Of Sun rise and late rise!

This is what happens when you haven't gotten up early since months. I am a chronic late riser(thats post 10 for me) and get to see sun rise about once a quarter! So today when I had to get up early morning, I sleep walked out to the balcony and the moment I looked at the hazy sun, my mind whispered to me: "aah, what a beautiful sunset"!! Errr ... it took me about 5 seconds to register the fact that its a sunrise and not a sunset. I guess thats why they say to stick to the ways of nature and its not healthy to sleep late and get up late and blah blah!!

Road

It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter what road you take
The road may be lonely
There could be obstacles
It doesn’t matter
The road could lead to a wonderland
The companions may be intriguing
It doesn’t matter
You may stop in the middle
It doesn’t matter
What matters is when you decide to stop; you should have a story to tell, YOUR story.

Things I hope Science could do

I) Invent something to copy text from my PC monitor and paste in my writing pad or mobile.
II) A Ctrl F in books and a Ctrl F to locate glasses, purse and stuff like that in home.
III) Read people’s intentions to help you classify them instantly into “Will be great friend” or “Will backstab, keep away” or to classify boss’ sermon into “Truly means it” or “Sugar coated shit, do not pay attention”.
IV) Hunger dousing pills for occasions when you have no time at all or are too bogged down and depressed to even move a finger to arrange food!
V) Selective target honking – A lot of times while in traffic I want to honk away to glory for an idiot doing antics on road in front of me, but do not want to bother a nice guy adjacent to the idiot. There should be something to address this. Something like “Beep beep idiot UP 16 9305”!
VI) A mechanism to find songs on internet by tunes. Often it happens that you hear a short or a distant catchy tune and so desperately want to find the song, but cant. Google gods listening?
VII) A way to test out a kid and decide what would be the best career for him, wherein as they say “Love what you do and you won’t have to work for a day”. People spend lifetime and realizing what they love and what they want to do (professionally, career wise). If only there was a way out right at the beginning. Just suck out 10ml of blood, send the sample for test and tell the kid (I think class 10th is the right time) what career works best for him/her.
VIII) Cure pain for once and all, ALL Sort of, EVERY Sort of. Finger, legs, knees, head, heart!

If Ramayana was on Facebook :)

I normally resist putting content from forward mails as blog posts, but this was hilarious.
Disclaimer: Not my creation. A Hi5 to the creator!
Please click on the image and it would display clearly. I dont know why it does not in the post. Tried all settings.

Why bother waking up Sid

Wake Up Sid is not a bad movie. But that is the only compliment I can give to it. With an interesting star cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Konkana Sen and 15 funkiest Tees you would have ever seen on the bollywood big screen, you are left wanting more.
The movie does not entertain, does not blow you away, does not bring a smile or a tear, in fact it does not invoke much emotions. You don’t empathize with the character of Sid at all, which is absolutely necessary for the genre of movie Wake Up Sid intends to be.

Every scene ends up being predictable. There is one scene when the camera pans through a office cabin’s door, with the name of the person (who happens to be Konkana Sen’s boss) written on the entrance. At this point its already let known to the viewer that they are about to see Konkana’s boss. Before this scene, Konkana talks a bit about her boss. Before we get to see the boss, I thought to myself, this sounds like Rahul Khanna (the kind of role he did in love aaj kal, intellectual, good looking, charming, talented and witty boss). And I hadn’t heard even once before watching the movie,that he has a role in it, and there he was standing with his characteristic half-smile (his brother can even manage a quarter-smile!) I mean how cliché can you get, the same kind of boss we have seen in many movies. She is in awe of her initially, he asks her out, she denies, he still remains the charming lovely boss. Give me a break, we have seen this boss too many times in recent past, and that too the same actor doing it!!

And lets move on to Mr Sid. He is living life in the lap of luxury. He has this servant called chotu, who looks more ambitious and intelligent than him. Now I have no problem with spoilt brats living life to the hilt on daddy’s money. But if the movie wants us to show his growing up into a man who realizes that there has to be a direction in life, it ought to dug deep in a character, how he feels about life, his dilemmas, why he feels so, his struggle with life, I mean something on the lines of lakshya’s hrithik roshan…

All Sid does is learn to cook an egg and roam around an apartment clicking random snaps with an expensive looking camera, which again is nothing but a rich guy’s toy bought on dad’s money!

The only saving grace is extremely good looking Ranbir Kapoor and refreshing music. Sometimes I wonder why bollywood makes movies. Can’t they just release songs and promos?

In the end, I would like to pay tribute to the guy who invented the popcorn, without which I wouldn’t have been able to continue sitting in the second half of many bollywood movies.

Webster's definition of WTF!

This one is gonna be a short and crisp post.

There has been this rumor making rounds that webster dictionary is updating its definition for WTF.

The latest definition of WTF would be a picture of Obama holding his Nobel Peace Prize.

PS: - Well that is presumably floating around as a joke, but can there be a better explanation of WTF!

Cats in the cradle and the Silver spoon

Someone forwarded me these beautiful lines. Its a song by Harry Chapin.
With lyrics like this, no matter who sings it, how he or she sings it, howz the tune, I am a fan!


My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and said with a smile
"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

PS:-

Here is a lovely version of this by Ugly kid joe (dont go by his name,he sings beautifully!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3bht7S-3vI

Coming soon: Mankind's greatest invention since sliced bread

If you compile the list of modern times' greatest inventions then sliced bread,Viagra,TV are bound to get top spots (Fire and wheel are important too, but they are so boringly old now!)
But guess what could be the mother of all inventions? I read in papers yesterday that scientists are working on a pill to erase bad and embarassing memories!!!!!!!!!

Imagine,just imagine, can there be a better thing than that. It can be a cure for all non bacterial and non virus related troubles.

And guess what could be the biggest use of it : Curing heartbreaks!
What more ?

Failed in exams, wanna forget it - take a pill.
Friends had a nasty quarrel, and there egos are stopping them for calling each other back ? - Mix a pill in thier beers next time they gather at a common party!

It can solve the bloody world issues too. Seriously. Simply shove one pill down the guts of all world leaders,military generals. That would stop the border conflicts at least. Indian and Pakistani leaders could forget about the past and could surely make a new beginning.

Movie makers who are wary of their movie's success (or confident of it being a dud) can distribute these pills free with the tickets and encourage viewers to have a pill while going out of the theater so that they can leave the bad experience inside :)


And its better than Viagra. Because if it so happens that you take Viagra and still end up with a bad show, you can take up this mother of all pills the next morning and forget about the embarrassment the previous night :P

PS: - I am looking forward to it.
PPS: - And I dont use viagra!!

Sometime around midnight

And it starts...
sometime around midnight
or at least that's when
you lose yourself
for a minute or two

As you stand...
under the barlights
and the band plays some song
about forgetting yourself for a while
and the piano's this melancholy soundcheck
to her smile
And that white dress she's wearing
you haven't seen her
for a while

But you know...
that she's watching
She's laughing, she's turning
she's holding her tonic like a crux
The room suddenly spinning
she walks up and asks how you are
so you can smell her perfume
you can see her lying naked in your arms

And so there's a change...
in your emotions
and all of these memories come rushing
like feral waves to your mind
of the curl of your bodies
like two perfect circles entwined
and you feel hopeless, and homelss
and lost in the haze
of the wine

And she leaves...
with someone you don't know
but she makes sure you saw her
she looks right at you and bolts
As she walks out the door
your blood boiling
your stomach in ropes
and when your friends say what is it
you look like you've seen a ghost

And you walk...
under the streetlights
and you're too drunk to notice
that everyone is staring at you
and you so care what you look like
the world is falling
around you

You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her

and you know that she'll break you
in two

You love your music when :

1) You start head banging when your ear buds stream out your favorite number oblivious of the surroundings.
2) You can spend hours in a mall and enjoy the music playing in the stores more than the latest collection on display and the hot chics around.
3) You have no clue about guitar except that its cool and has 6 strings but that doesn’t stop you from strumming away to glory (Air guitar).
4) If you don’t know what’s air guitar, you aren’t a true rock lover (except in the case when you can play the real one)
5) When in a movie, you go out for the popcorns, pepsi and loo when there are no songs playing, unlike others.
6) You can watch a movie again and again and again at a theater for its music/songs (I have used three agains because that’s where I stopped, watching DevD thrice!)
7) When out of the bath you start doing things in point 1 and 3 together,if there is your favrite number playing around, unmindful of the towel hanging precariously around your waist (Generally applicable to men!)
8) While driving alone, you enjoy traffic jams because that gives you more time to spend listening to your music in a otherwise busy day.
9) This scores over all other points: while driving to office if you have to choose between two routes, often you find yourself taking the more crowded one so that point 8 is fulfilled!
10) You spend a lot of time on youtube searching for acoustic and live performances of your favorite numbers.

Cause and Effect

Am I thin because I eat less or do I eat less because I am thin?

I don’t like my office work because I am not motivated or I am de motivated because my office work sucks?

Do I feel zapped up of energy, broody and bogged down because things don’t happen the way I wish or they don’t happen the way I wish because I feel zapped up of energy, broody and bogged down?

Do things happen your way when you feel all charged up and positive or you feel all charged up and positive when things happen your way?

Love Na Aaj Na Kal !

Bollywood has done it again. I feel duped again. Not once, twice but for umpteenth time it has promised the moon and then crash-landed me with a thud. I feel like a kid who was lured to go to a Birth day party by boxes of chocolates but was sent back with a lollipop!
I am not gonna write a review of the film here, just vent out my frustration 

I have started hating this big budgeted all hype, all hoopla and no content flicks. Give me a DevD, A Wednesday, Manorma Six Feet Under or any other movie which falls under the category of what I call a "good story well told". And I am not averse to the singing and dancing, that’s the soul of Bollywood and that’s what keeps us refreshingly different from Hollywood. But there certainly has to be more to a movie than just those. And this ‘All Marketing Bad Product” big budgeted movies are suddenly becoming a norm rather than an exception.

It all started with Om Shanti Om. And then there were many more. Tashan, Singh is King, and lately Kambhaqt Ishq.

Why can’t we make a Last Samurai, a Notting Hill, a Lost in Translation at our own Bollywood ?

I know, none of the heavily marketed movies I talked about were flop and all of them made great money. They say “Its make business sense and audience approves of it”.
Give me a break. We don’t approve it, its just that we don’t have a choice most of the times and there is no way we can know how good or bad the movie is until we have paid for it.

If only, buying movie tickets were like buying dresses, with trial rooms and exchanges!

She will always be a woman to me

I love this song by Billy Joel and all because of the lyrics.
This is for you, Balboa :)

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But shes always a woman to me

She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But shell never believe you
And shell take what you give her, as long as its free
She steals like a thief
But shes always a woman to me


Oh-she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
Shes ahead of her time
Oh-and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

And shell promise you more
Than the garden of eden
Then shell carelessly cut you
And laugh while youre bleedin
But shell bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause shes always a woman to me


She is frequently kind
And shes suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
Shes nobodys fool
But she cant be convicted
Shes earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But shes always a woman to me

How much electricity does a headlight really waste?

I am sure that if you have ridden a bike or a scooter in India, this would have happened to you. How man times did it happen that you rode with the headlights turned on during daytime and people on the road end up signaling to you that your headlights are on.
This amuses me to no ends. I mean why would you care about a switched on headlight?
Of all the things that should not be happening on a road and demand a greater interest as a citizen or rather roadizen, why would a humble, feeble bulb bother?

Why not the street lights left on during day, the garbage heaps in the open … I can think of tens of other anomalies on the Indian roads.

And yet I get signaled to turn off my headlight and with such care and concern as if the world’s existence depends upon that headlight being turned off.

Why? :)

It took 350 CC @ 80Kmph to beat 44 celsius!

I never thought I would become passionate about biking. I don't know why. Perhaps, I loved the idea of a backrest in the car, the comfort of the cool wind blowing out of the AC duct. Though I had friends who enjoyed it, I was never game for it.

But some incidents which happened over the past few months ignited this spark. Now how longer the flame kindles, I dont know.

I came back from USA last week after spending three months. Now this is the time of year there when the harsh and somber winters gave way to pleasant and refreshing summers with sun and sand taking the front seat. And its during this period when the bike lovers cruise out on their 1000+ cc mean machines, with 'I don't give a damm' attitude. Every time I saw one of those gangs, it left me with a bloody strong urge to try that out.

Then, I happen to watch a movie called 'Wild Hogs'. I had no idea what it was about, but it turned out to be about a bunch of 4 friends (all 40+ though) who decide to hit out the roads on their bikes to rediscover themselves leaving behind the worldly affairs.

Somewhere between this, my flat mate handed me over the book "The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I haven't read it till the end, but without going into whats it about,I will share what author thinks of bikes and cars. He says that traveling in a car is like being stuffed in a box with a view to the outside world as if watching TV, frame by frame. On the other riding a bike is like being in the frame itself, feeling the ground, the wind gushing past your hair and soaking in the view without it being diluted.
WOW!, The urge to hit roads grew stronger and stronger.

The last incident could perfectly explain what godsend means! A childhood friend back home informed me that he has bought a brand new Royal Enfield (For the uninitiated and UnIndian!, this is the best you can lay hands on in India).
This was indeed godsend.

All of these incidents happened as if something wants to push me to biking!

I returned back in mid june, you cannot have a worse timing to land up in Delhi. From a cool 5-10 deegree for three months to the cruel 45 degrees, the transition was killing and brutal. All I could think of was a closed AC room, there is no way I could venture out on the roads, I thought. But on a blistering Saturday afternoon,my friend and I hit out on the roads on his enfield. I rode it from Noida to Karol Bagh . With 350 CC between your legs (pun unintended) and with the throttle taking you to 80+ Kmph (you can go above that,the bike can easily allow that, but not the traffic), you DO FORGET everything else. Its sheer pleasure. Why didn't I ever try it before!!
44 deegrees was now nowhere to be felt, traffic jams didn't seem to be that troublesome, the thought of doing noida delhi on a bike seemed trivial.

The flame is ignited, how long it kindles, remains to be seen.

Today i defeat procrastination!

People, this blog is a product of sheer hard work and sweat. I really worked hard for more than a year to overcome my two pals : laziness and procrastination, who were really against the idea of spending time and energy on a blog. There has been a lot,a lot getting stored up in the 50 gms of grey matter i possess and i thought i should do it a favor by getting out some of it on the www. I wonder why is the internet called world wide web, when only about a quarter of the globe's population use it. It should ideally be called QWWW, quarter world wide web.

This post is really not a post. I am writing it because just starting a blog without any post didnt really feel a nice idea. But not all of it would be blabber. Blabber would be limited to just 99% of the total content. There would be posts on serious issues also, which I strongly feel about.

More on me later, my two pals are waiting for me, we have been childhood buddies and i cant make them wait when they need me.

And thanks to a very special friend who helped me in defeating procrastination today. i sometimes call HER balboa.

i will be back. (No there is no way that can be arnold style,I am not even one fifth of him)

PS:- i instead of I is deliberate. More on that later!