Sunday, October 29, 2006

Nostalgia - a baggage?

Why would someone want to visit 'nostalgia'?
I guess 'Nostalgia' is like an easy virtual-meal.
You might be hungry and you might want to eat something
Now, what is it you can do ? :
i. Do some work or sweat and then earn your meal
ii. Or visit nostalgia. In 'nostalgia' one has the luxury of gaining a good dosage of ego-boost by just visualising the amount of hard-work you
might have done 'once upon a time' and the way you relished the fruits you got through that sweat.

Is 'nostalgia' good ?
Sadly no. What nostalgia provides is a fake self-esteem.

Why do we still visit and revisit 'nostalgia' no matter how 'stupid' it is really ?
Hmm.. that's a good question really :-)
I think self-gratification is the key.
And the moment one does not want to sweat any further, mentally one gets transported to nostalgia.
But the sad part of nostalgia is, 'nostalgia' does not pay, since the 'past' does not matter, while the 'present' always does.

Does yahoo groups or orkutting or clubbing onself to groups via alumni network or other groupings based on race/religion/nationality/caste/interests, involve revisiting nostalgia?
Yes, since we are more comfortable with folks we knew or we worked with or we studied with, one is bound to feel more at-home.
Everytime we associate ourself with a community i.e family or friends or religion or race, one is just trying to find a way to be @home rather than explore oneself in foreign places.

Guess, sustaining one's contacts(network) is an impediment, cause that is bound to allow the gradual evolution of onself and instead will provide a 'readymade short-cut' and thus, bound to kill one's originality or individuality.

Movies by weekend

A bout de Souffle or Breathless:

Saw this French movie without English sub-titles.
Thus, I did not really get the hang of this movie.
Though I felt the movie did not have much of a plot or build-up that one would associate with movies in-general.

American President:

Ah, It feels quite good to watch a 'Democrat' movie.
Wonder why too many 'Republican' movies are not getting their due in Hollywood ?

Runaway Bride:

Ordinary movie, though it was fun to watch in parts.

Lucky Numbers:

Lisa Kudrow with her wisecracks makes the movie interesting.
But otherwise the movie is a drab.

Shiva (2006):

This Ram Gopal Varma movie made up a good-watch.
RGV's underworld movies make up very good viewing and I guess it s difficult for people to get tired no matter how many
times RGV tries to make more movies on underworld-themes.
RGV is a genius i.e in the way he shot action sequences, the old-world style of simple fist fighting and simple background
score made up good viewing.
I saw the old 'Shiva' featuring Nagarjuna and Amala, that movie too made up very-good viewing thanks to the pregnant
silences before any action sequence. Raghuvaran's acting style was an added fillip.

Yun Hota To Kya Hota:

I think this movie which also happens to be Naseeruddin Shah's directorial debut, could have been lot more interesting had
the director not mentioned the "date" i.e Sep 10/11 during the various phases of this movie.
Since Sep 10 or Sep 11 dates is mentioned often, one is already aware of the ending and the climax wont surprise most
viewers :-(

Thunderball:

This movie was a thorough entertainer, quite advanced for its time.
Guess, this has to be one of the best Bond movies ever.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Free-hand writing

(In this passage, read skill in the generic sense)

I just have this feeling that, it is really not difficult to gain a skill. Only thing one needs to gain a skill is the motivation and hard-work. I think all men(and women) are born with equal skill, it is the exposure and the interest that really separates them.
For example, I once read an extra-ordinary interview with Gary Sobers(West Indies all-rounder). He once said in an interview that he got to see some extra-ordinary talents i.e better players than him in the islands and considering that Gary himself made this point makes it more astounding to read, but quite tragically Gary Sobers said none of those folks really got to represent Windies or shine like him. That interview made a fine reading.

I guess, there is an inherent difference between acquired and a natural skill. Natural skill has its pitfalls i.e you think you are good and you will be the best in a small-group and there comes the great recognition inside the group, but some rude shock awaits you when you find folks who are better than you in that skill. And the wall would seem to be closing on you from all directions. And it is quite a bad feeling and you will feel like calling it quits. Cause you are totally dependent on the natural skill. And natural skill has its limitations cause you cant improvise beyond a certain point.
And there comes the "acquired" skill. Acquired skill has no borders as I see, cause you are open to get snubbed all the while and learn more in this process. Acquired skill's advantage is that you start from nowhere, while the naturally skilled person is already moulded and thus, difficult to get out of that moulded-shape.

Here an interesting question arises, which is - "is natural skill an acquired skill?"
Guess, it s true.
Considering the fact that nothing is really natural/original. One acquires even the basic skills via copy/inspiration based on an existing skill. But what differentiates the natural skill to an acquired skill is in the mind.

Once you feel your skill is natural i.e you start becoming loyal to it and you stop learning or get drubbed by others and thus, you would stop learning/growing.
The moment you feel you are in the zenith, the learning stops and so does the growth.

Now, arises another interesting question, "does Federer or Tiger Woods or Sachin survive with their natural talents?". I think "no" is the answer. It is truly amazing to see Federer or Tiger or Sachin going on-and-on inspite of breaking any existing record. I guess, these folks would have to create their own demons or competitors to keep themselves competitive.

This thought of creating ones demon sounds like 1984 in a way. In 1984, the government or the big brother wants its citizens to work/grow and thus creates a mythical demon called "enemy state". The citizens listen to the big-brother and do as he says i.e they wage war towards the enemy state. Now, had there been no enemey state the citizens are bound to divert their interests on something else and if these citizens start thinking on their own the position of the big-brother goes for a toss. Thus, creating an artificial enemy helps the cause i.e to keep the status-quo up and running for some more time.

Guess, prodigal folks rely totally on the creation of "artifical barriers" or their own "big brothers a la 1984" in their heads and compete to achieve those "self-designed goals".

And, this cycle is definitely infinite i.e there is no peak in this quest. It goes on and on forever, cause there is no logical end to this search.

Guess, the solution lies in sticking to what one has(or rather relinquish) and not run after these artifical goals. This has got to be nirvana i.e this realisation.

Do we need nirvana or do we want to wantedly aim try to conquer the peak inspite of the knowing "what the logical end for this quest is" ?
Guess, the answer is there in the latter part of the above question i.e no matter what, we still try to invent a logical end to something which has no logical end.

Why do we do this i.e inspite of knowing the inevitable ?
hmm..
wish i know the answer...

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Movies by Weekend

Road:

Thought this movie was good.
The plot looked more like a soft-porn movie with action-here-and-there.
And this movie kind of seems to have been inspired from some Amritraj-movie or some Jag Mundhra movie.

The best part include the final-climax sequences(and the real good chase, which reminded me one of those Road-Rash or Need-For-Speed kind of backdrop). Too bad, Antara Mali is not to be seen in many movies.

Swimming Pool

Good movie.
The slow lift that this movie gets is the best part of this movie.
There is hardly anything happening for maybe first 30 minutes of this movie and suddenly the plot lifts off in an extra-ordinary fashion. Guess, "plots" are what make movies exquisite to watch.
The actors were all brilliant. Most of the dialogues were in french and my un peu french was not of much use.

United - 93:

The last scene or commentary is what this movie is all about i.e the part when the narrator says "it s about the fight as to who controls the world".
Good movie to watch out with lots of characters playing as real-world themselves in this movie. It was rather awkward that when the passengers of United-93 revolted against the hijackers one might foolishly hope for a typical Hollywoodish-escape where passengers all defeat the hijackers and save the President of USA and reinstate the honour of USA etc., but that's not the case here.
It's also truly remarkable to see the resolve of the hijackers as well to die for a cause, but again it is very scary that someone will give their life-for-nothing. Afterall nothing really changes in the ground-level except maybe the hostile-attitude between warring-factions will hit the peak.
For the director, to have come-up with that climax-plot was truly remarkable i.e as to how the passengers fought-back against the hijackers.

Woh Lamhe

Dont think I am going to watch this movie after a disastrous visit to watch "Gangster". But thought this music-video "Woh Mujhe pyar hai" was good and not sure what was good, is it the song or the remix tune or the woman - Kangana.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Lost in "Tere Bin"

Pakistani singers are sensational and the best part is the way they mix slow-rock with their Urdu songs. Atif Aslam has really lifted this song to great heights.
Planning to listen to this non-stop as always, to see how long this song can last.


tere bin, main yun kaise jiya, kaise jiya tere bin
tere bin, main yun kaise jiya, kaise jiya tere bin

lekar yaadein teri, raatein meri kati
lekar yaadein teri, raatein meri kati
mujhse baatein teri, karti hain chandni

tanha hai, tujh bin raatein meri
din mere, din ke jaise nahi

tanha badan, tanha hai ruh
nam meri aankhen rahe
aaja mere ab rubaroo
jeena nahi bin tere

tere bin, main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin
tere bin, main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin

kab se aankhen meri, raah main tere bichhi
kab se aankhen meri, raah main tere bichhi
bhule se hi kabhi, tu mil jayen kahin

bhule na, mujhse baatein teri
bheegi hai, har pal aankhen meri

kyun saans loon, kyun main jiyun, jeena bura sa lage
kyun ho gaya tu bewafa, mujhko bata de wajah
tere bin, main yun kaise jiya, kaise jiya tere bin


Here, goes my translation-attempt of the above urdu lyrics into english:

without you, how can i live, how can i live
without you, how can i live, how can i live

brought your memories, i spend my night
brought your memories, i spend my night
talking about you 'does the moon

while alone, without you it's all night
morning is, is like no morning

...
...
come mine when
cant like without you

without you, how can i live
how can i live, without you
without you, how can i live
how can i live, without you

when ...
"

giving up :-)

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Where is Vidyut?

Challenger Trophy was a surprise package this time, thanks to Neo Sports Channel. Guess, Nimbus are really investing hard in domestic-cricket. The coverage was clean, with no irritating advertisements all over the picture frame and no stupid-celebrity commentators.

And the best part of this package was "Sachin Tendulkar". He really got into the thick of action in no time. I think Sachin is really too-good a player for such tournaments, that too when he is in vintage touch. Lately, Sachin has started playing those irritating knocks no one really enjoys, maybe ever since the Syndey hundred against Australia. But not this time, Sachin was playing those usual straight drives and the speciality of this stroke of course is that there is no follow-through with the bat. Sachin also took Piyush Chawla on with those really brutal cross-batted strokes which he had earlier used to demolish Shane Warne or Saqlain Mushtaq(until he got out to Saqlain in that really disastorous Chennai test against Pakistan). Another person who got rather sever treatment from Sachin was Shreeshanth. Sachin came down the wicket to hit him over long on. Damn, that was audacious. That reminded me of a similar stroke Sachin played against McGrath in the Nairobi one-dayer.

One really wishes, Sachin continues to play positive innings rather than the hugely negative, selfish innings that he plays day-in and day-out lately in international cricket.

Sachin stole the thunder of the tournament from a few prospects who were expected to shine in this tournament like Rohit Sharma(who Vengsarkar considers to be a prospective India player), Badrinath(he is still in the reckoning, guess he is yet to do something special to catch selectors eyes). Now, speaking of prospects, where is Vidyut ? Remember some of his really booming shots that he played in the last Mohali Challenger tournament. Too bad, he did not play in this tournament. Guess, he should have cause this venue(Chepauk) is also his home-ground.

Also, one wishes more under 19 players were introduced into this tournament. Maybe India U-19 team can be introduced into this tournament as the 3rd team rather than usual 3rd team. That will really make this tournament a good opening for lots and lots of prospects.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Mediocrity

It's been the story of my life.
I get to know about a skill "A".
I try to learn skill "A" for a while.
And I am simply amazed with my ability to pick up that skill in no time.
I feel extremely comfortable with skill "A" and pursue with it for a while and suddenly I find there are folks who are much better than me in that skill "A".
There comes the frustration cause I cant beat those folks in skill "A", cause I have hit upon a plateau myself and I resign I cant improve my skills in "A" and I say quits.

Soon, I see a new skill "B" and the cycle goes on....

Somehow, it s been always quite easy for me to score 5 or 6 out of 10 in 5 different skills, but never achieved the 10 out of 10 in any one skill. Really wonder how I thrive in mediocrity rather than ever bothered to specialize in one area.

Movies by Sunday

The Thirty Nine Steps:

Alfred Hitchcock movie. The plot was a bit silly i.e in identifying a Mr. Memory to remember the secret and thus pass a secret formula to pass it on to enemy-country, but nevertheless the movie was a good entertainer.
One shot which was truly breathtaking was the one in which two spies(masquerading as policeman) travel in a car alongwith the hero and the heroine in the Scottish countryside. The camera appears to have been placed inside the car(travelling at good speed) in a still-fashion allowing all four people be present on-screen and suddenly the camera pulls away and appears to be on the ground and the car moves on the road at good speed. Thought this was something spectacular considering the year in which the movie was shot i.e 1935.

The Human Stain:

Good movie. The story was spectacular and somehow the "Lagey Raho.. " value of "tell the truth" hit me while watching this movie. Only if Anthony Hopkins had done that ...
Of course, Anthony Hopkins did not and thus we have a good story. Good starcast truly lifted the viewing-experience.

The Road to Guantanamo:

Documentary tale, quite gripping but sadly while watching this movie one's opinion is bound to oscillate between "being tough on terrorists/terrorism" to "adopting a humane approach to terrorists".
Thought some portions of this movie was badly shot. In one sequence the three Brits of Pakistani origin are said to be in Guantanamo but sadly the terrain in the backdrop appeared to be totally barren with rocks and seems to have been shot under a terrific hot sun. But I guess these shots instead of being shot on a tropical/equatorial location (considering the fact where Guantanamo is located), those shots were shot maybe in Iran or Afghanistan.