I don't like songs: I like specific lines in them. So if there's a song that you find me go crazy over, there has to be atleast one line in that song that I have fallen in love with, which is why I love that song. I wouldn't mind waiting 3-5mins for the rest of song to play on and that single line to blare out from the speakers. The wait if always worth it. For instance, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a song that I pretty much love end to end but one line that's worth the song is "my shadow's the only one that walks beside me", Home by Daughtry has the line "back to the place that I belong", and the most recent in the list is "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi" from the movie "Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na". And the line? "Woh Jo Bicharde hain ek na ek din phir mil jaate hain." Somewhere, these lines touch me deep and I fall in love with them.
the list is endless. Silly me, I know.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Rosebud
Rosebud. If you look at any of the "All Time Bests" or similar listings of Hollywood movies, you will find "Citizen Kane" somewhere at the top. And if you see the movie, you will know the significance of the word "Rosebud."
The movie starts with the death of the lead protagonist(who is a millionaire and a media mughul) and the last word he utters is "Rosebud." The movie is then a biography of the lead character seen through the eyes of a journalist who is out to figure out the significance of the last word of the dying man.
He never figures that out but the viewers in the movie do figure it out in the last scene. If you haven't seen the movie, I wouldn't break the suspense. But "Rosebud" was something that Kane associated with the best moments of his life when there were no worries, and he was truly happy. Take my word: its a movie that you don't want to miss. Throughout his life he went after money and power, but he never got the satisfaction that he had when he had "Rosebud." Probably, that was the reason why when he was dying, he remembered the best moments of his life and longed to be with his "Rosebud" again.
Do you have a "Rosebud" in your life, something or someone who you would want to be with? Someone or something that gave you the happiness and satisfaction that you still yearn for? Someone or something you will not hesitate to give up everything you have for ?
Think over it and try to find your "Rosebud" :)
The movie starts with the death of the lead protagonist(who is a millionaire and a media mughul) and the last word he utters is "Rosebud." The movie is then a biography of the lead character seen through the eyes of a journalist who is out to figure out the significance of the last word of the dying man.
He never figures that out but the viewers in the movie do figure it out in the last scene. If you haven't seen the movie, I wouldn't break the suspense. But "Rosebud" was something that Kane associated with the best moments of his life when there were no worries, and he was truly happy. Take my word: its a movie that you don't want to miss. Throughout his life he went after money and power, but he never got the satisfaction that he had when he had "Rosebud." Probably, that was the reason why when he was dying, he remembered the best moments of his life and longed to be with his "Rosebud" again.
Do you have a "Rosebud" in your life, something or someone who you would want to be with? Someone or something that gave you the happiness and satisfaction that you still yearn for? Someone or something you will not hesitate to give up everything you have for ?
Think over it and try to find your "Rosebud" :)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The future is Golden
Abhinav Bindra won the first individual gold medal for India. That's an old news now. India's hopes for another medal from this olympics are almost crushed. That's also old news
now. what I found the most interesting part of India's olympic campaign was an honest comment from Abhinav : "We need professionals, not politicians" to manage sports in India.
So very true !
We Indians as a nation, and in almost all cases as an individual as well, have been crazy about Cricket. Almost every kid who ever played a field sport in india is likely to have played cricket for sure. Cricket is a religion, cricket is God. It's a different story that India hasn't been that successful as a team. In terms of achievements in cricket, what do we have to show? A world cup that we won some 25 years back ? A few more trophys here and there? But we Indians still spend hours and days following every game that india plays, even if we know that we are going to lose. We are passionate about Cricket. But why can't we have the same passion for other sports?
Don't get me wrong here. It's not that people in India are not interested in playing other sports.Abhinav Bindra, Rajyavardhan Rathode, Baichung Bhutia, PT Usha, leander Paes, Sania Mirza and many more have proved that if we try, we can make a mark in other sports too. I don't think we are lacking an interest on the part of public, although the interest is not as widespread and as deep as cricket.
In my opinion, the problem lies elsewhere.
a. The first major problem is that the Government has not been forthcoming in showing the same kind of support and dedication for the upliftment of sports in india in general as is the case with cricket. This is where we come to the point that Abhinav made: "We need professionals, not politicians" to run the show. Only then we will be making the right investment at the right place. Taking Australia as an example(although Europe/America also have similar models), Australia has a professional body called Australian Sports Commission(earlier on Australian Institute of Sport) that was setup after a (not so compared to India) dismal performance of Australia in 1976 olympics. ASC gives out about 700 scholarships every year to talented sportsperson to make it big in the field of their choice. As it appears, it has its own professional management board that just specializes in running ASC. Let's try to learn some best practices from them. What we really need is to setup a proper professional body to manage the growth and development of all sports in India. SAI and IOA already exist. If you want to use them, make them fully professional and accountable for every penny and every activity. Bring in people who know sports rather than politicians.
b. Where's the money ? The budget for Youth Affairs and Sports together is about INR 8900 millions. INR 4900 m of this is for Sports. Compare that to Australia's $264 m (INR 962o m @Rs.37 per AUS $). Obviously, we need to spend a lot more than australia at this time because we don't have the facilities that Australia has already built over the years, yet it is having a huge budget compared to India. Given that we will need to have a far more deeper peneration to get the best from the most remote parts of the country, more money is needed. Obviously, in a country where every penny counts(atleast on paper), getting more money for Sports is going to be a challenge. That's something that finance minister will have to look into. An interesting comparison is IPL that generated a revenue of about INR 12000 m during its 1st year of operations and profits to the tune of about INR 3500 m. How about pulling some money from the BCCI coffers and using elsewhere?
c. Who in India want's to see the olympic sports? That is going to be a concern. But the way I look at it, one Gold win by Abhinav took the nation by storm. Everyone talked about it, everyone still talks about it. My "hardcore cricket fan" friends also praised his efforts and were genuinely excited about the achievement. I feel people relate to cricket because that's probably one sport where we still manage to win some. If we start winning elsewhere, people will take notice for sure and come out in support. And to make that happen, we will need to build world class infrastructure and training facilities to produce best atletes who will eventually go on to win medals and change the mindset of the indian public.
Abhinav's win in remarkable not only because its a first. It takes more significance because it's something that has started a national debate on the future of Olympics Sports in India. Hopefully people in power are listening attentively and will take steps to take India right onto the middle spot of the podium.
The future is Bright, the future is Golden :)
now. what I found the most interesting part of India's olympic campaign was an honest comment from Abhinav : "We need professionals, not politicians" to manage sports in India.
So very true !
We Indians as a nation, and in almost all cases as an individual as well, have been crazy about Cricket. Almost every kid who ever played a field sport in india is likely to have played cricket for sure. Cricket is a religion, cricket is God. It's a different story that India hasn't been that successful as a team. In terms of achievements in cricket, what do we have to show? A world cup that we won some 25 years back ? A few more trophys here and there? But we Indians still spend hours and days following every game that india plays, even if we know that we are going to lose. We are passionate about Cricket. But why can't we have the same passion for other sports?
Don't get me wrong here. It's not that people in India are not interested in playing other sports.Abhinav Bindra, Rajyavardhan Rathode, Baichung Bhutia, PT Usha, leander Paes, Sania Mirza and many more have proved that if we try, we can make a mark in other sports too. I don't think we are lacking an interest on the part of public, although the interest is not as widespread and as deep as cricket.
In my opinion, the problem lies elsewhere.
a. The first major problem is that the Government has not been forthcoming in showing the same kind of support and dedication for the upliftment of sports in india in general as is the case with cricket. This is where we come to the point that Abhinav made: "We need professionals, not politicians" to run the show. Only then we will be making the right investment at the right place. Taking Australia as an example(although Europe/America also have similar models), Australia has a professional body called Australian Sports Commission(earlier on Australian Institute of Sport) that was setup after a (not so compared to India) dismal performance of Australia in 1976 olympics. ASC gives out about 700 scholarships every year to talented sportsperson to make it big in the field of their choice. As it appears, it has its own professional management board that just specializes in running ASC. Let's try to learn some best practices from them. What we really need is to setup a proper professional body to manage the growth and development of all sports in India. SAI and IOA already exist. If you want to use them, make them fully professional and accountable for every penny and every activity. Bring in people who know sports rather than politicians.
b. Where's the money ? The budget for Youth Affairs and Sports together is about INR 8900 millions. INR 4900 m of this is for Sports. Compare that to Australia's $264 m (INR 962o m @Rs.37 per AUS $). Obviously, we need to spend a lot more than australia at this time because we don't have the facilities that Australia has already built over the years, yet it is having a huge budget compared to India. Given that we will need to have a far more deeper peneration to get the best from the most remote parts of the country, more money is needed. Obviously, in a country where every penny counts(atleast on paper), getting more money for Sports is going to be a challenge. That's something that finance minister will have to look into. An interesting comparison is IPL that generated a revenue of about INR 12000 m during its 1st year of operations and profits to the tune of about INR 3500 m. How about pulling some money from the BCCI coffers and using elsewhere?
c. Who in India want's to see the olympic sports? That is going to be a concern. But the way I look at it, one Gold win by Abhinav took the nation by storm. Everyone talked about it, everyone still talks about it. My "hardcore cricket fan" friends also praised his efforts and were genuinely excited about the achievement. I feel people relate to cricket because that's probably one sport where we still manage to win some. If we start winning elsewhere, people will take notice for sure and come out in support. And to make that happen, we will need to build world class infrastructure and training facilities to produce best atletes who will eventually go on to win medals and change the mindset of the indian public.
Abhinav's win in remarkable not only because its a first. It takes more significance because it's something that has started a national debate on the future of Olympics Sports in India. Hopefully people in power are listening attentively and will take steps to take India right onto the middle spot of the podium.
The future is Bright, the future is Golden :)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Dark Knight
The hype is not unjustified. Its worth it.
So I finally got to see The Dark Knight today. A truly magnificent movie. Heath Ledger by far at his best in the chilling performance as Joker. I won't be surprised if he picks an Oscar for this last performance of his. He deserves it. After such an amazing performance, he sure will be missed in the future.
Like the first part, the ends pretty much met. The screenplay and action was absolutely on track, sometimes even better than the first part. Excellent performance from everyone.
The best thing about the new Batman series is that it portrays the protagonist as a human with human strength and human weaknesses. So if a dog bites the batman, batman still bleeds and needs stitches; if he is hit too hard, he can fall too. I prefer calling him a Hero(and not really a superhero) , and that probably brings the Batman series closer to each one of us and such a hit. Great going actors, director, and everyone involved with the making of the movie.
If you still haven't seen it, go see it.
So I finally got to see The Dark Knight today. A truly magnificent movie. Heath Ledger by far at his best in the chilling performance as Joker. I won't be surprised if he picks an Oscar for this last performance of his. He deserves it. After such an amazing performance, he sure will be missed in the future.
Like the first part, the ends pretty much met. The screenplay and action was absolutely on track, sometimes even better than the first part. Excellent performance from everyone.
The best thing about the new Batman series is that it portrays the protagonist as a human with human strength and human weaknesses. So if a dog bites the batman, batman still bleeds and needs stitches; if he is hit too hard, he can fall too. I prefer calling him a Hero(and not really a superhero) , and that probably brings the Batman series closer to each one of us and such a hit. Great going actors, director, and everyone involved with the making of the movie.
If you still haven't seen it, go see it.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Books or eBooks
I was at the Crossword Book Store yesterday to buy a book that a friend of mine had recommended. Diya was there with me. While looking over some books I casually mentioned about ebooks, and a bunch of sites that operate these days through which you can share the ebooks you own. Diya's counterargument was that with eBooks, you don't get the smell of the books and she cannot read a book without that smell. My (silly) suggestion was that while she read some book, she should keep some hard copy book with her and keep smelling it everytime she felt the need. The argument ended with a laughter.
But later it had me thinking. She did have a point. How many ebooks have I ever read although quite a few would have come across my way at some point or another ? None. And how many paper books had I read ? Every book that I ever read was a paperbook. The fact that I was at Crossword buying a paperback version of a book that I already knew I can arrange an ecopy for speaks that somewhere within me, I don't like ebooks too! Like Diya, I am also a paperbook reader. It's just that I never saw it in black and white.
On deeper thinking, I realised : I am a very irregular reader. Sometimes I feel like reading when I get up, sometimes when I am going to bed, and sometimes when I am not feeling sleepy at all. Hell, there have been situations when I was reading some or the other novel when I was not having any work to do in office ! (OK I shouldn't have done that, but I did). And everytime, its a paper book that I am reading. Carrying around a laptop or a ebook reader like Amazon's kindle can never be as convenient as carrying a real book. I also think that carrying a real book somehow takes you closer to the story.An ebook reader will always be an electronic device, probably another one from Arnie's Terminator gang :p
And if nothing else tilts the balance in favor of paperbooks, there's always the smell of the book that you get when you are reading it. Right Diya ?
But later it had me thinking. She did have a point. How many ebooks have I ever read although quite a few would have come across my way at some point or another ? None. And how many paper books had I read ? Every book that I ever read was a paperbook. The fact that I was at Crossword buying a paperback version of a book that I already knew I can arrange an ecopy for speaks that somewhere within me, I don't like ebooks too! Like Diya, I am also a paperbook reader. It's just that I never saw it in black and white.
On deeper thinking, I realised : I am a very irregular reader. Sometimes I feel like reading when I get up, sometimes when I am going to bed, and sometimes when I am not feeling sleepy at all. Hell, there have been situations when I was reading some or the other novel when I was not having any work to do in office ! (OK I shouldn't have done that, but I did). And everytime, its a paper book that I am reading. Carrying around a laptop or a ebook reader like Amazon's kindle can never be as convenient as carrying a real book. I also think that carrying a real book somehow takes you closer to the story.An ebook reader will always be an electronic device, probably another one from Arnie's Terminator gang :p
And if nothing else tilts the balance in favor of paperbooks, there's always the smell of the book that you get when you are reading it. Right Diya ?
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Farewell !
A nice farewell quote...so true:
"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends."
"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends."
Monday, August 04, 2008
Friendship Day.
Today,3rd August 2008, is Friendship Day. I have received quite a few SMSes and emails since morning from friends wishing "Happy Friendship Day." I replied back to all such messages wishing the same. However, I didn't send out any messages to anyone on my own.
I don't like celebrating these "special days" that are more into existence because these cards and gifts companies(think Archies/Hallmark etc) want them to exist so that they can make more money. Come to think of it : I had never heard of Valentines Day until one fine day some 10-12 years back I saw an archies ad advertising Valentines Day in India. Since then, I have been hearing about it every year. The same is the case with Friendship Day, Fathers Day, Mothers Day etc etc.
Don't get me wrong: its good to let your loved ones know that you care about them. But do you really need a special day to let them know ? But special cards and gifts marked with the days significance and give to them ? Wouldn't they still know that you love them and care for them if you don't wish them ?
Its not your actions on that one day that matter: it's what you do throughout the year. Someone sent a mass mail today wishing everyone on his contact list a very happy friendship day. I started wondering when was the last time I had spoken to this guy or met him. Do I even have his contact number or details ? Will I even think of him when I am in trouble ? Most likely, No. Hell I probably wouldn't even remember his full name! So why should I wish him Friendship Day ?
In a nutshell, if you treasure someone's friendship , let him/her know often and not once a year. You didn't need a friendship day to have them as your friend. You don't need a friendship day to let them know what they mean to your life.
I don't like celebrating these "special days" that are more into existence because these cards and gifts companies(think Archies/Hallmark etc) want them to exist so that they can make more money. Come to think of it : I had never heard of Valentines Day until one fine day some 10-12 years back I saw an archies ad advertising Valentines Day in India. Since then, I have been hearing about it every year. The same is the case with Friendship Day, Fathers Day, Mothers Day etc etc.
Don't get me wrong: its good to let your loved ones know that you care about them. But do you really need a special day to let them know ? But special cards and gifts marked with the days significance and give to them ? Wouldn't they still know that you love them and care for them if you don't wish them ?
Its not your actions on that one day that matter: it's what you do throughout the year. Someone sent a mass mail today wishing everyone on his contact list a very happy friendship day. I started wondering when was the last time I had spoken to this guy or met him. Do I even have his contact number or details ? Will I even think of him when I am in trouble ? Most likely, No. Hell I probably wouldn't even remember his full name! So why should I wish him Friendship Day ?
In a nutshell, if you treasure someone's friendship , let him/her know often and not once a year. You didn't need a friendship day to have them as your friend. You don't need a friendship day to let them know what they mean to your life.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
बदसूरत व पगली (Ugly aur Pagli)
मित्र जनों...आज हम "बदसूरत व पगली" देखने गये थे। इतना ही कहूँगा की कृपया आप २०० रुपये खर्च कर के यह चलचित्र देखने ना जाएं। मल्लिका को छोर इस कहानी में कुछ भी आकर्षक नही है। और उसका आकर्षण भी इतना कुछ ख़ास नहीं है। कहानी में कुछ संवाद काफी शक्तिशाली हैं परन्तु सम्पूर्णता के द्रिश्तिकोर्ण से यह कथा मुझे पसंद नहीं आई।
Sorry "Uncle" !!!
Ouch ! It hurt ! :(
So on Friday(1st August) afternoon, I was headed to office to meet MATC and have a talk about my next project and somewhere along the way, there was this kid in some school dress asking for lift. He may have been of 8-9 years. I pulled over and got him onto my bike as his destination was on my route. A few minutes later when he got off, he expressed his gratitude saying "Thank you Uncle" :((
That hurt. I stood there for a couple of minutes pondering over what just happened. Someone just called me uncle ! Am I already that old ? For God's sake, I am just 25(ok in another 10 days I'll be 26). Uncle sounds so old !!! It sounds like an entire generation has passed by ! I am from a previous generation ! :((
I looked back at my childhood and realised that the kid was a reflection of my childhood too. When I was of his age, I would call anyone who seemed even decently old enough "uncle." My thoughts wandered to thinking about what all those ETs(executive trainees who joined NTPC right after engg and would have been of my current age) would have felt when I addressed them as "uncle"s some 15 years back. Maybe that's why some of them preferred correcting me then and asked me to call them "bhaiya"(elder brother).
Life has its own way of teaching you :)
I take this opportunity to apologise to everyone and anyone who may have been hurt in someway or another as a result of my calling them "uncle" when I was a kid and not really understood their feelings. Sorry "Uncle" :)
So on Friday(1st August) afternoon, I was headed to office to meet MATC and have a talk about my next project and somewhere along the way, there was this kid in some school dress asking for lift. He may have been of 8-9 years. I pulled over and got him onto my bike as his destination was on my route. A few minutes later when he got off, he expressed his gratitude saying "Thank you Uncle" :((
That hurt. I stood there for a couple of minutes pondering over what just happened. Someone just called me uncle ! Am I already that old ? For God's sake, I am just 25(ok in another 10 days I'll be 26). Uncle sounds so old !!! It sounds like an entire generation has passed by ! I am from a previous generation ! :((
I looked back at my childhood and realised that the kid was a reflection of my childhood too. When I was of his age, I would call anyone who seemed even decently old enough "uncle." My thoughts wandered to thinking about what all those ETs(executive trainees who joined NTPC right after engg and would have been of my current age) would have felt when I addressed them as "uncle"s some 15 years back. Maybe that's why some of them preferred correcting me then and asked me to call them "bhaiya"(elder brother).
Life has its own way of teaching you :)
I take this opportunity to apologise to everyone and anyone who may have been hurt in someway or another as a result of my calling them "uncle" when I was a kid and not really understood their feelings. Sorry "Uncle" :)
When I woke up on Friday...
Friday: 1st August 2008. The first day after over 5 years of work life when I didn't know what I was going to work on. For the last 5 years, everyday I woke up, I knew I would be going to office and working on something for RTS and GE Healthcare. But on Friday, that wasn't the case. I wasn't going to talk to open outlook, I wasn't going to log onto Sametime, I wasn't going to log into one of those innumerous servers I had access to, and I wasn't going to do that one thing that would let me sleep peacefully thinking that the day was well spent :)
So now I am "on bench"(IT industry's term for being unassigned to anything). MATC(Manpower Allocation Task Committee) that oversees allocation of resources to projects in TCS, will try finding some opportunity that suits my needs and aspirations(yeah yeah...i have some). But I have mixed feelings about being on bench. While its exciting to be at a place(bench) that almost everyone I know has been on sometime or the other, and has had a somewhat good experience, at the same time its painful too because somewhere within me is a workoholic who hates not having something to do.
Guess I will have to find something to do that would again let me sleep peacefully thinking that the day was well spent :)
So now I am "on bench"(IT industry's term for being unassigned to anything). MATC(Manpower Allocation Task Committee) that oversees allocation of resources to projects in TCS, will try finding some opportunity that suits my needs and aspirations(yeah yeah...i have some). But I have mixed feelings about being on bench. While its exciting to be at a place(bench) that almost everyone I know has been on sometime or the other, and has had a somewhat good experience, at the same time its painful too because somewhere within me is a workoholic who hates not having something to do.
Guess I will have to find something to do that would again let me sleep peacefully thinking that the day was well spent :)
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