreparedness for the rains.

But inspite of all that, I simply can't stop loving this phenomenon of water pouring out of the skies! The fields besides my home are happy & I can sense that. The green they are wearing today is a different green. Birds are twittering non-stop and the termites have taken their feeble maiden flights. Way above, kites are flying aimlessly in circles.

I've spent the last hour admiring the games that the clouds & the winds are engaged in as Louis Armstrong's "What a wonderful world" plays in the background in an endless loop...

Vodafone Zoozoo ads

I've been an admirer of O&M as year after year they've delivered some of the most creative ads. This time too, they have come up with the most creative ads for Vodafone aired during this IPL season! Watch the "Related videos" for others.

What I found truly creative, besides the fact that a new ad is aired daily, was that "the characters were enacted by professional ballet artists in white body suits to mimic animation"! Such a paradigm-shift & out-of-the-box thinking! This article gives some insights in the making...

Relatable, concise & brings home the point in an impactful manner. This is what good advertisement & for that matter, good story-telling, is all about!

Gosh, I'm clairvoyant!

I have completely reassured myself today, again, that I have an impeccable record of being able to sense the day when I am going to have a flat tyre! Since morning I had this feeling that I am gonna have a flat tyre today & bingo... the right-front one obeys!!! Never once in the last 4 months did I have this feeling. It almost seems that I have command over tyres & nails. The exact same sequence has occured to me N times before. And each time, a day in advance, I get this feeling that it's coming.

Mere coincidence? Gimme a break! :P

Yay!

Finally, after braving months & months of continuous pounding, my stock-portfolio is back in the +ve. With the Sensex inching towards the 11K mark, all-of-a-sudden, things look relatively better. I muster so much courage & cross my fingers & toes when I whisper this to myself! The biggest dampener in my stock-portfolio has been Suzlon. Damn, my affinity & soft-corner for environment-friendly technologies ;-).

However, my MF-portfolio continues to be in coma. The reason is that with stocks one owns the control & can take corrective measures. With MFs, one is so damn helpless! Wonder why one should allow others to babysit their hard-earned money!

Politics, elections, blah-blah...

The violence outside the Pilibhit jail is extremely shameful. What's more disheartening is the gullibility of the mob. People who are this gullible, deserve to be used!

Cinema & Literature

Today I attended the seminar on "Cinema and Literature" organized by FTII-Pune, in association with the 'Film Writers' Association, Mumbai'. Guests of honor were Javed Akhtar & Oscar-winner, Gulzar. Others present were - Govind Nihalani, Jabbar Patel & Anurag Kashyap.

It was a relatively small auditorium & hence jam-packed. Throughout the seminar, the stress was on how cinema, literature & audience form a tight symbiotic triangle. And how good screen-plays & scripts too deserve to be reckoned as literature & how awareness of literature is needed to write great scripts... On how Shakespearean plays, though originally written for the stage-theatre, are respected as greatest form of literature in not just the West, but all over the world, but similar respect often eludes Indian cinema. How here, there's a great divide between "Ilmi" (knowledgable) writers & "Filmi" writers...

However the highlight of the show were definitely the 2 stalwarts - Javed & Gulzar . They ruled! In particular, Javed. Every word he uttered was so measured, to the point, right & akin to hitting the nail over its head. He started off his speech with an anecdote...
There were two goats & while grazing they came across a film-can. One of them ate the film & remarked - "I think the book was better"! :-)
He also ended his speech with another anecdote -
A class of tiny kids was asked to write an essay on Socrates. A little girl wrote just 3 lines -
"Socrates was a great man. He gave long speeches. He was poisoned." :-)

The curious case...

Just returned from watching the movie - "The curious case of Benjamin Button" & I'm still stunned & in a state of awe like after being "struck by lightning 7 times"! :-).

A somewhat longish movie, but seriously... it is such a complex topic to handle! The story, narration, direction, performances, makeup... all simply outstanding! What conviction & guts it takes to take on a story of this complexity! I'm speechless, or may be I just have so much to talk & it's too late... So I'll leave it here :-)

But one thing I must admit, that I did not experience this much awe & creative pleasure after watching 'Slumdog Millionaire'. There, again, I take a shot at being unpopular ;-). I've seriously started doubting my movie appreciation capabilities...

Delhi-6

Ok... It gives me great pleasure in being "Mr. Unpopular" on this one. Especially so, as all my friends I've talked to so far have given 'bad' to 'poor' ratings to this one. And here I am whole-heartedly admitting, that I simply loved it. (Except for the end, which I felt was unnecessarily melodramatic). And I say this, not for "being different", but because I genuinely liked it. And here's why...

Story - Firstly, it's not a different or a new story. An 'American-born-Desi coming to India & discovering his roots' is nothing new. Many have depicted it in the past, some in a serious patriotic manner whilst others in a lighter vein. But, it is the treatment that matters. In that sense, I found it down-to-earth, clinical & 'as-is'. The script-writers & the director have handled issues like communal rifts, casteism, male-domination in a family, wide-spread superstition in the society, the irresponsible facet of media & journalism, the struggle, fear & apprehension of following one's heart (Sonam's character), the hypocrisy in the society and the forward+progressive thought-process of the West in a manner that not once had the stink of a 'preaching tone'. Besides, it is short. 2hrs, 20 minutes or so. Not unnecessarily dragged to reach the 3-hour mark that most Indian movies religiously follow as though it is some kind of a rule!

Characters - Now this was brilliantly handled. Firstly, it is not 1 or two characters to build & handle. It's a complete basti or a muhalla. I have great trouble in handling my small team at office or my football team of 11 players. And to get the best out of soooo many characters, who at most times, appear natural & convincing, is indeed difficult! I felt sick to the stomach when a comment-update on Facebook said that 'there was no chemistry amidst the 100 characters'! Duh!! But then... 'Democracy hein bhai... Jo chahe kar/keh sakte ho!' :-).

Performances - Wahida, Om-Puri are veterans & did justice to their tag. Rishi Kapoor too played the role of a large-hearted, repentant but 'now-has-got-along-with-life' dardi-lover so well. Sonam had great screen presence & was so refreshing! Abhishekh too was very good. I wonder if anyone noticed the character of 'Ramaa', who plays the decent, obedient bahu of the house. She, I felt, gave a brilliant performance. Her adjusting-nature & goodness-at-heart, the state she is reduced to due to male-dominance, the dreams she has often killed or desires she has gulped inorder to keep the elders happy came out very well. The rustic cop & 'Jalebi' too did justice to their roles.

Music - Fantastic! Period.

Costumes, make-up - So convincing & relatable.

Set, locations - No jazzy stuff. It's a crazy, often filthy, neighbourhood as demanded by the script. And relatable too.

Kaalaa bandar - Now I'm forced to include this as a 'bullet-item' as some people feel that Delhi-6 was just about this! Infact, the script writers have used this as means to introducing the real-issues. Those of superstition, poor journalism, gullibility, political-profitability, spark-plug of communal-rifts etc. The spine is to support the body & the body is not just the spine! Also the age-old tradition of the Ram-Leela was used to subtly pass on so many points. Especially where Ram is accepting figs from a tribal Shabari, but the muhalla-wallas ill-treating 'Jalebi' as she comes from a 'lower' caste...

Climax - Now this could have been different or at least less melodramatic. I often like ends that are let loose. That leaves the spectator to think for himself, rather than tying the knot & reaching an all-happy conclusion.

Many more points, but I'll stop here.

Just that, the more movies I watch & the more stories I read, I'm beginning to believe that story-telling is no trivial art. I am getting more & more sympathetic & conscious about the story-teller's or the director's point-of-view and not just that of the popcorn-munchers'...

Violet

Violet is my most favorite color. Perhaps because it is the color of the evening. And I simply love & adore this phenomenon called 'evening'.

Today's is an exceptional one. With the faintest of crescents just resting over Venus and a steady breeze blowing over my face... The most supreme of experiences are all for free.

Unstoppable Indians...

I am simply bowled over by the work of Dr. Devi Shetty in the field of cardiac surgery. Not just by his brilliance in medicine, but also his humanitarian side, his humility & his relentless effort to make medicine affordable to the simplest of folks. His innovative methods in tele-medicine & schemes regarding cheapest medical-insurances truly make him an unstoppable Indian!

My moment of the Oscars '09...

Yes... Slumdog Millionare did sweep & all and yes, A.R. Rahman too won the Oscar, but my moment of that evening, was indeed the acceptance speech of Kate Winslet. I truly found it adorable!

She was overwhelmed with emotion & mentioned her gratitude towards her parents who were present somewhere in the hall, but didn't know where... She wished if her dad could whistle or something so that she could at least spot them. And indeed her dad did so right away! What followed was euphoria!

What fun! This is the kind of father-child relationship that takes kids to astounding heights.

Next best thing was perhaps the composure maintained by Heath Ledger's family while accepting the award on his behalf. What dignity!

Dots

I find the two English alphabets 'i' and 'j' rather amusing. They are the only one's with a dot over them. Two of the 3 alphabets (besides 't', ummm... maybe 'f' too) where one needs to lift the pen to complete it. What wheels must have churned in the heads of the alphabet-creators to decide on their appearance? Or is it that 'i' also stands for 'me' and hence looks like a person with a head on top? Whatever... just a silly thought...

It's spring-time :-)

The days have got longer... All the almond trees near my workplace have painted their leaves red from their characteristic green. Their towering red presence is so difficult to overlook. It's like walking amidst the orange-robed sages lost in deep penance. Such a pretty sight!

Lavenders are in bloom and I have such sweet memories associated with these violet blossoms... Sugarcane-juice centers have sprung up in every corner of the town & the tinkering bells on these cane-crushing machines melodiously invite the tired passers-by. Markets are flooded with water-melons. The mango trees have drawn a blanket of delicate brown blossoms & some are even bearing fruit. The cuckoos stay hidden amidst their branches and welcome every dawn with their melodious songs.

Don't know why, but I am getting an overwhelming feeling that exams are getting over & I'm heading in for summer-vacations...

Kabir

NDTV 24X7 is airing an amazing documentary in parts based on the life, work & relevance of Kabir in today's world. The more I get to know about him & his work, the more I seem to be drawn to his philosophy & his literature. I find him very mystical!

Senescence

Had visited a doctor today for a strain of cough that's irritated me for sometime now. The clinic was pretty crowded. An old couple occupied the seats opposite to me. They were very old. The man looked weak & ailing. It was an excruciating wait for them too & all this while both were speaking sweet-nothings to each other. They smiled, giggled and in a way cheered each other up. I wondered how long they must have been together... They must have been with each other through every thick and thin and seen each other grow and then grow old!

Just then the door of the doctor's cabin opened and an equally senile couple walked out. On seeing them, the first couple sprang to their feet and greeted them with such zeal. Apparently they were friends and were bumping into each other after a very long time. "Aaj-kal to yehi pe milna hota hein" (It's just here that we meet thesedays), retorted the first lady and laughed aloud. I found this statement very touching. But that lady was very cheerful and so strong! The 4 spoke and giggled like kids totally oblivious to all other onlookers. They laughed at old memories, enquired about their kids and exchanged contact-numbers. For those few moments together, it seemed like there were just 4 kids in that room. They had forgotten everything about their ailments. It was a strangely entertaining sight...

Later, while talking with the doctor, he happened to utter a statement that I found very amusing. He happened to say that "Nature is the most possessive mistress". Cute, i'd say :-).

100% death!

Today I received this ad-pamphlet regarding pest-control along with my daily newspaper. Found its advertisement style rather amusing. I especially liked the disclaimer under the 3rd bullet :-D. And then people complain that the devil is in the fine-print! ;-)

Of flies & moths...

A flock of agitating flies visited the Emperor-moth (Shah-e-Parvana) and demanded that they too be given the esteemed 'Moth-status'. "We too have wings & can fly like you, then why this discrimination? Why this inferior treatment?", complained the fly-leader. "There is no task wherein the moths can better us", reasoned the fly-captain.

"Ok, lets test", replied the Emperor-moth. He formed 2 teams, one of the flies & the other of the moths and arranged for a competition. He assigned them the same task. "Go and find light!", he told them.

The flies & the moths rushed out with full vigor. Within a jiffy, the triumphant flies returned before the Emperor-moth. They were panting for breath from the rigors of their exercise. "There are wick-lamps burning mildly at the temple, there's a fire that's lit up by a farmer to roast the corn, there's a pyre burning by the river-side and also a stove that's warming milk for the little-ones... We managed to spot light at all these places & beat the moths by returning to u before them. The moths, in fact, haven't even returned as yet! Can the 'moth-status' be rightfully bestowed upon us now?", questioned the flies.

"The decision was made the moment u returned", replied the Emperor-moth.

Moral - If u find light in life, why return?


Acknowledgments - This was a parable narrated by a Sufi-singer from Karachi as part of a documentary being aired on NDTV 24X7 channel. He was highlighting the difference between spirituality & religion. Liked it, hence sharing it...

Catching comets...

Off late, to get my mind off the sad situation at workplace, I had developed a rather silly habit. I used to make it a point to return home just in time to catch the sunset. More than that, to catch a jet leaving a trail of smoke at sunset. And then, over a cup of tea, to imagine that it was a comet instead & wonder how life would be on that comet visiting our sun. Its journey from the Oort cloud to the sun with speed, the melting of its ice, the formation of its tail etc. etc. I found it strangely peaceful & mystical...


Illustration - Jet at sunset, as seen from my Aundh home.
Photo-courtesy - My bro' & his experiments with his Canon 350D :-)