Of this and that

Italo Calvino - Hermit in Paris

2012-01-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, one comes across a book that makes one pause periodically and reflect. Hermit in Paris, a collection of essays by Italo Calvino is precisely that.

Italo Calvino is an Italian author, possibly his most well know work is 'If on a winter's night a traveller'. In this collection of essays, he takes us behind the scenes, so to say, and talks about the various experiences that have contributed to his writing.

The first half of the books talks about his time in the US in the late 1950's. And possibly the fact that his experiences so closely mirrored mine when I visited the country nearly 5 decades later could be one of the reasons why I liked this book. The author then talks about his time in Italy during and after the second World War. In between, there is a small essay about his stay in Paris, and ends wit a few interviews where he talks about his literary style and influences.

After reading the book, I couldn't agree more with the following review - 'Beautifully written...the work of an extraordinary mind, one that is worth exploring from every angle' - Independent on Sunday.

2011 - Looking back

2012-01-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

2011 was quite an eventful year for us. Looking back now, a few days into 2012, we cannot even recall where we welcomed 2011 in! By then we had packed up our belongings in Sydney, and were on our travels around Australia and New Zealand.

Most likely, we were in Port Douglas, in the far north of Queensland, on the first day of 2011. By then we had been to Cairns, and done one snorkelling trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. We spent 5 days in the small, beautiful tropical town of Port Douglas, from where we made one more trip to the Great Barrier Reef, visited another World Heritage site in the Daintree Rainforest, and more rainforests in Kuranda.

From Port Douglas / Cairns, we flew to Alice Springs, and the highlight of our Australia stay - the Outback. We took a 3 day / 2 night budget tour of Uluru, Kata-Tjuta and Kings Canyon. Words fail me to describe the beauty, grandeur and mystery of these ancient places. Suffice it to say that these are truly one of the must-see places on the planet. Beyond these sights, the wide open spaces, endless blue skies flecked with white clouds exerted a strange pull on us. These places might be remote and desolate, but I won't be too unhappy if I got the chance to visit them again!

After a couple of days in Sydney to say our final goodbyes to one of the most beautiful (and livable) cities in the world, we headed to Christchurch in New Zealand. We rented a campervan and spent the next 17 days exploring the South Island of New Zealand. The ideas came from my wife, and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

From Christchurch, we headed inland to Lake Tekapo, then back to the south-eastern coast, visiting Moeraki and Dunedin. After visiting the Otago peninsula, we headed to the Catlins, in the south eastern coast of the island, for some more fantastic sights. We then headed westwards via Riverton to Milford Sound, where we did the obligatory cruise. We then headed north and spent a couple of hours on Fox Glacier, a first for both of us. Continuing north, we visited the pancake rocks in beautiful Punakaiki, and then reached Nelson, on the northern coast of South Island. We then headed to Kaikoura via the beautiful Queen Charlotte Drive, before ending our road trip in the beautiful, relaxed town of Christchurch.

On the way back to India, we spent a day in Singapore - the first time I have been here. We did a quick 3-hour trip of the city from the airport, but the highlight for me was the fantastic Changi airport. I was a like a small boy let loose in a toy shop, what with all the fantastic, high-tech things to see and do at the airport!

After a relaxing couple of weeks in Mumbai, we left for the UK, our fifth country in a little over 2 months!

Arriving in the UK, we spent a few months in Essex, while looking for a job and a place to stay. We found both in a couple of months, and moved to our place in North London.

Places we visited in England include St. Albans, Hadleigh castle, Stonehenge, Bath, Cotswolds and Cambridge.

But the most momentous event of all in 2011 was the birth of our first child. It is truly a life-changing event, and we are now looking to experience 2012 and beyond with the new addition to our family!

Recent tension in Mumbai

2008-02-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

These are my observations on the tension in Mumbai in the past few days.

1. Lack of faith in the ability of the state to maintain peace and calm. Why is it that people fear violence at the slightest hint of it?

2. Media irresponsibility - Most the headlines I read mentioned 'Violence erupts in Mumbai'. Reading further, I found out that there were stray stone throwing incidents in a bout 4 localities of this vast metropolis. Surely, 'Sporadic incidents of stone throwing' would have been a more realistic headline? But no, in this age of sensationalism, reason flies out of the window.

3. Eagerness of Mumbai residents to believe the rumours. It almost felt that Mumbaites were hoping for some more such sensational news, so that they could reach home early, and maybe enjoy a day off work as well!

Fortunately, I had work at office, so could not leave office early (not that I was particularly keen to). When I finally left at 9 PM, it felt as if it were midnight! The shops were all closed, there was very little traffic, and the trains were not crowded. For a change, commuting in Mumbai was not a pain!

Mahua Memoirs

2008-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Written and shot by Mr. Vinod Raja, an FTII alumnus, this documentary captures the impact of industrialisation on the lives of the 'adivasis' - tribals who have been staying on the land for generations. The documentary takes a dispassionate look at the issues faced by the local populace, when land, the only asset they know of, is taken away from them forcibly. The film is beautifully shot and narrated well.

The film raises one fundamental question - why should the cost of 'development' be borne by the people who are the least likely to benefit from it? This question is being asked even louder now, with the SEZ scheme that the government is pushing through. And it is a question that we, the educated middle class, will do well to ponder on as we continue our comfortable lives, before it gets too late...

Flamingoes Slaughtered in Navi Mumbai

2007-12-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

I do not know how to react to the shocking news that flamingoes are being caught, killed and sold in Navi Mumbai for rates cheaper than a chicken! It is easy to point fingers at the police; but we all know the situation our police force is in. The force is understaffed, poorly paid, low motivation, and completely politically motivated. We have arrested the two hunters, but do they know why they have been arrested? Have we done enough to ensure that the common man knows that it is illegal to catch and slaughter wild life?

The urban, educated class can cry hoarse about this incident, but are we doing anything to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future? Yes, I know there are groups of highly motivated people who are working in this field. But unless we, the educated, urban elite step out of our AC cars, and get our hands dirty tackling the societal problems faced by the larger populace, we cannot expect things to change.

All Hail Roger Federer - The Tennis Genius

2007-11-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

I was lucky to watch the finals of the Shanghai Masters Cup, last Sunday, between Roger Federed and the surprise finalist, David Ferrer. David was on a hot streak entering into the finals, while people has started wondering if Roger is not the same player he once was. However, it tooks just a few minutes for Roger to show David and the world who the boss is.

Words fail me to describe the game of Roger Federer. His ability to execute one stunning shot after another, consistently over a 5 set match, is unlike anyones' I have ever seen. And I have been watching tennis regularly for the past 18 years now. Coming to this specific match, I believe it was one stunning shot that turned the match around, in Rogers' favour. He was facing break point in his first service game, which he managed to save. In the next game, with Ferrer serving, he hit a brilliant backhand slice on a powerful Ferrer inside out forehand. David managed to hit it back, which Roger lobbed back. David Ferrer showed great strength to chase the ball and keep it play, but Roger Federer was at the net for an easy put away. That point visibly took the winds out of David Ferrer; his spirit was broken, and the rest of the match was a pure exhibition of Roger Federers' incredible genius.

I have watched some great tennis players - Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and I firmly believe that when it comes to tennis skills, Roger Federer stands head and shoulders above all these great players. Sure, Stefan had the finest serve and volley game, and Boris and Andre had phenomenal charisma, Pete could possibly be the toughest player mentally, but Roger brings it all together in a manner that makes watching him play sheer pleasure.

Rogers' game is a work of art. It touches you emotionally in a way good music, good movies do. It is no longer a game, where winning and losing matters. Sure, it helps that Roger wins most of his games, but I would gladly watch him lose, if he continues to give me the same pleasure of his game as he does today.

My only regret is that tennis will be an infinitely poorer game once he decides to call it quits. But till then, whenever he is playing, stop whatever it is you are doing, and just enjoy the spectacle of the greatest tennis player in action.

English football - A reality check

2007-11-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

Finally, the English football players have been shown to what they actually are - well below International class. The Premier League organisers can shout from the top of their lungs that they have the best league in the world, but you just have to watch the action from leagues such as Germany to realize the huge difference in class. The play is much faster, more open and result oriented, as opposed to the dour football that the EPL offers.

It is worth thinking over why very few extremely talented football players from other countries either do not play in the EPL, or play well below their par. The English game just does not allow individual flair and creativity. Sure, football is a team game, but you need the creative players to flourish for the game to evolve and continue to be attractive to the millions of fans who pay good money to watch the game.

Thomas Friedman on the state of public transport in India

2007-11-06T05:18:00.000-08:00

With Tata making progress towards launching the Rs. 1 lac (Rs. 100,000) car in India soon, the question many of us who drive in peak hour Mumbai traffic are asking is - Where will the buyers of this car drive, and park their new cars?

I am not trying to be elitist here - it's great that more and more people can afford to travel in the greater comfort and safety that a four wheeler provides, as opposed to a two wheeler. My concern is that our administrators seem to have their priorities wrong. Shouldn't we be investing more in building comfortable, mass public transport systems, rather than trying to improve on road infrastructure?

This is the question that Thomas Friedman has raised in his article.

Does Anybody Really Care?

2007-11-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

This is a thought that has been worrying me for a few days now. Read any newspaper, watch any TV channel, hear any conversation, and the talk is all around the Stock Exchange, monies being made, etc. Great that the economy is booming, and a lot of people are making a lot of money. But what about the condition of our country and a majority of its citizens who are not positively affected by these developments?

I get the sense that 'we - the English speaking, urban Indian' feels that when it comes to equitable distribution of wealth, it is the governments / societys job. But when it comes to personal wealth creation, the government should not interfere. I agree, we should be in control of creating our wealth, but shouldn't we also take the lead in ensuring that the lives of our countrymen are also improved? How can we wash off our responsibility towards this crucial aspect?

And I say crucial, because we are sitting on top of a ticking time bomb. How many of us pay attention to the increasing restlessness of our less empowered countrymen? Naxalism is on the increase in over 20 % of our countrys' districts, fueled by the apathy shown by everyone concerned to the plight of the rural poor. On top of that, we go on stealing the only asset the rural poor have, in the guise of 'development (SEZ)'? What kind of development is this where we steal land from the poor and give it to the rich?

How many of us know that there was a march from Gwalior to Delhi where this silent, suffering majority decided to finally express itself? Thankfully, this was a peaceful protest. But as Nandigram continues to tell us, it can quickly cascade into a violent inferno, charring anyone in its path, and singing those who chose to stay on the sidelines. It is time we put away our blinkers, and face the harsh reality out there. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye / ear for much longer. 'Bharat' will awake, and India better watch out.

Chak De India - Brilliant

2007-09-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

It's not often that a movie brings tears to your eyes without being sentimental, makes you smile without being patronizing, makes you feel proud without being jingoistic. It is to director Shimit Amins' credit that he has created exactly such a film. 'Chak De India' is one fine film, and even more credit worthy - it has come out of the Bollywood factory, more famous for over the top fantasies.

The story of a rag tag womens hockey team reaching the pinnacle of achievement on the world stage is mildly allegorical - it is easy to extrapolate the setting to the national level, and the challenge facing us of aligning our billion plus population to work together for the greater common good. It reflects the challenge we face of not having a charismatic leader, who has gone through suffering, learnt from it and willing to share his learnings so that the others benefit. And it definitely reflects the desire of many of us of excelling in team sports, and to see sports other than cricket get its due.

Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter

2007-09-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

I first heard about the Crocodile Hunter from my 80 year old grandmother. She stays in a small town in Kerala, watches mostly Malayalam TV channels. For her to discover Steve Irwins' programme, and to continue watching it regularly, only conveys the effect he had on the millions of viewers of his TV programmes. For me, this incident explains the massive outpouting of grief when the popular person met his tragic end a year ago.

I confess that I personally was not completely fascinated by the programme. I prefer the old fashioned David Attenborough kind of nature programmes to the modern trend of action packed 'live' shows. But I do know that certain people exude that special something, that draws audiences, young and old, across the globe, to their art, and Steve had that something.

The world misses you, Steve.

MSN - Blatant misrepresentation

2007-08-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

msn.co.in has this feature called 'Rate this Story'. Many sites have this nowadays, and I think it is a great feature to have, especially in this age of User Generated Content.

However, what is not acceptable is what happened to me today. I read a news article, at the end of which was the feature asking me to rate the story. And it added 'Be the first to rate this story'. So I gave my rating - a 2 on 5, as I was not too happy with the article. The page refreshed, and guess what was the star rating of the article? No, not 2, but 4! Sure, I understand that some one else might have rated at the same time. But it would take at least 2 more people to rate at the same time, and give the story a rating of 5 each (extremely unlikely considering the article!), for the average to be 4. But that's not all. Below the star rating, it proudly tells me that 'You are the first user to rate this page'.

Oh please, if my rating does not count for anything, then please tell me so directly, rather than wasting my time. But then, coming from Microsoft, I really should not be too surprised, I guess!

Heavy Rains in Mumbai

2007-06-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

Woke up today to pouring rains. And it has not let up a bit in the past 3 hours. The main road outside our apartment complex is a fast flowing river right now! The view outside our windows is a white curtain of rain. Men and children are standing by the side of the road, enjoying themselves in the flowing water, and guiding any soul adventurous enough, or unlucky, across the road.

Hope and pray that people across the city and elsewhere where it is pouring are safe.

Have you Stumble(d) Upon?

2007-06-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered a cool new way of browsing the internet - Stumble Upon. I have been using it a bit over the past 2 weeks, and have been amazed at the number of interesting web sites I have discovered. It is very easy to use, do download the tool bar, and new, interesting web sites are just a click away!

I am pretty certain that Google would not throw up all of these sites, and definitely not in the first few pages. sure, the search is not always accurate, but then that is the joy of discovery. Sure, if you are looking for some specific information, Google is the best, but if you are looking for some interesting sites to spend some time on, I strongly recommend Stumble Upon.

The Monsoon is Finally Here

2007-06-20T08:37:00.001-07:00

So, after a brief delay, the monsoon has finally hit Mumbai. It was scheduled to hit us on the 7th of June, but got delayed due to the hurricane that hit Oman.

It had been raining daily for a few days prior, but the weathermen kept insisting that these are pre-monsoon showers, and not the real thing. And I could not understand why. That is, till yesterday. When I woke up to a grey, cloudy sky, with a slight drizzle. This is not my favourite season, I prefer the bright sunshine, however hot it may be. But strangely, I do not seem to mind the rains that much this year. Wonder why...

Spanish Football League - Read Madrid / Barcelona / Sevilla???

2007-06-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

The Spanish Primera Liga continues to enthrall. I was up till 2 AM last Saturday, watching the Real Madrid vs. Zaragoza encounter. Just as it seemed that Real Madrid would lose the match (and the title), they equalised via that goal poatcher No. 1 - Rudd van Nistelrooy. I must confess that I was never a fan of Rudd during his Manchester United days. But the way he is performing for Real Madrid is forcing me to change my opinion!

At just the same time that Rudd was scoring his valuable goal, Barcelona lost 2 points when Espanyol scored their second goal to draw their encounter with Barcelona. Sevilla, the third contender for the league title also drew their encounter. So all three teams enter the last weekend with a chance of winning, though Real Madrid are the favourites. Unfortunately, I might not get to watch the season finale and I have to travel to Chennai on work.

Just a couple of days before this match, I read an article in a business magazine which said that tennis and soccer are catching up in terms of TV viewing popularity with cricket. Admittedly, this is among the elite, but this is a trend that will slowly, but surely, percolate down to the masses. And the mess that Indian cricket finds itself in today is definitely not helping crickets' cause.

It Happened in India - Kishore Biyani

2007-05-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

After a long time, I read a book with excellent insights, and thought provoking. Kishore Biyani is the founder of Pantaloons and Big Bazaar, and he has written about his experiences with a refreshing candour.

Here are my takeaways from the book.

1. Innovation - Kishore Biyani has proved that you need to innovate to succeed. When most players were focused on transfering Western best practices to India, he went ahead with what he felt would resonate most with Indian customers.

2. Think masses - Most managers in India are concerned only with the elite. The majority of Indians are them, not us. As he mentioned, most of the ad agencies are filled with convent educated urban youth who think and speak in English, watch Hollywood movies, and listen to Western music. This in a country where 90 % of the people are comfortable only in their vernacular language!

3. Look beyond your comfort zone - Another thing that amazed me was that Kishore Biyani found it difficult to raise finances for his retail ventures even as late as mid - 1999. I was based in Bangalore around that time, and was familiar with the retail revolution occuring there around that time. Malls like Spencer Plaza in Chennai were already extremely popular, as were large music stores such as Music World. But as most of the finance companies were based in Mumbai, where modern retail had still not made its presence, it was not even considered a sunrise industry. If only these people had taken the trouble to step out of their AC offices to see what is happening in the more progressive areas of the country...

There are many more such telling comments in this book. I would strongly recommend this book to any marketer, entrepreneur, but, please, read it with an open mind...

Real Madrid vs. Espanyol

2007-05-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I watched an exciting football (soccer) match on TV - a Spanish League match between Real Madrid and Espanyol of Barcelona. It was a thrilling affair. Espanyol had a 3 - 1 lead going into half time. But Real Madrid came out of the half time break fully charged up and quickly equalised, before scoring the winner 2 minutes from time, in front of their home crowd.

For a long time in the first half, it seemed that Real Madrid had forgotten how to play, and I could hear boos from the crowd. The mood changed slightly when they scored their first goal, but 2 more goals from Espanyol silenced the crowd. But the scene a little over an hour later was completely different - Real Madrid had gone to the top of the league standings for the first time in nearly 2 years, and the crowd were delirious, cheering as if their team had actually won the league!

In addition to the 7 goals, the match was exciting for the way in which it was played. We in India are more exposed to the English Premier League, where individual skills are sacrificed for team play, and strong physical play. Refreshingly, the European leagues are much less physical, giving scope for players to express their talent.Now if only we got better commentators for these games...

City of Djinns - William Dalrymple

2007-05-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Travel writing is a favourite genre of mine. I was a member of the British Council Library in Mumbai for a couple of years, and that gave me access to works of authors such as Jan Morris, Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, and others. But I ceased being a member a few months back. So it was with much anticipation that I started reading William Dalrymples' 'City of Djinns' which I borrowed from a cousin.

William Dalrymple has a lucid style of writing, which makes reading him a pleasure. The book is well composed, and provides very interesting nuggets of information about Delhi.

But reading the book set me thinking - considering how much urban India has changed over the past few years - the many typical 'foreigner in India' anecdotes felt very dated. With so many foreigners now working in India, and scores more traveling on business, do they continue to perceive India as a land of snake charmers and elephants? Or are they more attuned to the culture that India is not as much of a culture shock anymore?

Brian Charles Lara

2007-04-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

I read the news of Brian Laras' retirement from international cricket a few hours back. And it made me sad, to think that tomorrow will be the last time we see the genius of this person on a cricket field. To me, he is the greatest batsman of this generation, ahead of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.

And I am not saying this on the basis of the records that he holds. It is the manner in which he played the game, the joy he brought to the spectators is what I will always remember him for.

Thank you Lara! We will miss you.

Yet Another Weekend of Watching Sports

2006-12-21T03:32:00.000-08:00

This post is a few days late. India has won its first test match in South Africa, and Shane Warne has announced his retirement from international cricket. None of this was in the air as I settled down on Saturday morning, to watch sports on TV.

The day started with Australia batting their way towards winning the third test match, and with it, the Ashes. Unfortunately, I missed most of Adam Gilchrists' scintillating second - fastest hundred in test cricket, but trust Australia to really hammer the nail on the coffin! England really had no chance of recovering from that onslaught, though they fought bravely, through Ian Bell, and Alistair Cook. But any faint hopes of saving the test vanised in the last few minutes of plan on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the bowler to do the damage was Glenn McGrath.

But the real surprise was Indias' performance in the first test match. It started enjoyably, with the lustly blows of VRV Singh. I dozed off to sleep as South Africa started their innings, and when my eyes opened, South Africa were 5 for 3! Amazing. And it only got better! Hats off to the Indian team for engineering a complete turn-around from the dismal performance in the one-day series.

My 2 comments are related to this test match. The first is regarding commentator Wasim Akram. The incident was an appeal for leg before against Jacques Kallis - the bowler being Zaheer Khan. All the initial replays seemed to suggest that the batsman was plumb out. But the umpire, Rudy Koertzen, turned the appeal down. The next ball, Kallis hit a lovely straight driven four. Wasim Akram was extremely vocal in his criticism of the umpire. Then, the super slow motion replay showed that Jacques Kallis actually had nicked the ball on to his pads. It was an excellent decision by the umpire. Instead of admitting his mistake, which would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, Wasim Akram went completely silent. Not a squeak! Come on, Wasim, this was not expected of you.

The second related to Sachin Tendulkars' dismissal in the second innings. Once again, he played on a ball on to his stumps. And once again, he tries to deceive the public into thinking that the ball kept low, by falling on his knees, after the ball has hit the stumps! Replays clearly showed that the ball was not any lower than other deliveries. It was a bad shot by Sachin. Surely, one of the best batsman of our times does not need to resort to this kind of school boyish behaviour!

I also enjoyed the English Premier League matches over the weekend. The Arsenal - Portsmouth clash was a pulsating one, as was the Everton - Chelsea match. Both of them were fast paced, and had some great individual moments of brilliance. I am more convinced that it is only a matter of time, before soccer overtakes cricket in popularity in India.

The Prestige

2006-12-12T23:44:00.000-08:00

I first heard about this movie when I saw the trailer during "Casino Royale". And what made me decide that I had to watch the movie was the name of the director - Christopher Nolan. Mainstream movie goers might recognise him as the director of "Batman Begins", easily the best in the series. But I had heard about him first through a friend who recommended "Memento".

Prior to the movie, I heard good reviews from a couple of sources. And I can honestly say that the film lived up to its expectations. I left the theatre discussing the movie in your head, and continue pondering over it days after. For how many of the movies that you watch can you say this?

I admit, there might be a big audience for whom movie watching is an entertainment. But "The Prestige" is proof that you can be entertained, and provoked, at the same time. And that, to me, is the essence of movies.

For movie reviews, I recommend Rotten Tomatoes.

A weekend of movies - Rang De Basanti, Dhoom 2 and Lage Raho Munnabhai

2006-12-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

As I had written earlier, I had watched the first half of RDB a couple of weeks back. I finally watched the remainder of the movie on Friday evening. And no, it did not change my earlier expressed opinion. The movie has played on the emotional angle, but as a movie, I found it woefully ordinary. To begin with, the 'classy' look looked very artificial, and was distracting from the movie. The director seems to have tried to copy the look of Farhan Akhtars' 'Dil Chahta Hai'. But while the look came as a refreshing change at that time, RDB came across as a poor copy.

And I could not agree with the basic theme of the movie. Supposedly educated urban youth taking to crime, and that too, the murder of a supposedly corrupt politician. Please, is this the message we want to send out through films? If the underlying message was to exhort our youth to break free of their inertia and take the lead to 'set the country right', surely it could have been done without unabashedly playing on emotions?

The second movie I watched, this one on the big screen at Cinemax, Eternity Mall, Thane, was the current hit - Dhoom 2. I walked in only expecting mindless entertainment, and I was not disappointed! The script is very weak, songs are jarring, but the star cast redeems the show. While the women rave about Hrithik, I thought Abhishek quite simply stole the show at the end. And for Aishwarya Rais' 'hot' new look, suffice to say that it was all a case of 'The Emperors' New Clothes'. She is just too cold, too calculated, to be 'hot'. Sure, she has a great face, but she would be best advised to leave the 'hot' look to actresses better suited to the role.

Finally, I come to 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. I was not too keen to watch it, as the India - South Africa cricket match was going on. But my my wife was, and she put it on. I joined her pretty soon, seeing how the cricket was going (for the record, we lost yet again by a humiliating margin). And I got hooked right from the first scene! This is how movies should be made - a simple script, dedicated actors, good music, and a great moral. The director has managed to make the movie touch the audience, without making it melodramatic, which could have been all too easy, given the storyline. This was easily the pick of the three movies I watched over the weekend.

Rediscovering Led Zeppelin

2006-12-04T03:54:00.000-08:00

As I was wondering what music to play on Friday evening, my eyes drifted towards my 4 CD set of Led Zeppeling Remastered (by Jimmy Page himself). Being a large boxed set, this one does not fit into my CD Racks. And during the course of regular household cleaning, it had slowly settled into relative obscurity behind my CD stand!

I put in the first CD into my old Philips DVD player, adjusted my Onkyo amplifier, and settled down in front of my entry level Jamo floor standing speakers. The trademark opening notes of "Whole Lotta Love" set the tone for the rest of the hour. Next up was "Heartbreaker", and as the song progressed, I was drifting closer to musical heaven. Has there ever been a more innovative group than the one composed on Robert Plan on vocals, Jimmy Page on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and John Bonham on the drums? I don't think so. Will there ever be? I don't think so either!

A weekend of cricket and football (soccer)

2006-11-29T02:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend saw me largely plonked in front of the idiot box. It started off with me watching Rang De Basanti. Yes, I am one of the half a dozen people, I guess, who have still not watched the movie. And I say still not watched, because I could only manage to be attentive till the Intermission. Maybe it was the pressure of expectation, but I did not find it outstanding, so far.

This was on Friday evening. I spent Sunday morning following the first Ashes test. The coverage, as always when it comes from australia, was excellent.

In the evening, it was time for soccer. The English Premier League had Bolton Wanderers playing Arsenal. Now both of them are among my favourties in the EPL, with Bolton a notch higher simply because they are not as well known as Arsenal. But they have some good players, who play strongly as a team, led by Sam Allardyce (Big Sam, as he is called!). And they showed just what they are capable of by demolishing Arsenal 3-1, with 2 superb striked from Nicholas Anelka. This has almost completely dashed Arsenals' title hopes for this season. I am wondering just how much of a role Patrick Vieras' exit has played in this slump.

I woke up early on Sunday morning to follow the Ashes. And it was worth it. Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen took the fight to the Aussies, and for a while, looked like they were winning. But the stand-in Australia captain, Adam Gilchrist persisted with Shane Warne, who rewarded him with the wickets of Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff towards the end of an entertaining days' cricket.

Sunday afternoon saw India take on South Africa in the third ODI. India made a great start, having South Africa reeling at 76 - 6. Then I had to step out to Big Bazaar at R Mall in Mulund for household shopping. By the time I got back, the Indian innings had started, Sehwag was out, and we were chasing a target of above 270! When Tendulkar followed Sehwag back to the pavilion shortly thereafter, I knew the game was as good as lost. Sachin failed yet again, precisely when the team needed him the most. One must really start to question his motivation to continue playing cricket for India. Yes, he has given us all tremendous joy, made us proud, but it is clear that he is no longer the batsman he used to be. Dhoni saved us some blushes, but a second successive 100 + run loss really hurt.

But the biggest match for me was yet to come - Manchester United vs. Chelsea in the EPL. It lived up to its reputation, with fast paced end to end action. Chelsea fought back well to equalise on away turf. I had to agree with Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, who said that Man U had lost a chance to take charge in the race for the EPL champion.

All these hours of sports action on TV was too much for my wife! So I think next weekend will be different!

So India lost another cricket match...

2006-11-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

While it came as no surprise that India lost another cricket match, and that too, miserably, what was surprising to me was the reaction of the loss among my colleagues who are avid cricket fans. There was a sense of resignation, as if they really don't expect India to win. And this does not augur well for the game.

I wonder what Zee TV was thinking when they made such a high bid for the rights to broadcast cricketing events. It's time the media wakes up to the reality that cricket is losing its' following among the early adopters, who are the key target audience for advertisers. It's only a matter of time before the TPRs amongst this audience starts dropping for cricket matches.

But crickets' loss will hopefully be other sports' gain. Let's wait and watch...

Brian Lara vs. Sachin Tendulkar

2006-11-22T05:02:00.000-08:00

Now that Brian Lara's scored another scintillating double century will start the usual comparisons - Is Lara a better batsman than Sachin? For me, the answer is clear. Sachin is a mighty fine batsman, but on the greatness scale, Brian Lara scores higher.

Brian, along with Ricky Ponting, has the ability to score when the team needs him. Even Sachins' critics would agree that he has failed for India on that score. Be it the last World Cup Final, the present Champions Trophy must-win match against Australia, Sachin has just failed to deliver when needed to the most.

For many years now, he has been carrying the weight of shoring up a weak batting line - up, and has done it with some style. The same cannot be said of Sachin. He has had the luxury of having strong batsmen to support the team. While the weight of expectations on Sachins' shoulders is high, Brian Lara also has the responsibility of leading a considerably less talented West Indian line - up. And he has managed to do it with some degree of success lately. And we all know how miserably Sachin failed when the responsibility of captaincy was thrust on him.

Lara also has the ability to convert his knocks into big ones. 6 of his centuries have been converted into doubles, one was a triple, and was a 400! In comparison, Sachin only has one knock above 200, and experts agree that it was one of his worst knocks.

I have nothing personal against Sachin. It is commendable how he has managed to keep his head, when all around him seem to have lost theirs. My gripe is against the coterie of media and advertising people, who have created the hype of Sachin - the greatest ever batsman. Sachin is a good batsman, even possibly a great one, but it would be a stretch to call him the greatest ever.

About 2 Movies - The Departed and Andaaz Apna Apna

2006-11-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

I watched "The Departed" on the back of some strong word - of - mouth. Surprise, suprise, it was almost a housefull at PVR, Mulund - the first time I am seeing that happen! For a movie released on a low budget advertising campaign, the word - of - mouth, coupled with the star cast, seems to be doing quite well, into its second week now in Mumbai.

This is not a movie review - I am sure there will be plenty of reviews in the blogosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - nearly 3 hours of it meaning that it was quite late by the time I got back home. It made quite an impact, with an interesting script, and some great performances. If anything, the violence was a bit over the top, but as the character of Jack Nicholson said in the movie, "Don't move till you are numb"! And the movie succeeds in numbing you - reason alone to watch it.

The next day, I watched an old favourite on Zee TV - Andaaz Apna Apna. It holds a huge nostalgic appeal for me. The movie was released when I was studying for my engineering degree in Pune. I remember one of my friends with whom I went to watch the movie literally jumping up and down the aisle, at some of the dialogues! After that, another friend and me used to watch the movie every time it was re-released, enjoying it every time. And the movie has lost none of its magic. Amazingly, my wife had not seen the movie, and while she laughed along, I am not too sure she appreciated it as much as I do!

Don - A review

2006-11-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

We watched a movie after a long time on Saturday - "Don", at PVR, Mulund. I like watching movies at PVR - fancy interiors, comfortable relaxing chairs, and excellent pricing at Rs. 70 for a morning show!

I enjoyed the movie - it was fast paced, and entertaining. I have not seen the Amitabh Bachchan starrer, but couldn't help wondering that Shah Rukh is not a patch on Amitabh, at least in this role. Shah Rukh Khan just does not have the screen presence required of the role. Though he did manage to redeem himself at the climax with his unbelievable intensity.

Kareena was another, who just could not pull off the role. She does not have a great figure, nor is she a good dancer. Boman Irani was good in a typical role. But the actor who really shone was Priyanka Chopra. With a stunning figure, she exuded screen presence. It is not easy to outshine King Khan, but Priyanka managed it effortlessly. Not for nothing was she voted Style Diva by eBay Indias' community of users.

The music was excellent, as one has come to expect from Shankar - Ehsaan - Loy. They have taken the old tunes, and given them a contemporary feel, without taking away the original melodies.

Slick direction and editing rounded up this good entertainer. Farhan Akhtar has made a successful comeback after the not so successful "Lakshya".

Tata Sky

2006-11-01T00:43:00.000-08:00

After a tough time with the 'home delivery' of the hardware (which never happened), I finally bought and installed Tata Sky DTH a couple of weeks back. All praise for the installation engineers who arrived promptly (within a few hours) of the hardware being delivered at my house. They had to install the dish on the rooftop, as the window adjacent to where my TV is placed was not in the right direction.

The clarity of the channels is wow! It is as claimed by the company - DVD quality. I had initially connected the audio output directly to my amplifier, and the audio quality was great as well (though not sure about the claimed CD quality). I later connected the audio output to the TV, with a line out from the TV to my amplifier. This is more convenient when you want to watch a show without any great music involved. But there is a noticeable drop in quality.

It is cool to view the programme shedule on your TV. And very convenient to be able to read what's running on other channels without having to surf. The Active Sports helps give a different perspective when the game gets boring :-). The Highlights is a useful feature. Hopefully, we will get this feature on more sporting events in the future.

I strongly recommend getting one, makes watching TV far more pleasurable.

So India lost another cricket match

2006-10-31T00:43:00.001-08:00

This really did not come as much of a surprise. We have allowed ourselves to turn our cricketers into near mythical figures, who are supposed to perform magic every time they are on the field....Yes, it is us to blame for having let it come to this.

The writing's pretty much on the wall for cricket in this country - observe the near empty stadiums for every match in which India was not participating. And with the performances of this team, it won't be long till the same happens to India matches. And that will be the best thing to happen to everyone connected to Indian cricket. The sheer lust for money has overshadowed everything about this fine game. What a pity...!

Now's the time to focus on other sports, they need the support we have given cricket for some many years. And smart marketers should realize that consumers are getting saturated with cricket, and are keen to check out some other sporting events.

My money is on football. A little financial and media support, and there is no reason why we cannot have successful football leagues here, and an improved national team.

There is tennis, which has steady following. There is F1, which just witnessed one of the closest title races this season, as did Moto GP. Golf is another sport where Indians are doing quite well.

All in all, I think this loss will be one of the best things to happen to Indian sport.