The Gift of GaB

My rants, writings, outpourings, musings and whatever else can be penned/typed down!

Friday, March 31, 2006

World Record 14th Consecutive Chase Win

This will also be known as the 2nd ODI played at Faridabad between India and England. India won the 14th consecutive ODI match playing second. Earlier record was set 20 years ago by the West Indies with 13 consecutive wins.


MoM - Suresh Raina. 81 runs in 89 balls with 8 fours and 1 six.

After a good start that went on till 61/0, India lost a 5 wickets in just 31 more runs to slump to 92/5. Dhoni and Raina partnered at the center to produce innings of controlled batsmanship and occasional aggression. With the 118 run stand that they were involved in, they rescued India from the (now a distant memory) middle order collapse.

As is so characteristic of the new Indian team, they dont seem to start looking strung up! The young brigade came to the rescue again. With a sterling match winning partnership, they took India home with an over to spare.

Amazing victory this, it also showed that India is beginning to have faith in itself and turning out to be a world-beating side. It remains to be seen if they truly are world beaters, for there are other great teams to battle with. SA and Australia. If they can repeat this trend against them and stay on till WC2007, am sure the next WC belongs to India.

PS: It was also 100th ODI outing for Andrew Flintoff. Well, he would have loved to turn the game the other way!

Vodkathon - April 1 2006

For the first time in the world, a unique event is being held in the happening city, Bangalore. Called the Vodkathon, it is the brain child of Chenthil. Being jointly arranged by Chenthil, Ferrari and Madman - this is the do you got to be at if you love nursing a chilled glass of vodka & blogging.



For more about the Vodkathon:
a) Vodkathon Home Page
b) Vodkathon Promo Video on YouTube

May the *spirits* rise to the occasion! Amen!!

Kya Cool Hai Hummm.. bzzz....

I saw this pic on NatGeo website and this is the quote that came to my mind. :-)



From the same page...
// An entry in a German science-photo competition, this image shows a fly sporting a set of "designer" lenses crafted and set in place with a cutting-edge laser technique. The glasses fit snuggly on the fly's 0.08-inch-wide (2-millimeter-wide) head. //

For more... click here.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Eclipse - Moon over Sun, Ignorance over Knowledge


The Total Solar Eclipse timeline

There was a total solar eclipse that happened on March 29th. It was partially visible from North and East India. The path of totality started in Brazil, traversed through the Atlantic Ocean, touched North Africa and passed through Central Asia before ending at sunset in Mongolia. As is usual with me, I look for information on NASA's Eclipse portal, hosted by its GSFC center. (GSFC is located near Bethesda, MD which was very close to Herndon, VA where I was staying in 2002-03.)

Our media is very prompt in covering these events. Hordes of telecommunication equipment reach the farthest places where people assemble for "eclipse related" activity. Now, it is heartening to see how people assemble at Planetariums or in open areas with appropriate equipment to watch the celestial spectacle. Children and adults alike look at the heavens in wonderment as the little Moon obscures the much bigger Sun in a play of light and shadows. And a little geometry and physics thrown in. :-)

What is, however, disheartening to see is the superstitions associated with such celestial events and people's actions during these events. Hordes descend towards the nearest water body to take bath and wash away their sins. Many pack themselves indoors and avoid any open exposure. Most do not eat during the eclipse - fearing indigestion. Many perform homams and pujas to ward away the evil effects of an eclipse in their horoscope. And there are many other idiosyncrasies associated with eclipses that really drive me nuts.

The media even interviewed some people in connection with the eclipse. The choice of people whom they choose to interview is strongly questionable. They love to create a mania, and their choice is directed solely towards that. I was watching some news channels where they showed a pundit who recited a mantra to ward off evils of eclipse. A mantra to ward off evils? One family said they came 200 kilometers from their home to Kurukshetra to bathe in the river there so that goodness can prevail over their families and homes. Yet another rural Indian said he had come to bathe in the river so that the Gods be appeased and his horoscope be blessed with good planetary positions. I do not understand how taking bath in a river will alter the planetary positions of one's horoscope.

It is this ignorance that is killing us and keeping us from progressing in a science and reason driven world. I agree that there are times when reason deserts us. Fine, there would be one day when reason dawns over that too. But that does not mean reason and science have been defeated. We talk about India shining, India being an IT major, India spearheading the world in the 21st century, India as an emerging super-power... and yet we do not leave these age old superstitions. How can we expect the nation to progress when such retarding beliefs plague our culture?

Asato Ma Sadgamaya,
Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya


which means...

From Untruth, lead me towards Truth
From Darkness, lead me towards Light


We have to start shedding these illogical darknesses and move towards enlightenment. These eclipses should only occur when the Moon obscures the Sun. Not when superstition obscures reason and ignorance obscures knowledge.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Happy Ugadi


Happy Ugadi / Udagi Shubhashayagalu!

Come March and Karnataka looks forward to celebrating its New Year. Called as "Ugadi" and falling on March 30th, it is also celebrated in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and as "Gudi Padva" in Maharashtra. Udagi ushers in the New Year for those who follow the Chandramana system. Ugadi comes from 2 words - Yuga and Aadi and literally means "New Age". This day, the new calendar starts for the people following the Chandramana system (Lunar calendar). It also denotes the formal beginning of Spring season a.k.a Vasantha Ruthu.

A very unique aspect, which is also practiced by Maharashtrians, is the Til-Gul. Sweets made out of Sesame seeds are distributed amongst friends and relatives and they are consumed with Jaggery. There is also a slight variation where people consume Neem and Jaggery. Personally, I have not come across these but I have surely participated in Til-Gul ceremonies. During the Tamil New Year, the Tamils do prepare a preparation using Neem Flowers, Raw Mangoes and Jaggery, called as the Manga Pachadi.

Happy Ugadi to you! May the good prevail over evil and may all your ills and problems be vanquished.

Looking out for...

Fanaah

*ing Aamir Khan, Kajol & Tabu. The first ever movie together for Aamir and Kajol! Aamir plays an undercover terrorist in love with Kajol, a Kashmiri woman. Tabu also plays a terrorist. IMDB says this is a cross between Noorie and Dil Se.



Fanaah, in urdu, literally means annihilation of evil. Check this page for more.

For more...
> Stills from Fanaah
> Some parts of the movie were shot in Poland
> Interview with Fanaah scriptwriter, Shibani Bathija
> All the latest updates on Fanaah

From selling Idlis to graduating from IIM-A

Click to see a bigger picture.



Stuff like these are very very inspiring. Thanks to Arjun for sharing.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

England Singh-ed in the first ODI at Kotla Stadium, New Delhi

Defending a modest total of 203 that India scored in 46.4 overs, India must have felt like staring at an uphill target. Unless the bowlers fired away and got early wickets, it would not be easy. What happened was precisely that. In the Indian innings, Gambhir gave the initial momentum after Sehwag failed for yet another time. After Dravid fell at 34, it was upto Raina, Pathan and Bhajji to give the late thrust and get India to a fighting total. Well, we were quite short of a fighting total. But we were able to defend it, thanks to the Singhs - Harbhajan & Yuvraj.

And England were singed under the Singh attack. Take a look at the scoreboard below. You can see only Singhs. Between them, Yuvraj and Harbhajan took 7 wickets... accounting for the England batting collapse.


England innings (target: 204 runs from 50 overs) R B 4 6
AJ Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 0 3 0 0
MJ Prior c Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh 22 31 4 0
OA Shah lbw b Pathan 4 3 1 0
KP Pietersen c Gambhir b Yuvraj Singh 46 49 9 0
*A Flintoff lbw b Harbhajan Singh 41 37 4 2
PD Collingwood c Kaif b Harbhajan Singh 8 24 1 0
+GO Jones b Harbhajan Singh 0 10 0 0
ID Blackwell c Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh 10 20 2 0
LE Plunkett c Dhoni b Pathan 14 31 2 0
Kabir Ali lbw b Yuvraj Singh 0 6 0 0
JM Anderson not out 12 17 2 0
Extras (lb 4, w 1, nb 2) 7
Total (all out, 38.1 overs) 164

FoW: 1-0 (Strauss, 0.3 ov), 2-4 (Shah, 0.6 ov),
3-57 (Prior, 11.5 ov), 4-117 (Pietersen, 19.5 ov),
5-117 (Flintoff, 20.4 ov), 6-120 (Jones, 22.4 ov),
7-137 (Blackwell, 28.5 ov), 8-141 (Collingwood, 30.1 ov),
9-142 (Ali, 31.2 ov), 10-164 (Plunkett, 38.1 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Pathan 7.1 1 21 3 (1w)
Sreesanth 5 0 39 0
Singh 4 0 32 0
Harbhajan Singh 10 2 31 5
Yuvraj Singh 10 2 32 2 (2nb)
Sehwag 2 0 5 0


My vote for MoM? Bhajji. 5 wickets and 37 great runs in 46 balls with 3 4s and a 6. He's da man! The Turbanator.

Halo



One sleepless night, I was up pondering over all the little things that usually escape our attention and my eyes fell on the night bulb. Something about the calm light that it cast around itself caught my attention. A soft light that gives us some assurance that it is not that dark and no monsters are going to come out of the closet. I just picked up my camera and shot this in the manual mode. Pretty pleased with the outcome, I slept a sound sleep! :-)

Also posted at Reflectarium.

Golf Ball and related experiments

Finally, I got my hands on a golf ball. The first time in my life. My friend had one used ball and he gave it to me. Just like that. Probably only because I had not held a golf ball in my hand before. :-)

I took the ball home and showed it to my 6 month old daughter. Now, she has not seen a ball earlier to this one. So, the first ball that she saw is a golf ball. And the size of the ball is such that she can completely hold it in her small palm. It was nice to watch her play with that ball.

Later in the evening, one of my cousins dropped by. Even he had not seen a golf ball earlier. So, when he held it, he looked at it for quite a while, bounced it and heard the sound it made and made a comment that I will never forget :
"For the weight that it seems to have, it makes quite a silly sound!"

And then, I took the camera out. Anything that catches my imagination shall and will be clicked. :-) And so here is the first snap that I clicked of that golf ball. Yeah! It is quite worn to look at. But, what the heck? It still is a golf ball. :-)


Click for a bigger size

What followed this one was pure delight. But you have to check the "Reflectarium" posts for my experiments with the camera. Check how the same golf ball looks in my pictures...

Size Me Up

I saw this post on PK's blog and got inspired to write one. And that's here. Read and comment on that blog please.

vielen danke!

Monday, March 27, 2006

The Video Library experience.

This happened on Saturday and I have been debating with myself on whether to blog about it or not. I happened to drop by at the VCD/DVD library to see if any new movies have come or not. And the conversation happened as follows (writing in English for the benefit of those who do not understand Hindi, but the conversation actually happened in Hindi):

Me: So, any new movies?
ShopOwner (SO): Hmmm.. Check these out. (putting a stack of VCDs and DVDs in front of me)
Me: You only tell me which are the new ones. I am not going to sift through all these...
SO: (getting off the phone) Check the top half. That will have the most of it.

Meanwhile I start sifting through the top half - which roughly numbers upto 20 or so. Sifting through it, I see a couple of "Sudesi"s and run-o-mill Hindi movies released lately. I have seen almost all recent movies that have been impressive, including the "Taxi 9 2 11". I was looking for movies like "Maalamaal Weekly" in Hindi, "Chithiram Pesuthadi" in Tamil and the Oscar nominated English ones. I had already watched Crash before the Academy gave it the top award. I do not find anything and resign from my search.

Me: There is nothing of interest here.
SO: What are you telling, Sir? There are a couple of good ones. See this, this and this. (He showed me Sudesi, Zinda and Fight Club)
Me: Eh? You want me to watch these...??
So: All these are nice, Sir.
Me: Whom are you fooling? (Kisko chuna laga rahe ho??)
SO: Why should I, Sir? Aren't these good?
Me: Who told you these are good? (I placed my finger on Sudesi)
SO: (leaning over to me) This "Sudesi" is not good, is it?
Me: Most of my friends who saw this movie are sick in bed!
SO: Oh! (A feeling of big loss!!)
Me: Why? What happened??
SO: I invested some good money to get 10 copies of this movie, Sir. Till date only one rental. Nobody renting it. So, thats why I was wondering.
Me: Hehehehe... Why will anybody risk their lives??
SO: Cheh! I should really know what movies to stock. But I never really know, Sir.
Me: I don't blame you. You are bound to face situations like these.
SO: But this "Sudesi" was the worst, Sir. I havent had this bad renting on any other movie. People may atleast want to watch it once.
Me: Like I said, it is a question of sanity and insanity. You can't take risks.
SO: Ok, Sir. Take any other movie you want. And please let me know if there are any movies to look out for. It would help me.
SO: Oh sure, I would. (while my eyes were scanning the DVD collection from the older lot)

I ended up watching "The Polar Express". I have been wanting to watch this movie for more than 1.5 years now. I am glad that I did watch it finally. Will be buying this DVD. It is a nice children's movie. And when we grown-ups watch it, we also want to return back to those golden years! Hmmm... (Will post a review of the movie later, come back to read it)

PS: If you want a good length review of "Sudesi", please read this blog post from Praveen. :-)

Sunday, March 26, 2006

The "Indian Idol" Generation

For long I have maintained that the more recent crops of graduating Indian population is swimming in an imaginary sea of lofty living standards and materialistic ambitions. I do not mean all of them. But a significant percentage. I cannot put a number to that. But yes, significant enough to be alarming.

This new generation wants to flash cellphones, go to the flashiest places, be seen at "do"s, wear a lot of bling and a lot more. The list is endless. Well, maybe all this was ok. But certainly not the attitude. Most of them have a huge attitude problem too. Why... you may ask. There are lots of reasons to attribute this massive change to.

1. BPO jobs. And that means... helluva lot of disposable income to flaunt their riches. And the cultural mismatch that they practice.
2. Get-rich-and-famous-quickly syndrome. A la "Indian Idol".
3. Independance. Monetary, Ideological, Sexual etc.
4. Impressionable.
5. Consumerism. (May I also add "Americanisation"?)

No longer does the generation believe that good studies, good virtues and good character lead to sustained success in life. All these are passé thoughts. Virtues and character have literally gone to the deepest stygian pits, if they are already at their worst point. Thanks to programs like "Indian Idol" that create the huge make-believe world that people can succeed in lives by singing and dancing alone. And making a commercial enterprise out of that is even bigger despicable thing. Even KBC was a rags-to-riches game. But you had to have some good level of General Knowledge to win real good money.

The sad aspect is that there seems to be no awakening kind of thing happening among this generation. Materialism is rampant. There is barely any shred of spiritual consciousness. I cannot say much about righteousness, because that would need a lot more research. Everything is being commoditized. The younger lot believes that if they have the money, they can get it all. Sadly, that is not true. Overall, they are just a muddled lot.

The Hindu : Open Page : Our muddled generation

Ok, after having mouthed all the above, I do not want to be labelled as Culture Police. I am NOT as snobbish and hysterical as those. Neither do I want to be called an elderly as most of my outpouring are atypical of them. My laments are more focussed on the lost credibility to virtues, importance of studies and diminished value of money.

I pray that the generation awakens and realises that it is going the wrong way. I only hope that it is not too late.

88 hour torture!

I can barely stand a lecture of 1 hour. Maybe 2 at the max. 8 hours? I will be long dead by that time... I am thinking about the plight of the students who would have to undergo a 88 hour ordeal. Only for the sake of Guinness Records.

Lecturing into Guinness Book- The Times of India

Maybe the Guinness committee should also record the state of the students who pass through the ordeal. Am sure, they will practice silence for another 48 hours. :-)

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC

If you are located close to Washington DC around this time of year, then you should NOT miss the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The website of the National Cherry Blossom Festival provides info on the peak blooming period, which happens to fall between March 26th and March 28th this year. The Cherry Blossom Festival has a nice history to it. Do read it. Maps, Instructions and other important information... one quick tip. Reach early and park your car in an easily reachable spot. Else finding a parking spot would be the most difficult thing to do. And my word, the last thing you want to do at the end of the day would be to walk some miles to the spot where you parked your car!

I am recounting experiences from my 2003 visit to DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Check the pics below. I had used a 2MP Minolta Dimage 2X. The Canon Powershot Pro G2 came on much later. :-) Click on the pics for a bigger image.


During the peak blossoming period, you will not see any leaves on the Cherry Blossom trees. Only flowers!


You will walk on a carpet of petals! How often do you get to do this?


Wow... what colors?! Tulips swaying in the afternoon sun!


Washington Monument and its reflection on the waters of Tidal Basin


Cherry Blossom Trees in full bloom along the Tidal Basin


Jefferson Monument, visible across the Tidal Basin, and Cherry Blossoms


A fuddled up attempt, trying a new frame...

I still remember the trip that I had made back then. I cannot wait to see it again, if I travel to DC again... that is!

Wanna start Metroblogging Bangalore?

Chennai got added to the Metroblogging list as its 44th city. Bangalore, a.k.a Silicon Valley of India, deserves to be up there among those illustrious cities having a metroblogging circuit. If you are one of those who love this city and would love to share snippets, tips, trivia etc. about this city... then you gotta be onboard. Check the website [link provided above]. Also, please register at this link.

Email us at rubic_cube [at] rediffmail [dot] com & prabhu [dot] ferrari [at] gmail [dot] com. We would be more than happy to share our enthusiasm with you.

Update from Ferrari: Anita Bora is already on this initiative. Please get in touch with her at her blog.

Amazing Photography Lessons from a fellow Blogger

Thanks PK for introducing me to Saanga. I have now blogrolled him on my list. I guess I now know what I have been missing in learning photography!

Readers, you should really check out Saanga's photography works. Just brilliant! Especially PK has chosen some Taj pics that you should not miss!

For those who love photography and still are looking for some tutorials on the photography jargon like aperture, metering etc... Saanga has written up some great articles on those. They are concise, crisp and very educative. I exhort you to take a look at the following articles on Saanga's blog.

Some quick lessons:
The F Number - Demystified
Understanding Metering
Why Black and White
Depth of Field - the Third Dimension
The Rule of Thirds

If you are using a digital still camera...
LCD - Looks Can-be Deceiving

If you are considering upgrading to the next level... (Like I am contemplating at the moment)
Why I upgraded to a digital SLR
Why I chose Canon EOS 20D

Hmmm... how long before I begin caressing a dSLR?! Till then I will continue enjoying with my Canon Powershot Pro G2.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Gabtain's Saak!

I got this email from a friend and was rolling with laughter, reading about it. Check this out...

Ladies and Jentilmen!

Bresenting - Ya moment of cinematographic history! Ya seen that changed
the face of Tamil filmdom!

Gaptain Vijaykanth (yin and yas) - Narasimma

For those who came in late - Gaptain Vijaykanth yis the current face of
Tamil movies, with his latest blockbuster Sudesi, which hit the theatres
three weeks back. It is reported that Mumbai Police has sought
permission to use this movie on Abu Salem to break him down.

Gaptain has so far been the only berson (other than Neo) to dodge
bullets as they're fired, the only berson (other than Shaktimaan) to
jump after the heroine from the top of a building, catch her midair and
land on his feet, and the only berson ever (nobody, no-no-nobody has
ever done this) to type on a Windows Media Player screen.

The Fans Club takes pride to presenting of the audience of : ya
lejendary saaking klip!

And In case you don't see the transcripts in Yinglees in the video...

Evil Looking Diabolical Torturer approaches with electrodes.
Gaptain sitting on a chair wearing boxing helmet.

Dialaak (translated):

when a normal man touches current, he gets a shock...

I am Narasimma. If current touches me, current gets a shock

intense concentration and the transformer explodes unable to
bear the saak Gaptain gave to it. For that matter, neither were most
people sitting in the theatre.

You gotta check the video on youtube.

Bretty Imbressive Gabtain... isn't it?

And we elect *this* government!

I got this video in my email today with the subject "We should send our politicians to WWE". Looking at the video, I think I agree. The video fills me with contradicting emotions - amusement and pain.

Amusement at what the Indian Politicians are doing.
Pain at what the hallowed portals of the Parliament have been reduced to.



And to say we are the biggest democracy in the world is a big shame. To say that we elect our government into power is even bigger shame. Why? Because our *chosen* leaders are getting down to such a low level that would put street dogs to shame.

This is 3 much!!!

MKG was too lofty a man to used as comparison with Sonia Gandhi. Despite his quirky dispositions and experimental methods, he remains the Architect of Non-Violence movement. And comparing Sonia with Mahatma, as MKG was called, is a bit too much to accept.

Sonia: A bit of a Mahatma- The Times of India

This latest stunt of hers - resigning from her LS seat - has to have some sinister side. I cannot agree that she acted with her heart in this matter. Enough has already happened for us to know that her acts are reflections of a greater strategy in the background.

She can never be a Mahatma. She is only a bhatakthi hui aatma.

Damn TOI for publishing such kind of articles.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

White Guy in Bollywood song

You just have to see this one... dont miss it!

Video link on Sambhar-Mafia blog

Awesome, isn't it?

Gillette launches 5-blade razor "Fusion"

Before you start thinking what a joke it is, let me tell you that it is serious. They have launched it in the US. And now, you can laugh. :-)

Fellow blogger, Shivaji Das has put up a post at his blog. Humourous read! Check it out.

There was a time when I felt my Dad would ask me to get started with those older variety of razors where you got to place a blade in its slot and screw down the top over it. There were 4 edges to it and you could alternate those edges and manage each blade quite economically. And they extracted as good a shave as could be done with the modern blades of today. Anyways, I was quite put off by that idea and prolonged my decision to shave till such a day dawned when I could get started with a twin-blade.

Even then, it could not be any twin-blade. It had to be a Gillette Razor only. Every boy's dream? You can call it. I started with the Gillette Vector. Vector Plus came in later. But the Vector was the original trend setter. Rubber gripped handle, Swiveling blade... wow! What a smooth shave!

Then came the day when the number of blades in the razor got incremented by one. 3 blades. And they branded it Mach-3. Time had come for me to move on. I bought the new Mach-3 and waxed eloquent on its shaving ease and shave quality. No nicks too. Mmmm.. thats a good deal, I used to tell myself. And I guess this would count among Gillette's master strokes in creating this good a brand image about Mach-3.

Never did I imagine that they would go beyond 3 blades and launch the one with 4. Branded as the "Quattro", shaving instruments started looking like mini spaceships. And all sorts of bells and whistles were included in the branding package. A lubricating soapy strip, a comfort guard... and what not. Whether it was a success or not, I cannot tell for lack of appropriate information. But I do feel that it was not as successful as its predecessors.

And now comes the razor with 5 sabers. They could have called it "Pentagon". Right? Probably some older wiser men decided against it and they decided to call it a "Fusion". Beats me, why the name "Fusion"? They might as well create one with 10 blades and build it like a lawn-mover. And then call it "ManeMover". lol :-)

And if you read Shivaji's post above with the graph plot and everything, you would realise that this shaving blade business is crossed over into lunatic territory. All this reminds me of that old "Godrej Shaving Cream" ad... where someone asks a man, turned on his back, which shaving cream he uses. He turns around, stroking his beard and exlaims "Me?!". Maybe many men would just start growing beards now to avoid the confusion of choosing n-bladed razors!

So the umblical cord for IE is being cut...

[Podcast]

Microsoft decides to detach the IE from its Windows Explorer. This would end the privilege that IE had over other browsers in being integral to the Windows OS. Come October, Windows would separate the IE component and concede defeat to all the critics who have been warning Microsoft about the problems with integrating a full featured web browser into the OS. Windows Vista will not be bundled with IE and XP will receive a fix to decouple IE.

Would that signal the end of the IE era? Or is IE far too distributed and used to be chucked away like that?

Googliath

Google is not just what we know it as. I was blogrolling today and read about Google listing the list of companies that it has acquired in its shareholder's report. I was more than just amazed to read the list. The entire portfolio of companies acquired by Google shows that the Search-Engine major is not just interested in making search technology simpler for the everyday guy. It is becoming bigger and bigger. Google Pack is also another example of the bigger plans that Google seems to have.

The plethora of technological marvels that it is engaged in is evident when you visit Google Labs. Google Web Accelerator, for instance, is a browsing accelerator utility that enhances your browsing experience and loads pages faster on your broadband connection. But if you read the finer print, they are actually routing traffic through Google's Web Servers. Now, I do not want them to be snooping and recording what I am surfing about. So, I did not install it. And now one more from Google. Gbuy - competitor for PayPal. Firefox may one day be integrated deep into Google's software just like IE got mired deep inside Windows. Open Office may be the most preferred Office suite working on the much touted Google OS.

Also in the news is the rumour about Google buying up Sun. Not sure if this would really happen. But if that happens, 2 companies that are techie heavens would merge to create a true innovation spinball that could steamroll through the world. I do not know if I want to live to tell "I told ya so!". But what if it does happen?

Is Google going Microsoft way? MS never published its research works and never distributed its beta and research stuff free over internet. Google does that. So we are aware of the increasing girth of Google. Looks like "Googlefasting" is something that each one of us has to try out. More so to ascertain if we can live a life independant of Google. For one day, Google may just own the rights to every character typed on your keyboards!

In a thought mode, I coined the word "Googliath", to mean Google becoming as big as Goliath. David killed Goliath using just a sling. Google was once the David of the search world. Today, people just google for stuff on internet. It has come to that. Google has become the Googliath. Will another David rise now? Time alone will tell.

Vistas of Windows

Techrepublic recently published the screenshots of the Windows Vista OS. Looks fabulously chic.

62 images in all, check them out.

All said and done... you got to give it to the guys at Redmond and Apple-Mac in creating ethereal GUIs.

What say?

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Back... Nandhi Hills, Bhoganandhiswara Temple

A hectic week is behind me now. That is the reason you do not see any blog posts since last one week (or more so since Tuesday). Anyways, I did unwind after Friday evening. We bought a new pram for my daughter. A good sturdy one. And she just enjoys a sitting in it.

On Saturday, we went on our occasional family outing. This time we went to Nandhi Hills. We walked around the place with Gauri seated in the pram. We visited the Yoganandhiswara Temple and walked around the place, saw the armoury, the Nellikai Nandhi (probably the reason why the hills is named Nandhi Hills) and the small flower garden by the guest houses. The climate, as expected, was pretty good at the top. At 1450+ meters above sea level, it is quite a nice place for a day visit. Also, the short drive up to the top is quite enjoyable - it is a ghat road with steep curves at places. I had visited this place last on Sep 7, 2005. It was Ganesha Chaturthi and that day evening, Gauri was born. So, Nandhi Hills holds a special place in my heart.

I had also found out that there is a very ancient temple near Nandhi Hills called as Bhoganandhiswara Temple. We visited that place too. Incidentally, the Bhoganandhiswara Temple is close to 1100 years old. If you visit this temple, you will realise what a curious mix of architectures this temple is. Chola style dating back to 9th century AD, followed by Vijayanagara style additions upto 15th century AD. Also, I noticed that this is one temple where there are 2 shrines dedicated to two forms of Lord Shiva. One as Bhoganandhiswara and the other as Arunachaleshwara. Both these lingams are 1100 years old. And you will realise it by seeing the size and shape of the lingams. Each of these lingams have the Nandhi installed in front of them. Not one. 3 Nandhis. This was also quite a unique thing that I noticed over there. The pillars of the temple tell a story of their own. The inner prakaram are old Chola style. The outer prakaram are medieval Vijayanagara style. There is even an umbrella carved in stone. The umbrella was carved over 3 different periods and you can see the difference in the 3 color variations of the Umbrella.

There are 2 tanks. One inside the temple, near the priest's quarters, another one outside in the well-maintained garden. There are chambers for smaller deities or pilgrims all around the perimeter of the garden.

There is even a Kalyana Mantapa sculpted by the Hoysala style. The sculpture of the Kalyana Mantapa is intricate with birds and creepers carved in stone. Exquisite is the only word for it. This Kalyana Mantapa is built in front of one another unique feature of the temple - the fused idol of Shiva and Parvati together. I have never seen this before.

How to reach Nandhi Hills? This is an all-too common address. It is on NH7, en route to Hyderabad. You will see a diversion just after Devanahalli for Nandhi Hills. The road is good, with a little patchy surface at very few places. You will come to a T-junction on the straight road from where you need to take a left for Nandhi Hills. Neatly maintained ghat road takes you to the top of Nandhi Hills. 2 wheelers have to park at a little lower level. Do not know the actual reason. It probably is because most 2 wheelers are 2 strokes and can pollute more than the 4 wheelers.

To get to Bhoganandhiswara Temple, you need to take a right from the T junction and proceed 3 kms towards Nandhi village. A little into the village is the central "circle" where you can see the temple. If possible, take the services of the man who presents himself as the guide. Without him, you are as lost as a Frenchman in China in that big a temple with varied history. He did not even demand any money, but I paid him Rs. 20 for his services and he seemed grateful.

Do not miss this temple next time if you visit Nandhi Hills.


Just sharing this pic that I clicked from Tipu's Drop @ Nandhi Hills. More later...

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Google Web Accelerator

If you work from home or use internet a lot from your home DSL or broadband connection, then you got to check this offering from Google.

Google Web Accelerator

Looks like the nerds at Google wont stop at anything at all!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Fatwa against Islamic Terrorism.

I never ever imagined a muslim body issuing a fatwa against Islamic terrorists. And that is just what has happened...! I am very very impressed.

From the above news piece: A leading 400-year-old Islamic seminary, the Darul-Ifta Firangai Mahal on Monday issued a 'fatwa' against terrorists targeting places of worship and killing innocent people.
>> Am sure this has come in retaliation to the attacks at Varanasi.

// Quoting from the 32nd 'Ayat' of 'Sur-e-Mayda' in the Holy Quran, he pointed out, "God has very explicitly stated that if any human being kills any other human being, he would be guilty of murdering humanity." Quoting yet another excerpt from the Holy Quran, he added, "Ayat 107 under 'Sur-e-Ambia' chapter of the Quran says that the Prophet's objective is to ensure well being of the entire universe, which includes not only human beings, but even animals, trees and plants." "It is notable that the Prophet never reacted violently even against those those not only attacked him in various ways but also tried to cause physical harm to him; the Prophet was also totally against causing the slightest harm to any place of worship, belonging to any faith." // -- If so, how come most other islamic militant organizations turn a blind eye to this "Word of God". They are then fighting against capitalist forces out of their own hatred for them, in retaliation to some past grudge, and giving it the name of Jihad or Holy War. How can a war that they wage be holy if it is against their holiest book?

In any case, this news of fatwa comes in as a new wave from the Islamic Community!

Sunday, March 12, 2006

SA make history!

When Australia (Aus.) scored 434/4 in 50 overs, little would have anyone thought that South Africa (SA) would answer them back in same measure. Even lesser would have thought that SA could win. Aus scored a massive 434, riding high on Pontings epic 165 in 105 balls. But Gibbs seemed to have other plans. He practically wrote SA victory with his 175 off 111 balls. And in the end, Mark Boucher played an innings of calm and composure to take his home team past the victory rope with a grand 50 off 43 balls!


Herschelle Gibbs, arms aloft, celebrates his hundred. He was finally dismissed for 175 brilliant runs, South Africa v Australia, 5th ODI, Johannesburg, March 12, 2006
Pic: Cricinfo.com

I was messaging with Maverick through the match and at one point told him that SA should win this match and take the revenge of the semi-final loss to Australia in World Cup 1999. That was too sad a loss even though the match was drawn. Klusener's last minute pyrotechnics could not save the match. Today, Gibbs and Boucher left no stone unturned.

Hats off to SA team and Aus team. A record 872 runs scored between the 2 teams, A record first innings score of 434 posted by Aus... and finally... a RECORD SETTING CHASE of 438 runs. MAN! THAT WAS SOME MATCH!!!

More tomorrow when I study the stats carefully, with lots of assistance from Maverick. Till then... adios!

PS:
1. By the way, Muthiah can take solace in the fact that he is no longer the most expensive bowler in ODI history with his 99 runs condeded in 10 overs. Lewis today conceded 113 runs in 10 overs.
2. From Cricinfo.com >> "This match is certainly the equal of the "Humdinger" match played at Port Elizabeth in 1986-87"... I need to do some digging now...

Update on Mar 13th:
Cricinfo has put a comprehensive listing of all records on their site. Click here to directly go that page.
A quick look at the most interesting records mentioned on that page...
1. With 26 towering hits, this match holds the record for the most sixes hit in a match.
2. The blistering innings from Gibbs and Ponting ranks them in the top-3 most explosive knocks by batsmen scoring above 130 runs in their innings.

And that "Humdinger" match - I found a link on The Hindu. Check it out here.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Mera number aa gaya!

Dada a.k.a Maharaja a.k.a Saurav Ganguly, now has a chance to get back at his detractors. Yeah! He is one among those invited to comment on the issues plaguing BCCI, including *selection of Indian Team*! :-) Dada must be rubbing his hands with glee!

More @ Rediff.

From the article...
// The former India skipper was on Friday named in a list of six past and present cricketers who would give their views on a number of issues, including overhauling the present system of team selection.

The others in the list are: Dilip Vengsarkar, K Srikkanth, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.

These "special invitees" would "examine the present system of selection of national and state teams and of umpires and suggest ways to make them more efficient and foolproof," the statement added. //

Thought Controlled Computer

Paralyzed? Any other restrictive physical disability? No problem. You can still use a computer. Thanks to the innovative project called "Berlin Brain-Computer Interface".

The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI) was created by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin and Charité, the medical school of Berlin Humboldt University in Germany. It debuted at CeBIT 2006 @ Hannover, Germany. This computer can be controlled by thought alone. How? You have to wear a helmet like gadget filled with electrodes that monitor your brain signals. Merely by thinking that you want to move the cursor left or right, you can actually achieve the same. You can even type messages on the screen.

3 cheers to innovations like these that provide a new ray of hope to the physically challenged people! Yayyy!!

The chinkaras ghosts will wander again!

Jodhpur Court stays the one year imprisonment sentence passed on Salman Khan, and setting the next hearing date for April.

More @ Rediff.

While the provision of a higher court being able to stay a lower court judgement is good in some situations, it is not in this situation. Why cant the higher court respect the judgement passed by a lower court, especially when the case is so very against the accused.

Lobbying, Pressure, High Level Contacts, Corruption... what else will impede the path of judgement in India? It is appalling to see this guy go scot free like this. And how would he celebrate his temporary freedom? Go to some other place and shoot a few other endangered species. Damn!

Google CL2 - Sneak Peek!

I use Lotus Notes 7 in my organization. I am probably too much in love with it to look at any other collaboration tool. The N7 has come a long way from the earlier versions, 4.5 being the first one that I had used. One of the most loved features in Lotus Notes is the Calendar. And those who use the Calendar feature of Notes must agree that it is amazing.

Google seems to have created its own calendar and looks pretty much like Lotus Notes Calendar. Called "CL2" (sign on page here), Google is apparently working to integrate it with Gmail. The beta was a strictly closed one with invited users not being able to invite others to preview it.


The original CL2 screenshot from the link provided below!

Take a sneak peek at the CL2, complete with screenshots, at this page.

In a few months from now, your gmail account may just start becoming an all-in-one collaboration tool... incorporating state-of-art gmail service, Google Talk, Firefox browser inbuilt, Google Media Player (future), CL2 et cetera. Ah! Already this sounds like the Google Pack. Ain't it? I may be missing a lot here. Trust Google to pamper you with something imaginative.

May that day... dawn!

Finally, water in space!

:-) Not on Mars. On one of Saturn's innermost moons - Enceladus! Cassini probe has clicked some pictures of Enceladus as it flew past the moon on July 14 2005.


CNN Headline: The Cassini space probe has found evidence of geysers erupting from underground pools of liquid water on Saturn's moon Enceladus, scientists announced on Thursday.

// "Now Enceladus joins the ranks of those bodies, Mars and Europa, that have evidence of liquid water in them and also energy sources coming from radioactive heating and tidal heating that make the very interesting places to look for the origins of life," said Torrence Johnson, a member of the Cassini team. "These are habitats that are similar to types of places we think life may have originated and could possibly survive in today." //

PS:
Almost everything you want to know about Enceladus!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Such is life! Hmmm...

If pics are worth a thousand words, this one is a perfect example.



Our life has become a clockwork like this!

Defeat of democracy at the hands of money!

Am not quite sure if that should be the title, but at the outset it appears to be that. I had always wondered about the vote bank in India coming from villages. Most of them illiterate, not quite informed about what is happening in the land... et cetera. And when elections come around, policians in their crisp white starched dresses rush to these hinterlands to woo the people. These village people must be getting to see those "elected" leaders only once in a while whenever there are elections. I used to wonder - do they not feel cheated? Because these politicians promise the moon to these poor unsuspecting people and give nothing more than dust, while they themselves are basking in all the money that they are making. I recently read a blog post on rediffiland by Shobha Warrier who has researched this very fact. And results are startling to say the least.

1. The villagers know that they are being taken for a ride. And they are angry. WHICH IS A GOOD THING.

2. The villagers sell their votes to the highest bidder, because they feel that this is the only way they can get back at those politicians. WHICH IS A BAD THING.

That the villagers know that they are being taken for a ride was a revelation to me. They are "aware". They could capitalise on it to do something good for themselves and preventing politicians with questionable integrity to come into power.

But we should also look at the conditions in which they are living and money being the only motivator. No electricity, inefficient education system, insufficient healthcare facilities, no means of permanent livelihood... the list goes on endless. This plague is endemic to the poor folk. And why would they not demand the most needy thing in exchange for their votes? Money is the only thing that can get them what they want. As such, nobody cares for them once these politicians get elected.

Nevertheless, selling votes for money and therefore aiding the corrupt politicians to stay in power, though unwillingly, is not helping anything at all. How long will a few thousands of Rupees last? These politicians make crores within days. More than the money they make, it is the poor governance that they engage in that dents the system. And not to mention, vested interests funding some of these gullible idiots so that they foment all sorts of unwanted violence, including communal ones.

Defeat of democracy at the hands of what? Money! What else??

Please read the original blogpost at Shobha Warrier's blog.

Shantaram, the movie!

As much I am looking forward to the movie "The Da Vinci Code", I will now look forward to the movie "Shantaram". It has been recently announced and Johnny Depp has been signed on to play Shantaram.

Now, who the hell is this Shantaram? Shantaram was a South Mumbai Goon who has since reformed. Originally an Australian christened as Gregory John Peter Smith, Shantaram was the name given by the mother of his closest friend in India. He was called as Lin or Linbaba amongst his gangster peers. After several imprisonment terms served by him and after his final release, he changed his name to Gregory David Roberts, in honour of his mother.


Gregory David Roberts, as he appears now.

Gregory wrote a self titled biography with details of his experiences. It is a gripping book for anyone who seeks to read about Mumbai's underworld and what murky dealings take place day in and day out. He has engaged himself in every single vice imaginable. And he is also proof that within every bad man resides a good person. What he has managed to do after he has reformed is something remarkable. Shantaram, the book, itself is his third complete attempt to write his story, as the first 2 attempts were destroyed. Quite an example of true determination!


Shantaram, the novel.

Do let me know if you had read the original novel and share your experience about reading the novel.

Links that may interest you:
1) Several book reviews of Shantaram.
2) Wiki on Gregory David Roberts.
3) Shantaram's website.
4) Rediff interview with Gregory David Roberts.

Sony Ericsson unveils Blogger Phone!

The perfect platform to release the next generation product. CeBIT 2006 @ Hannover, Germany. Sony Ericsson is launching the next generation phones that come loaded with - hold your breath - 3.2 megapixel Cybershot digital camera & Google's Blogger application. Am sure this is going to be one helluva treat for most bloggers around the world. SE K790 and K800 are the respective models that are going to feature this useful tool. More phone per phone?! Oh Yeah! These phone models are expected to have most features that we currently get to see on any 3.2 MP digital camera. Now, whoever said that phones are only meant for talking!!

Sony Ericsson has been leading the pack in innovation as far as stretching the last mile of feature set is concerned. Walkman phone, World's best functional PDA phone, Best Camera phone... etc. Someday they are going to launch a phone that would play DVDs via a small attachment to your phone! :-) By recognizing the growing blogger community and the need to blog anytime anywhere, Sony Ericsson has come up with a trump card that can win the hearts of most nerds in the world! :-)

BTW, Google has tied up with operators and phone makers to make Google the default search engine in the phones. No wonder, when I loaded Opera on my Sony Ericsson P910i that has Symbian UIQ OS, Google turned out to be the default search engine. Another case for restricting choice? Me thinks so.

You can read lot more about the phone on this page from Newsfactor.
Also, check Sony Ericsson's CeBIT 2006 launches.

Feed Reader. What a cool tool !!

One tool to help you read everything that interests you. Cars, Business, Movies, Music, Economics, Stock Exchange... Whatever! Lazygeek had blogged about using the Google Reader. It is a nice Feed Reading tool, only that it is online. Here's one more tool that I found out. And it is Open Source too! FeedReader.

From their website...

What is Feedreader?
Feedreader is a lightweight open-source aggregator that supports RSS and ATOM formats. It works under Windows 95 and later versions.

What makes Feedreader stand out from the crowd?
Simple
Feedreader's functionality is focused on the main task - reading and organizing RSS feeds and offering seamless user experience.

Lightweight
One of the main goals of Feedreader architecture is to keep its footprint small. Say goodbye to bloat: installation file is under 1.5MB.

Free
And we mean free, no caveats here. Feedreader is licensed under GPL and its source is available for download.

Customizable
Build on it, tailor it to your needs or even re-brand it for your customers.

So, download and install it on your comp. Use it as one source to read all your rss, atom feeds. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Yeh Hai Bambai Meri Jaan!

From a mail forward that reached me. I got to admit that I am a true Mumbaikar. Once a Mumbaikar, always a Mumbaikar.

B_O_M_B_A_Y
Bombay has no bombs and is a harbour not a bay.
Churchgate has neither a church nor a gate. It is a railway station.
There is no darkness in Andheri.
Lalbaag is neither red nor a garden.
No king ever stayed at Kings Circle.
Nor did Queen Victoria stay at Victoria Terminus.
Nor is there any princess at Princess Street.
Lower Parel is at the same level as Parel
There are no marines or sailors at Marine Lines.
The Mahalaxmi temple is at Haji Ali not at Mahalaxmi.
There are no pigs traded at Dukar bazaar.
Teen bati is a junction of 3 roads, not three lamps.
Trams used to terminate at Kings circle not Dadar Tram Terminus (Dadar T.T.)
Breach Candy is not a sweetmeat market.
Safed Pool has the dirtiest and blackest water.
You cannot buy coal at Kolsa street.
There are no Iron smiths at Lohar chawl.
There are no pot makers at Kumbhar wada.
Lokhandwala complex is not an Iron and steel market.
Nal bazaar does not sell taps
You will not find ladyfingers at Bheendi Bazaar.
Kalachowki does not have a black Police station.
Hanging Gardens are not suspended.
Mirchi Gully does not sell chillies.
Figs do not grow in Anjir Wadi,
Sitafals do not grow in Sitafal Wadi
Jackfruits do not grow at Fanaswadi
But it is true that you may get fleeced at Chor Bazaar!!!

AMCHI MUMBAI
A City where everything is possible, especially the impossible.
Where lovers first love and then marry,
Where there is place for every Tom, Dick and Harry
Where telephone bills make a person ill,
Where a person cannot sleep without a pill.
Where carbon-dioxide is more than oxygen,
Where the road is considered to be a dustbin,
Where college canteens are full and classes empty,
Where Adam teasing is also making an entry,
Where a cycle reach es faster than a car,
Where everyone thinks himself to be a star,
Where sky scrapers overlook the slum,
Where houses collapse as the monsoon comes,
Where people first act and then think,
Where there is more water in the pen than ink,
Where the roads see-saw in monsoon,
Where the beggars become rich soon,
Where the roads are levelled when the minister arrives,
Where college admission means hard cash,
Where cement is frequently mixed with ash.

This is Mumbai my dear, But don't fear,
Just cheer, come to Mumbai every year!

THINGS TO PROVE YOU'RE A BOMBAYITE.

1. You say "town " and expect everyone to know that this means south of Churchgate.
2 You speak in a dialect of Hindi called 'Bambaiya Hindi', which only Bombayites can understand.
3. Your door has more than three locks.
4. Rs 500 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.
5. Train timings (9.27, 10.49 etc) are really important events of life.
6. You spend more time each month traveling than you spend at home.
7. You call an 8' x 10' clustered room a Hall.
8. You're paying Rs 10,000 for a 1 room flat, the size of walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal."
9. You have the following sets of friend: school friends, college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and yes, train friends, a species unique only in Bombay.
10. Cabbies and bus conductors think you are from Mars if you call the roads by their Indian name, they are more familiar with Warden Road, Peddar Road, Altamount Road.
11. Stock market quotes are the only other thing*besides cricket which you follow passionately.
12. The first thing that you read in the Times of India is the "Bombay Times" supplement.
13. You take fashion seriously. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
14. Hookers, beggars and the homeless are invisible.
15. You compare Bombay to New York's Manhattan instead of any other cities of India.
16. The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.
17. You insist on calling CST as VT, and Sahar and Santacruz airports instead of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
18. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
19. Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.
20. Being truly alone makes you nervous.
21. You love wading through knee deep mucky water in the monsoons, and actually call it ''romantic'.
22. Only in Bombay, you would get Chinese Dosa and Jain Chicken.

Whatever People say and think about Mumbai but the conclusion is Mumbai is the best city in the World. It has got its own recognition where you can experience everything you wa nt. It has got its own charm. You name it and you get it. It is the fastest city in India and one of the fastest cities in the World.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

March 8th - International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. A celebration of being a women who, as intelligent men have already quoted, is the cradle of all humanity. We are, because She is.



Women's Day is celebrated more as a reminder of the struggle faced by those ordinary woman who wrote history. Because of them, the world today accepts the woman in daily life, in equal footing with men. Celebrating Women's Day is recognizing and honoring those women in their struggle to achieve the degree of independence and freedom enjoyed by women today and to inspire the women of tomorrow.

The song for today? "She's Always A Woman To Me" by Billy Joel.

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 she's 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 she'll never believe
And she'll take what you give her as long it's free
Yeah, She steals like a thief, but she's always a woman to me

CHORUS

Ohhh... she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time
Ohhh... and she never gives out
And she never gives in, she just changes her mind

And she'll promise you more than the garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding
But she’ll bring out the best and the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself 'cause she's always a woman to me

CHORUS

She's frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool
And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you,
But she's always a woman to me

CHORUS


Other interesting links:
a) UNESCO page on IWD 2006
b) International Women's Day 2006 homepage.
c) Most notable Women in Computing

Scientific Study

SCIENTIFIC STUDY

A South American scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has
discovered that people with very low intellect read computer screen with
their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

Taxi 9 2 11, my review.

Bollywood, off late, has gotten into this habit of making cinema that is both entertaining and experimental. When I say experimental, I mean, breaking the standard mould. Take Taxi 9 2 11 for instance. This movie is not your run-of-the-mill varieties.

We have seen enough boy-meets-girl movies where they fall in love, sing 2 songs and then one villian or family member breaks them apart, 2 more songs follow and then finally a lot of dishum dishum in the end and all is well that ends well. Endless relations, endless costumes, exotic foreign locations... et cetera. One item number and one comedian dishing out below the belt stuff complete the movie. Bah!

And then there were movies like Black, Parineeta (which except for the last 15 mins where Saif Ali Khan breaks the wall in true cinema style and goes over to the other compound), Paheli (well, it was a diffirent type regardless of how ridiculous it sounded) and many other that can be rather classified parallel cinema.

Taxi 9 2 11 is a bold cinema that makes a statement of its own. It has its hilarious comedy moments, introspective moments, silent moments, sentimental moments etc. Comedy has been dealt with in a discerned manner. Not too much of it, just enough to tickle the audience. The story by itself is quite short. But the way it has been taken makes it for an interesting fare. And now, for the actors...

Nana Patekar. Oh Man! One really feels for his character. The wrong man in wrong situations. You just want him to do one thing right. Never hogs the screen completely. But never makes you forget his presence in the movie. One amazing actor, one helluva amazing performance. His frustrated character - sometimes sober, sometimes over, sometimes sane and insane at other - has been very well potrayed. The travails of a poor taxi driver comes out very nicely. It is tough not to empathise with him in this movie. Though it sounds like his standard potrayal of pysho characters, this one is not really that much of a psycho role though it has its shades. This role is far more normal and underplayed.

John Abraham. He's turning into a fine actor. Not quite in the league of Nana. But he has his own space. His prowess is not unleashed until near the end when John returns to his apartment to see his legal papers in tatters (and his wealth going up in thin air!). And then after some earth shattering moments, John loses his best friend and girl friend. Then John and Nana meet. They end up having a drink at John's place. Both have seemingly just lost everything that they had so clung to for life. And what happens after that drink is just winding up of the movie. John does it well in these parts.

Sameera Reddy. Wasted. Plays a bimbette who is behind John's wealth (as being directed by her mother). She does provide the mental strength and support to John in his moments of loss and grief. Obviously, if the movies ends with an all is well that ends well note, she loses out. But it is how she loses out on John is nice to watch. Predictable, yet nice.

Sonali Kulkarni. One word. Simmers. In whatever she has been given, the itsy bitsy little piece... she simmers. You can really feel the immensity of her persona. She's the one to watch out for. And she doles out enough philosophical advice, that can help anybody and everybody.

Priyanka Chopra. Doing what knows best. Flirting. For all of 5 mins, at the very end of the yarn. I rather not have these 5 mins in the movie. Cant do anything about it. The movie is tightly held till that point and in those last 5 mins, it seems to slip away...

Some scenes have been done very well. I liked the place where John chases Nana in his Toyota Innova and pushes Nana in his taxi onto the railway tracks when a train is coming it the taxi's direction. The entire sequence has been very well shot. Also, with the high speed taxi driving in the beginning, ending up in an accident at a signal. And ofcourse, Nana chasing Sameera and John setting the record right by chasing him back. Another scene where your heart goes out to Nana is when Nana goes to his son's school, searches for him and has an emotional showdown.

All in all, a good movie. Definitely watchable once. If you ask me, who is the hero of the movie, I have to give it to Nana Patekar. See it to believe what I just said.

PS:
a) Read this hilarious movie review in the form of a dialogue exchange in rediff.
b) Interview with the filmmaker, Milan Luthria, on rediff.

"Sir, we are offering a free credit card to you...."

Are you tired of hearing this telemarketing advertisement on your cellphone that bothers you again and again? You may just be able to end this nuisance soon enough, thanks to a probable ruling from the government.

Unsolicited marketing calls may be thing of past soon. Am wondering what would happen to the infrastructure that these banks and financial institutions have invested in for these telemarketing ventures. They might convert them into their call centers and continue harrassing their own customers.

The US has a database called the "Do Not Call" database. It is a FDC initiative. The person who filed the PIL in India has referred to this initiative that has given the US consumers a huge respite.

Interesting Bits: There is a software available for companies that helps the caller ascertain if the person being called is on the DNC database and if they run the risk of defaulting! :-)

Monday, March 06, 2006

Crash, it is!

I am so happy that the Oscars for the best film went to Crash. Arguably the best movie among the lot of nominations, it was no surprise to me that Crash landed the award. Infact, just yesterday evening, I was mentioning to a friend that Oscars may just to go Crash instead of Brokeback Mountain. And it happened just like that. Cool yo!

List of winners. Courtesy Rediff.

More report about the Oscars ceremony on rediff.

My previous blog post on the movie Crash.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Ganguly - In or Out?

March 4th - Pawar says Ganguly will be back.
// Pawar added: "I am sure that Ganguly will overcome his weakness and will be back. Nobody can stop him." //

March 5th - Kiran More says SG wont be recalled into the Indian Team.
// "We took a decision that we have to look ahead," he said. "We decided that so much has been said on this issue, that we wanted to send a message across that, `this is what we are looking at, and as far as this committee is concerned, this is what we have decided, that we will not look back at all." More further spelt out that the committee was "definitely looking beyond" Ganguly even if he were to perform well in domestic cricket.

About the public and media pressure generated by the decision, More said: "Pressure is always there in any job and it is a good thing. You have to make some strong decisions. That's why you're selecting the Indian team." //

Is he in or out?

Federer loses Dubai Open to Nadal

And it happened. After winning 16 matches on the trot, Federer lost the Dubai Open Final to Nadal. Mmm...

No Prob. The 4th Grand Slam title for this year awaits you, Roger!

Saturday, March 04, 2006

2 movies that speak of true grit and determination

1. Rudy (1993) - American Football
2. Iqbal (2005) - Cricket

I do not know if there are other such movies that talk about true grit, determination and overcoming the odds.



I saw Rudy when I was staying in Herndon, VA. It was a recommendation from a friend who is an upcoming expert on parallel cinema. Thinking that it was just another movie, I sat and watched it. I must have played it back to back 3 times, just to absorb the greatness of the movie. Rudy is the epitome of character that should build most young people today. He fights all odds, opposition from his family, nobody trusts him to make it big. His only dream is to play for the dream football team - Notre Dame. And he does everything that he can to achieve it. And he does! And how!! If you have not watched it, you should watch it. It is a must add for your movie collection.



I saw Iqbal barely a week after it was released. And I was amazed at Shreyas Talpade's acting. Naseeruddin Shah is peerless. Girish Karnad is as vile as he can be. And much the same thing happening. Dad opposing Iqbal's love for the game. Being chucked out of the cricket club. The politics of the game. What not?! And yet, Iqbal finally dons the blue jersey.

These 2 movies always rekindle the fire in me. To do more than I can, to do reset my horizon to a level that is farther than my imagination...

I only wish we have more movies like these and also that these movies get the viewership that they really should get!

PS:
1) The song "Aashayen" from "Iqbal" is available on Cool Toad. Download and listen to it. Its damn cool!
2) In these times when Team India is going great guns firing, movies like this kindle the fire all the more! Go, Team India, Go!

Dubya swings an arm in Pak

Probably Pak thought that some power talk could be done on the cricket pitch like it happens in golf. They were looking for some n-deal like what India had managed to clinch. Bush, for once, seems to have displayed a rare intelligence in quoting that the 2 nations have different needs and have different histories. As diplomatic the reply can be, it had as much sting too. Needless to mention, US was weighing the A Q Khan factor quite properly.

Bush had mentioned that he wanted to watch cricket being played when he was in India. Apparently, by the time he got to Pak, he was swinging his arm.

Godhra, an accident?

I feel like crying over the death of judicial system in India.

// The Justice U C Banerjee Committee probing the causes of fire in the Sabarmati Express in Godhra has held that the fire in S-6 coach was accidental. //

More at rediff.

Am surprised that a man like Modi can get away with such heinous crimes. Hitler persecuted the Jews. Israelis are persecuting the Palestinians. Modi persecuted the minorities in Gujarat. Innocent, well meaning citizens of India... burnt, hacked, bled, raped, plundered etc... by an elected leader of a state!

For this one day, Indian Government has become more ridiculous than I ever imagined. Courting Bush, ruling Godhra incident as an accident... what more to expect?

Friday, March 03, 2006

Kumble tumbles English hopes!

A defiant knock from someone who no one thought could do as much. A knock that stood out like a beacon for other players in the dressing room. A knock that stayed a rocking boat. It was not a huge score to sing about. But 58 runs coming from Kumble, a batsman who comes in after 7 down, a prime spin bowler who has won many a match for India, is something out of the ordinary. It does not happen every now and then!


Kumble hits another to the fence. His score contained 10 great hits to the fence.

You should not miss reading Prem Panicker's post match report. I cannot write as brilliantly as he does. And sharing his post dedicated to Kumble's feat is the most just thing that I could do as well.

I definitely agree with his observations. There is no sign of anything like an amputated spirit in the Indian camp these days. I just wish they carry on past WC2007 in the Windies.

How language is written does matter.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Does this text seem familiar? It has been doing the rounds in the emails across the world. So much that, one of my *research minded* friends had printed this piece and put it up on his desk for all to see. I was at his desk and told him that the research is utter crap and that it is purely a function of how well are you able to read a language and how easily the language is written using characters. If he did the same with most native Indian scripts, the research would go for a big toss! I also told him that the research has used a passage that is very friendly for itself to prove its point. English language is replete with examples that defy the same logic.

Obviously, I could not add much to my retort. I am not a researcher of the English Language or any related sciences. But someone who is a researcher has analyzed it and has presented his findings in his page. I was more than amazed to read that my initial remark was more or less the final conclusion of the analysis. Most importantly, read the part after "Update 2".

So, it does matter how the language is written. Else you would have been able to read this post as fast as you actually did, and understood it as correctly as this post actually intends to.

Am I damned in my own land?

Our honorable PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was frisked at Delhi Airport when he had gone to the airport, breaking the protocol, to receive the so called "most powerful" man in the world. Our PM being frisked at our airport on our land by foreign people to receive a foreign dignitary. How "right" is that? Could they not trust the PM, of all people? Would they agree if Bush was being frisked by our Indian Black Commandos at Washington DC? This was just an example of the American highhandedness and vanity.

Today, the blasted @#*&$%@$s overdid it by taking sniffer dogs to Rajghat. Because they wanted to ensure Bush's safety while he visited the place. Why the hell did the Indian Government allow it? Rajghat, samadhi of M K Gandhi, is a place that is treated like a temple. My own reservations about M K G's political acts not withstanding, he is still a great man in my view, with regard to his solo act, sacrifice and philosophic views. People are not allowed to wear slippers at Rajghat. How could dogs be permitted to go into Rajghat?

Why? Because US gives the most IT business to India? Because US is giving its nod for our security council seat? Because 1 US Dollar is ~45 Rupees? Because US is so important for our culture? Ludicrous!

Nothing can be so bad as much as an amputated spirit. And our government seems to be doing just that!

Water Cycle

Remember reading about the water cycle in middle school science? Here's an ad made by Evian Water based on the same. Very cute!

Evian Ad in Epica Awards

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Astrology - you want to believe or not believe?

A fellow blogger has written a great piece on our choice to believe Astrology or not. Read on at Prabhu Karthik's blog.

BTW, Mercury turns retrograde from today until March 25th. Now, you choose whether you want to allow Mercury to affect you or not. The big answer is "your choice". Think and the answer will reveal itself to you.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

New post in Penned Verses.

A poem that I wrote in 2001 has now been posted to my writing corner - Penned Divinations.

Check it out : Birthday Ruminations

More fun...

After I had a little bit of fun with my Japanese name, I tinkered around the same site for a while and discovered that I would be called Big Jimmie in a Hilly Billy way, that I was an executor of sacrifices in my previous birth (bah!), that my monster name would be Gargoyle.

But the most impressive and probably closest to being true was this one "What colour should your eyes be?" and it was spot on. My eyes aren't black and aren't brown completely... it is a deeper shade of brown closer to black, but it aint black too! :-) & I think they are right about me having a "tender heart". Cancerians do!

Your Eyes Should Be Brown

Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom

What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart

BTW, there are other such short quizes too that kinda give you a depth of understanding about yourself. Why not give it a shot?

Ohaiyo Gozaimazu

Got this thing from Ramya Kannan's blog. Neat and Funny!

Your Japanese Name Is...

Shou Yamamoto

Arigato! Sayonara!!

My Japanese name sounds like "Shoo! Yama Motu!!" :-)
(Go Away... Yama Fatso!)