Happy New 2013

I was so confident about the Mayan calendar especially after watching Apocalypto just before 21st.  Adding to that, Nostradamus also let me down.  Check out the video below.  

Nostradamus prediction on Gangnam dance

I was clicking continuously on the PSY video in YouTube to add up to 1 billion views.  I was more disappointed because on 22^nd I did not know what to do and much more than that, had to continue to hear the cruel story from Delhi.

As the year comes to an end, I start wishing for a healthy, wealthy and peaceful year for everybody.  Pity me, my peace was at stake.  My workplace declared Jan 1^st as working day!  Thankfully, the HR policies are like the loop holes in the Indian judicial system.  The more you know law; it would be more advantageous for you.  I am not going to office. 

This time period of the year has been the toughest for me always, particularly the last couple of years.  2012 is not different anyhow.  Nothing could make peace in me.  All my activities during this period are restrained to the bare minimum of a human being.  I have been trying very hard to overcome these times but I end up getting nasty.  This year I decided not to react on anything and I am engulfed.  But, taking some time out for self and looking back, I realize that 2012 although disappointed on the 21^{st ;)}, has given me lot of wonderful moments.  My FB and Twitter timelines tell that very happily.  I am immensely happy while I write this.  I am immensely happy that all the “kuthu” songs that I have liked for some time now are playing inside my head in a looped playlist.  Reason is that a very dear friend has told me to look back at some happy moments whenever life gives lemon in hands.  That will help us to make lemonades.  So, I go back to look few of them.  I recommend the same to everyone who wants lemonades out of the lemons that life gives.  No matter what ever happens, every phase in life is a passé. 

I was scared of few things while the year started but then somehow I decided to face them. One of them is below.  This unknown friend of mine Dnyaneshwar Ajabe and Ravishankar made this memorable.

Looking back there are some more moments and of course they are with my friends around.  Many Many thanks to all those who have been part of my journey!  You all rock..!

What are we doing here?

On a usual lazy Sunday, I was experimenting something with my mobile and laptop.  I get involved in things related to troubleshooting in PCs / Mobiles for hours until I get any resolution.  At that time, there were few kids around who came from neighborhood.  They were in between the age group 10-14, not more than that for sure.

The elderly of them asked me, “Are you an IT professional?”  Her question came bang on.  I had a lot of hesitation in saying yes as I never wanted to be one among the IT crowd and always used to say that I am a Media professional.  How long could I keep telling the contrary thing, for IT industry is the one which gives me the monthly salary!

So, I answered “Yes” to her.  She went silent and no questions more than that.  I got puzzled and wanted to ask why! But asked in a different manner, “How did you know that I am an IT professional” – what she answered shocked me.

She said – “You IT professionals always are engaged with mobile and laptop all the time.  My parents also do the same; they have no time for their family”

I could not continue concentrating with what I was doing.  She was not more than 14 years old.  But, her answer had much depth in it; she was very much concerned and was missing something terribly!  I took her answer as a lesson or maybe it’s a lesson for all of us who don’t know what “priorities in life” or “balancing” is all about!

Now, there would be few to argue with me saying that, I will realize how tough it is while I get into the wagon wheel of career and parenting.  May be yes! But, there are few basics in which we should not fail like, not bringing in work life to home, spending quality hours in home and so on.  Guess that’s where people fail.  It isn’t rocket science like writing codes or approving budgets right!!  And amusingly, it all happens for people working in IT industry alone.  We are so possessed with this IT tag and that’s why we even wear our office id tag around all the time. (Read my rumblings here)

God bless us!

Its not just about the bike

It all started while Johnny and I were waiting for bus, back to home in Tambaram bus stand.  We were in 6^th standard then.  My first memory of seeing a Royal Enfield bullet was then.  With the deafening thump, my first impression of it was that, it’s a heavy duty bike.  Those were the days while Yezdi and Rajdoot were also on roads.  But I happen to spot the bullet alone often and the thump grew in me.  Apart from the thump the Royal Enfield logo engraving was the next which drew my attention.  Slowly I happened to hear more and more about the vehicle.  The most common words were ‘robust’, ‘reliable’, ‘tough’.  It should have got ingested in my mind about the vehicle then!

2-3 years later there was a girl who rode the bike royally in my neighborhood!  She was Jeeva’s cousin.  Its Jeeva’s dad bike, the whopping 350kg vehicle with the gear-shifts at the right side and the kick lever doubling as the gear lever!  She rode it with ease!  I started telling around that I want to ride a bullet.  But then, I never knew to bicycle too.  I was the target for amusement.

4-5 years passed. Meanwhile, I came to know that the machine is made in Chennai.  Nothing else was required for me to admire it more.  My passion grew for the bullet.  To beat the amusement, I wanted to own one.  I decided.  To add to the glory, I though it deserves a royal treatment while owning and my way of doing it was to buy it with full cash and no loan.  There started the journey of waiting along with the desire to ride one. 

I started doing more research on Royal Enfield and it was the brand I chose, while Nisha mam gave us the first assignment on the very first day I joined college.  Then I discovered that Narayanan was riding a bullet.  Thunderbird was it, with the 350cc engine.    A new vehicle, he had flicked it from his brother and brought it to college.  I managed to grab the keys from him saying I can ride it! Touched 80kmph!  It was really like kite flying.  But the moment I halted the bike, I had no strength in my muscles to park it in its centre stand.  It was fun for Narayanan!

Then after few years, it was Abu, driving a bullet.  A really well maintained old one it was.  The vehicle reflected his love towards it.  All these people made an impact with their bullets.  Indirect Inspirations!

Almost no one believed me that I can ride a bullet and they all joked on my physical appearance that I cannot ride a bullet and I should first learn to park it with its centre stand.  With all this going around me, Bhargav owned a bullet too.  I used to bug him asking for a ride.  One fine day, a small injury in his leg after a cricket match prompted him to hand over his bullet to me.  It was a good 25km distance for me to ride.  There were opponents to Bhargav’s decision to hand it over to me.  He began to become indecisive.  To add to it, it was about to rain as well.  While others were opposing me, I went through and said him strongly, that I can handle.  That’s it…! After some time I was thumping in the road.  It was a heavy rain but I never stopped.  The thump kept me going in the Grand Trunk Southern road.  I drove it straight inside home literally dashing the gates.  And that was the day all the jokes stopped.

Now…

I own a 500cc bullet from Royal Enfield.  It storms! Worth the wait all these years!  It continues to draw admiration and respect from all.  Rural, urban, A class, B, C, D and whatever classifications may exist.  It just rocks and mostly, the next generation is also admiring it.  And now, Rahul gets inspired from me.  The legend passes on.  

Re-define Honesty, God, Stupidity

Re-define "Honesty"

This sweeper lady had found cash of around INR 2.3mn in the AC coach of a train and had handed over it to the Railway Protection Force as a good Samaritan. 

Now, my question to her or whoever concerned is why did she return the (entire) money? I would have supported her if she had taken a bundle for herself and returned the remaining.  If I would have seen it, I would have taken a bundle as a token of a self-reward / a fine for leaving the the 2.3mn rupees in train.  

I am sure if the money was from savings over the years, it would have been in bank and not carried in hand.  I sincerely doubt that this money is a part of some illegal transaction.  So, a self-reward does not break the honest trait of the individual.  Moreover, I think the sweeper is a religious / spiritual person which had made her to return the money honestly.

Hence, I request the so called religious / spiritual gurus, leaders to make an amendment in the respective sections of honesty which would enable people like this lady to live a grand life for a day or two.

Re-define "God"

Its a diamond crown worth around 15mn INR (as reported), donated to Madurai Meenakshi temple.  I have not read yet who the donor is.  Somehow, few donors do not do their donations publicly.  Temples also have this policy of not disclosing the donor names.  Why should people donate anonymously or the temple not disclose their names?

Why do they donate to temples in the form of jewels?  It stays there in that form for a long time helping none.  God is always great even without a single penny in hand.  That money can be used for many other purposes for the development of the society.

Rather, if people donate for education it would be better for the society or government should bring the policy that people can donate towards education anonymously.  

Why don't all the temples get converted to schools like how it was once upon a time!?

Re-define "Stupidity"

I don't know if I am the only one who feels that this ad is stupid.  

Stupid for it says Mt Everest as "Just a pile of stones".  I went to their FB page and posted in their wall, to remove the ad from all its appearance - there was a swift response - they removed my wall post.  

If I was the copywriter, I would have shown more stupidity by showing the earth under the shoe and say "Ju Ju bi...the world is just a pebble stone".

Images Source: TOI

December 11, 1882 - September 11, 1921

Today is the birth anniversary of this fearless fiery and the iconoclastic reformer. A great visionary and poet, well versed in 6 Indian and 2 foriegn languages, this soul gives great courage to my soul to look forward and dare the future with hope.

தேடி சோறு நிதம் தின்று – பல

சின்னஞ்சிறு கதைகள் பேசி – மனம்

வாடி துன்பம் மிக உழன்று –பிறர்

வாட பலசெயல்கள் செய்து –நரை

கூடி கிழபருவமெய்தி –கொடுங்

கூற்றுக் கிரையென்ன பின்மாயும் – பல

வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போல் -நான்

வீழ்வெ னென்று நினைத்தாயோ….

Midnight’s Children

Just a Minute – to clarify – this is not a review post of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children. This is about NCR Gurgaon’s Midnight Children.

23:45 hrs - 2 big shopping malls in the city are full open. People are out as it is only 10 o clock. Even in Mumbai all the shopping malls are closed by 23:00 hrs. I am surprised about the night life in Gurgaon. There is no formal public transport in this city but the night life is in full flow. To my convenience (the universe does conspire to me sometimes) the metro station was just in front of the mall from where I came out after a movie. The metro was open and the business was as usual.

CRPF Jawans were alert on their toes even at that time of the day. During the security checks I was asked where I was heading to, because the last train towards Delhi had left by that time. My business of life, now, is in Gurgaon. So I was let go. The security check in metro station happens like it happens in the Airports, everyday in every DMRC station throughout its business hours. There would be around 8-10 Jawans guarding the area and a squad travels to and fro between stations often. Everyone is armed with either pistols (Google says they are Clock 17.9 mm) or sub-machine guns with 2-3 ‘20 round’ magazines (not books, these are bullets case). Apart from these, in few stations, where crowd turnout would be huge, Jawans are placed for guard duty behind sand bags. They are armed with L1A1 SLRs (Self Loading Rifles). I know SLR as I have handled it during my Senior Division NCC days. As a result, I keep starring the weapons with curiosity and to remember them. At one point I tend to notice the Jawan’s faces. Doing a guard duty behind the sand bag at times is stressful. Civilians look them as some kind of statue in a corner behind a sand bag. It often appears in my thoughts how frustrating it is to stand behind a sand bag for hours and at the same time stay alert noticing each and every movement in the crowd. Particularly, when I see these Jawans during 23:55 hrs, I empathize for them. They definitely need more than what they get now in terms of money or recognition or respect or anything.

I was heading back home after watching the Tamil movie “Ëngeyum Eppothum” meaning “Anywhere Anytime”. Worth the time! It’s produced by Fox Studios and A.R Murugadoss. For those who don’t know Murugadoss, he is the director of “Ghajini”. For those who don’t know about Fox studios, pls Google. “Engeyum Eppothum” is a world class movie, not because it’s from Fox Studios! It’s a world class movie for its narration, cinematography, editing, cast and all the aspects put together. It reminded me of "Babel". Both these movie showcase the fragility of lives. There were few glitches here and there but given the fact that it’s a fresh team and it does make an impact, it’s truly a world class cinema. Real talents have been found and many thanks to Murugadoss for nurturing these talents. A very good movie by Saravanan and team! It is people like Saravanan and the big screen which keeps fueling my desire to become a film maker! This movie director was an assistant to Murugadoss. Murugadoss is an awesome blend of Maniratnam and Shankar. He is the one next in queue who would add more crowns to Indian Cinema in world’s stage. This movie screenplay style seems to be inspired from Manirathnam’s “Ayutha Ezhuthu” / “Yuva”. Or at-least I felt that way! I liked it very much. It had a real clean and innocent humor throughout, except the climax. I wished that it could have been a positive entertainer than the heavy impact it had left. Overall, the audiences liked it. After the movie, I feel like slapping the so called “herosim” oriented movies (Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, AB are exceptions!). That’s why I had removed(for now) the hero ‘look alike’ pic from the blog display as well. I can understand that the term hero 'look alike' could be intolerable! In that case, you can smash e-tomatoes on me “@ramkiram” in Twitter or ramkiram@gmail.com in FB.

Outside the movie hall at 2345 hrs one fellow movie fan made a call to his friend back in the village and said this line “Machaan, do watch the movie tomorrow without fail and if you don’t like the movie, slap me with your slippers!”. This is why I said that audience liked the movie. I was thinking of calling up my friends too but it was so late to call them. The other fellow did not mind the time he was calling his friend who would have been in deep sleep back in the village!

Probably he would have not seen the time while he made the call. When the malls were full on, pretty girls outside the mall and metro station open; it really did not make to realize that it was end of the day! I never thought it would be so lively in Gurgaon! While metro was not a surprise as it’s managed by DMRC, the rates that the auto rickshaws quoted were a surprise; they quoted the same as they would during the day time (their day time rates are exorbitant). Minimum charge is 50rs! I usually bargain with them during day time but not really during night time as the moon vibes us a melancholy mood.

And the subtle mood is not only for me...It’s the same for the auto rickshaw drivers, CRPF Jawans, the fellow movie fan, the pretty girls; people thronging the shopping mall and everyone around the world under the bright moon.

We are the Midnight’s Children.

Singam vs Singham

Movie making is a tough job. It’s a very serious business done to entertain masses.

I’m young to know what all movies have been remade have been made in Hindi or Tamil or Telugu or any other language! But sure, I have watched very good remakes in Hindi “Ghajini” and “Wanted” recently.

Went to the theatres with a huge expectation for Singham!! Uffff….!

Read the movie to be “inspiring to be a cop”, “a tribute to the cops” and so on. I term them as absolute nonsense.

Singham is a remake from the Tamil hit Singam with Surya in the lead. In no way Hindi version is near to the original. I recommend people see the Tamil version first. DVDs with subtitles are available.

The villain in the hindi version is portrayed as a funny villain in the climax which is completely absurd! It is Prakash Raj who steals the show in the climax shadowing Ajay Devgn. The climax doesn’t support strongly the protagonist.

The hindi version really doesn’t pay a tribute to the cops as I read from few reviews. I don’t know how many movies are there in Bollywood celebrating the cops. In Tamil (my movie knowledge of the past is limited to Tamil alone) most of them knows “Alex Pandian”, “Walter Vetrivel”, “Captain Prabakaran”, “Arichchaamy”, “Anbuselvan IPS”, “Raghavan” and recently “Durai Singam”. They are on screen characters way back from 1980’s but they are engraved as brave, fearless and honest cops in the audience minds.

“Bajirao Singham” doesn’t really do that, particularly during the climax. Prakash Raj steals the show completely out of Ajay Devgn and it’s the same irrespective of the character he plays in any movie. In a row, he plays a same character in Hindi; Wanted, BHTP and now Singham. It makes Bajirao Singham look like a “Golmaal” police.

Rohit Shetty has got it wrong big time. In the name of improvisation with the script, he has taken out the key elements of the script which showcases the villain’s menace, the seriousness involved in it and also highlighting cop’s mightiness. Just having few half baked action stunts will not really mean it’s an action movie. It’s also along with the script. Haven’t bollywood audiences watched “Wanted” or “Dabanng” or “Ghajini”!!

I had to watch all the tamil hits “Kaakha Kaakha”, “Saamy”, “Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu” and the original “Singam” in return of watching hindi Singham and to keep the cop spirit burning. Rohit Shetty has done it nowhere near to the original.

Tamil director Hari has never been a celebrity director. He has given flops as well but the cops’ movie he has made has certainly improved in terms of overall entertainment. Watching hindi “Singham” made me note this point. Thanks to Rohit Shetty for this.

On top of all these I read comments that it makes feels proud to be a Marathi seeing Singham. It really doesn’t!! People should watch “Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy” to feel proud as a Marathi.

An experience director like Rohit Shetty should have got it right!! The movie stills itself essays which is better. Ajay Devgn better turn down south if he aspires to be an action hero.

My reaction is that of Surya's on watching"Singham" and on Rohit Shetty.