Dasavatharam....

Dasavatharam – Kamal Hassan * 10, Asin * 2, Mallika Sherawat, Jayaprada, Nagesh, K R Vijaya, …… Phew!!!

The story starts off with Kamal speaking “Sutha-tamizh” explaining about the catastrophic event that shook the world – namely the tsunami – and his story up till that point… Now u may wonder how people can understand such pure Tamil especially a crowd that’s from all over India with even President Bush… but all that apart…

It’s now old news that Kamal plays 10 different characters in the movie, Asin 2 and the others thankfully just one each… While you watch the movie, somehow you get the feeling that there are a lot of Kamal’s moving around which is a fact, but the movie looks very cluttered because of the same… the movie is altogether seemingly based on Murphy’s law, when something has to go wrong everything goes wrong sort of a cliché…. Too many mishaps happening, one after the other and all so very predictable… too many characters in the movie, some not needed at all… graphics are shoddy… make up for some of the characters is horrendous and awful… half an hour in to the movie you’ll be at the edge of your seats with bated breath…. Wondering when the goddamn thing is going to get over and the vial finds its way to safety or otherwise… and at this point, you simply do not care…

Kamal and Asin’s acting is of course wonderful… you can see the amount of hard work Kamal has put in… the dialogues are not so bad … the dialogues between Kamal and Asin in the second half is pretty interesting to watch… I thought even though she did not have too much of a role she did a good job… but at some points it makes you wonder how two people can jabber away so light-heartedly and jovial at times especially when they are stuck in hot water….

The ending of the villain was kind of predictable… The effect of so many Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood and whatever, how many ever -Woods ought not to go to waste….
My verdict: If you watched it in a theatre, I am so sorry… I am sorry for the money you lost… If you caught it on a cd, then be glad coz you could have switched it off whenever you wanted… :P. I advise you to watch it only if you get it on a cd…

To think I wanted so stubbornly to watch it in the theatre….

I somehow kind of expected more from Kamal.

This is a Reality Show?!!?!?

The newest show on the block – Splitsvilla in MTV … Okie it’s not exactly a new show; I guess it’s been running for quite some time now… I happen to catch the shows once in a while which is like almost every time I change the channel to MTV… they seem to be telecasting it on a regular basis (read: minimum twice everyday!) in order to increase the viewership or in my opinion to make the show “not-so-famous”… the theme is about this 20 girls vying for the attention and love of the 2 guys …. The guys decide who gets dumped.. basically meaning to say, any girl who shows “attitude”; who does not wear skimpy clothes; who is fair enough to call a spade a spade; who has got some sort of “class”; and who basically does not kowtow to the guys… gets dumped and that too publicly… fair is it not??!?!

The girls are a mélange of models, professionals, students etc... the guys are ex-roadies (yup.. that does so much give them the authority to judge who’s the better girl of the lot!!)… Now that says it all… this is one step ahead of roadies… the girls do everything in their power to entice, woo, play hard, get closer, flatter, fall over, attract, allure and do some more of luring to get the guys into their Venus fly-trap.. Amazing… except that the guys have a few games themselves in their mind… the girls dress skimpily, behave like total bitches, basically act like total losers to get the guys attention and make sure they are not dumped…

I am so totally amazed by the fact that there are girls who are actually willing to go on TV and blatantly do stuff like this… but I just do not get the point… is it for being called gutsy?? To gain respect?? To be popular?? Or is the fact that they want to publicize the fact that they are part of the “modern-girl-brigade”?? in any case, I think they are way off mark if this is what they want… or if they are stupid enough to come with some kind of crappy excuse like “it’s because the guys are cute”… well.. I do not want to comment on that.. (Phew!) More so than that, I am just wondering how these girls’ families react every time they watch their girl on TV stooping to such antics to persuade a couple of guys not to dump them… given the fact that they will be gaining 5Lakh rupees for this whole circus, I think its utterly STUPID. But of course that’s just my opinion!! And whatever happened to the self-esteem, respect and sense of worth that girls possess today?? And to think these are actually girls who have had respectable backgrounds, highly regarded families, excellent opportunities to make something of themselves in their lives….

All I can say is Poor things!!!

I pity them!

And I hope and pray that God delivers their families from the disappointment and shame that they must be undergoing!!! (If at all they do! - at this point I’m not sure of that either!)

Lunch @ Lounge Habits!!!

Lunch today was outside…. A kind of team building initiative as along with a pending treat… 2 birds in one stone concept!!! :P So anyways, it was at this new swanky place little close to office called “Lounge Habits”…. We reached there… and the place was more or less empty… well guaranteed that it is a new place and so a lot lesser people would have heard of it and therefore the minority there… the place is quite a eye-catcher what with orange colored paint on the walls, a pool table, a TT table (that sounds funny – a table tennis table!!), hookahs, movie cds, games and the whole gamut… all set to attract people…

Ritzy victuals on the menus – mainly Mexican, American and Italian food including the likes of pasta, risotto, sizzlers, fajitas etc… the main problem was that the chow took eons in coming to the table… we were waiting, waiting, and still waiting, twiddling our thumbs, talking endlessly, waiting for the extraordinary cuisine to be served… the waiters would bring one order at a time, tempting our taste buds and then go back in leaving us salivating for more… but this was only for the starter items… we gobbled them up like we were from Somalia and we had not seen food in quite a long time… once the main course orders were placed, we were left waiting for them like sinners waiting for salvation… the ones who had ordered for the sizzlers were kind of sizzling in the face when they were waiting and once the food came (finally it did come!) they were sizzling from the mouth and the ears… just the smoke was missing!!! The expressions on the faces of my colleagues were worth watching when the exotic items were brought to the table… picture perfect I would say!!! :P

Interesting items on the dessert menu except that most were not available (including my cheesecake! :-()…. I ordered for a cappuccino and when it was served, the maître d' asked me whether it was good… probably he was preparing it for the first time!!! :P but the desserts were good considering the fact that they were brought in from outside… and in all fairness to the guy, the coffee was good…

It was quite funny actually… and a lot of fun too..!! (to be understood in 2 different senses!)

Quite a team building initiative it turned out to be… we as a team decided we would never visit there again… unanimously… collectively…

It might(should)... have been..!!

For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'….

Life – Love – Philosophy – Philanthropy – Values – Beliefs – Morals – Ethics - Customs – Traditions – WAY OF LIFE!!!

Flashes of memory… Glimpses of happy times… Twinges of sad ones… Stitch in the side laughing at goof-ups… Tears of frustration rolling down the eyes… Shards of anger… Remains of pain… Flickers of passion… Zeal of achievement… Ripples of heartaches… Pangs of separation… Fervor of veneration…

Those trips that you take down memory lane, hoping that thinking about those times would probably help you find an answer to what you are currently going through…

Times when you feel that if only I could go back in time there are things that I would/would not do, have said/would not have… Could have done that in another way… could have handled this in another way… should have had the sense to think up of this way to act in that situation… should not have said that in their favor… should have stood up for myself and not let someone walk over me… should have been more sensible… should have had more fun… should not have let life get so complicated… should have let go…

You know, for all that they say about learning from your life, mistakes that you make, and all the other loads of advice, philosophy, guidance, suggestions on how life would be if this has happened etc etc…. I think it would be better off if someone could just invent a time-machine and go back and change all those wrong things that you did… to put back everything right.. without any sort of change or without disturbing the perfectly woven threads of life….

But on the other hand, some things just happen…!!! Things just go out of control, feelings and emotions take over, heart rules over the mind, Brain says NO!! Do not do it, Heart says, if it makes you happy do it…. And ultimately sensations and sentiments just take over …. And then you are left wondering how, why, where, when and what just happened???? Guilty as hell…!! Or in some cases … Idyllic as on cloud nine…

Sometimes you feel, why are there so many restrictions on a life that’s so short… why have everything under control… why does one need to acquire acquiescence from various quarters to do something that one desires to do…. Why can’t we for once do something that’s not warranted or something that would actually raise people’s eyebrows… and what would be the consequences of that in this society laid down by rules, regulations, systems, policies and the like… sure would raise an uproar!!! But then again…. All desirable things in life are illegal, banned, and expensive or married to someone else!! Or are they???

If wishes were horses, pigs would fly…

My Little Sunshine Time...

Ever encountered these species of people who contradict anything and everything that you say…. I mean whatever you say irrespective of which topic it is they just have to contradict it… counter it… and they will still do it even if they know nothing about the topic or the subject… not something that I can easily stand…

And you try to tell them “sorry boss!! U r actually wrong! That’s not what it is!” Nopes…!!! The individual is obviously gloating in his/her own little sunshine time that whatever we say just bounces off them… such thick-skinned creatures I have just had the privilege of meeting…

If you don’t know something then have the humility to accept that you don’t know it and learn it… instead of that you are just curbing your own knowledge if you keep thinking that you everything about it… and even if it’s a topic that you are well-versed with, you cannot possible know everything that is there to know about that particular area. Admit the fact that some people might – just might – know something about the subject that you could learn. Sounds like a typical case of thinking that your glass is full…

There is always something or the other to learn about everything… Things that you would never have known otherwise... Why have a closed mind and restrict your thinking!!! I don’t understand why they simply have to oppose whatever anyone says… I hope they do not think that we think that they are learned or well-versed or whatever… On the contrary… "Yoohoo buddy!!! Time for reality!!!"

Over the days I am getting to meet quite a lot of these kinds of people and some of them being people I thought highly about… talk about being bombarded with “Hi, I would like to be a part of the limelight too…”

I Feared Until....

I feared being alone until I learned to like myself.

I feared failure until I realized that I only fail when I don't try.

I feared success until I realized that I had to try in order to be happy with myself…

I feared people’s opinions until I learned that people would have opinions about me anyway.

I feared rejection until I learned to have faith in myself.

I feared pain until I learned that it's necessary for growth

I feared the truth until I saw the ugliness in lies.I feared life until I experienced its beauty.

I feared death until I realized that it's not an end, but a beginning.

I feared my destiny, until I realized that I had the power to change my life.

I feared hate until I saw that it was nothing more than ignorance.

I feared love until it touched my heart, making the darkness fade into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule until I learned how to laugh at myself.

I feared growing old until I realized that I gained wisdom every day.

I feared the future until I realized that Life just kept getting better.

I feared the past until I realized that it could no longer hurt me.

I feared the dark until I saw the beauty of the starlight.

I feared the light until I learned that the Truth would give me Strength.

I feared change, until I saw that even the most beautiful butterfly had to undergo a Metamorphosis before it could fly.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly…

Some Things... Never Change!!!!

Dog’s tail…. Can never be straightened…

Some things never change…

Whatever, How many ever, Whichever way you tell some things, old habits die hard!!!

It’s great to see history repeating itself though in a very satirical way… been a year now... But the expressions, the perplexed look, the rolling eyes, the bewildered exasperation… seems familiar… semblance of something that is more or less like… been there, done that!!!

Lol… life does come full circle does it not… and all I have to say to the ones who are in the precarious position that I once was is that…

GET USED TO IT…. SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE….

Bring it on, A Walk to Remember & Fight Club....

Weekend was filled with watching movies… catching up on lost time..!! Lol..!
Got my new laptop (yup.. am boasting) and spent the entire weekend giving quality time to my laptop… its almost on the verge of becoming an addiction… :-)
Anyways… so as I said… weekend was dedicated to watching movies… here’s a small review on all 3.

Bring it on… (Kirsten Dunst & some lesser-known actors)
Basically about a cheerleading group in high school and their problems… it’s a movie about high school trials and tribulations, and their lives… cheerleading chants, rivals groups, cheating, bitching, love life, attitude, the whole gamut… nice watch if u r in the mood for “something-is-better-than-nothing”…. Good acrobatics though..!!

A Walk to remember… (Shane West & Mandy Moore)
It’s a romantic movie all throughout… somehow brought about a feeling of Erich Segal’s Love story…. Anyways, it’s a nice sentimental watch if u r in the mood for some emotional drama… nicely taken, simplistic and competent acting… The hero is one of the all-popular boys in school who gets into some kind of mischief and has to end up doing social service like acting in the school play etc where he meets the heroine. He tried to get her to help him learn his lines and she says that she will but on one condition… that he should not fall in love with her… the hero agrees as the heroine is projected as this “good-girl-sings in the school choir-does voluntary work-helps disabled”. The movie moves on typical lines where the hero falls in love and does things to fulfill his sweetheart’s wishes like “being in 2 places at once, get a tattoo, see a comet, etc…. and finally when he gets to know that she’s dying, gets married to her and fulfills her greatest wish of being married in her mother’s church!.... little teary-eyed movie… but kinda makes you wonder abt a lot of things in life that you take for granted…

Fight Club … (Brad Pitt & Edward Norton)
The all macho movie… it’s got its share of blood, gore, violence. Filled with quirky dialogues and a slow pace at first, it picks up during the second half and gets you hooked on till the ending… Brad Pitt and Edward Norton have done a brilliant job as far as acting goes, restrained, subtle, evil at times, confused at most is what I can term it was (at least to me)… the way the hero’s problem is brought out is great … well-taken movie… Interesting to watch… and the way it’s handled is impressive… Nice one if you are into action/gore… but my verdict is it’s a must-watch for the display of testosterone …. Pitt & Norton make good eye-candy…
I can’t comment on this anymore… maybe guys would be able to give a better review…

TGIF...?? I think not....

Its 7:45 PM on a Friday evening and I am still sitting here in office rotting away....

What did i do to deserve this??!!? Why can't I go home at a NORMAL TIME atleast on a Friday Evening???

And it's not even like I have work to do.... I am just sitting here simply doing nothing...

Why does it always have to be like this?? I understand working late on other weekdays but not on Fridays please....... that's INHUMAN... and the sooner the rest of the world understands this the better!!!

I am sitting here without any work...

GOD.... WHY... WHY.... WHY....

Crack-up in flights!!!

This is too good!!!

Crack up in flight...!! Brilliant answers! :-)


It takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one.

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

(By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

__________________________________________________________

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

__________________________________________________________

P: Something loose in cockpit.

S: Something tightened in cockpit.

__________________________________________________________

P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on back-order.

__________________________________________________________

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200-feet per minute descent.

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

__________________________________________________________

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

__________________________________________________________

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

__________________________________________________________

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what friction locks are for.

__________________________________________________________

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.

S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

__________________________________________________________

P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right.

__________________________________________________________

P: Number 3 engine missing.

S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

__________________________________________________________

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)

S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

__________________________________________________________

P: Target radar hums.

S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

__________________________________________________________

P: Mouse in cockpit.

S: Cat installed.

__________________________________________________________

And the best one for last..................

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.

__________________________________________________________

What do I do??!!!??

I am stuck in a rut... Have been literally breaking my head over what to write next in my blog...

Yup almost exactly like how Soorya was feeling a couple of months back...

So smart me thought I would ask my colleagues to suggest about what i should write next...

Topics ranging from experience of travelling in a plane, travelling to a hilly area, orkut and its various ramifications, out-of-body experiences, aliens - do they exist or not?, movies, etc etc all came floating in.... And yours truly (ms.high and mighty) was not impressed at all by any of these...!! (the orkut topic came close though - but that's for another blog at another time!)

anyways...

Now I am again back to square one... My creative juices have stopped flowing...!! Help me!

Suggest Topics pls...!!!

All suggestions welcome..!! And the best will be awarded a plate of "authentic hyderabadi biriyani" :-)

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na…

Fresh. Interesting. Bright. Cheerful. Brilliant.

I’ll be HONEST! I loved the movie… Forget the clichéd boy-girl-best friends-not in love – falling in love... It’s just too good…

Lightens you up… perks your interest and keeps it steady all throughout the movie… makes you feel like that girl who’s listening to the story in the movie … etc etc etc… I can go on and on!!!

Witty dialogues… decent acting by everyone… nicely written script… no extra hungama… no frills… things said like they are… straightforward and amusing!

The hero is CUTE… and that’s an understatement... There are traces of his famous uncle here and there when he is acting … but all in all he has done a good job! Played the character to a T. The heroine is good as well... Chirpy, bubbly and vivacious and she has done a decent job as well... Something could have been done about her voice… but you get used to it after abt 15 minutes into the movie..! The other characters have been played by good actors and Ratna Pathak as the hero’s mother is just too hilarious…

Music is amazing… hats off to ARR for the tracks..!! You probably would enjoy the tracks much more when you watch the video… The best of the lot is ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi Mein’…. It’s a nice melodious composition… perks your spirits up… :-)

All in all a MUST-WATCH according to me…

Youthful. Stylish. Trendy. Something that you can definitely relate to – be it dialogues, music, scenes or the story itself…!

Don’t miss this one… !!!

PS: I loved the HERO.... he is just TOO CUTE!!! :-) :-) :-) :-)

The 10 commandments of TV watching!!!!

1. Thou shall not disturb the person watching the programme with ridiculous questions about the programme.

2. Thou shall not bid for the remote control during the programme in any way from the individual watching the same especially if it is a male.

3. Thou shall not ask queries about the serial background, plot, and character sketch if the person watching the programme is a female.

4. Thou shall not display thy ignorance about the various sports in front of the individual watching the sport. (Asking him to teach you the fundamentals of the game is a big NO NO!)

5. Thou shall not make uncalled for comments on the dress, acting, speech, personality or the way a person plays a sport during the programme. (Any such action can be initiated only when the Individual watching the programme starts it!)

6. Thou shall not eat or drink thereby making munching/slurping noises and disturbing the individual watching the programme.

7. If by chance during a sport, the place that thou sit proves to be beneficial for our side, then thou shall not move a muscle until the sport is over. (Non-willingness to do so will result in verbal/non-verbal consequences).

8. Thou shall not ask stupid questions to the person watching the programme avidly.

9. Thou shall learn to abide by the body-language of the person watching the programme thereby understanding how to behave in the vicinity.

10. Thou shall understand that sometimes it’s better to keep thy mouth shut and do thy work than putting thy nose into someone else’s business… (Here watching tv!)

Disclaimer: These have been put together after a lot of discussion and some personal experiences...! Any point if it seems to point to any person, it is purely deliberate and intentional.

My 100th Post....

My 100th post…

Boy! Am I glad!! :-)

It feels so good..!!

To know that I have achieved a century with my writing skills ;-)

I can just feel the beginning of “Shah Rukh’s - Om Shanti Om – Filmfare award winning speech” rolling over my tongue!!! :-) But No! I shall withhold from all that and just in plain simple words ….

Thank you who have been reading my posts and leaving comments and encouraging me all throughout….

Thank you so much for being appreciative and critical of my posts (it has only helped me grow!)

Thank you for being you… :-)

Thank you for being there… :-)

With these few words ladies and gentlemen,

I thank you for being there all throughout!!! :-) (yeah again!!)

Sense and Sensibility....

First you get a mail inviting you for a talk of some kind by an eminent person…

That’s marked to the women associates in the organization…

Next you get loads of mails from people who are interested to go attend the talk…. Saying this is where they’ll take a bus from and would they please arrange for the same etc etc…

And this is on REPLY ALL….

And then when you are fed up of repeatedly deleting the mails from the inbox….

You get another slew of mails, this time from loads of other people saying, “Please do not Reply All”… etc etc….!!

It's amazing how the BRIGHT IDEAS strike about a zillion people at once!!!

Why why why… Why is it that people don’t have the sense to just reply to the mail and not reply all… why is it that they are hell bent on clogging up people’s inboxes…
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…………

Okie I gotta go…

I think I just received another set of mails to delete….

Phew!!!