Hey,
Balki, there is no point in appreciating how good you are? Absolutely not.
Paa... Its not a movie. It's an expression. Well prepared. Well presented. Well articulated. Only a Balki can think of Raja for such an effort. Raja too is effortless - maestro at work is far more dignified than he ever was in a Hindi movie.
Well, AB - he has crossed all milestones - thats what I thought whenever I saw him last in any movie and he surprises us all over again.
No one will dare to state this. But I will. Why Vidya Balan, Balki. Why Vidya Balan?
You could have chosen someone far better. The role demanded it. May be the production house was working on a shoe string budget and you guys didnt want to take a chance with a new face instead settled down for something which you can afford?
But Paa is one such movie. It will never leave your memory for some time.
Abhishek on his part did well too. God Balki, only you can think of the scenes between Paresh Rawal and Abhishek. Especially where a frustrated father asking his son " Are you a gay?."
There are little political excesses. Things which looks like were forced on the script. Or else it would have become yet another documentary and would have lost in millions of such documentaries.
I understand. Its a thin line. But you did a good job Balki. Keep producing such good works.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Laugh Out Loud..... " The Proposal"...
I got the real meaning of this "Lol" watching this hilarious movie called "The Proposal". If you are a fan of Sandra Bullock, especially some of us who has seen her in " Time to Kill" kind of movies - will realise quickly, she is actually capable of more than she has ever done so far.
Honestly, even though it's a predictable movie, whats makes the movie makes different from the typical run of the mill - boy meets girl, they fight first, then they fall in love and live happily ever after - is the way the story evolved.
Ryan Reynolds is particularly a real cool guy. Its a story about a woman who has a secretary - and when she was on the verge of deported and was threatened from loosing her job from a high power position - she makes a deal with her secretary.
What follows is a heart warming romantic comedy.
Its a full family fun and dont forget to watch it on your week end holiday.
Great fun...
Honestly, even though it's a predictable movie, whats makes the movie makes different from the typical run of the mill - boy meets girl, they fight first, then they fall in love and live happily ever after - is the way the story evolved.
Ryan Reynolds is particularly a real cool guy. Its a story about a woman who has a secretary - and when she was on the verge of deported and was threatened from loosing her job from a high power position - she makes a deal with her secretary.
What follows is a heart warming romantic comedy.
Its a full family fun and dont forget to watch it on your week end holiday.
Great fun...
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Some jokes are for ever
Well I am not a consultant:-
===================
A tourist walks into a pet shop in Silicon Valley, and is browsing around the cages on display. While he's there, another customer walks in and says to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a C monkey, please".
The shopkeeper nods, goes over to a cage at the side of the shop and takes out a monkey. He fits a collar and leash and hands it to the customer, saying "That'll be $5,000". The customer pays and walks out with his monkey.
Startled, the tourist goes over to the shopkeeper and says, "That was a very expensive monkey, most of them are only a few hundred dollars. Why did it cost so much?"
"Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that monkey can program in C with very fast, tight code, no bugs, well worth the money."
The tourist starts to look at the monkeys in the cage. He says to the shop keeper, "That one's even more expensive, $10,000! What does it do?"
"Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that one's a C++ monkey; it can manage object-oriented programming, Visual C++, even some Java, all the really useful stuff."
The tourist looks round for a little longer and sees a third monkey in a cage on its own. The price tag round its neck says $50,000.
He gasps to the shop keeper, "That one costs more than all the others put together! What on earth does it do?"
"Well," says the shopkeeper, "I don't know if it actually does anything, but says it's a Consultant."
Dont be dumb struck:-
===============
Two sisters, one blonde and one brunette, inherit the family ranch. Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock. The brunette balances their checkbook, then takes their last $600 dollars out west to another ranch where a man has a prize bull for sale.
Upon leaving, she tells her sister, "When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home."
The brunette arrives at the man's ranch, inspects the bull, and decides she does want to buy it. The man tells her that he can sell it for $599, no less.
After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news. She walks into the telegraph office, and says, "I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home."
The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, "It's just 99 cents a word."
Well, after paying for the bull, the brunette only has $1 left. She realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word. After thinking for a few minutes, she nods, and says, "I want you to send her the word, 'comfortable.'"
The telegraph operator shakes his head. "How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her the word, 'comfortable'?"
The brunette explains, "My sister's blonde, she'll read it very slow."
Yon don't think:-
============
Legend has it that there is a bar in New York where, in the ladies room there is a very special mirror. If one stands in front of the mirror and tells the truth, one wish is granted. However, if one tells a lie then with a “POOF” you are instantly swallowed up by the mirror, never to be seen again.
A: Opens the car door.
A: Because she didn't know which one came first!
===================
A tourist walks into a pet shop in Silicon Valley, and is browsing around the cages on display. While he's there, another customer walks in and says to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a C monkey, please".
The shopkeeper nods, goes over to a cage at the side of the shop and takes out a monkey. He fits a collar and leash and hands it to the customer, saying "That'll be $5,000". The customer pays and walks out with his monkey.
Startled, the tourist goes over to the shopkeeper and says, "That was a very expensive monkey, most of them are only a few hundred dollars. Why did it cost so much?"
"Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that monkey can program in C with very fast, tight code, no bugs, well worth the money."
The tourist starts to look at the monkeys in the cage. He says to the shop keeper, "That one's even more expensive, $10,000! What does it do?"
"Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that one's a C++ monkey; it can manage object-oriented programming, Visual C++, even some Java, all the really useful stuff."
The tourist looks round for a little longer and sees a third monkey in a cage on its own. The price tag round its neck says $50,000.
He gasps to the shop keeper, "That one costs more than all the others put together! What on earth does it do?"
"Well," says the shopkeeper, "I don't know if it actually does anything, but says it's a Consultant."
Dont be dumb struck:-
===============
Two sisters, one blonde and one brunette, inherit the family ranch. Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock. The brunette balances their checkbook, then takes their last $600 dollars out west to another ranch where a man has a prize bull for sale.
Upon leaving, she tells her sister, "When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home."
The brunette arrives at the man's ranch, inspects the bull, and decides she does want to buy it. The man tells her that he can sell it for $599, no less.
After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news. She walks into the telegraph office, and says, "I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home."
The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, "It's just 99 cents a word."
Well, after paying for the bull, the brunette only has $1 left. She realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word. After thinking for a few minutes, she nods, and says, "I want you to send her the word, 'comfortable.'"
The telegraph operator shakes his head. "How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her the word, 'comfortable'?"
The brunette explains, "My sister's blonde, she'll read it very slow."
Yon don't think:-
============
Legend has it that there is a bar in New York where, in the ladies room there is a very special mirror. If one stands in front of the mirror and tells the truth, one wish is granted. However, if one tells a lie then with a “POOF” you are instantly swallowed up by the mirror, never to be seen again.
So, a redhead of questionable looks walks into the ladies room and stands before the mirror and says, "I think I'm the most beautiful woman in the world."
“POOF” The mirror swallows her.
Next a rather large brunette stands before the mirror and says, "I think I'm the sexiest woman alive."
“POOF” The mirror swallows her.
Then an absolutely gorgeous blonde comes in and stands before the mirror and says, "I think. . . ."
“POOF”
Well I didn't frame the Q & A
=====================
Q: What do you call a blonde with half a brain ?
A: Gifted!
Q: How do blonde braincells die?
A: Alone.
Q: What do you call a blonde with 2 brain cells?
A: Pregnant.
Q: How do you brainwash a blonde?
A: Give her a douche and shake her upside down.
Q: What do you call it when a blonde dies their hair brunette?
A: Artificial intelligence.
Q: Why aren't blondes good cattle herders?
A: Because they can't even keep two calves together!
Q: What did the blonde's right leg say to the left leg?
A: Nothing. They've never met.
Q: Why do blondes wash their hair in the sink?
A: Because, that's where you're supposed to wash vegetables!
Q: When does a brunette have 1/2 of a brain?
A: After a dye job.
Q: Why did God create blondes?
A: Because sheep can't bring beer from the fridge.
Q: Why did the blonde wear condoms on her ears?
A: So she wouldn't get Hearing Aides.
Q: Why did the blonde drive into the ditch?
A: To turn the blinker off.
Q: Why did the blonde try and steal a police car?
A: She saw "911" on the back and thought it was a Porsche.
Q: Why didn't the blonde want a window seat on the plane?
A: She'd just blow dried her hair and she didn't want it blown around too much.
Q: Why do blondes wear their hair up?
A: To catch everything that goes over their heads.
Really - Laugh it out loud please:-
=======================
In the city at a crowded bus stop, a beautiful blonde was waiting for the bus. She was decked out in a tight leather mini skirt with matching tight leather boots and jacket. As the bus rolled up and it became her turn to get on, she became aware that her skirt was too tight to allow her leg to come up to the height of the first step on the bus.Slightly embarrassed and with a quick smile to the bus driver she reached behind her and unzipped her skirt a little thinking that this would give her enough slack to raise her leg. Again she tried to make the step onto the bus only to discover she still couldn't! So, a little more embarrassed she once again reached behind her and unzipped her skirt a little more and for a second time attempted the step and once again, much to her chagrin she could not raise her leg because of the tight skirt. So, with a coy little smile to the driver she again unzipped the offending skirt to give a little more slack and again was unable to make the step.
About this time the big Texan that was behind her in the line picked her up easily from the waist and placed her lightly on the step of the bus Well, she went ballistic and turned on the would-be hero screeching at him "How dare you touch my body!! I don't even know who you are!"
At this the Texan drawled "Well ma'am normally I would agree with you but after you unzipped my fly three times, I kinda figured that we was friends."
I really meant it to be a joke:-
====================
Q: What's the first thing a blonde does after sex?A: Opens the car door.
Q: How do blondes turn the light on after sex?
A: Kick open the car door.
Q: Why do blondes drive cars with sunroofs?
A: More leg room.
Q: What do blondes say after sex?
A: "Are you boys all in the same band?"
Q: Why is a blonde like a door knob?
A: Because everybody gets a turn.
Q: Why is a blonde like railroad tracks?
A: Because she's been laid all over the country.
Q: What important question does a blonde ask her mate before having sex ?
A: Do you want this by the hour, or the flat rate?
Q: How do you tell when a blonde reaches orgasm?
A: She drops her nail-file
Q: What is it called when a blonde blows in another blonde's ear?
A: Data transfer.
Q: What do you call a basement full of blondes?
A: A wine cellar.
Q: Why are there no dumb brunettes?
A: Peroxide.
Q: What does a blond and a beer bottle have in common?
A: They're both empty from the neck up.
Q: What do blonds and spaghetti have in common?
A: They both wriggle when you eat them.
Q: Why did the blonde have tire tread marks on her back?
A: From crawling across the street when the sign said "DON'T WALK".
Q: Why did the blonde keep a coat hanger in her back seat?
A: In case she locks the keys in her car.
Q: Why did the blonde tip-toe past the medicine cabinet?
A: So she wouldn't wake up the sleeping pills.
And some more:-
===========
Q: Why couldn't the blonde write the number ELEVEN?A: Because she didn't know which one came first!
Q: How can you confuse a blonde?
A: Put her in a round room and tell her to sit in the corner.
Q: How do blonde brain cells die?
A: Alone.
Q: What did the blondes right leg say to her left leg?
A: Nothing, they never met.
Q: Why did God create blondes?
A: Because sheep can't fetch a beer from the fridge.
Q: Why did God create brunettes?
A: Because the blondes couldn't manage it either.
Q: What do you call a smart blonde?
A: A Golden retriever!
Q: What do you get when you ask a blonde, a penny for your thoughts?
A: Change!
Q: Why do blondes take the pill?
A: So they know which day of the week it is.
Q: Why is a washing machine better than a blonde?
A: Because you can drop your load in a washing machine, and it won't follow you around for a week!
Q: What do you call a blonde with half a brain?
A: Gifted.
Q: Why did eighteen blondes go to the movies together?
A: They heard that under seventeen weren't admitted!
Q: What does a peroxide blonde and a 747 have in common?
A: They both have a black box.
Q: How do you get a blonde to marry you?
A: Tell her she's pregnant.
Q: Why did the Blonde get fired at the M & M factory?
A: She threw out all the W's
In the end you do realise:-
==================
A man is working on the buses in the US collecting tickets.
He rings the bell for the driver to set off when there's a woman half getting on the bus. The driver sets off, the woman falls from the bus and is killed. At the trial the man is sent down for murder and seeing as it's Texas he's sent to the electric chair. On the day of his execution he's sat in the chair and the executioner grants him a final wish.
"Well" says the man, "is that your packed lunch over there?" "Yes" answers the executioner. "Can I have that green banana?"
The executioner gives the man his green banana and waits till he's eaten it. When the man's finished, the executioner flips the switch sending hundreds of thousands of volts through the man. When the smoke clears the man is still alive. The executioner can't believe it.
"Can I go?" the man asks. "I suppose so" says the executioner, "that's never happened before."
The man leaves and eventually gets a job back on the buses selling tickets. Again he rings the bell for the driver to go when people are still getting on. A man falls under the wheels and is killed. The bloke is sent down for murder again and sent to the electric chair. The executioner is determined to do it right this time so rigs the chair up to the electric supply for the whole of Texas.
The bloke is again sat in the chair. "What is your final wish?" asks the executioner. "Can I have that green banana in your packed lunch ?" says the condemned man. The executioner sighs and reluctantly gives up his banana. The bloke eats the banana all up and the executioner flips the switch. Millions of volts course through the chair blacking out Texas. When the smoke clears the man is still sat there smiling in the
chair. The executioner can't believe it and lets the man go.
Well, would you believe, the bloke gets his job back on the buses. Once again he rings the bell whilst passengers are still getting on, this
time killing three of them. He is sent to the electric chair again. The executioner rigs up all United States electricity supply to The chair, determined to get his man this time. The man sits down in the chair smiling.
"What's your final wish ?" asks the executioner. "Well" says the man, "Can I have that green banana out of your packed lunch.?" The executioner hands over his banana and the man eats it all, skin included. The executioner pulls the handle and a brazillion volts go through the chair. When the smoke rises the man is still sat there alive without even a burn mark.
"I give up" says the executioner, "I don't understand how you
can still be alive after all that?". He stroked his chin. "It's something to do with that green banana isn't it" he asked.
Nahh" said the bloke,
"I'm just a really bad conductor"
Gain some... loose some... But life is not a balance sheet...
Some times I wonder, mostly to myself, why is that one cannot balance the sheer thought process of managing one's life. You hear people
Monday, November 16, 2009
Who is our role model...
We had one. Always wanted to have one as a role model.
Something we wanted to follow. We cherished, respected, adored and above all simply believed.
Something we wanted to follow. We cherished, respected, adored and above all simply believed.
The question we ask ourselves now is - who is our role model?
The life today is not in sync with the life we want to have or in other words - we do not follow our principles or values any more.
How do we follow a role model?
How do we even identify one?
How do we follow a role model?
How do we even identify one?
Wake up Sid - is a new a reality. Gum chewing youth and the T shirt clan is the order of the day.
Casual sex in the corridors, loose talk in the coffee shops, loaded discussion on education in the campus, nerds on the net and a life style which is not in a box is the order of the day.
Casual sex in the corridors, loose talk in the coffee shops, loaded discussion on education in the campus, nerds on the net and a life style which is not in a box is the order of the day.
So how do we identify one?
That spark which will essentially drive the entire growing up generation. Make them realise how important are values to human existence.
That spark which will essentially drive the entire growing up generation. Make them realise how important are values to human existence.
An A.R.Rehman for Music aspirants?.
A Sachin for sports Aspirants?.
A Vijendra Kumar?. (who is seen more in the ramps than in the rings).
A Rahul Gandhi for the nation full of youth who was so agitated once remarked " Yes I am a kid, so is the nation full of them".
Who is our role model?
Hanna Montana?
Tweeter freaks?
Face Book profiles?
Filth filled Chat rooms?
Yankee accent?
Lee/Levis jean Clad?
Khan clad?
Munna Bhai's?
Where are they? A nation which took pride in itself which taught Ahimsa to the world. A half clad man who took the whole nation to walk along with him and we could not even protect him over a year - which the Britishers could manager for decades.
A Sachin for sports Aspirants?.
A Vijendra Kumar?. (who is seen more in the ramps than in the rings).
A Rahul Gandhi for the nation full of youth who was so agitated once remarked " Yes I am a kid, so is the nation full of them".
Who is our role model?
Hanna Montana?
Tweeter freaks?
Face Book profiles?
Filth filled Chat rooms?
Yankee accent?
Lee/Levis jean Clad?
Khan clad?
Munna Bhai's?
Where are they? A nation which took pride in itself which taught Ahimsa to the world. A half clad man who took the whole nation to walk along with him and we could not even protect him over a year - which the Britishers could manager for decades.
The entire social eco system needs a close watch. A new will. A new movement. Re generate it self with new energy. Reach out to that common man who is in the streets of Bihar, AP, Assam and many more parts of that country.
67 Million working population in the Urban area does not decide the fate of this country. Instead they widen the gap between brothers from Patna to Bhubaneswar. Kozhikode to Kolkata. Mumbai to Guhawati.
Many of us are compelled to chase what we think is the most admirable slot craved for us. I am above the rest and I don't care the rest which is in dirt. Be it. Remember you just dusted from teh rest. None are different.
Time to think.....
67 Million working population in the Urban area does not decide the fate of this country. Instead they widen the gap between brothers from Patna to Bhubaneswar. Kozhikode to Kolkata. Mumbai to Guhawati.
Many of us are compelled to chase what we think is the most admirable slot craved for us. I am above the rest and I don't care the rest which is in dirt. Be it. Remember you just dusted from teh rest. None are different.
Time to think.....
Sachin.... we are with you
I want to scream - Sachin we are with you.
I am a Tamilian. Born in Orissa. Brought up in Orissa. Settled in Mumbai. Reflects in over 7 languages. I am saying I am with you. As an Indian.
May be I will add - as a human being. You are not merely a sports Icon. You are the hope for a generation of youth who suffered from the blow of the transition from a controlled economy to opening up.
When you took to bat for the first time - our country had a GDP which was envy of China, more stable than Russia, near perfect to US, far better than many of those countries which are part of EU now. I remember traveling to Greece and counting 7 drachmas against every Indian Rupee.
Its a proud moment.
Our political system has changed. Our leaders have emerged. We lost some of the brightest hope of our times. Young leaders like Rajeev Gandhi were assassinated.
The country had an ugly defeat in Srilanka in spite of we deploying IPKF in their country to fight their in country terrorism.
Do you remember that incident where one of those army men tried to hit Rajeev Gandhi on the head with the back of his rifle.
Their president remarked " I thought he was having a sun stroke".
Bala Saheb was very much active in those days in politics. He was building hope for a reformed Hinduism on the grounds of expression which at times was perceived to be aggression.
I do not re collect him ever saying anything about the Sun stroke comment of a president of a nation who not only bound by oath to protect the safe keeping of a visiting premier of a sovereign state but respect the might we were ( we are even today) and make an serious attempt to ensure he behaved like a statesman.
Bala Saheb was silent that day.
Many Indian leaders were.
We never had hungry wolves who called themselves as media persons in those days.
We had a state owned Doordarshan. More than half of the country, when you took to bat for the first time, didn't know what a TV looked like. They came to know of you through news papers and hand held radio devices.
One third of the population who enjoyed watching TV never had the luxury of watching you in colour. You were a black and white hope with a sweaty face. I am not sure your parents were lucky to see you in colour.
"You didn't appear to us as a Marathi that day".
Today's Moguls who run entertainment business ( I am talking about electronic media ) as if they had known no other business in their life were the ones - I remember as a office automation sales man when I used to wait in the Doordarshan reception area - they used to wait for their turn seeking program time slots - to meet the Director of Doordarshan.
We came a long way along Sachin. We really came a long way. Do you remember those days when you went out to bat - couldn't score a run and returned to pavilion - the whole country mourned.
I am sure Bala Saheb never said even once those days - the mourning of Marathis were more stronger than the rest of the country.
I am not a fan of yours. I am an admirer.
You are a symbol who bridged the change in we Indians.
When you were growing up, did you realise the first time ever this country was witnessing the widening gap between the rich and poor. The seldom spoken gap between haves and have nots.
Days when you were playing well - the streets used to look empty. The little guy out there in the streets of Coimbatore who will not earn his bread if he does not serve his 50 cups coffee a day - didn't want to do it.
He wanted to watch you playing. You would not have had an opportunity to watch those crowds standing in front of every electronics showroom - watching the glimpses of live telecast.
Cricket is a game we believed in. In you, the cricket believed more than the cricket
believed in itself.
I am sure you are a very knowledgeable man. You have a lovely family. Lovely children. You must be feeling frustrated to watch the way our society has grown into.
The shift from your first telephone instrument at home ( the black stallion - you would have found it more painful to dial than practicing in the nets) to hand held cellular phone - the transition grew with you.
Do you remember the first time you have to call home when you were away from home to play - I am sure you would have felt an echo while talking. Now, you are at ease. You can be reached by your family irrespective of where you are.
A remarkable Icon. Not only for your game. But an Icon which consistently stood as a symbol of a changing country. I wish many of our politicians had similar focus like you have for the game.
Talking about caste-ism, when you went out to bat for the first time out there - was a taboo Sachin and it was never discussed so blatantly.
But today, 63% of our eligible voters are carrying an identity through their castes, 27% of them as minorities and 10% unsure of which direction to look for.
In two decades, a country which was united by one iron man ( Sardar Vallabhai Patel) was broken so many times - there isn't anything more to be broken further - so we are now to street politics. And trust me - they get one of the best coverage in the media.
Did you see in the TV today ( I am sure you would have watched the Wall performing in Awe - the 195 episode was so overplayed by the same media again - was overplaying Bala Saheb's reaction to what you said rather than the Wall's performance.)
Disgusting?
You get the coverage in the same manner an Aurshi's murder in Noida, a child molester and murderer in Noida, Adobe e - CEO's Child been kidnapped for ransom and a lone lady journalist found dead in her car early hours of a working day. Worse - Manu Sharma's bail discussions and his surrender voluntarily.
Sachin, You took time and effort to reach out to masses.
And you are in the same league of coverage - the glare of the media in the name of coverage are claiming to reach masses and are out there to massacre the dignity of a celebrity in this country.
You are not a celebrity Sachin. You are our hope. A time tested Icon.
When Doordarshan was controlling the electronic media - they had this system of having important news announcements to be reviewed by a high power committee. Later, it was used mindlessly by the ones who were in power is a different issue.
But bad news always were time delayed. Brain stormed. Discussed. Deliberated and chosen only if it was considered as national importance or else dropped. We had intellectuals who were controlling it. Not breaching the freedom of expression, but classified the junk from the rest.
I am fuming.
I grew up in the same time when you were growing. I am few years elder to you. I have seen the same changes what you have seen. I have never in my life moved out of the comfort of my living room to watch a match. So you are always larger than life to me.
We had Mumbai Riots. We had Mumbai rain. We had Mumbai train blasts. We had Mumbai 26/11. In 90's Riots the citizens of Mumbai brought the city under control and restored normalcy.
We all claimed - Aamchi Mumbai back into normalcy and we appreciated the spirit of Mumbai.
Every time the disaster stuck, we appreciated the Mumbai spirit. Its only in the past few years that we went one step ahead and glorified things - we are learning from our Western brothers.
People took to streets when the administration made a damaging comment post 26/11. The government changed. But the culprits remained in the back drop.
Sachin, you are above these things. We are with you. Don't react. There are 477 Million youths in this country ( Vote bank) another 103 are on the way in the next 3 years and already existing Senior citizens are with you.
We do not have a doubt in our mind that you are an Indian.
You will continue to be.
You stay the way you are and you stay out of this......
We are with you.
2012..... not too far anyway..
It took considerable amount of time for me to realise that I watched a movie called 2012.
Did I watch a movie?
Did I watch a movie?
Its like watching your own destruction -not so believable real life portrayal (you can forgive the moments in which some of the characters in the movie talk slowly, react slowly and keep talking non stop - except that FM stations guy) of your own destruction.
Why on earth we human beings are not realising something - so strongly played in a creative mind- developed into a technological marvel as a movie.
AnIndian scientists is responsible for actually identifying the phenomenon (a guest appearance by a SRK, Aamir or even Kamal Hassan would have benefited the commercial marketers immensely) and portrayed the savior ships are built in China.
Globalization claims that 44% of hollywood movies' revenues are from these two countries inspite of contributing over 83% to piracy. Still, a huge and profitable market which cannot be ignored.
I heard its growing over 17% per annum - no other industry has such huge reach and undivided audience but.
AnIndian scientists is responsible for actually identifying the phenomenon (a guest appearance by a SRK, Aamir or even Kamal Hassan would have benefited the commercial marketers immensely) and portrayed the savior ships are built in China.
Globalization claims that 44% of hollywood movies' revenues are from these two countries inspite of contributing over 83% to piracy. Still, a huge and profitable market which cannot be ignored.
I heard its growing over 17% per annum - no other industry has such huge reach and undivided audience but.
Indian brains (other than the popular curries all over the globe) and the Chinese ability to build anything on earth (other than their popular food in the west - I hear Westerners eat their food now only on occasions like their birthday, anniversaries and marriages - out of austerity measures) is taken for granted.
The minor irritation is the compulsory accent whenever you portray an Indian or a Chinese on screen. (don't pat me and tell me it's reality brother - I say).
The minor irritation is the compulsory accent whenever you portray an Indian or a Chinese on screen. (don't pat me and tell me it's reality brother - I say).
My 13 year old child didnt sleep the night after the movie. She bunked the next day school too. The impact of the movie is so powerful.
My little daughter of 5 while watching the movie - felt so real - she started extending her hand for the father who after abandoning the FM station wagon and retrieving the map was attempting to board the flight.
My little daughter of 5 while watching the movie - felt so real - she started extending her hand for the father who after abandoning the FM station wagon and retrieving the map was attempting to board the flight.
The making of this movie is so gigantic. It has an element of scary truth about it (except over-played American patriotism which is so predictable that we know from the beginning the president will stay back and wouldnt board the Air force - 1)and its noticed more than in one Hollywood flick that a black prominent character only gets to kiss another black prominent character.
Romance is still racial and needs a radical change.
Romance is still racial and needs a radical change.
If you intend to watch a high power drama, to entertain your senses, admire the grandeur of Hollywood, chat with your friends about the technology of the movie and post the movie want to catch up a Chinese dinner night (which we did incidentally) - I recommend this is not the movie for you.
Stay away from it.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - a MUST watch movie..
A classic movie - every characters in this movie - be it Scarlett Johansson, Rebacca Hall, Javier Bardem and even Penelope Cruz, lived their part well.
There is nothing about the story which will help your intellectual esteem to feel elevated. Rather your intellect will be questioning you over your understanding of Romance.
Romance Per Se.
Hard to define. I normally watch movies with a great interest - and land up treating them as subject of entertainment and move ahead. Rarely I will think of it for a prolonged period of time.
There is nothing about the story which will help your intellectual esteem to feel elevated. Rather your intellect will be questioning you over your understanding of Romance.
Romance Per Se.
Hard to define. I normally watch movies with a great interest - and land up treating them as subject of entertainment and move ahead. Rarely I will think of it for a prolonged period of time.
VCB - strikes chord in you. There is a reality in the movie. A raw intent which all of us will like to experiment - oscillate between reality and dreaming, yet unsure of which one to follow. We end up doing nothing about romance other than - simply put - lots of catching up to do.
When we fail in what we attempted to do or pretended to do - we settle down with the best you got in hand - like Rebacca Hall does in this movie or begin a new search - like Scarlett Johansson does.
VCB - is a reality. Knocking at your door. Values are tearing you apart yet the intention to experiment never stops. And every experiment turns out to be an experience and mostly a bad one. We choose the conventional wisdom over the heart.
Yet we listen to the heart quite often. We know it fails you.
Yet we listen to the heart quite often. We know it fails you.
VCB is one movie - you will fall in love the moment you start watching it. Its exceptional quality of Cinematography, locales, the coziness the characters expresses and when you want more of it - that's when the movie ends exactly.
We realize the moment we start watching the movie and say - "god I know the story line". I know what will happen in the end. I know the sequence. I know I what the characters will play. I can feel them. I exactly know the lines too.
If you don't feel in the manner in which I have expressed probably you are watching a wrong movie and you should immediately shift yourself to enjoy only some Sci-Fi stuff or something which has a Chan tag to it. Not kidding. I am serious. I am not attempting to put you in a box either.
If you don't feel in the manner in which I have expressed probably you are watching a wrong movie and you should immediately shift yourself to enjoy only some Sci-Fi stuff or something which has a Chan tag to it. Not kidding. I am serious. I am not attempting to put you in a box either.
You got to feel the movie. Every aspect of VCB is like a poetry written to appeal to your romantic senses and appeal subtly to your intellectual self to elevate your senses.
Even the old man who does the roll of the father of Javier Bardem - he is so well portrayed. VCB is not meant only for a type of audience. VCB is every where. Happening to every one of us. Wherever we are. No matter whether you are in India, Hongkong or even China.
VCB is for all.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
One of the Ligher Side of JK
The Pope dies and goes up to the Pearly Gates where he meets St. Peter. He says to him, ‘You must be St. Peter.’ St. Peter answers, ‘And who are you?’ The pope is taken aback, ‘You don’t recognize me? I’m the Pope.’ St. Peter picks up his list and goes over the names, ‘Pope, Pope—I’m sorry, there is nobody here by that name. I’m sorry, but you can’t enter heaven.’ The Pope is shocked. ‘There must be some mistake. It’s impossible—I must be on that list. Please, look again: I’m the Pope!’ St. Peter gets impatient and tells him to buzz off. By now the Pope is in tears and begs him, ‘Please, St. Peter, I’m your successor and the representative of Jesus on earth. I’m the head of the Holy Roman Church. I have a right to enter heaven.’ St. Peter is getting annoyed and says, I’ve never heard of anything so foolish. If you don’t immediately buzz off, I’ll call the angels with the flaming swords.’ The Pope is in utter despair. ‘No, please don’t, I beg of you. Can’t you ask somebody, who knows me? Maybe Jesus or one of the saints will vouch for me.’ St. Peter gives in and says to the chap, ‘All right, I’ll go and ask inside. You stay here. And don’t touch anything.’ So he goes inside, and there are Jesus, his mother Mary, the apostles and several angels and saints. ‘Excuse me, Lord,’ says St. Peter, ‘there is a chap by the name of Pope wanting to enter heaven. He claims to have been your representative on earth.’ Jesus laughs, ‘My representative on earth? That’s absurd, isn’t it? And I’ve never heard of anyone named Pope?’ No one seems to know the Pope, until suddenly the Virgin Mary speaks up, ‘Wait a minute. Pope—isn’t he the one who spread all the rumors about me and the Holy Ghost?’”
JK Sails with me... Like a Raja Music lives in you...
Conflict can exist only so long as there is reaction to that environment which produces the "I", the self. The majority of people are unconscious of this conflict - the conflict between one's self, which is but the result of the environment, and the environment itself; very few are conscious of this continuous battle. One becomes conscious of that conflict, that disharmony that struggle between the false creation of the environment, which is the "I", and the environment itself, only through suffering.
So let us decide whether you want a shelter, a safety zone, which will no longer yield conflict, whether you want to escape from the present conflict to enter a condition in which there shall be no conflict; or whether you are unaware, unconscious of this conflict in which you exist. If you are unconscious of the conflict, that is, the battle that is taking place between that self and the environment, if you are unconscious of that battle, then why do you seek further remedies? Remain unconscious.
You follow a system or mould yourself after a pattern because there is fear, the fear of right and wrong which has been established according to the tradition of a system. If thought is merely functioning in the groove of a pattern without understanding the significance of environment, there must be conscious or unconscious fear, and such thought must inevitably lead to confusion, to illusion and false action.
You have this mould, this environment of which almost all of us are unconscious, for it is part of us; it is the very expression of our desires, fears and hopes. While you conform consciously or thoughtlessly to this system, you are not individuals.
So, to understand this environment and be free of it in ourselves, not only is it necessary to know all the hidden, stored up influences in the unconscious, but to know what we are in conflict with. As we have seen, each one of us is the result of environment, and we are not separate from environment.
Surely the contradiction is part of the environment, it is not separate from it. We are part of the environment, - which is, religion, education, social morality, business values, tradition, beliefs, various impositions of churches, governments, the whole process of the past: those are all superficial conditionings; and there are also the inward unconscious responses to those superficial conditionings.
So it is very important to understand not only the conscious, but also the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is much more powerful, much more insistent much more directive and conservative than the conscious mind; because the conscious is merely the educated mind which adjusts itself to the environment. He is adjusting himself, as you do, to the environment, to the pressure from outside, but inwardly he is the same - that is, the unconscious is still the residue of the past.
How is the unconscious to be cleansed immediately of the past? The analysts think that the unconscious can be partially or even completely cleansed through analysis - through investigation, exploration, confession, the interpretation of dreams, and so on - so that at least you become a `normal' human being, able to adjust yourself to the present environment.
When we observe - without reading psychologists, the Freuds, the Jungs, and all the rest of the modern philosophers and psychologists - we know what the unconscious is: the racial residue, the experience of the race, the social conditions, the environment, the tradition, the culture - culture being political, religious, educational - which are all deeply embedded in the unconscious.
Learn love not the way you want it to be taught but the way it teaches you....
No one can teach you how to love.
If people could be taught how to love, the world problem would be very simple, would it not?
If we could learn how to love from a book as we learn mathematics, this would be a marvelous world; there would be no hate, no exploitation, no wars, no division of rich and poor, and we would all be really friendly with each other.
But love is not so easily come by. It is easy to hate, and hate brings people together after a fashion; it creates all kinds of fantasies, it brings about various types of co-operation, as in war. But love is much more difficult. You cannot learn how to love, but what you can do is to observe hate and put it gently aside.
Don't battle against hate, don't say how terrible it is to hate people, but see hate for what it is and let it drop away; brush it aside, it is not important.
What is important is not to let hate take root in your mind. Do you understand? Your mind is like rich soil, and if given sufficient time any problem that comes along takes root like a weed, and then you have the trouble of pulling it out; but if you do not give the problem sufficient time to take root, then it has no place to grow and it will wither away.
If you encourage hate, give it time to take root, to grow, to mature, it becomes an enormous problem. But if each time hate arises you let it go by, then you will find that your mind becomes very sensitive without being sentimental; therefore it will know love.
The mind can pursue sensations, desires, but it cannot pursue love. Love must come to the mind. And, when once love is there, it has no division as sensuous and divine: it is love.
That is the extraordinary thing about love: it is the only quality that brings a total comprehension of the whole of existence.
There is more to it:-
You haven't changed. You may say: 'I'm full of love, I'm full of truth, I'm full of knowledge, I'm full of wisdom.' I say: 'That's all nonsense. Do you behave? Are you free of fear? Are you free of ambition, greed, envy and the desire to achieve success in every field? If not, you are just playing a game. You are not serious.'
JK is an inspiration beyond the meaning of life....
The demand to be safe in relationship inevitably breeds sorrow and fear. This seeking for security is inviting insecurity.
Have you ever found security in any of your relationships?
Have you?
Most of us want the security of loving and being loved, but is there love when each one of us is seeking his own security, his own particular path?
We are not loved because we don't know how to love. What is love?
The word is so loaded and corrupted that I hardly like to use it.
Everybody talks of love - every magazine and newspaper and every missionary talks everlastingly of love. I love my country, I love my king, I love some book, I love that mountain, I love pleasure, I love my wife, I love God.
Is love an idea?
If it is, it can be cultivated, nourished, cherished, pushed around, twisted in any way you like.
When you say you love God what does it mean? It means that you love a projection of your own imagination, a projection of yourself clothed in certain forms of respectability according to what you think is noble and holy; so to say, `I love God', is absolute nonsense. When you worship God you are worshipping yourself - and that is not love.
Because we cannot solve this human thing called love we run away into abstractions.
Love may be the ultimate solution to all man's difficulties, problems and travails, so how are we going to find out what love is? By merely defining it? The church has defined it one way, society another, and there are all sorts of deviations and perversions. Adoring someone, sleeping with someone, the emotional exchange, the companionship - is that what we mean by love?
That has been the norm, the pattern, and it has become so tremendously personal, sensuous, and limited that religions have declared that love is something much more than this. In what they call human love they see there is pleasure, competition, jealousy, the desire to possess, to hold, to control and to interfere with another's thinking, and knowing the complexity of all this they say there must be another kind of love, divine, beautiful, untouched, uncorrupted.
Throughout the world, so-called holy men have maintained that to look at a woman is something totally wrong: they say you cannot come near to God if you indulge in sex, therefore they push it aside although they are eaten up with it. But by denying sexuality they put out their eyes and cut out their tongues for they deny the whole beauty of the earth.
They have starved their hearts and minds; they are dehydrated human beings; they have banished beauty because beauty is associated with woman.
Can love be divided into the sacred and the profane, the human and the divine, or is there only love? Is love of the one and not of the many? If I say,`I love you', does that exclude the love of the other? Is love personal or impersonal? Moral or immoral? Family or non-family?
If you love mankind can you love the particular? Is love sentiment? Is love emotion? Is love pleasure and desire? All these questions indicate, don't they, that we have ideas about love, ideas about what it should or should not be, a pattern or a code developed by the culture in which we live. So to go into the question of what love is we must first ideals and ideologies of what it should or should not be.
To divide anything into what should be and what is, is the most deceptive way of dealing with life.
Now how am I going to find out what this flame is which we call love - not how to express it to another but what it means in itself? I will first reject what the church, what society, what my parents and friends, what every person and every book has said about it because I want to find out for myself what it is.
Here is an enormous problem that involves the whole of mankind, there have been a thousand ways of defining it and I myself am caught in some pattern or other according to what I like or enjoy at the moment - so shouldn't I, in order to understand it, first free myself from my own inclinations and prejudices? I am confused, torn by my own desires, so I say to myself, `First clear up your own confusion. Perhaps you may be able to discover what love is through what it is not.'
The government says, `Go and kill for the love of your country'. Is that love?
Religion says, 'Give up sex for the love of God'. Is that love?
Is love desire? Don't say no.
For most of us it is – desire with pleasure, the pleasure that is derived through the senses, through sexual attachment and fulfilment.
I am not against sex, but see what is involved in it. What sex gives you momentarily is the total abandonment of yourself, then you are back again with your turmoil, so you want a repetition over and over again of that state in which there is no worry, no problem, no self.
You say you love your wife. In that love is involved sexual pleasure, the pleasure of having someone in the house to look after your children, to cook. You depend on her; she has given you her body, her emotions, her encouragement, a certain feeling of security and well-being. Then she turns away from you; she gets bored or goes off with someone else, and your whole emotional balance is destroyed, and this disturbance, which you don't like, is called jealousy.
There is pain in it, anxiety, hate and violence. So what you are really saying is, `As long as you belong to me I love you but the moment you don't I begin to hate you. As long as I can rely on you to satisfy my demands, sexual and otherwise, I love you, but the moment you cease to supply what I want I don't like you.'
So there is antagonism between you, there is separation, and when you feel separate from another there is no love. But if you can live with your wife without thought creating all these contradictory states, these endless quarrels in yourself, then perhaps - perhaps - you will know what love is. Then you are completely free and so is she, whereas if you depend on her for all your pleasure you are a slave to her.
So when one loves there must be freedom, not only from the other person but from oneself.
This belonging to another, being psychologically nourished by another, depending on another - in all this there must always be anxiety, fear, jealousy, guilt, and so long as there is fear there is no love; a mind ridden with sorrow will never know what love is; sentimentality and emotionalism have nothing whatsoever to do with love. And so love is not to do with pleasure and desire.
Love is not the product of thought which is the past. Thought cannot possibly cultivate love. Love is not hedged about and caught in jealousy, for jealousy is of the past. Love is always active present. It is not `I will love' or `I have loved'. If you know love you will not follow anybody. Love does not obey.
When you love there is neither respect nor disrespect. Don't you know what it means really to love somebody - to love without hate, without jealousy, without anger, without wanting to interfere with what he is doing or thinking, without condemning, without comparing - don't you know what it means? Where there is love is there comparison? When you love someone with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your body, with your entire being, is there comparison? When you totally abandon yourself to that love there is not the other.
Does love have responsibility and duty, and will it use those words? When you do something out of duty is there any love in it? In duty there is no love. The structure of duty in which the human being is caught is destroying him. So long as you are compelled to do something because it is your duty you don't love what you are doing.
When there is love there is no duty and no responsibility.
Most parents unfortunately think they are responsible for their children and their sense of responsibility takes the form of telling them what they should do and what they should not do, what they should become and what they should not become.
The parents want their children to have a secure position in society. What they call responsibility is part of that respectability they worship; and it seems to me that where there is respectability there is no order; they are concerned only with becoming a perfect bourgeois.
When they prepare their children to fit into society they are perpetuating war, conflict and brutality. Do you call that care and love?
Really to care is to care as you would for a tree or a plant, watering it, studying its needs, the best soil for it, looking after it with gentleness and tenderness - but when you prepare your childrren to fit into society you are preparing them to be killed. If you loved your children you would have no war.
When you lose someone you love you shed tears - are your tears for yourself or for the one who is dead? Are you crying for yourself or for another? Have you ever cried for another? Have you ever cried for your son who is killed on the battlefield? You have cried, but do those tears come out of self-pity or have you cried because a human being has been killed? If you cry out of self-pity your tears have no meaning because you are concerned about yourself. If you are crying because you are bereft of one in whom you have invested a great deal of affection, it was not really affection.
When you cry for your brother who dies cry for him. It is very easy to cry for yourself because he is gone. Apparently you are crying because your heart is touched, but it is not touched for him, it is only touched by self- pity and self-pity makes you hard, encloses you, makes you dull and stupid.
When you cry for yourself, is it love - crying because you are lonely, because you have been left, because you are no longer powerful - complaining of your lot, your environmment - always you in tears? If you understand this, which means to come in contact with it as directly as you would touch a tree or a pillar or a hand, then you will see that sorrow is self-created, sorrow is created by thought, sorrow is the outcome of time. I had my brother three years ago, now he is dead, now I am lonely, aching, there is no one to whom I can look for comfort or companionship, and it brings tears to my eyes.
You can see all this happening inside yourself if you watch it. You can see it fully, completely, in one glance, not take analytical time over it. You can see in a moment the whole structure and nature of this shoddy little thing called `me', my tears, my family, my nation, my belief, my religion - all that ugliness, it is all inside you. When you see it with your heart, not with your mind, when you see it from the very bottom of your heart, then you have the key that will end sorrow.
Sorrow and love cannot go together, but in the Christian world they have idealized suffering, put it on a cross and worshipped it, implying that you can never escape from suffering except through that one particular door, and this is the whole structure of an exploiting religious society. So when you ask what love is, you may be too frightened to see the answer. It may mean complete upheaval; it may break up the family; you may discover that you do not love your wife or husband or children - do you? - you may have to shatter the house you have built, you may never go back to the temple.
But if you still want to find out, you will see that fear is not love, dependence is not love, jealousy is not love, possessiveness and domination are not love, responsibility and duty are not love, self-pity is not love, the agony of not being loved is not love, love is not the opposite of hate any more than humility is the opposite of vanity. So if you can eliminate all these, not by forcing them but by washing them away as the rain washes the dust of many days from a leaf, then perhaps you will come upon this strange flower which man always hungers after. If you have not got love - not just in little drops but in abundance if you are not filled with it - the world will go to disaster.
You know intellectually that the unity of mankind is essential and that love is the only way, but who is going to teach you how to love? Will any authority, any method, any system, tell you how to love? If anyone tells you, it is not love. Can you say, `I will practise love. I will sit down day after day and think about it. I will practise being kind and gentle and force myself to pay attention to others?'
Do you mean to say that you can discipline yourself to love, exercise the will to love? When you exercise discipline and will to love, love goes out of the window. By practising some method or system of loving you may become extraordinarily clever or more kindly or get into a state of non-violence, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with love.
In this torn desert world there is no love because pleasure and desire play the greatest roles, yet without love your daily life has no meaning. And you cannot have love if there is no beauty. Beauty is not something you see - not a beautiful tree, a beautiful picture, a beautiful building or a beautiful woman.
There is beauty only when your heart and mind know what love is. Without love and that sense of beauty there is no virtue, and you know very well that, do what you will, improve society, feed the poor, you will only be creating more mischief, for without love there is only ugliness and poverty in your own heart and mind. But when there is love and beauty, whatever you do is right, whatever you do is in order. If you know how to love, then you can do what you like because it will solve all other problems. So we reach the point: can the mind come upon love without discipline, without thought, without enforcement, without any book, any teacher or leader - come upon it as one comes upon a lovely sunset?
It seems to me that one thing is absolutely necessary and that is passion without motive - passion that is not the result of some commitment or attachment, passion that is not lust. A man who does not know what passion is will never know love because love can come into being only when there is total self-abandonment.
A mind that is seeking is not a passionate mind and to come upon love without seeking it is the only way to find it - to come upon it unknowingly and not as the result of any effort or experience. Such a love, you will find, is not of time; such a love is both personal and impersonal, is both the one and the many. Like a flower that has perfume you can smell it or pass it by.
That flower is for everybody and for the one who takes trouble to breathe it deeply and look at it with delight. Whether one is very near in the garden, or very far away, it is the same to the flower because it is full of that perfume and therefore it is sharing with everybody.
Love is something that is new, fresh, alive. It has no yesterday and no tomorrow. It is beyond the turmoil of thought. It is only the innocent mind which knows what love is, and the innocent mind can live in the world which is not innocent. To find this extraordinary thing which man has sought endlessly through sacrifice, through worship, through relationship, through sex, through every form of pleasure and pain, is only possible when thought comes to understand itself and comes naturally to an end.
Love is something that is new, fresh, alive. It has no yesterday and no tomorrow. It is beyond the turmoil of thought. It is only the innocent mind which knows what love is, and the innocent mind can live in the world which is not innocent. To find this extraordinary thing which man has sought endlessly through sacrifice, through worship, through relationship, through sex, through every form of pleasure and pain, is only possible when thought comes to understand itself and comes naturally to an end.
Then love has no opposite, then love has no conflict. You may ask, `If I find such a love, what happens to my wife, my children, my family? They must have security.' When you put such a question you have never been outside the field of thought, the field of consciousness.
When once you have been outside that field you will never ask such a question because then you will know what love is in which there is no thought and therefore no time. You may read this mesmerized and enchanted, but actually to go beyond thought and time - which means going beyond sorrow - is to be aware that there is a different dimension called love. But you don't know how to come to this extraordinary fount - so what do you do? If you don't know what to do, you do nothing, don't you? Absolutely nothing. Then inwardly you are completely silent. Do you understand what that means? It means that you are not seeking, not wanting, not pursuing; there is no centre at all. Then there is love.
You are the master of what you are..... not what others want you to be...
The mistake we all make seriously is we might express ourself thinking that we are honest about it.
Unfortunately its never the case.
Our ability to express is limited to that extent of our knowledge in using language as a medium.
And the reciepient's ability of understanding is limited to the extent of his/her knowledge on percieving it though the mastery of that language as a medium.
Some times what we express lands up projecting ourselves as Vulnerable. You can never be vulnerable if you don’t want to be one.
You are never ever dependant if you do not trust what you are and what you are capable of.
Every near and dear ones – are self destructive to that extent that suits them and any one of them you will find on earth who are willing to bet their bums on you to go with you in the path of either destruction or improvement.
Unfortunately its never the case.
Our ability to express is limited to that extent of our knowledge in using language as a medium.
And the reciepient's ability of understanding is limited to the extent of his/her knowledge on percieving it though the mastery of that language as a medium.
Some times what we express lands up projecting ourselves as Vulnerable. You can never be vulnerable if you don’t want to be one.
You are never ever dependant if you do not trust what you are and what you are capable of.
Every near and dear ones – are self destructive to that extent that suits them and any one of them you will find on earth who are willing to bet their bums on you to go with you in the path of either destruction or improvement.
Well, there are people who will celebrate your victory. Victory is glamorous. The arch light attention (or simply the attention) is intoxicating. It’s like a Photograph. Be there in the frame and pretend you are part of that Victory which is actually some one else’s but you shamelessly wouldn’t mind posing for – and take due credit too.
If you are easy with words – your expression might depict you as the most vulnerable ( which you may not – you may be stupid that’s altogether a different issue)
Quite often our understanding of interdependence is derived on rituals – means self mastery or self learning ( you are not in the race to be best always – are you) which will die on a cue – without traces.
If There is a sense of sarcastic humor – Chances are that you might love everything around you without actually meaning nothing or noticing nothing.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kindle - will it change the way we destroy trees to create paper back...
Disruptive technologies always have a “cool” factor associated with them.
They also tend to leave ripple effects on industries and businesses beyond their immediate circle (kind of like earth quakes?
When Marc Andreessen developed Mosaic, who could have imagined the depth and breadth of the Internet’s reach to concepts such as social networking, cloud computing, or the Internet’s massive effect on retail or advertising?
The last time the “book industry” experienced a disruptive change was when Heidelberg developed the printing press in the 1400s. Before then, I imagine the only form of mass distribution of books was to hand-write them one by one. Although the process of printing books has changed much over the centuries, the basic premise hasn’t changed much: mass printing on bound paper, then distributing them.
Fast forward to Kindle.
Although the idea of e-books is nothing new (much like the Chinese had processes similar to the printing press centuries prior to Heidelberg), Amazon seems to be in the right place with the right tools to make the leap to success. The company has established itself as “the” online book retailer with the relationships in place with publishers, the online infrastructure for electronic distribution, and the largest book retail base in the industry.
So it seems for the first time Amazon can “actualize” (not my favorite word either) the vision of e-books, and for the first time, users can carry the equivalent of a library on a handheld device. But that’s not all. As soon as the content changes from the printed format to electronic format, the idea of “books” altogether changes from a series of words and sometimes pictures and graphs, to a compilation of selectable data, graphs, and interactive exchange of information.
Will the novelists of the future allow the readers select each chapter based on what they decide the novel’s character would do next? Will the students of the future download the latest technical diagrams from the web into their textbooks thereby changing the context of the textbook’s information? Will the writers of the future download “previews” of their books into a youtube-esque site for readers to view and purchase? The possibilities can become endless.
But we can only see so far ahead of us.In the near future, if and when Kindle becomes a mainstream success, there are some clear winners and losers.
I can come up with a few ideas, and I hope the readers will comment if they have any other ideas.
First the LosersCurrently, book publishing accounts for about 25% of printed pages. Any sizeable percentage shift from this to electronic format will have a major effect on industries or companies directly attached to printing and distribution of “paper only” books.
Vendors of book publishing equipment and accessoriesHardcopy vendors including HP, Oce, Xerox, Kodak, etc, and their partners developing accessories such as binding equipment, etc.. The profits of these vendors are already squeezed by their lower end products. A switch to electronic book “publishing” will squeeze them out of their more profitable sector at the high end unless if they can somehow participate in the shift.
By the way, Xerox should occupy its own position in the losers category. I don’t even want to know how many patents Xerox has on e-books. They’re oh-so-good at missing opportunities (hats off to my ex-employer).
Larger booksellers who didn’t quite succeed in their online strategy. Border’s, Barns and Nobles. Think of what will happen to DVD outlets when Bigflix and the likes will take off far more aggressively - poof!Mom/pop booksellers, if any are left.
Book distributors. I’m guessing they’ll be wiped out of the loop.Paper product companies. Haven’t they already lost a bunch from lowered newspaper circulation? Paper use is still high so maybe this is a toss up.Bookstore lovers. I’m already mourning the smell of bookstores, especially used book stores. Book fairs. Another one I’ll mourn. Unless if they change their booths to electronic reading stations. Shipping companies.
I’ll go out on a limb and say they’ll lose a small % of revenues if shipping books is out of the equation. And the Winners Book readers. Books will be cheaper and more readily available. It will happen. Kindle and e-book prices will have to come lower if Kindle is going to succeed. Independent writers. Kindle will flatten the playing field much as iTune did for independent music bands.Third party e-book software providers. Specialty software for seniors, for the blind, puzzles and games, interactive software, the possibilities are endless here. Think of what iPhone did for third party software developers. This is also a symbiotic relationship for Amazon, and they’ll be smart to leave the doors wide open for third party developers.DRM (Digital Rights Management) software providers.
Big chunk of business to be had here.The green movement. Kindle probably isn’t too green to manufacture, but saving all those trees must mean something to somebody.
Other content providers. With all the trouble the newspaper industry is going through, would readers pay a little to follow their favorite writers or journalists on an independent basis? How about other content providers? Toss UpsBook publishers. If they manage to keep themselves in the loop, the profits can be heftier than publishing books (50% of book costs is in publishing them), but at some point, their role may become minimized.Newspapers. They still haven’t figured out their business model on the web. How are they going to add paying subscribers on Kindle? Wait and see.Magazines. They’re probably too graphics-heavy to move to Kindle. And people still like the glossy look of paper for those sexy bikini models, but everything could change. Other e-book device developers. Is Amazon going to open the market for other e-book players? I’ve worked with Japanese companies whose strategy is to be “second to market” after the “first to market” has ironed the kinks in the market. Who is a good contender? HP? See my previous blog – I think they’re getting too lazy on the innovation front. Apple is a good possibility. The model is very similar to iPod/iTunes. Palm? Research in Motion? Cell phone developers? Amazon has probably put in a lot of effort to patent the device and related parts of the business, but there are many existing patents on e-books that can now start being leveraged. Multi-media advertisers. The web model can be replicated on Kindle (e.g., how about if a writer agrees to giving away a book if the readers agree to seeing ads while reading the book?).Amazon. I know, this is strange, but I would have loved to sit at the table with the top guns when they were examining the business model of switching from selling books to Kindle. How is Kindle going to affect the top-line and bottom-line of their existing book business? The switch-over may present a painful period to Amazon. Let me repeat: I don’t think the device and per-book prices will hold up if this is going to be a sustainable business. They’ll have to reduce the price on Kindle, and as a result, regular books will look too expensive in comparison. Wait and see on this one.So when am I going to buy one?Not so fast.As I’ve mentioned, Kindle’s price is way up in the sky. The smaller 6” Kindle is going for $360 plus $10 / e-book. Really?!!! That’s only going to interest the gadget enthusiasts. The numbers make no sense given I can buy an “almost new” book on Amazon’s own site for pennies with low shipping prices. Plus, to convert readers to give up a centuries old habit will take a bit more incentive. Kindle DX is even worse at $489. Last time I checked I could buy a fully loaded laptop for that price. The price will change though. Remember how cool color inkjet printers used to be when they first came out? Remember how vendors were giving them away a few years later? This will happen to Kindle too. Amazon will look at the “razor / blade” business model and see that cheap Kindle and e-books will increase the book sales volume enough to make the leap to success.
Either that or Kindle will be forced into a niche product. But that’s not all. Maybe it’s because I used to be a software designer, or maybe it’s because I’ve worked with engineers just about all my career, but I know how buggy technical products can be when they’re newly launched, and I just don’t have the patience to work through the kinks. Turns out on those cute little market bell curves, I happen to be on the far right of the curve, the “market laggard”. Yeah, I’m one of those, so shoot me.
They also tend to leave ripple effects on industries and businesses beyond their immediate circle (kind of like earth quakes?
When Marc Andreessen developed Mosaic, who could have imagined the depth and breadth of the Internet’s reach to concepts such as social networking, cloud computing, or the Internet’s massive effect on retail or advertising?
The last time the “book industry” experienced a disruptive change was when Heidelberg developed the printing press in the 1400s. Before then, I imagine the only form of mass distribution of books was to hand-write them one by one. Although the process of printing books has changed much over the centuries, the basic premise hasn’t changed much: mass printing on bound paper, then distributing them.
Fast forward to Kindle.
Although the idea of e-books is nothing new (much like the Chinese had processes similar to the printing press centuries prior to Heidelberg), Amazon seems to be in the right place with the right tools to make the leap to success. The company has established itself as “the” online book retailer with the relationships in place with publishers, the online infrastructure for electronic distribution, and the largest book retail base in the industry.
So it seems for the first time Amazon can “actualize” (not my favorite word either) the vision of e-books, and for the first time, users can carry the equivalent of a library on a handheld device. But that’s not all. As soon as the content changes from the printed format to electronic format, the idea of “books” altogether changes from a series of words and sometimes pictures and graphs, to a compilation of selectable data, graphs, and interactive exchange of information.
Will the novelists of the future allow the readers select each chapter based on what they decide the novel’s character would do next? Will the students of the future download the latest technical diagrams from the web into their textbooks thereby changing the context of the textbook’s information? Will the writers of the future download “previews” of their books into a youtube-esque site for readers to view and purchase? The possibilities can become endless.
But we can only see so far ahead of us.In the near future, if and when Kindle becomes a mainstream success, there are some clear winners and losers.
I can come up with a few ideas, and I hope the readers will comment if they have any other ideas.
First the LosersCurrently, book publishing accounts for about 25% of printed pages. Any sizeable percentage shift from this to electronic format will have a major effect on industries or companies directly attached to printing and distribution of “paper only” books.
Vendors of book publishing equipment and accessoriesHardcopy vendors including HP, Oce, Xerox, Kodak, etc, and their partners developing accessories such as binding equipment, etc.. The profits of these vendors are already squeezed by their lower end products. A switch to electronic book “publishing” will squeeze them out of their more profitable sector at the high end unless if they can somehow participate in the shift.
By the way, Xerox should occupy its own position in the losers category. I don’t even want to know how many patents Xerox has on e-books. They’re oh-so-good at missing opportunities (hats off to my ex-employer).
Larger booksellers who didn’t quite succeed in their online strategy. Border’s, Barns and Nobles. Think of what will happen to DVD outlets when Bigflix and the likes will take off far more aggressively - poof!Mom/pop booksellers, if any are left.
Book distributors. I’m guessing they’ll be wiped out of the loop.Paper product companies. Haven’t they already lost a bunch from lowered newspaper circulation? Paper use is still high so maybe this is a toss up.Bookstore lovers. I’m already mourning the smell of bookstores, especially used book stores. Book fairs. Another one I’ll mourn. Unless if they change their booths to electronic reading stations. Shipping companies.
I’ll go out on a limb and say they’ll lose a small % of revenues if shipping books is out of the equation. And the Winners Book readers. Books will be cheaper and more readily available. It will happen. Kindle and e-book prices will have to come lower if Kindle is going to succeed. Independent writers. Kindle will flatten the playing field much as iTune did for independent music bands.Third party e-book software providers. Specialty software for seniors, for the blind, puzzles and games, interactive software, the possibilities are endless here. Think of what iPhone did for third party software developers. This is also a symbiotic relationship for Amazon, and they’ll be smart to leave the doors wide open for third party developers.DRM (Digital Rights Management) software providers.
Big chunk of business to be had here.The green movement. Kindle probably isn’t too green to manufacture, but saving all those trees must mean something to somebody.
Other content providers. With all the trouble the newspaper industry is going through, would readers pay a little to follow their favorite writers or journalists on an independent basis? How about other content providers? Toss UpsBook publishers. If they manage to keep themselves in the loop, the profits can be heftier than publishing books (50% of book costs is in publishing them), but at some point, their role may become minimized.Newspapers. They still haven’t figured out their business model on the web. How are they going to add paying subscribers on Kindle? Wait and see.Magazines. They’re probably too graphics-heavy to move to Kindle. And people still like the glossy look of paper for those sexy bikini models, but everything could change. Other e-book device developers. Is Amazon going to open the market for other e-book players? I’ve worked with Japanese companies whose strategy is to be “second to market” after the “first to market” has ironed the kinks in the market. Who is a good contender? HP? See my previous blog – I think they’re getting too lazy on the innovation front. Apple is a good possibility. The model is very similar to iPod/iTunes. Palm? Research in Motion? Cell phone developers? Amazon has probably put in a lot of effort to patent the device and related parts of the business, but there are many existing patents on e-books that can now start being leveraged. Multi-media advertisers. The web model can be replicated on Kindle (e.g., how about if a writer agrees to giving away a book if the readers agree to seeing ads while reading the book?).Amazon. I know, this is strange, but I would have loved to sit at the table with the top guns when they were examining the business model of switching from selling books to Kindle. How is Kindle going to affect the top-line and bottom-line of their existing book business? The switch-over may present a painful period to Amazon. Let me repeat: I don’t think the device and per-book prices will hold up if this is going to be a sustainable business. They’ll have to reduce the price on Kindle, and as a result, regular books will look too expensive in comparison. Wait and see on this one.So when am I going to buy one?Not so fast.As I’ve mentioned, Kindle’s price is way up in the sky. The smaller 6” Kindle is going for $360 plus $10 / e-book. Really?!!! That’s only going to interest the gadget enthusiasts. The numbers make no sense given I can buy an “almost new” book on Amazon’s own site for pennies with low shipping prices. Plus, to convert readers to give up a centuries old habit will take a bit more incentive. Kindle DX is even worse at $489. Last time I checked I could buy a fully loaded laptop for that price. The price will change though. Remember how cool color inkjet printers used to be when they first came out? Remember how vendors were giving them away a few years later? This will happen to Kindle too. Amazon will look at the “razor / blade” business model and see that cheap Kindle and e-books will increase the book sales volume enough to make the leap to success.
Either that or Kindle will be forced into a niche product. But that’s not all. Maybe it’s because I used to be a software designer, or maybe it’s because I’ve worked with engineers just about all my career, but I know how buggy technical products can be when they’re newly launched, and I just don’t have the patience to work through the kinks. Turns out on those cute little market bell curves, I happen to be on the far right of the curve, the “market laggard”. Yeah, I’m one of those, so shoot me.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Luck by chance..
From the moment go...
the movie expands into predicability. The performers are expected to deliver their character... and nothing oridnary is expected out them.
I am a keen movie goer. I dont make judgement by the ratings provided by a Rs:2.50 newspapers. I make my own judgement. It's apparent from the movie Farhan Akthar has arrived. In his second movie, he could perform a character which has shades of grey.
At times he sounds and looks stressed. Probably in the name of being natural he has even underplayed any sort of dramatic expressions which otherwise might have expressed by situational demands.
The character of Vikram potryed by Farhan is impressive. Konkana Sen Sharma precisely does her role and adds yet another feather to her over loader cap. There is something about her which tells us she is far more capable than what she does on the screen.
Well as to the narration of the movie goes, its captivating. The story telling is superb and not a wrong note anywhere. After a very long time one could listen to heartening and meaningful lyrics.
Is it becuase of a family involvement? Hope not. ( Father, Daughter and Son Trio)
Well, one of the compelling thing about the movie is, it connects with the audience at an intelluctual level.
If you are prepared to watch it without and pre judice, its worth watching... and remember I never told you its good. Its amazing....
Friday, January 30, 2009
Are we the nation of culture or diminishing values...
My comfort in Hindi as a language is not very good. The reasons are many. But the one which can be best expressed is - I am worried about my accent and grammar when I speak. Thanks to my multilingual spoken language ability, Hindi still appears to be a skill in my resume among 7 other languages which I know ( all of them are Indian).
I encountered this elderly man.
He is the father in law of my neighbour visiting her from a remote place of Northern states. His Hindi is impeccable. He had this great baritone and I presume excellent oratorical skills too. When he speaks there is a divine quality in his voice. You will be forced to listen to him.
During my evening walks ( not that I am a health freak - its just a habit, trying to maintain my routine) I encountered this gentleman and we made it a habit to spend some time discussing about everything under moon.
He will never complain about anything. But he has a view on everything. In a five minute conversation, you will realise he would have spoken "why"for 4 minutes 59 seconds. I always end up wondering - what he says/said might be true.
He will worry about the street children in Mumbai. He even had a strong view on the Slum dog Crorepati movie.
"Why do you think they choose a Sari Clad Indian woman as a co - director. Only an Indian can wash his dirty linen in public"
" Did you see the movie" I said " No I haven't"
"Good, there is nothing to see at all. You have that filth all around you in the city of Mumbai. Garbage filled all around. Children take to crime. Subjected to crime. Trained to commit crime. Call girls, eunuchs there are tons of them living in this city. Living with shame. Surviving by doing shameful acts. Its there everywhere in the world."
He will go on further:-
" We as a society never recognised the fact - basic amenities to human kind - like, education, clean drinking water, sanitation, health care and three square meal are far more critical than - anything else"
"Our angel politician from the state I hail from - is busy collecting "Chanda" for her birthday. Imagine the fate of this country which will be led by such politicians - who has no formal education to understand economy, health care, Infrastructure...."
I interrupted him " tell me which country has one"
He looked at me in disbelief as if I am an untouchable.
"You cant be serious are you?. In my service, I have travelled extensively across the country. I also happen to travel far countries like Canada, Europe and UK where three of my children live. No were you have a public system which is grossly corrupted and politicians are nothing but thugs and useless criminals"
" You continue to pay taxes every year. If you are part of working community you tax gets deducted at source. How do you measure such contribution to the society is working or not. You have no measure. Few good men - go on PIL route and question everything a government does. But as a society how are we questioning our system. How are we measuring our money spent."
I was actually getting cynical about this old man. He will always stop me in my track and start a conversation:-
" Are you avoiding me?"
I will politely say, not at all and will attempt to walk un interrupted. But he wont let me. He will start a conversation.
" I think Obama will do a good job. He is the hope for the future. I am saying educated people like you should come into politics" I will stare at him in dismay. Unsure whether he is serious or joking.
"One Slum dog Crorepati - music gets an international recognition we all jump with joy. Look at our pathetic demand for recognition from a capitalistic world which has no respect or understanding of our culture. Our poverty ridden attitude, forgetting that we are self sustained economy - needs such small senseless recognition to feel good. We are the nation of Billion people. Our combined eligible workforce is three times bigger than Europe. We are the country which practices more than 800 music instruments still in use. Our bajans are far more meaningful not for their lyrics - but soul richening ragas. Our sasthras preach them".
My head will spin in all direction after these conversations. What is he trying to do to me?. Is he educating me?. Or these conversations are nothing but a source of expression for his frustrated and tired mind.
Or may be no one listens to him except me and he wants to share every junk running in his mind.
I asked him one day, what is that he wants achieve with such loaded thought process of his mind.
He smiled and said " If I can make one person like you to think, I am sure there are many more who will follow. In the world of materialistic interests, we are forced to stay focused on our circle. We have a duty to perform. Family to look after. Credit card dues, Housing loan dues, Children education and many more worries. Somewhere some one need to start thinking for the society and such thinking alone will help us to achieve collective wisdom without which no change will happen in a society which is ridiculed beyond recognition"
I was stunned at this remark.
How many times we have seen street children knocking at the window panel of your car - begging. You are so used to it you learnt to ignore it and accepted it as part of society living standards.
How many times you have seen those families sleeping below a cemented shelter of a over bridge?
Horror stories of the millions travel in Mumbai trains every day and how one terrorist attack on them impacted their ordinary life.
Stories of lives lost due to a inefficient system support and in adequate managerial capability in addressing public woes.
Child marriages, Mumbai Slums, Public distribution system ( our ration card system), transport buses, railway compartments, health care centers, primary and secondary education, road, clean drinking water, electricity - the more I thought I was getting this feeling of helplessness. I am wondering who will initiate the change. A change which will promise and assure a clean society to live and the corrupt will get eradicated. Poverty will be history.
The old man certainly made me think.
Are we the nation of culture of diminishing values?.....
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