Notes to myself

2012-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Things to do....

1) Visit Alaska ( with family in summers)
2) Drive from San Francisco to Maine ( most probably alone or with a friend)
3) Go to Europe (of course with family)
4) Trek the might Himalayas ( SOLO)
5) Visit Alaska again (alone in winters)
6) Go to Mexico or Bahamas (with family)

Rule# 45

2011-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

I don’t know if you remember #13 , where I stressed on the importance of dates, and what can be a better time to stress some more on it when a brand new year is about to begin.

So today’s rule is a combination of #13 and #36; and also as they say talent and luck are nothing but years/hours of hard work wrapped in glittering wrapper, also you must have heard about the 21 days or 3 weeks rule, i.e. in order to ‘cultivate’ a habit one must perform a task for 3 weeks consecutively. It’s kind of scientifically proven fact that it takes x amount of hours to train one’s mind to fall into a certain pattern.

Anyways, I’ll go little further than 21days or 3 weeks rule, I’ll call it “30 days” rule.

45) For 30 consecutive days, do 2 tasks daily, to make it more interesting or balance it out – do 1 task you really love doing but don’t do it due to any reason and do 1 task which you really dislike doing, which you know should be done to help you in longer run but you continue to ignore it.

2011-12-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Thandi safed raaton mein....jab udaasi barasti hai...

Chupke sey aankhon se yaadein teri rees ti hai......

Saloon beetey..beeti saadiya..

Lekin aaj bhi aankhon mein khusboo teri sisak ti hai.....

2011-12-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Is everything for real?

Or am I living someone else’s life in an alien land in disguise?

Sure?

Music 2011

2011-12-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

We're just 15 days away from another brand new year - with every passing year I think my preference of music is changing, this year I either liked soft numbers or loud ones, but good lyrics and melody (at least to me) remained constant in both.

Here's the list of my favorite songs of the year.

10 top favorite Songs of the year --

1) Piya -- Tanu Weds Manu
2) Bekaraan -- 7 Khoon Maaf
3) Jo bhi main kehna chahoon -- Rockstar
4) Yun Hi -- Tanu Weds Manu
5) Kun Faya -- Rockstar
6) Awaara -- 7 Khoon Maaf
7) Tere Siva -- Delhi Belly
8) Der Lagi Lekin -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
9) Hona Tha Pyaar-- Bol
10) Rangrez - Tanu Weds Manu

Other favorites of the year include -
11) Tere Liye -- 7 Khoon Maaf
12) Saibo -- Shor in the City
13 Haal-E-Dil -- Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap
14) Señorita -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
15) Khwabon Ke Parinde -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
16) Accha Lagta Hai -- Aarakshan
17) Dilli -- No One Killed Jessica
18)Jugni -- Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster
19) Naadaan Parindey - Rockstar
20) Saadda Haq -- Rockstar

Needless to say, but still my top 5 favorite albums are -
1) Tanu Weds Manu
2) 7 Khoon Maaf
3) Rockstar
4) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
5) Delhi Belly

2011-11-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

Eternally looking for something which I have no clue about....…yet I'm looking.

Just like routinely I stand in front of my wardrobe looking for something which I know doesn’t exists but still I look for it.

Rule# 44

2011-11-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

44) Casually said/stated negative remarks/gestures by your dearest friend can possess most toxic venom to crush your spirit whereas casually stated positive gestures by complete strangers possess the power to boost your spirit to the skies.

2011-11-22T15:40:00.000-08:00

Daily I start for somewhere and daily I end up from where I started.

It’s a circle I know, its slopes are slippery, and it drags me along with it like hordes of rush hour commuters push me in and out of the metro, like flock of seagulls escort me along the sky.

I feel like an odd pigeon among all the pigeons who feed on the left-over bread crumbs or discarded sandwiches on the sidewalks, who are so frightened and yet so fearless to face the mad dash of pedestrians and their contraptions alike, who eat as if that’s their last bit of food ever, and fly away in circles on slightest sign of danger, and end up on the same sidewalk after performing mindless ritual of flying two blocks in circles.

Daily I start for somewhere and daily I end up from where I started.

:-)

2011-11-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

It fills my heart with so much joy to see his interest in music :-)

not a Rule# 43 , actually

2011-11-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

43) They say, “a problem shared is a problem halved”…but sharing it with wrong people it becomes “a problem shared is a problem SQUARED” – nope no one can teach you how to identify right from the wrong. It’s totally up to you, go ahead, square some halve some and learn the lesson.

Rule# 42

2011-10-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

42) Beware of internet, if not used properly can overload you with information which can easily distract you from your original goals. Use it 'concisely', no more than 3 clicks in your search results.

Rule# 41

2011-10-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

41) Always finish whatever you start, be a book or any mundane stuff like washing/folding clothes. Always finish it.
Unfinished business adds an unknown burden to the shoulders which unknowingly keeps dragging you down.

Season of sadness

2011-10-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Season of sadness, or not; may be uneasiness.

My favorite celebrities/intellectuals/artists have left us in past few days/weeks; it started with Shammi Kapoor, Tiger Pataudi, Steve Jobs, and then Jagjit Singh, and now Dennis Ritchie.

It would be juvenile to even attempt writing a post about any of these stalwarts, especially about Mr.Jagjit Singh, that’s unimaginable.

And now as I heard about Dennis Ritchie, I again experienced a sense of personal loss, I’ve spent more than half of my life sitting in front of a computer writing silly programs.

It all began with BASIC/FORTRAN then PASCAL/COBOL etc etc, after that I was introduced to a book by “Kenningham and Ritchie”, it was introduction to C language and all.
That along with their other ‘invention’ UNIX operating system changed my whole perspective towards all that boring programming and all and that eventually shaped my future, and life.

Thank you chief, RIP.

Rule# 40

2011-10-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

40) If you’re newly married then think twice before wearing a white shirt and
also think million times before wearing a black shirt if you’ve baby at home.

Rule# 39

2011-09-26T10:01:00.002-07:00

39) There are no real failures in life, there are only "feed-backs", pay heed to them.

Rule# 38

2011-09-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

38) Embrace change.

one day...some day

2011-09-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

....

Rule# 37

2011-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

37) Don't panic, instead PLAN.

Rule# 36

2011-08-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

36) Kids are the creatures of habit, oh wait, actually everyone is

Abhi na jao chhod kar.......

2011-08-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Dukh aur sukh ke raaste
baney hai sabke vaaste

jo gham se haar jaaogey
to kis tarah nibhaaogey

khushi mile hume ke gham
jo hoga baant lengey hum

mujhe tum aazmaao to
zaraa nazar milaao to

yeh jism do sahi magar
dilo mein faasla nahin
jahaan mein aisa kaun hai
ke jisko gham mila nahin

abhi na jaao chhodkar
ke dil abhi bhara nahi.....

tumhaare pyaar ki kasam
tumhaara gham hai mera gham

na yoon bujhe bujhe raho
jo dil ki baat hai kaho

jo mujhse bhi chhupaaoge
to phir kisse bataaoge

main koi gair to nahin
dilaaun kis tarah yakin
ki tum se main judaa nahin
mujhse tum judaa nahin

tum se main judaa nahin
mujhse tum judaa nahin

abhi na jaao chhodkar
ke dil abhi bhara nahin

Rule# 35

2011-07-27T11:08:00.001-07:00

35) Think about what you enjoy doing most and incorporate it into your plans.

Rule# 34

2011-07-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

34) OWE - Own. Worst. Enemy. Learn to get out of your own way.

Lord's test

2011-07-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

My team for upcoming historic test match at Lord's

1) Gautam Gambhir
2) Rahul Dravid
3) VVS Laxman
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Suresh Raina
6) Yuvraj Singh
7) MS Dhoni
8) Harbhajan
9) Zaheer Khan
10) Ishant Sharma
11) Munaf Patel

I know, this won't be final playing XI and definitely not in this order.
Team management won't fiddle with VVS's position as he has done extremely well at his 5 position, and similarly someone with Dravid's credentials won't be handed the opener's role just like that; and There is going to be a toss up between Munaf and Praveen, both are similar bowlers but Praveen is slightly better fielder and can also wield his bat better than Munaf, so he might a get nod ahead of him.
So in most probability, team management will stick to more traditional approach for the first test, i.e. to open with specialist openers and not fiddle with already settled batting order.
So Mukund will open with Gambhir, and Dravid & Laxman will play at their usual positions.

Also Praveen will be opted over Munaf.

But in heart of my heart, I still feel India should take a pro-active stand rather than a reactive one. Opening with one brand new opener and other coming back from long lay off doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I'm pretty sure Dravid will be called out for duty within first 5 overs, so why not open with him?

Similarly, I will prefer Munaf over Praveen coz I feel Munaf is more disciplined among the two, and in test-match batting prowess of bowlers should not be considered at all.

Lets see, how it begins, I think later in the series management might agree with my views :-)
P.S - someone share this post with Fletcher/Dhoni ;-)

Rule# 33

2011-07-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

33) Break the box.

Movie review - Delhi Belly

2011-07-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here's my review of "Delhi Belly"

"Poorna Jagannathan" :-)

Rule# 32

2011-07-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

32) Don't crib; Live with it and try to change it in small steps.

7 seven years!!!!

2011-07-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

7 years, saat saal.....I still can't believe that I've kept this place alive for 7 full years. Of course , this is not what it used to be in jawani, but still I keep on sneaking 1-2 post a month.

Best part about it , I met so many interesting people just because this blog. And irrespective of my frequency here always make a point to visit their blog DAILY!!!

**
7 years, everything has changed, or nothing has changed; I clearly remember when and how I started this place, sitting bored/idle wasting myself, in pursuit of something unknown, something which is still eluding me, something of which I still have no clue.

That anxiousness, that madness, that emptiness, that restlessness, that something something has not changed at all.
On surface things look different too, well I gained weight, lost hair; I don't smile much but I do talk these days, all that crappy small talk about weather and sports; may be I'm mixing into 'duniya' or becoming one.
Anyways, at the same time I don't count those as negatives. I call it natural erosion of myself.
Positives are aplenty, God has been kind. First and foremost is my son, it seems that life before him was a total waste.
**
Life has been a sequence of "snoozes" or "dismisses" so far or that's what we control; however what happens in the background is like a flowing river, totally unbridled , sometimes violent sometimes serene, and beautiful most of the times.

*

2011-06-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

Light...Leaves....Clouds...Shadows..Reflections....in water, on mirrors...in the dark....closed doors...locks...tree barks....empty benches.....parked cars....

...my list is endless, my list is incomplete...my list is my mind....

in case you are wondering, these are the things I want to click...

**
Uljaney ulajti rahi....dooriya badhti rahi.........

Team for first test match -

2011-06-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Abhinav Mukund

Murali Vijay

Rahul Dravid

Kohli

VVS Laxman

Raina

MS Dhoni

Bhajji

Zaheer

Munaf

Mishra

Rule# 31

2011-05-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

31) जो करना है कर डालो .....इसके बाद...उसके बाद ...कुछ नहीं होता।

Rule# 30

2011-04-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

30) Everyone you know will leave two kinds of memories, good ones and bad ones.
It’s up to you how you want to remember them.

Rule# 29

2011-04-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

29) Wasting time is inevitable, so waste your time judiciously, waste it over things which may make no sense whatsoever to others but soothes you, imbibes calmness inside you.

Class 4 and randon ramblings

2011-04-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of things get bouncing around in my head, and on surface I look most calm and laid back person on the earth. But inner turmoil sometimes gets so worse that I’ve to shut off my self from the real world.

This year one of my nephew and niece has stepped in Grade 4, as they call it these days instead of class 4.
A faintest mention of class 4 sends me back in time when I was there, and still I dread the day when results of class 4 was declared. And to date I dread 30th April (yes in those days results were declared on 30th April, not on 31st March like now), my heartbeat goes uneven and mind goes blank, I like it when my result was handed over to me in a yellow envelope.

I was like lost-in-my-world kind of guy who never cared about anything much, but always remained in his own obsessive over-analysis of anything and everything.
I used to look for patterns in everything, and after 3 years in big school gave me brilliant insight that, no matter what one does all year, on 30th April one will always get a result from school saying “Passed and promoted to next class”; it kind of become so monotonous and boring that I assumed result cannot be anything else.

And come result of my 4th class, and my imagined/boring world came down crushing, it said “Supplementary compartment in Science and Social Studies”.

Some laughed and some ridiculed, how one can get compartment in 4th class; but no one knew how scared and shaken I was then. World almost ended that day.

And then came the worst part, after results, school reopened for 15 days before summer vacations, and I was supposed to sit in class 4th only along with new promoted boys from class 3. Those were the most humiliating days of school life, other guys who failed or had compartment like me huddled together in the last rows of the class, and for other students and teachers there was no difference between failed and compartment cases. For them we were the duffers, the failures. And among those guys none of them were my friends. So I was left in a vast sea all alone, I never felt like going to school but never had courage to say that to even myself, after all I had committed the biggest crime in the world.

During recess my friends who were in 5th class used to visit me, and give me those bechara /sympathetic looks.

After those 15 days, started summer vacations of 2 months, as a ritual we visited our mom’s side of joint family, and that meant another round of humiliation and ridicule.

Anyway, after returning from there started my daily grilling, I was forced to study, study and study again and again. Even if I said that I know the stuff, no one trusted me and was forced to study again. Being youngest also made matters worst, everyone had their own way of teaching me and punishing me for not studying.

Finally the day came, sometime in June when I appeared for my compartment exam; I had to give both Science and Social Studies exam in the same day. We were made to sit in a makeshift examination-like arrangement in a section of school library. And finally came the result, and by God’s grace I passed both exams with “good” marks 

And normalcy returned in my world, I was delighted to join my friends in the class 5 but was permanently tagged as one of the weak students which took many more years to shed off.

**
And now I think, I’m still the same over-grown guy, who still doesn’t care much about anything, who still lives in his own world, who still indulges in his favorite pastime of over-analyzing almost everything, who doesn’t learn from past mistakes, who is still seeking something which even he doesn’t know, who still feel like a jigsaw puzzle whose some pieces are still missing and doesn’t have a clue about how big picture will look like even if he finds those missing pieces.

**
Sometimes I think, what if this is, this life is an over-stretched dream sequence, a dream over which we have no control whatsoever, which can be interrupted any moment and we can’t stop it from being busted no matter how dearly we cling to it.

Afridi is NO hero

2011-04-01T10:33:00.001-07:00

I don’t understand why everyone is hell-bent to declare Afridi as a hero or a gracious loser.

Afridi has a history of all sorts of buffoonery that can be committed on cricketing field.

From abusing opposition players as well as his own team mates, to fighting on field, or in dressing room, to tampering ball, creating factions within team, he has done it all.

One fine day, suddenly he has been made a hero, just because he was smiling on the field, and was shaking hands with an even bigger smile after the loss?

I think we guys are so much drank in our victory that we’re conveniently ignoring the manner Pakistani team played.

This Pakistani team looked so uninterested in the field, there was no intensity, and not all looked hungry for win on the field (though there were superficial team huddles and all), that passion which is usually associated with them was clearly missing. They all were looking at different directions while fielding.

Something was clearly not well in their dressing room, and that was evident from the way the chased the modest score of 260 on a slow batting track. They made Munaf/Nehra look like McGrath.

Agreed, ball was not coming to bat as expected, but how can one justify the way Younis Khan ex-captain and a usually a better performer against India, paced his innings, he was playing like a nervous debutant, was struggling against likes of buffet bowler Yuvi.

His 13 runs of 32 balls, and Misbah’s 17 runs of his first 42 laid the foundation for their team’s burial.

How can Misbah (another ex-captain and a better performer against India) start his inning like that, what was he waiting for? Why the hell Razzaq came before Afridi, agreed Afridi is not in good form these days, but still any day he should be placed above Razzaq in batting order.

And if intention of sending Razzaq up was to step-up the pace but again the way he played his 9 balls, he hardly looked in any kind of hurry, there wasn’t a single Razzaq like ‘clear front leg and smash the ball over covers or bowlers head’ swing at the ball.

He too was content in blocking the ball.

Then came so newly crowned hero Afridi, when Pakis were some 70-80 runs short of target and difference between balls n runs was 20-22 only, and with batting power play still to be taken , and with last recognized pair on the crease, still he DID NOT take the power play.

Though power-plays are designed to suit players like Afridi who try to hit every ball they face in air and still he decided against taking power play. What was he waiting for?

What kind of captaincy was that? Why there was no sense of responsibility from his actions with bat?

Probably, he already knew the outcome of the match before hand, probably he knew that seniors like Younis/Misbah/Razzaq ( and non-playing Akhtar) would be leading a non-cooperation movement on the field.

Hence, his so-Manmohan-Singh-like smiles and laughter in defeat (which is so unlike Afridi).

He was smiling at his own helplessness rather being a gracious loser.

Rule# 28

2011-03-23T16:26:00.001-07:00

This one is going to be pretty basic one, but I strongly feel that this should be the MOST important of all.

28) Aap ne apne aap ko khush rakhna hai. You, only you have to keep/make yourself happy.

Happiness has always been regarded as an relative entity; each has their own ways of feeling it.
And I say, whatever, what ultimately matters is one's internal happiness, if one is not really internally happy then he/she cannot make others really happy. And finding happiness in others happiness is another farce. It all boils down to every individual; you just have to go ahead and do what makes you happy, and when you are happy only than you can make others happy and radiate happy vibes across.

so bottom line is, aap ne apne aap ko happy rakhna hai. bas.

Rule# 27

2011-03-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

27) Sometimes nothing recharges you more than by spending sometime alone.

Rule# 26

2011-03-04T10:39:00.001-08:00

26) Wishing won't bring success or anything, but planning and working for it would.

Rule# 25

2011-01-13T15:34:00.001-08:00

25) Hazy goals produce hazy results.

Favorite movies of 2010

2011-01-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

Aahaa..so this is again that time of year…when everyone gets busy making resolutions, and then end up breaking them within next 2 weeks, and when gym memberships hit the sky, and sidewalks are suddenly crowded with huffing and puffing ‘over nightly turned fitness conscious converts’.

And here, I’m, neither making resolutions nor hitting gym…(insert evil grin here).

So here, I’m doing what I enjoy doing most, that is making lists-

My favorite movies of the year 2010 (of course from what I’ve seen this year).

Good ones

1) Love Sex aur Dhokha
2) Well done Abba
3) Tere bin laden
4) Udaan
5) Band Bajaa Baraat

Ok Ones

1) Ishqiya
2) Striker
3) Atithi tum kab jaogey
4) Once Upon a Time in Mumbai
5) Peepli Live

Timepass
1) Bumm bum bole
2) Road, Movie

Pathetic -
1) My Name is Khan
2) Housefull
3) Rajneeti
4) I hate Luv Storys
5) Rann

Which I wanted to see but missed –

1) Do Dooni Chaar
2) The great Indian Butterfly
3) The Japanese wife
4) Mirch
5) Phas Gaye Re Obama
6) Guzarish
7) Robot
8) Lahore
9) Road To Sangam

Rule# 24

2011-01-06T15:14:00.001-08:00

24) Focus and discipline – these two words can make any thing possible.

Ek brahman ne kahaa hai ke ye saal achchhaa hai

2011-01-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

Another year, and surprisingly this time I'm not just conned but convinced that "Two-Zero-One-One' is going to be a smashing year.

So no resolutions or re-solutions for me, I just want to start to my year with this beautiful ghazal filled with optimism.

Ek brahman ne kahaa hai ke ye saal achchhaa hai

Zulm ki raat bahut jald talegii ab to
Aag chuulhon mein har ik roz jalegii ab to

Bhookh ke maare koi bachchaa nahin royega
chain ki neend har ik shaKhs yahaan soyega

Aandhi nafarat ki chalegi na kahin ab ke baras
pyaar ki fasal ugaegi zameen ab ke baras

Hai yakeen ab na koi shor-sharaabaa hoga
zulm hoga na kahin Khoon-kharaabaa hoga

Os aur dhuup ke sadamein na sahegaa koi
ab mere desh mein beghar na rahega koi

Naye vaadon ka jo daalaa hai vo jaal achchhaa hai
Rehanumaaon ne kaha hai ke ye saal achchhaa hai

....dil ke Khush rakhane ko Ghalib ye Khayaal achchhaa hai

--Sabir Dutt

Hijacked

2010-12-21T12:18:00.001-08:00

hmm just realized that this blog has been hijacked by my baby..not just this blog but all our(including wifey here...) actions by him.

Everything has changed completely, and I'm not complaining but loving every second of it.

"Tu mila hai to yeh khyaal aaya
zindagi itni mukhtasar kyu hai"

Rule# 23

2010-11-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

Anger is man’s worst enemy.

23) Don’t let anger simmer inside you, anger breeds bitterness, bitterness towards everything.

Talk it out.

Rule# 22

2010-11-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

22) Remember people and their actions are governed by two things –
a) a clock running in the stomach
b) and a radio playing non-stop in the mind

Belong to second category always…….

Rule# 21

2010-11-05T10:02:00.001-07:00

21) Make lists.

They really help, yes they do.

Rule# 20

2010-11-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

20) Never say 'NO' to your girl in a phone conversation.

Rule# 19

2010-11-03T16:19:00.001-07:00

19) Buy sugar-free mints

Rule# 18

2010-10-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

18) Skip your every 7th meal.

Rule# 17

2010-10-07T17:34:00.000-07:00

17) Never take a blind date to a silent movie.

Rule# 16

2010-10-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

Remember there are always some unwritten rules like this one..

16)

Rule# 15

2010-09-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

15) Loneliness adds an indefinable beauty to life; don't be afraid of it.

Rule# 14

2010-09-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

14) Never lie to your mom.

Rule# 13

2010-09-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

13) Dates matter.

Rule# 12

2010-09-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

12) Slip-on shoes are convenient but always wear the ones-with-laces on formal occasions.

2010-09-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

"सबसे खतरनाक होता है मुर्दा शांति से भर जाना

ना होना तड़प का..सब सेहन कर जाना

घर से निकलना काम पर और काम से लौट कर घर आना

सबसे खतरनाक होता है हमारे सपनों का मर जाना "
- पाश

Another list

2010-09-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here comes another list and another load off my chest....

I think these guys should make to playing XI for the 1st Ashes test.

1) Andrew Strauss (capt),
2) Alastair Cook,
3) Jonathan Trott,
4) Kevin Pietersen,
5) Paul Collingwood,
6) Eoin Morgan,
7) Matt Prior,
8) Stuart Broad,
9) Graeme Swann,
10) James Anderson,
11) Steven Finn.

I know this was kind of no-brainer coz as many as 9 players select themselves. But still it was kind of tough to select between Morgan/Bell , and Finn/Tremlett.

My All Time World Test XI

2010-09-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here's my all time world test XI, well, I feel something is missing from this team but don't know what it is.
This is selected purely based on the options provided at Cricinfo.

So here it is -

OPENERS
- Sir Jack Hobbs
- Sunil Gavaskar
MIDDLE ORDER
ALLROUNDERS
- Sir Garry Sobers
WICKETKEEPER
- Adam Gilchrist
BOWLERS

Rule# 11

2010-09-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

11) Do not store all your music at one place.

Mohammed Rafi

2010-09-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

My top 11 favorite songs sung by my favorite singer Mohammed Rafi Sahab

1) Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare chale gaye -- Kala Paani

2) Mann tarpat hari darshan ko aaj -- Baiju Bawra

3) Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya -- Hum Dono

4) Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hai -- Guide

5) Din dhal jaaye hai raat na jaaye -- Guide

6) Chho lene do naazuk hothon ko -- Kaajal

7) Yahan main ajnabi hoon -- Jab jab phool khile

8) Tumne mujhe dekha ho kar meharbaan -- Teesri Manzil

9) Kahi bekhayal ho kar -- Teen Deviyan

10) Kabhi khud pe kabhi halaaat pe rona aaya -- Hum Dono

11) Main yeh soch kar uske dar se utha tha -- Haqeeqat

But where are the songs of Pyaasa, Kagaaz ke phool or Chaudhavin ka chand or Tere ghar ke saamne or Parasmani or Dosti or Brahmachari or Aradhana or Abhimaan or..or..or......???

Well, it is impossible to select just 10 or 20 or 50 songs. Yes, just not POSSIBLE.

Rule# 10

2010-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

10) Life is too short to hold grudges.

another list

2010-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Ahh I'm back with my love for making lists and sometimes list of lists....

So here is the list of my favorite songs of this year...so far!!

Top 5 are -

1) Aur phir yun hua - Striker
2) Ab mujhe koi intezaar kahan hai - Ishqiya
3) Kheeli rey Kheeli - Ravaan, this song is nothing but sugar and more sugar.
4) Sham - Aisha
5) Des Mera - Peepli Live

Few more which I keep on listening -

6) Dil kyu yeh mera shor kare - Kites
7) Mehngai Daya (Remix) - Peepli Live
8) Badi dheere dheere jali raina - Ishqiya
9) Naav- Chadhti lehrein laang na paaye - Udaan
10) Bekhauf Mohabat - Tum Milo To Sahi
11) Hey Ya and Uff Teri Ada - Karthik calling Karthik

Rule# 9

2010-09-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

well, a quick note rather than a rule, but still I'll list down as a rule -

9) Remember, in tennis never rest after hitting your best shot in a rally, its not always your best shot that wins you a point, it's always the shot following your best shot that wins you a point.

Rule# 8

2010-09-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

8) Never ever waste good music, if no one is listening or not showing respect then switch it off.

2010-08-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

This is most shameful act Pakis have done this time, and by looking at the videos & articles like this , it is clear that most of Pakistani players have been doing this for years without being caught, and now they’ve become so confident of not being caught that, they and their bookie kind of let their guard down.

Also, it is equally disgusting to read guys like Lawson showing sympathy towards them, isn’t it ridiculous?
And at other hand guys like Ponting and Shane Watson are talking trash by saying it as a ‘sub-continent’ culture thing. They should first look at themselves before passing such stupid blanket statements, they should ask Mark Waugh, Shane Warne first if it is cultural thing or not.

How can PCB tolerate guys like Asif who has a long list of misdoings, from failing drug test in IPL to detention in Dubai with drugs, then dressing –room fight with Akhtar and now after making a comeback, this guy is involved in match/spot-fixing?

In my opinion even lifetime ban is not enough for guys like Asif / Ameer, they should not be even allowed go near a playing field.

I’m angry because nothing will come out of this, Pakistan Cricket Board, will first – deny all allegations, then will form an inquiry committee, and then after impose bans and then will revoke the bans in lieu of some monetary fines.

Damn ‘monetary’ fines?? So that completes the circle, first make money through ‘fixings’ and if caught then pay some small percentage to board and play again to make some more money.

How can they forget a guy named Bob Woolmer lost his life because of this murky side of Pakistan Cricket, how can they still continue to the same again and again?

Music - aaj kal

2010-08-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Music, it’s been ages since I wrote something on one my favorite thing to do, i.e. listening music.

Prime reason being, it’s also been a long time since I heard something pure class, something which touches you and makes room for itself in your heart, in your mind.

That rare magic of combination of nice tune, touching lyrics and soul-stirring voice is not happening these days.

If you look around, these days there is an increasing trend of music directors singing some of their own songs, I don’t know if this is a good thing or not but know for sure that this trend is somewhere limiting the boundaries of creativity of the composers.

Great Rahman has been a frontrunner in this trend, right from Bombay/Rangeela to Ravaan, he has sung to his own compositions. And regardless of some small pronunciation ‘issues’ one can still feel that no one could have done a better job for those songs than Rahman himself, primarily because of super complex composition.
But it was good till only Rahman was doing these experiments, or when only very few music directors were doing it, and that too once in a while, one song here and there.

But now almost all music directors are doing it, and doing it to the point of singing almost ALL songs of the album.

Worst culprit are Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, they both just love their voices, and always find a way to sing maximum songs of an album.’

They were good in the beginning when then composed like “Jhankar beats’ and all but now its going crazy, they’ve supremely limited their composing capabilities by binding them within the boundary of own their singing talent.

And another thing makes them worst culprit are, they’ve also ventured into writing lyrics, that too in wholesale manner.
Now imagine how many limitations they are putting on themselves, like first write the lyrics, then compose them and them sing them, and end result either can turn out to be really really good like ‘Ankhon mein teri ajab si…” of Om Shanti Om or total disasters like songs of ‘Aladin’.

This trend is seriously disturbing, it’s like they are composing tunes which only suits their singing styles.

Examples are endless, Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy for instance, now they sound almost SAME in all albums, one slow-number, one-party ‘It’s the time to Disco’ types, and ALL of them sung by Shanker. It’s damn repetitive.

Then there are Salim-Sulieman, again supremely talented guys, I really loved their Dor, Chak-De-India, Fashion, and Rocket Singh scores. But again now they try to-fit in Salim or Sulieman style of singing and too much of Arabic beats in almost all songs.

Sajid-Wajid are the ones I hate most for a single crime of killing Gulzar Sahah’s beautiful lyrics in movie Veer, they stuck to their ‘woh-kehndi-po-po’ mode to even delicate-st lines in Veer. Disgusting.

And then there is a classic case of Mr.Himesh Reshmiyya, only his name is enough.

Though still all hopes are not lost yet, we’ve ever delectable music of Vishal Bharadwaj, and flavor of these days ‘Amit Trivedi’ who are continuing to give fantastic music, the kind which sucks one into it and makes one forget all worries for sometime.
At least that’s what good music does to me, I get so charged up, so happy, to the extent of looking like a loony.

And then there is bunch of unsung/low-profile composers/ lyrists’ like Swanand Kirkire, Shantanu Moitra, MM Kreem, Shandesh Shandilya , Amitabh Bhattacharya , Nilesh Mishra who keep on creating little gems and spreading happiness.

And yes, how can I forget to mention this, has it become mandatory to have atleast one Rahat Fateh Ali song in every movie?

Don’t know why I started writing this, and may be started as a rant against Vishal-Shekhar, but kept on spilling my views about others as well.

I know, you must be thinking what’s the purpose of this, even I don’t know, all I know is that this kind of incoherent posts happen when you write it over a span of 5-7 days.

Rule# 7

2010-08-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Usually there are 2 theories about getting a hair cut –

1) Always invest in a good hair cut; after all you wear it daily.

Then there is a counter-theory

2) Never invest more than reasonable amount on a hair cut, after all hair always grows back.

I’ll leave that to you to pick anyone, but I can assure you about one thing, that’s rule# 7 –

Remember, your every alternate hair cut is going to be screwed, so just make peace with this fact.

Vivaan

2010-08-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here comes Vivaan's latest pics.
Last Sunday morning, place - home.

That's our morning ritual, I tickle him on his ear and he pulls my hair & scratches my face in return.

Mumma's boy...only in the picture :-)

Rule# 6

2010-08-16T17:02:00.002-07:00

6) Always take back ups, and most importantly learn to restore the back ups

Rule# 5

2010-08-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

5) Change your fragrances (colognes/aftershave etc) whenever you move-in or out of a relationship.

Rule# 4

2010-08-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

4) No matter what, never ever use word 'cute'.

Rule# 3

2010-08-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

3) Marry a girl who can cook good pasta.

Another thing totally unrelated to rules; just FYI now all my t-shirts bear stain marks of milk you spit when you burp on my shoulder. All black ones are the worst effected.

2010-08-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

These days one simply can’t ignore Jerry Brown – Meg Whitman discussions.
And I’m no exception, though I’m not much interested in politics of the world be it India or US but like everyone, I too have my own strong biases, likes and dislikes for different parties and people.

So these days, almost everyone is talking about upcoming California Governor Elections, and since I’m a tax payer here for almost 5 yrs now, so I simply can’t ignore following their campaigns and all.
Earlier I used to favor Whitman, mainly coz of her huge contribution in the growth of eBay, (for records, way back in 1999, I was part of team which started eBay in India, it was called baazi.com then, and later on merged with eBay, and moved it’s operations to Mumbai). Anyway, I really admire the way she utilized all the resources and made eBay what it is today.

But these days, I’m getting my doubts about her, about the way she is spending her money in her race for the post of Governor. So far she has spent 90+ million USD in her political campaign. Agreed she is spending her own hard-earned money, but still 90+ million is a HUGE amount, and this kind of splurging starts to look obscene in context of California State which is already under some 20-30 billions deficit.

So giving reins of already an economically sick state to someone like her doesn’t sound good to me.

Also Jerry Brown is also not a saint himself, so no matter who wins but state of California is going to lose for sure.

**

Lot of cricket is going on these days, but it is not invoking the kind of interest in me as it used to do in past. Of course Sachin and Sangakara are playing magnificent cricket, and Ed Morgan, Stephen Smith, Umar Akmal are emerging to be future stars, but still something is lacking which I don’t know.

I think I’ll also retire from watching cricket the day Sachin hangs his boots.
Ideally he should retire only after scoring 50 hundreds in both forms but sometimes I get a feeling that he’ll retire from all forms of cricket after 2011 World Cup, which is just 6-7 months. And I dread that day, that’s going to be a very sad day for me and for millions like me.

**
Alright, I’ll stop now with the lines which are playing in a loop in my head may be after writing them here they’ll stop.

‘har ek haseen cheez ko choone ki umang hai….
Main aag kehta hoon, kahe sheyhad ha rang hai….

Rule# 2

2010-08-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

2) Once in a while pay for the car behind you in a drive through joint. It's fun surprising strangers :-)

Rule# 1

2010-07-30T13:32:00.001-07:00

1) Turn on the music as soon you turn on the engine.

..continued from last post!

2010-07-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

How come everything amazing is happening to you?

How come you are doing best-ever project ever possible at… world’s place of work?
Mujhe to parking spot bhi dhang ka nahi milta.

How come you’ve you got amazing colleagues, and a fantastic boss?

And I’m deleting the next guy who updates his/her status about Inception.

**
Interesting things are happening in cricket, like Murli taking 800 wickets, I mean EXACT 800, kam na zyaada but exact. Kuch to gadbad hai boss, otherwise Ojha would have ran himself out or fell on the wicket (on some other bowler’s delivery) or handled the ball, or obstructed the field to get out. . Kuch to gadbad hai boss.

Now my gut feeling says, India is going to win next one, that too very easily ;-)

Also, I think now Yuvraj must be the happiest person after SL’s win ;-)

Another interesting fact, now after Murli’s retirement, Harbhajan is the next highest wicket-taker in test-matches among the current active ones. I’m not counting Ntini or Vaas as active anymore.

**
So Afridi retired ( again)..But didn’t he say he will retire after Headingly Test, but PCB immediately declared Butt as new captain and even dropped from Afridi from team for Headingly Test.
Strange are the ways of PCB.

Facebook

2010-07-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

Dear FB Friends –

1) Please stop this stupid WC soccer madness, I don’t want to know why you support Germany and hate Spain.
Stop this once in 4 years fake loyalty drama.
If you are really so much into soccer then please name just 3 players of current Indian Soccer Team.

2) Stop giving sermons on how one should live their lives. Please.

3) And most importantly, if you want to say something than go ahead say it loud and clear; please stop using your status messages as cryptic messages for someone. Or better use email.

Thank you.

To be continued….

2010-07-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

......by the way, last week this blog completed 6 years of it's existence.

.....life will return to it some day, yeah down , but not out yet!

Randomness continues.....

2010-06-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Habits damn habits,…one I hate most is of delaying all tasks till the last minute.
Just like, while playing, almost in every game I give first point as gift, and then try to come back from there.
Sometimes I dig myself a hole by doing down double service breaks and then fight every point to avoid defeat. Some days I win, some days I lose, but never learn the lesson that every single point counts. Every single minute counts.

Earlier it used to be the thrill of working under pressure, and doing a good job of it, but now that’s not the motivation either. Don’t know what it is.

**

I felt terrible for South Korea, and today feeling same for Japan. Not fair.

While we’re at it, I’ll pick Argentina as favorites to lift the cup or Brazil or Spain as 3rd choice

**

Watched Rajneeti, that too whole movie at one go, and guess what, I didn’t like it.
It was like watching a Manmohan Desai movie with different kind of masala.
It kept on throwing scenes after scenes, plots after plots without giving anytime to think, pause and gulp what is being shown.

It started with lot of confusions, and God only knows what was that voiceover? who was talking to who?
Whole movie relied on dragging the already confused audience to the current scene, and so in fear of again missing out something audience focused on 1 scene at a time, and that each scene looked like a short mysterious story (which wasn't the case).

I’ll not go into that Kunti-Karan scene or everyone getting pregnant and all, but can’t help pointing out Katrina’s dialogue in end…”aapke bhai ansh chhod gaye hai” what crap was that? Who the hell talks like that?

**
Now I think I should stop, and go home to catch Spain-Portugal action.

Random

2010-06-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

There are two kinds of players, one who raise their game when they play a higher-quality player and there is one who drags their higher-quality opponent to their low-level and then beat them by playing street-smart shots.

And I think I belong to both kinds. Some days I’m aggressive and match them shot-by-shot and some days I slow it down, and play lot of lobs which land right on baseline, and then hit lot of drop shots to bring them to net. It looks ugly but fun nevertheless ;-)

***

Alright, after a long, watched a movie, or I’ll say watched first 30-40 minutes of the movie KITES. And so far it’s ok; I think I can finish it in another 2-3 sittings.

On a positive note, I liked this Barbara Mori lady; she looked fantastic, someone like actual actress, well don’t know how to put that in words but to say the least after a long time saw some mature, gorgeous unabashed (in right sense, ok) woman unlike run-of-the mill teenage actresses of these days.
Alright, let’s hear it straight, she is someone of my age-group whom I can ogle at without any guilt ;-)

**

Anyone following Wimbledon?? John Isner / Nicolas Mahut match?
They played 4 sets yesterday before bad-light stopped the match-
They stopped at
6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, and
And today resumed the fifth and final set and score as I type is 47-47.
I’m sure their next round opponent must be a very happy man.

**

Ruh ke bandhan khultey nahi hai……daag hai dil ke dhultey nahi hai…..

2010-06-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me :-)

Kabhi khud pe hansa main aur kabhi khud pe roya.....

Same story....

2010-05-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

I guess, it's time to shake the squad, and pull certain guys out of their comfort zone; make them realize that they do not select themselves anymore

First in line is Yuvraj Singh -
It's high time to drop Yuvraj; He has been playing International cricket for 10 years now, and still he behaves like a baby, like a newcomer; He hasn't learned to be a responsible player. Imagine you're around for 10 yrs and still not considered for captaincy. He is nothing but pampered poster boy of Indian Cricket whose focus is clearly somewhere else.

Second one is Harbhajan Singh; yes you heard it right, agreed he was the most economical bowler in just concluded WC but keep in mind in all 5 matches he didn't pick a SINGLE wicket.
Being economical is good only if bowler at the other end utilizes the opportunity to do some damage, but bowler at other end used to be either Nehra or out of form Zaheer who were contented by their mediocre performance, & didn't go for the kill.
20-20 is out and out batsman's game, so bowling a tight spell (which is like run-a-ball in this case) doesn't help much, coz in the end cushion of having wickets in hands helps a lot.

Moving to Murli Vijay, I seriously question his selection? One good IPL season and you're in.
C'mon deciding team on IPL performance is a joke, the biggest mistakes BCCI has made. Whole IPL format is flawed, one team can have only 4 foreign players and most teams prefer out and out batsman like Hayden/Smith/Taylor or bits n pieces players like Symonds/Mathews, and that leaves bowling department very very weak.
So in most of the matches bowling is done by local players like Harmeet Singh etc etc and making tons of runs against weak bowling attack on lifeless pitches in smaller grounds doesn't reflect correct picture.

Most importantly, hiding the in-form batsman Rohit Sharma at no. 7 in the most crucial match is mind boggling. Agreed he is a shaky starter (just like everyone) but once settled he can do some serious damage.

Game after game selection of Ravinder Jadeja was most comical, and will hurt him for a long time. It looked like this boy was seriously pissed off by BCCI for banning him from playing in IPL this season.

Then we have a curious case of Yusuf Pathan, this Pathan can hit longgggg distance but mostly vertical instead of horizontal; Agreed he comes way down the order but still that's the position he is supposed pull out something magical other than his usual run a ball or 12 from 9 balls knocks, which are only good for his SR.

Selection of Piyush Chawla over Pragyan Ojha is another great mystery, just like selection of Murli Vijay over Virat Kohli/Robin Uthapa.

Khair, ab bas karta hoon, I'm tired of all this nonsense.

2010-05-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.worldometers.info/

Hmm...cool......hmm interesting......hmmm scary

2010-05-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

In continuation of previous post....

Here's my semis line up -

South Africa Vs India
Australia Vs England.

2010-04-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

For a change, no upsets this time please --

Group E -- Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, England

Group F -- Sri Lanka, Australia, India, West Indies

2010-04-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Damn, it’s been ages since this place was updated. I mean seriously updated with something.
Oh alright, it’s not that I’m short of posts or anything, it’s just that I’m plain lazy..and that reflects here too.

And sometimes I wait, like wait for certain things to happen then will update here but that wait never gets over, and even when it does I don’t bother to move a muscle to update this place. And hell then it becomes a damn habit.

Well, that word reminds me, if a person does one thing for a 21 ‘consecutive’ days then that becomes a habit. So keyword here is ‘consecutive’. And I can’t even remember this for 21 days to form good habits. (21 days?? are you kidding me, my attention span is down to 2.5 seconds from 4.5 seconds).

And kal aise hi ‘Eureka Moment hua’ and I wrote this on my twitter –

“TV ne padhna bhulaya, Computer ne likhna bhulaya and Twitter ne blog bhulaya”

Padhne mein simple si baat hai but sahi si simple baat hai, and simple cheezen if not done properly become bigger problems :-(

**
Khair, everyone is getting excited over Ravaan, of course movie, but don’t know why I’m not getting that feeling which I used to have in anticipation of a Mani Ratnam movie, even music is not helping it, it is good agreed but somewhere it sounds forced to me. And thoughts of songs being picturised on Junior AB don’t make a pretty picture.

2010-03-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

jis tarah tune sahej rakha hai mere khyaalon ko....
kaash tune waise hi kabhi mujhe saheja hota......

5 saal pehle...aaj hi ke din..aaj hi ke samay :-)

2010-03-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

5 saal pehle...aaj hi ke din..aaj hi ke samay :-)..engagement day :-)

If only

2010-03-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

Oil problems can be resolved….

If all people park their vehicles at the first available parking spot rather than taking 4 rounds of parking lot looking for a better/nearest spot.

Benefits are endless….most important being life of foot wears will get a boost.

2010-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

'Rann is a bad film. Period'

tweets :-)

2010-02-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

har ek saans main jo leta hoon....bas tujhe awaaz deta hoon!

bazeecha-e-atfal hai duniya mere aagey......

Koi sune ya na sune kehti rehti hai...kuch likh kar kuch zubaani.....

when you have a problem, if you tell the truth your problem becomes part of your past, if you lie it becomes a part of your future!!

Ganga naha le...Chahe tilak laga le.... Kismat ka likha hua... Tale na taale

hahaha look at the 'Cricketic Justice' - http://www.cricinfo.com/2010iccwt20/engine/current/match/439503.html :-)

First Honda recalls..and now Toyota recalls and Ford showing a sale-increase of 25%....boss kuch to gadbad hai.....

Just finished watching 'Munna Bhai B.Tech' err....aka 3 idiots.

Google Buzz....it's like twitter/FB combined...but don't think anyone will use it :-)

Pankhon ko hawa Zara si lagne do .... Love this song!

zara se dil ke goshe mein hazaaron gham tadapte hain
zara se khoon ke katre ko shikaayat hai zamaane se

Enjoy your job, make lots of money, work within the law. Choose any two.

2010-02-23T17:07:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, a lot is happening at my end, but it’s just that I’m not updating it here.
And this is not about all that. Few weeks more that’s it.

At other fronts, it’s pretty much mundane, same story as usual, losing hair, and teeth enamel. Gross I know.
Also nails are turning brittle clearly suggesting lack of calcium intake, and I’m so glad my mom doesn’t know all this.
While we’re at it, though weighing scale shows couple of kilos less, but waist line refuses to budge. Yeah, clearly a victim of weapons of mass destruction here aka cheese and soda.

On another useless note, I'm listening to songs of movie 'Dhun'..remember anyone? Talat Aziz's launch vehicle as hero against Sangeeta Bijlani, which never got released :-)

Ahh Sangeeta Bijlani another interestingly useless topic...well let's leave her for some other day ;-)

2010-02-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Once emperor Akbar asked Birbal to write something which will make him happy whenever he is sad, and sad when he is happy.

And Birbal wrote - "haan.... waqt yeh bhi guzar jaayega"

And I find myself repeating this in my mind these days!

2010-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

aur phir yun hua
raat ek khwaab ne jaga diya.....

phir yun hua....chaand ki woh dalli ghhul gayi
aur yun hua ..khwaab ki woh laddi khul gayi....

jalti rahi be-noorian, jalte rahe andheron ki roshni ke taley

phir nahi so sake..ek sadi ke liye..hum diljale
phir nahi so sake..ek sadi ke liye..hum diljale

aur phir yun hua
suboh ki dhool ne udda diya
aur phir yun hua
suboh ki dhool ne udda diya

phir yun hua...chehre ke naqsh sab dhul gaye
aur yun hua, gard they gard mein rul gaye

tanhaiya odhey huey galtey rahe bheegey huye aasuon se galey....

phir nahi so sake..ek sadi ke liye..hum diljale
ek sadi ke liye..hum diljale

2010-01-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

"Udhtey khwaabon ka aietbaar kahaan....."

2009-12-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

... aall izz is NOT well :-(

Yosemite...

2009-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite snap....

at last, after many failed attempts at different sites, today started afresh at http://www.flickr.com/photos/badmantalking

2009-12-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

2 mahine ho gaye….hmm more than 2 mahine ho gaye since I updated here. But again, it’s all about the mood which dictates the posts….and when I’m happy…. I’m happy and go with the flow…..and when I’m sad…I talk to myself.

Well, I’m not exactly sad right now, I’m kinda jealous…but not exactly jealous also, it’s a kind of in-between feeling ..when things don’t go that smooth for us, and same things go smooth for others…and you knowing that you’ve been honest, and others are not, all that make things uneasy. I know I’m not making sense here.

**
I leave a lot for God to do for me, yeah I’m that kind of person, and I forget a lot these days, I forgot to lock car, I forgot to lock home, I forget my passwords, I forget to pay bills, I forget to pray.
Just plain forget. At the same time, don’t argue or convince people but just leave it God to makes things better, make other understand the bigger picture, I leave it to HER to remove negativity in their thoughts/opinions. But now I’ve even started to forget asking for that.

**

Bhanwar si ghoomti duniya ko rooko…ke humein utarna hai

2009-10-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

So finally fall has fallen in bay area….and it’s raining ‘beautifully’, normally it drizzles and drizzles for days but that’s no fun.
Today it is actually ‘Raining’ …raining like good size drops falling with some rhythm and intensity.
It is something which I’m sure always touches everyone not just physically…sometimes it makes one sad and sometimes happy and most of the time ‘in-between’ …. that funny feeling when you know something is amiss but you can’t put finger on that.
For the record, I’m HAPPY.

**
Last night saw two back-to-back movies of ‘Supriya Pathak’.

First one was ‘Wake Up Sid’, it was a crazy idea to go for a movie on a Monday evening, oddly one of American multiplex was running the shows of Wake Up Sid which is quite an unusual thing. So we went there, and whole complex was deserted…there were no digital board flashing show timings and all, just 3-4 kids were manning the tickets and snacks booths.

After purchasing the tickets we went to search for audi # 9 which was (obviously) in the farthest corner of the complex, and let me again emphasis on the ‘deserted’ part, all passages/foyer everything was devoid of a single soul, and of course our audi was EMPTY. It was just 4 of us there.
Whole setting was straight out from horror movies; where protagonists stop at some motel at some deserted place and turn on the TV in their rooms only to see themselves on screen.

Movie worked for me, though in promos, character of Ranbir looked like a hybrid of Lakshay’s Hrithik and DCH’s Aamir and music sounded like re-cycled tunes/lyrics of Rock On/Luck By Chance, and ‘iktara’ a left over of Aamir/DevD.

Whole casting worked for me, Ranbir fitted the role to the T, and he didn’t require any special effort to get that dork look, and Konkana was her usual self though I hated her kurtas, I mean the colors. Now it’s tough to imagine anyone else portraying Sid n Aisha’s role.
Movie had all elements of a regular masala movie..like childhood friend se ladai and patch up; father-son confrontations; realization of mother’s ‘taken-for-granted’ love; not realizing that ‘it-is-love-till-the-last-reel’; Emotional quadrangle between ‘Ranbir-New(irritating)Girl-Konkana-Rahul (copying his younger brother)’ but treatment of all these was good…simple straightforward no melodrama!

Here's the pic.
**
Late night, I saw ‘Bazaar’ for the first time in one straight sitting and totally blown away with the performances/dialogues/direction and of course music. It’s just plain impossible to write about Smita Patil/Naseeruddin Shah/Faroque Sheikh/Supriya Pathak and other characters. A must watch for everyone.

2009-09-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

hmmm.....

'na khuda mila.....na visaal-e-yaar hua'

2009-09-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

My playing 'XI' for Saturday's match -

1) Sachin
2) Gambhir
3) Dravid
4) Raina
5) Dhoni
6) Pathan
7) Nayyar
8) Harbhajan
9) Mishra
10) Ishant
11) Nehra

Yeah, no place for RP/Kohli/Praveen/Karthik.