Four years ago on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, I was enjoying a cool drink with my friends in a food joint… We were so engrossed in our talk that I didn’t notice that a really nice song was being played in the joint…. Suddenly, I realized this and started concentrating on the song…. It was a soft romantic number…. I could identify the female singer as Shreya Ghoshal but somehow couldn’t identify who the male singer was…. I asked my friends but they too weren’t sure…. None of us were sure of the movie as well… But that tune somehow was so enchanting that I couldn’t stop crooning it even after going home….. Wah… Kya music hai… That’s what I thought….
A couple of days later, I heard the same song on television… I was sitting in the other room and by the time I went to the TV room, the advertisement had disappeared…. Oh Man…!!!! When will I get to know the details of this song… !!!! As most of you know that I am an avid follower of Hindi film music…. I took this as a challenge to find out more about this song…..But the problem was that I remembered only a part of the song… It went something like this…. “Meri nigahon mein tera chehraa rawaan hai…. Gehre hai armaan jaane jaan pagal samaa hai….” My problem got accentuated due to the fact that this was not the first line of the song… I tried googling it but with no luck…. !!!!!
The torture continued for some more days…. I could hear the song playing in my ears day-in and day-out but couldn’t make out more about it….. One day, as I was watching Saregamapa Challenge 2005 I heard the music of this song…. But somehow I missed out on seeing the name of the movie as I got a call from one of my friends around about that time…. I thought this couldn’t get worse than this…. The tune was still lingering through my ears…. It was just marvelous…. I don’t have words to describe… It was one of those refreshing songs which you hear once in a century….. From the day I heard this song, I knew that this would change the shape of Bollywood music….
A week after the incident in the food joint, I was sitting in my house and that’s when I had the privilege to make out the movie of this song…. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got to know the movie name and more so, the singer… It was a complete transformation for the singer…. I remember that music from his older movies was bent more towards Indian classical music…. The composer himself had accepted that he is inspired by Kalyanji-Anandji’s music and more often than not, you could sense the rustic feel in most of his songs…. It was a complete transformation for the music composer and also the singer….. It was outstanding the way he created a fusion of Indian and western instruments… It was just out of the world….
And thus, started my liking for this great music composer who has given so many hit songs ever since….. Some people like him… Some people hate him… But you just can’t ignore him…. I must say that I am one of those who admire him a lot…. I am a big fan of his brand of music…. I am a fan of his brand of songs…. I am a fan of his brand of lyrics… Yes, I am a big fan of the effervescent music composer and singer of the path-breaking song – “Aashiq banaaya apne….” from the movie Aashiq banaaya apne…. Hats off to Himesh Reshammiya for having entertained us with his superb music all these years…. I am a big fan of his... and seriously, he is superb, outstanding, fantastic, mind-blowing history!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
From 'B. Manish' to 'Manish Bujranpally'
“Naam kya hai tumhara, beta?”
“B. Manish.”
“Yeh Bammanish kya naam hai?”
“Arey uncle, Bammanish nahi …. mera naam hai Manish… ‘B’ mera initial hai..”
“Acchha… yeh baat hai kya… “
This was a conversation between a non-descript uncle and me many years ago… I think it was probably around 17 -18 years ago… But, what’s so special about this conversation?? Well, for one, I was always very particular about my name being pronounced correctly…. Also, people who see me at first, often mistake me to be a Marwari… No offence in that… But it sometimes irks you when someone speculates about your background without proper enquiry…. Let’s leave this topic for some other article… Let’s come back to where we started…. My name…
Right from my childhood, I was very proud of my name… Manish… so fashionable, so modern when most of my friends had long old names…. That’s why this seven-year-old was ever so eager to reveal his name to everyone way back in 1990…. But there was a caveat to this whole issue… This guy was never comfortable with his surname…. Oh Man…. !!!! This surname is too big… too old fashioned… sounds like the name of a village… BUJRANPALLY… What the heck!!!... This was what I thought always as a kid… Since I stayed in a predominantly Marathi colony, I was always skeptical to reveal my surname when someone in the colony asked me about my “Adnaav” – Surname in marathi…
So, I decided that I would always call myself as B. Manish…. If someone asks about my surname I would say that I can’t pronounce it as it is too big… At that age, I thought this to be a master-stroke, a stroke of a genious because this strategy worked most of the times and no one bothered to ask me about my surname… I was very proud and happy on my intelligence… Also, since most of my classmates were Telugu people and as you know, many of Telugu people just use initial and rarely bother to use their surnames… This worked pretty well with me….
This reference as B.Manish continued for a very good time…. Up until my engineering 2nd year… B. Manish it was always everywhere… As my college mates would know, IT batch was the most notorious as well as famous as far as ragging was concerned… Oh yeah.. We kept on ragging juniors even in our 3rd year and 4th year… It was 3rd year 1st semester and one such day wherein I went to IT sub-junior batch‘s class and asked some totally petrified juniors to come with me… There they were… a couple of guys… half-a- dozen girls being escorted by me from 3rd floor to 4th floor…. Well, for people who don’t know much about our college, it is the great Deccan College of Engineering, a college in Hyderabad famous for everything except studies.. !!! It was a ‘magnificent’ six-storied building… Our class was on the 4th floor while the juniors were put up on the 3rd floor…
As soon as the juniors entered our class… Mere sabhi classmates un par toot pade… Not literally though… It was free-for-all… But somehow, I managed to bring a couple of girls and a boy near our set of friends… Pankaj joined me… Rajesh and Rajesh joined too… Kishore and Kishore came in from somewhere… Now, don’t think that I am typing names twice… Indeed, our class had two Rajeshs and two Kishores….!!!! Yaswanth, Kranthi and Satti were observing from a distance…. I was feeling very proud as though I had conquered the entire world…
As Pankaj asked the girls for BD, hey hold on.. it’s not the beedie used for smoking….it is BD for Bio-data… , one of the girls said that her name was Swetha Tadepally with the emphasis on Tadepally…. I couldn’t stop laughing… why the hell is she stressing on her surname… it is just another PALLY… typical telugu surname… but then whenever someone asked about her name she always used to stress on her surname…. I found this pretty funny… And the ragging went on for another 30 minutes or so and then they left..
Later after coming back home, as I sat thinking about nothing, something reminded me about the incident about surname in the morning…. I thought…What’s wrong with Bujranpally… It is a pretty good surname… yeah… I should be proud of it…. It is the name of my ancestral village and generally in Andhra Pradesh people have their village’s name as their surname… This made me think deeply about me, my family, my ancestors and finally my surname… I spent the rest of the day brooding over this...
A few days passed without much ado... Sometime later, a new lecturer joined our college and he was asking us to introduce ourselves… As he asked me about my name, I replied.. Manish Bujranpally… with the stress on BUJRANPALLY…. !!!!!!!
“B. Manish.”
“Yeh Bammanish kya naam hai?”
“Arey uncle, Bammanish nahi …. mera naam hai Manish… ‘B’ mera initial hai..”
“Acchha… yeh baat hai kya… “
This was a conversation between a non-descript uncle and me many years ago… I think it was probably around 17 -18 years ago… But, what’s so special about this conversation?? Well, for one, I was always very particular about my name being pronounced correctly…. Also, people who see me at first, often mistake me to be a Marwari… No offence in that… But it sometimes irks you when someone speculates about your background without proper enquiry…. Let’s leave this topic for some other article… Let’s come back to where we started…. My name…
Right from my childhood, I was very proud of my name… Manish… so fashionable, so modern when most of my friends had long old names…. That’s why this seven-year-old was ever so eager to reveal his name to everyone way back in 1990…. But there was a caveat to this whole issue… This guy was never comfortable with his surname…. Oh Man…. !!!! This surname is too big… too old fashioned… sounds like the name of a village… BUJRANPALLY… What the heck!!!... This was what I thought always as a kid… Since I stayed in a predominantly Marathi colony, I was always skeptical to reveal my surname when someone in the colony asked me about my “Adnaav” – Surname in marathi…
So, I decided that I would always call myself as B. Manish…. If someone asks about my surname I would say that I can’t pronounce it as it is too big… At that age, I thought this to be a master-stroke, a stroke of a genious because this strategy worked most of the times and no one bothered to ask me about my surname… I was very proud and happy on my intelligence… Also, since most of my classmates were Telugu people and as you know, many of Telugu people just use initial and rarely bother to use their surnames… This worked pretty well with me….
This reference as B.Manish continued for a very good time…. Up until my engineering 2nd year… B. Manish it was always everywhere… As my college mates would know, IT batch was the most notorious as well as famous as far as ragging was concerned… Oh yeah.. We kept on ragging juniors even in our 3rd year and 4th year… It was 3rd year 1st semester and one such day wherein I went to IT sub-junior batch‘s class and asked some totally petrified juniors to come with me… There they were… a couple of guys… half-a- dozen girls being escorted by me from 3rd floor to 4th floor…. Well, for people who don’t know much about our college, it is the great Deccan College of Engineering, a college in Hyderabad famous for everything except studies.. !!! It was a ‘magnificent’ six-storied building… Our class was on the 4th floor while the juniors were put up on the 3rd floor…
As soon as the juniors entered our class… Mere sabhi classmates un par toot pade… Not literally though… It was free-for-all… But somehow, I managed to bring a couple of girls and a boy near our set of friends… Pankaj joined me… Rajesh and Rajesh joined too… Kishore and Kishore came in from somewhere… Now, don’t think that I am typing names twice… Indeed, our class had two Rajeshs and two Kishores….!!!! Yaswanth, Kranthi and Satti were observing from a distance…. I was feeling very proud as though I had conquered the entire world…
As Pankaj asked the girls for BD, hey hold on.. it’s not the beedie used for smoking….it is BD for Bio-data… , one of the girls said that her name was Swetha Tadepally with the emphasis on Tadepally…. I couldn’t stop laughing… why the hell is she stressing on her surname… it is just another PALLY… typical telugu surname… but then whenever someone asked about her name she always used to stress on her surname…. I found this pretty funny… And the ragging went on for another 30 minutes or so and then they left..
Later after coming back home, as I sat thinking about nothing, something reminded me about the incident about surname in the morning…. I thought…What’s wrong with Bujranpally… It is a pretty good surname… yeah… I should be proud of it…. It is the name of my ancestral village and generally in Andhra Pradesh people have their village’s name as their surname… This made me think deeply about me, my family, my ancestors and finally my surname… I spent the rest of the day brooding over this...
A few days passed without much ado... Sometime later, a new lecturer joined our college and he was asking us to introduce ourselves… As he asked me about my name, I replied.. Manish Bujranpally… with the stress on BUJRANPALLY…. !!!!!!!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Pursuit of Unhappiness.... !!!!!!
A butterfly collects nectar day-in and day-out from the flowers. It is relentless in its pursuit. It never gets fatigued. It never gets flustered. It goes on about its job from flower to flower and gets nectar to its heart’s content. There is a certain sense of happiness that it derives from its work. A construction labourer keeps working day-in and day-out and I am sure most of you would agree, he is almost always in a world of his own, humming tunes, whistling at times, he goes about his work with a relentless pursuit. There is also a sense of happiness that he derives from the work that he does. A software engineer goes to the plush AC office, swipes in, checks his mail, talks to his counterpart at onsite, gulps in coffee or tea and starts coding or designing or whatever. But often every activity that I have mentioned above is preceded and succeeded by an unnatural grunting and cribbing about the pathetic work, about the pathetic salary and pathetic company. Not one activity is done with the happiness reflected by the butterfly or for that matter even a construction labourer.
I did not get a good rating at work. I don’t want to work. – This sentence is something which we have heard or probably said umpteen number of times. If your rating is good then – I did not get an opportunity to go to a foreign country. I want an onsite. – would ring through the baritone voices of the ‘Definitely Male Pulsar’ driving hunks or even from the angels driving ‘Why should boys have all the fun - Pleasure’. If you are lucky enough not to hear or utter this dialogue then you are most definitely going to hear this - I did not get a promotion. I want a promotion.
I can hear people shouting at me now for being preachy. I am sure you guys would be thinking – “Yeh saala Manish apne aap ko bahut bada gyaani samajh raha hai aur hum logon ko pravachan de raha hai.”
Honestly, if I was in your place, I would have felt the same. There is no denying this fact. But there is no denying the fact which I disclosed in the previous paragraph as well. I too have said the second statement often. But as they say – The higher you fly, the heavier you fall. I too had lofty ambitions of being at onsite. But as fate would have it, I got completely bored and ‘de-bedazzled’ and disenchanted with an alien land. As they say in Hindi – “Main to onsite se dum dabaake bhaga” !!!!!!
I have often seen some of my friends never happy with what they have. Always thinking about something which they don’t have rather than being happy with what they have. I have seen people going after frivolous things. I have seen people relentlessly pursuing for unhappiness. Yes.. Unhappiness. People have been so much obsessed with others that they tend to compare each and everything vis-à-vis others making their current possessions irrelevant and unwanted. Hmm… there is a need for some food-for-thought for everyone including your self-proclaimed gyaani… How we do this? I leave it to the individuals as everyone has a way with it. I just had to throw in a bit of petrol or gasoline (which my US counterparts would better connect with) into a raging fire within everyone. Let it burn and let it also burn my article with it. I would be there to douse that flame with some other article pretty soon!!!!!!!
I did not get a good rating at work. I don’t want to work. – This sentence is something which we have heard or probably said umpteen number of times. If your rating is good then – I did not get an opportunity to go to a foreign country. I want an onsite. – would ring through the baritone voices of the ‘Definitely Male Pulsar’ driving hunks or even from the angels driving ‘Why should boys have all the fun - Pleasure’. If you are lucky enough not to hear or utter this dialogue then you are most definitely going to hear this - I did not get a promotion. I want a promotion.
I can hear people shouting at me now for being preachy. I am sure you guys would be thinking – “Yeh saala Manish apne aap ko bahut bada gyaani samajh raha hai aur hum logon ko pravachan de raha hai.”
Honestly, if I was in your place, I would have felt the same. There is no denying this fact. But there is no denying the fact which I disclosed in the previous paragraph as well. I too have said the second statement often. But as they say – The higher you fly, the heavier you fall. I too had lofty ambitions of being at onsite. But as fate would have it, I got completely bored and ‘de-bedazzled’ and disenchanted with an alien land. As they say in Hindi – “Main to onsite se dum dabaake bhaga” !!!!!!
I have often seen some of my friends never happy with what they have. Always thinking about something which they don’t have rather than being happy with what they have. I have seen people going after frivolous things. I have seen people relentlessly pursuing for unhappiness. Yes.. Unhappiness. People have been so much obsessed with others that they tend to compare each and everything vis-à-vis others making their current possessions irrelevant and unwanted. Hmm… there is a need for some food-for-thought for everyone including your self-proclaimed gyaani… How we do this? I leave it to the individuals as everyone has a way with it. I just had to throw in a bit of petrol or gasoline (which my US counterparts would better connect with) into a raging fire within everyone. Let it burn and let it also burn my article with it. I would be there to douse that flame with some other article pretty soon!!!!!!!
Why I like this IPL?????
It is now almost the end of Indian Premier League season-2 and I must admit that I enjoyed season-2 more than season-1 for more reasons than one. Although I am not in South Africa, I still believe this was better. Reasons? Here we go….
First and foremost, this season all the over-hyped and ultra-glamorous sides are out of the competition. Yes, I am very happy to see the end of Kolkata Knightriders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals… More so, I am happy to see the end of Dildo, Bublee and Big Sister as Fake IPL player would say… For people who didn’t follow the fake IPL player blog, Dildo is the nickname of SRK…. Bublee for Preity zinta and Big sister for Shilpa shetty….
But why do I hate these people? Well, the reasons are pretty obvious, isn’t it? What the hell does SRK know about cricket or for that matter even the Zinta babe and the Shetty babe… I agree to some extent that SRK has put in his hard-earned money into KKR team but it’s not the case with Zinta and Shetty…. Where was Ms. Shetty before Big Brother… She must thank Jade Goody for all the good that she has done to Shilpa shetty…. If not for those racial comments and the sensationalisation by the Indian media, Shilpa shetty would have been cooling her heels in some non-descript B-grade Hindi movie opposite Shawar Ali or may be in some Bhojpuri film opposite Manoj Tiwari… !!!! As the famous song in Hera Pheri goes…
Coming to Zinta…. Well, I must admit that I don’t like the Wadia group because they have their lineage from Mohammed Ali Jinnah…. For people who don’t know about this, Ness Wadia, the ex-boyfriend of Zinta is the great grandson of Mohammed Ali Jinnah….. Also, people who have seen the move GURU would know that this movie is based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani…. If you remember, in the movie, there is a character by name Arzaan Contractor or something like this… That character who tries to buy out Ambani is said to be none other than Mr. Wadia…. I have always had a lot of admiration for the TATA group and the Ambani Group…. I would have honestly liked to see Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians whip the Kings XI team apart…. But it remained a wishful thinking….
Next is Mr. SRK… well, I have never liked him and this dislike has accentuated after the treatment he has meted out to DADA…. This was the reason behind me hating KKR team even more….
Now let’s get on to the second reason as to why I like this IPL….. My team Deccan Chargers are through to the Semis…. My heart says that DC will win this IPL…. Well, there is logic behind this…. If you guys followed the unofficial ICL – Indian Cricket League, you would have noticed that the Hyderabad Heroes team ended up last in the first edition and won the cup in the second edition…. I hope that this would repeat even in the official IPL….
Also, if you remember Hyderabad and Bangalore were the teams that finished at the bottom of the table in last year’s IPL… It is good to see these two teams battle against all odds and make it to the semis….
Another silly reason is that all the four semi-finalist cities this time – Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi – are the cities where I have been to…. I visited all these four cities and have an emotional attachment with Bangalore…. After Hyderabad, I would want Bangalore to win….. Let’s see what happens….
Whatever might be the result…. I am happy to see an even contest between bat and ball and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every match….
Finally, this is Mannubhai signing off hoping to see a Hyderabad vs Bangalore final with Hyderabad winning the championship….
First and foremost, this season all the over-hyped and ultra-glamorous sides are out of the competition. Yes, I am very happy to see the end of Kolkata Knightriders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals… More so, I am happy to see the end of Dildo, Bublee and Big Sister as Fake IPL player would say… For people who didn’t follow the fake IPL player blog, Dildo is the nickname of SRK…. Bublee for Preity zinta and Big sister for Shilpa shetty….
But why do I hate these people? Well, the reasons are pretty obvious, isn’t it? What the hell does SRK know about cricket or for that matter even the Zinta babe and the Shetty babe… I agree to some extent that SRK has put in his hard-earned money into KKR team but it’s not the case with Zinta and Shetty…. Where was Ms. Shetty before Big Brother… She must thank Jade Goody for all the good that she has done to Shilpa shetty…. If not for those racial comments and the sensationalisation by the Indian media, Shilpa shetty would have been cooling her heels in some non-descript B-grade Hindi movie opposite Shawar Ali or may be in some Bhojpuri film opposite Manoj Tiwari… !!!! As the famous song in Hera Pheri goes…
‘Dene waala jab bhi deta… deta chhappar phaad ke…'… This is exactly what happened to her and she found a bakra in Kundra…. And the rest, as they say is history….. !!!!
Coming to Zinta…. Well, I must admit that I don’t like the Wadia group because they have their lineage from Mohammed Ali Jinnah…. For people who don’t know about this, Ness Wadia, the ex-boyfriend of Zinta is the great grandson of Mohammed Ali Jinnah….. Also, people who have seen the move GURU would know that this movie is based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani…. If you remember, in the movie, there is a character by name Arzaan Contractor or something like this… That character who tries to buy out Ambani is said to be none other than Mr. Wadia…. I have always had a lot of admiration for the TATA group and the Ambani Group…. I would have honestly liked to see Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians whip the Kings XI team apart…. But it remained a wishful thinking….
Next is Mr. SRK… well, I have never liked him and this dislike has accentuated after the treatment he has meted out to DADA…. This was the reason behind me hating KKR team even more….
Now let’s get on to the second reason as to why I like this IPL….. My team Deccan Chargers are through to the Semis…. My heart says that DC will win this IPL…. Well, there is logic behind this…. If you guys followed the unofficial ICL – Indian Cricket League, you would have noticed that the Hyderabad Heroes team ended up last in the first edition and won the cup in the second edition…. I hope that this would repeat even in the official IPL….
Also, if you remember Hyderabad and Bangalore were the teams that finished at the bottom of the table in last year’s IPL… It is good to see these two teams battle against all odds and make it to the semis….
Another silly reason is that all the four semi-finalist cities this time – Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi – are the cities where I have been to…. I visited all these four cities and have an emotional attachment with Bangalore…. After Hyderabad, I would want Bangalore to win….. Let’s see what happens….
Whatever might be the result…. I am happy to see an even contest between bat and ball and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every match….
Finally, this is Mannubhai signing off hoping to see a Hyderabad vs Bangalore final with Hyderabad winning the championship….
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Kismat ka khel hai saara.......
“Woh kehte hai naa…. Jo bhi hota hai achhe ke liye hota hai….,,,, Sahi kehte hain… “ – This acts as an epilogue for a very famous song from Ek Chaalis ki last local. I had the privilege of listening to this wonderful song which goes something like this –
Sometime back, I was very much influenced and inspired by the Bollywood Blockbuster – Lage Raho Munnabhai. This was a movie which brought me face-to-face with an ideology called Gandhivaadi or to use a more popular term Gandhigiri. I have tried to follow my own set of rules without compromising on the core principles of Gandhigiri ever since…. This makes me think if it is a strange coincidence that the original Munnabhai tried to fight the Elections in India from Lucknow and this self-proclaimed Mannubhai too is going to get associated with Lucknow by way of joining the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow… Hmm…. Look how analytical I have become with my thinking just by the thought of joining this great institute…..
So, this Mannubhai is all set to foray into the world of management… Something which I have yearned to get into for ages…. Now, this Mannubhai will pursue his dream to learn management in the Land of Mayawati and Mulayam with lot of dreams and plenty of courage as also a magnificent fire in the belly. Hopefully, I should do well even in the new place and make it big…. Finally, I end this by saying that
“ Kismat ka khel hai saara… Phirta tha main aawaara… Kyaa se jaane kya hogaya…. “Listening to this song seemed as though my entire life story was etched into it… Hmm…. Most of you must have read about my love affair…. How I tried all means to woo her… How I went out of the way to lure her…. Now, finally…. Finally… finally… she has accepted my offer and has decided to be mine…. Yes… She has… I was ecstatic, completely over the moon for the past one week…. This is what delayed me from writing about my feelings… It is apparently the biggest achievement that I have had in my life…. It has been a relentless effort of FIVE years which has finally borne fruit…. Saying that I am happy would be a gross understatement… !!!!
Sometime back, I was very much influenced and inspired by the Bollywood Blockbuster – Lage Raho Munnabhai. This was a movie which brought me face-to-face with an ideology called Gandhivaadi or to use a more popular term Gandhigiri. I have tried to follow my own set of rules without compromising on the core principles of Gandhigiri ever since…. This makes me think if it is a strange coincidence that the original Munnabhai tried to fight the Elections in India from Lucknow and this self-proclaimed Mannubhai too is going to get associated with Lucknow by way of joining the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow… Hmm…. Look how analytical I have become with my thinking just by the thought of joining this great institute…..
So, this Mannubhai is all set to foray into the world of management… Something which I have yearned to get into for ages…. Now, this Mannubhai will pursue his dream to learn management in the Land of Mayawati and Mulayam with lot of dreams and plenty of courage as also a magnificent fire in the belly. Hopefully, I should do well even in the new place and make it big…. Finally, I end this by saying that
" Jo hota hai achhe ke liye hota hai… “Finally, my time has come... I have known all the while that my time will come today or tomorrow... And I know now that this definitely is the time of Good ‘LUCK’’NOW’ for me…….
Saturday, February 28, 2009
My Folly
Yesterday was one of those days when I realized my foolishness again… Yeah… again… There have been a lot of instances in recent times which uncovered the inklings of tardiness, boorishness and foolishness that I possessed. My prejudice about things kicked me on my face!!!!!!!!!!!
During my recent visit to IIM Bangalore on 23rd February, as I was awaiting my turn to get interviewed there were a couple of other fellow interviewees who were very much excited to tell me that Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars. I downplayed it by saying that I was not wee bit impressed by the unnecessary and unwarranted hullabaloo about it winning the Oscars. I went to the extent of saying that it was a part of some clandestine shenanigans to usurp India’s new-found belief in herself and also the clout she has come to exhibit in recent past. I felt it was a ploy by the Westerners to malign India by depicting her underbelly and lull the foreign investment in India to sleep. When the fellow interviewees asked me if I saw the movie, I said that I didn’t see it and also did not intend to see it. I was convinced that this was not a movie to waste your time and resources on. This was accentuated by the fulsome criticism bestowed on it by some of the better known personalities of India. I became completely prejudiced and preposterous in my judgment. How wrong was I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday being a Friday, I was getting a bit bored and thought of watching a movie and guess what… I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire. Movie started off nicely.. The narration was good… The intertwining of the past with the present was depicted pretty beautifully. There has been generous criticism for the scene depicting a shit-soaked kid running for Amitabh Bachchan’s autograph. I think that scene could have been avoided as I am sure no one even in the slums would like to soak oneself in that slimy-yellow-thing !!!! But, nevertheless, the circumstances leading to the scene were well justified and this actually set the tone for the movie. This showed that the kid could do anything to attain his dream. Hmm… Not bad until now.. I thought. Then started the adventure of ‘The Three Musketeers’ – Athos, Porthos and Aramis which was very well picturised and had liberal doses of emotion, humour and hope. If I were to look at the gist of the story, it was very much similar to that of the Man Booker Prize winning book – ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga. Ofcourse, the only difference being that Jamal Malik in Slumdog was clean as a crystal whereas Balram Halwai of The White Tiger had some greyish shades. Overall, I was impressed by the way the film moved on and the message it sent across. It had a message for all of us, yes, all of us. It showed how India has broken the shackles and has surged ahead in this competitive world. It has portrayed the resilience and the spirit of the Indians. It definitely was awe-inspiring. I am sure that anyone who saw this movie would have had goose-bumps when Jamal – the Chaiwala becomes a Crorepati. I am sure it would have. I guess everyone likes it when the underdog wins it. Because I think all of us can empathize with the underdog and I am sure many of us feel ourselves to be an underdog. I am not an exception either.
So, what is the lesson that I learn from all this… ? What does this prove once again? Well, this again proves how easily I get influenced by others’ views and how I become judgmental about things without a proper analysis. Hmm… time to change things. Hopefully, education at IIM might help me do that. But I have to wait for this until the results come out in April. Till then… Fingers crossed.
During my recent visit to IIM Bangalore on 23rd February, as I was awaiting my turn to get interviewed there were a couple of other fellow interviewees who were very much excited to tell me that Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars. I downplayed it by saying that I was not wee bit impressed by the unnecessary and unwarranted hullabaloo about it winning the Oscars. I went to the extent of saying that it was a part of some clandestine shenanigans to usurp India’s new-found belief in herself and also the clout she has come to exhibit in recent past. I felt it was a ploy by the Westerners to malign India by depicting her underbelly and lull the foreign investment in India to sleep. When the fellow interviewees asked me if I saw the movie, I said that I didn’t see it and also did not intend to see it. I was convinced that this was not a movie to waste your time and resources on. This was accentuated by the fulsome criticism bestowed on it by some of the better known personalities of India. I became completely prejudiced and preposterous in my judgment. How wrong was I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday being a Friday, I was getting a bit bored and thought of watching a movie and guess what… I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire. Movie started off nicely.. The narration was good… The intertwining of the past with the present was depicted pretty beautifully. There has been generous criticism for the scene depicting a shit-soaked kid running for Amitabh Bachchan’s autograph. I think that scene could have been avoided as I am sure no one even in the slums would like to soak oneself in that slimy-yellow-thing !!!! But, nevertheless, the circumstances leading to the scene were well justified and this actually set the tone for the movie. This showed that the kid could do anything to attain his dream. Hmm… Not bad until now.. I thought. Then started the adventure of ‘The Three Musketeers’ – Athos, Porthos and Aramis which was very well picturised and had liberal doses of emotion, humour and hope. If I were to look at the gist of the story, it was very much similar to that of the Man Booker Prize winning book – ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga. Ofcourse, the only difference being that Jamal Malik in Slumdog was clean as a crystal whereas Balram Halwai of The White Tiger had some greyish shades. Overall, I was impressed by the way the film moved on and the message it sent across. It had a message for all of us, yes, all of us. It showed how India has broken the shackles and has surged ahead in this competitive world. It has portrayed the resilience and the spirit of the Indians. It definitely was awe-inspiring. I am sure that anyone who saw this movie would have had goose-bumps when Jamal – the Chaiwala becomes a Crorepati. I am sure it would have. I guess everyone likes it when the underdog wins it. Because I think all of us can empathize with the underdog and I am sure many of us feel ourselves to be an underdog. I am not an exception either.
So, what is the lesson that I learn from all this… ? What does this prove once again? Well, this again proves how easily I get influenced by others’ views and how I become judgmental about things without a proper analysis. Hmm… time to change things. Hopefully, education at IIM might help me do that. But I have to wait for this until the results come out in April. Till then… Fingers crossed.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Journey to Nowhere....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where am I going? Where is my life heading? Am I doing things which I like? Am I getting my worth in this world? I know I am different than others.... I know I am better than others... I know I am not like my fellow beings.....
These are some of the questions and deliberations which I am sure each and everyone of us keep on thinking about... And I am sure I am not in the minority by thinking about these things... Because I am damn sure that most of us do think the same way... Why is it that we tend to think these things??? Are we inherently better than others or is it the Aham - Ego which makes us think like this... ??
When we start our lives, we do not care who we are... We do not care where we are born... We do not care what our caste is... We do not care which nationality we belong to... We are only concerned about three things.... Food, Sleep and Play. A one-year-old doesn't understand the nuances of caste, creed, nationality et al... It's only after he joins his school, after he starts to discern things that he tends to differentiate between people. So, can we say that our education brings with it a slow and steady infirmity to slowly decapacitate our nascent and pure mind..??
I think this is partly because of some basic flaws in our education system as well as some fundamental dogmas that dog our society...
I still remember vividly that during my 7th class public examination, we were supposed to fill a form which asked us about our caste... This was probably the first of the many instances which made caste seep deep down into my system.... Also, being from a orthodox Brahmin family, I have seen many of my older aunties and uncles try to inculcate these things not actively but through a passive way... I am sure everyone must have faced in their homes... I am not saying that all our elders are at fault by trying to showcase the differentiating factor about our caste but it is the inherent character which we have that makes these differences pour out intermittently...
I don't deny the fact that I too am a bit afflicted with this caste factor but somehow I now want to come out of it... Try to love people for what they are rather than what their ancestors were... But honestly, I am not sure where I am going right now... Sometimes, I feel that I am going to change this world but the very other instance I think that nothing is going to change... There is a perpetual contrast that dogs everyone's life, most of all mine... But I guess this is what everyone faces at the age of 25- The Quarter life crisis..... I guess all my fellow quarter lifers face this situation which is nothing but a journey to nowhere......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These are some of the questions and deliberations which I am sure each and everyone of us keep on thinking about... And I am sure I am not in the minority by thinking about these things... Because I am damn sure that most of us do think the same way... Why is it that we tend to think these things??? Are we inherently better than others or is it the Aham - Ego which makes us think like this... ??
When we start our lives, we do not care who we are... We do not care where we are born... We do not care what our caste is... We do not care which nationality we belong to... We are only concerned about three things.... Food, Sleep and Play. A one-year-old doesn't understand the nuances of caste, creed, nationality et al... It's only after he joins his school, after he starts to discern things that he tends to differentiate between people. So, can we say that our education brings with it a slow and steady infirmity to slowly decapacitate our nascent and pure mind..??
I think this is partly because of some basic flaws in our education system as well as some fundamental dogmas that dog our society...
I still remember vividly that during my 7th class public examination, we were supposed to fill a form which asked us about our caste... This was probably the first of the many instances which made caste seep deep down into my system.... Also, being from a orthodox Brahmin family, I have seen many of my older aunties and uncles try to inculcate these things not actively but through a passive way... I am sure everyone must have faced in their homes... I am not saying that all our elders are at fault by trying to showcase the differentiating factor about our caste but it is the inherent character which we have that makes these differences pour out intermittently...
I don't deny the fact that I too am a bit afflicted with this caste factor but somehow I now want to come out of it... Try to love people for what they are rather than what their ancestors were... But honestly, I am not sure where I am going right now... Sometimes, I feel that I am going to change this world but the very other instance I think that nothing is going to change... There is a perpetual contrast that dogs everyone's life, most of all mine... But I guess this is what everyone faces at the age of 25- The Quarter life crisis..... I guess all my fellow quarter lifers face this situation which is nothing but a journey to nowhere......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
End of an era
Today is one of the saddest days of my life. An era of supremacy, An era of magnificence, An era of dignified presence has come to an end. What a great time I had with her. I can’t really express the pain that I went through as I was separated from her. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I had a big lump in my throat. Felt as though I was stepping on a road full of crushed glass.. a road full of burning charcoal…
I still remember the great days we had together. I remember vividly that it was July 16th 2004 when I first met her, four days after joining Infy. It was a double bonanza for me. Not only did I have a job now but was also united with this little darling. As one of my training batchmates in Infosys handed this little baby to me, I was thrilled to bits. I felt as though this was the beginning of a new life. She brought with her waves of happiness and tides of gaiety. I was very proud on that day and was showing her to each and every soul. I called up my parents from Bangalore to inform them about this new addition in my life. A bundle of joy I would say.
I flaunted her day-in and day-out. I don’t deny that I had a sense of pride when she was near me. She would always be with me in the office. I took great care of her when I washed my face in the restroom. I was very particular about her safety. I took great pains to look after her. I think Sai and Vinay would know how I cared for her during my early days of Infy career. Even Gary, Bharat and KC know how I cherished her till yesterday.
She was a very fair lady when she first came to me. But with time, age caught up with her and she became emaciated. But still I cherished her presence. Due to the pollution around, her colour slightly became pale yellow. But even then I was always happy in her presence. In fact, I felt proud as her colour outlined my experience in Infosys.
One fateful day, I was asked to return my little devil as they wanted to replace her with someone new, someone fresh. It was one of the toughest decisions I took in my life. But association with Infy has taught me to inculcate values and I had to fall in line with the official diktat. I had to return her back to the authorities today and they gave me a completely new and fresh ID CARD.
Here begins a new romance again…. J
Monday, November 3, 2008
Kumble and Me….!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Anil Kumble to Wasim Akram – Pakistan was 207 for the loss 9 wickets. Kumble bowls a leg break – Takes an inside edge of Akram’s bat and VVS Laxman picks up a good catch at Forward short leg.“
Kumble has had 619 dismissals to his credit in Test Cricket but this was very special not only to him but also to the millions of Indians. This was the wicket which gave Kumble figures of 10 for 74 at Ferozeshah Kotla Ground, New Delhi in February 1999. Only once was such a feat achieved in Test cricket before.
I still remember that day vividly. I was playing cricket with my cousin and Pakistan was 100-odd for no loss. That was when Jumbocastled Afridi to pick up his first wicket of the innings. That was when I went inside to watch the fall of wicket. The very next ball Jumbopicked up Ijaz Ahmed as well and then started the procession. I forgot the match that I was playing and sat glued to the TV. And the rest, as they say, is history. It was a day to cherish for all of us.
But this day, was very special to me because this was the day that I changed my bowling action. Yes.. you read it right. Just to throw some light on my history, I have played cricket right from my school days and was a batsman. But as I couldn’t make it to my school team purely as a batsman I decided to become a leg-spinner and copied Shane Warne’s action. I was pretty much successful and continued with it from 1996 to 1999. But on this day, I decided to mould my action in tune with that of Kumble’s. And people who have played cricket with me know what I am capable of with this new zippy action.
Just a few minutes back, I was telling one of my friends that my life has many similarities to that of Akshay Kumar’s. This made me think about the similarities that I had even with Anil Kumble.
To start with, Kumble and I are both engineers. We both wear spectacles. We both bowl leg-spinners. And not to forget, both of us are intelligent. I might be sounding a bit too egotistic. But yeah, I think I am intelligent enough. Now, please don’t ask me the definition of an intelligent person..!!!!!! Coming back to our similarities, we are both tall. In fact, both of us are of the same height. A young Kumble and I are of the same build. Tall, lean and lanky. But the biggest difference between us is that Kumble dared to live his dream – to play for the country. This is where I fizzled out. I gave up cricket for the sake of my studies. Not many know that I was offered a contract for a local club in Hyderabad when I was in Intermediate 1st year. But I spurned it to pursue my studies. Who knows, what would have happened had I accepted it… But that’s past and I don’t want to delve my past or dwell in it.
Kumble is one sportsman who gives us inspiration in many ways. Concentration is his hallmark. So, is his dedication and aggression. I would say he has controlled aggression. Controlling his aggression and showing it in his bowling rather than showing it on stupid histrionics. Constantly improving oneself and striving for bigger goals is another attribute which we can imbibe.
Finally, I would like to end this tribute to Kumble by saluting this great hero of Indian cricket who has brought great fame to the country and also for being a Dronacharya to this nondescript Ekalavya who played most of his cricket in the by-lanes of Kachiguda and Barkatpura.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Kahaan gaye woh din….
It was a Friday night around 10:30 PM in the night. I was swapping channels as there was a commercial break on Saregamapa Challenge 2009. As I casually and drowsily flicked the remote in my hand, something interesting caught my eye. Amitabh Bachchan was being interviewed by Abhishek Bachchan. It was basically a chat show to promote their ‘Unforgettables’ tour. I got interested in it because my dear Akki too was part of this tour. I was waiting with bated breath to hear about Akki from Big B. But there was something which Amitabh said that made my mind go nostalgic. It made me forget about Akki, Saregamapa….
Fortunately, the answer to all these questions was present in one single word which I think everyone would love to hear…. The answer is Doordarshan. Yes, the flagship channel which transformed and revolutionised the spectre of entertainment in
I still vividly remember those Thursdays when I used to eagerly await for Chitrahaar. Those great Saturday evenings when a blockbuster was shown on TV. I would say I was priviliged enough to have a TV in my house since 1985. Although I was born in 1983, I started watching television from around 1988. I am still proud of the Solidaire Black & White TV which we owned. Oh.. what an atmosphere it was… !!!!!! Some of the neighbours would come to our house to watch the programmes. Honestly speaking, at that time I was filled with a kind of malicious mirth seeing people come to our house for watching TV.
Those were the days when I watched with rapt attention all the programmes. TV soaps like Humlog, Buniyaad, Karamchand, Nukkad etc… would keep me completely engrossed. Not to forget the superb informative programmes like Surabhi, Turning Point, Bharat Ek Khoj, etc.. Who can forget the flashing smile of Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak in Surabhi… !!!!! Only a ‘dumbo’ can forget about the mythological epics Ramayan, Mahabharat… It was mind-blowing. Just like all other children, I too enjoyed watching Jungle Book, Duck Tales, Talespin… Not only these programmes but also the wonderful message-oriented videos were thoroughly enjoyable. Who can forget Pandit Bheemsen Joshi kicking it off with Mile Sur mera tumhaara…. Who can forget the animation on Ek anek… daana chugne baithi chidiyan… Even the news were wonderful then, strictly to the point without much ado on irrelevant things. The grace and flawless English and Hindi of those newsreaders was soothing to the eyes and ears. Newsreaders like Tejeshwar Singh, Minu, Salma Sultana, Usha Albuquerque, JV Raman, Gitanjali Aiyar were simply spectacular. Oh God !!!! I can sense goosebumps on my body just imagining those wonderful days. J
But I guess, I have deviated from the main topic of this article i.e. Amitabh Bachchan movies… But who cares?.. I would like to keep this nostalgic feeling of the erstwhile Doordarshan going in my mind. I suppose all the readers of this blog too feel the same.
I seriously think those days were the most wonderful. These days we have an embarassment of riches with hordes of channels with nothing worthwhile to showcase. Hmm…. Thinking about this, I dozed off leaving a certain Mr. Amitabh Bachchan fuming as I didn’t say much about his movies. I thought I will write about it some other day…. Let me enjoy this feeling of nostalgia --- Kahaan gaye woh din…..
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