It may be viewed by many as Karan Johar’s ‘coming off the age’ movie, by a few more as the latest installment in Bollywood’s 9/11 series and a few see it as the comeback of Shahrukh-Kajol pair. I would like to call it a good movie and one should not make a mistake of not crediting the movie for what it actually is-a good movie that is! An average moviegoer overfed by the candyfloss Karan-Shahrukh movies is advised to be prepared to meet with a huge disappointment. It’s a love story but a mature one at it. The protagonist’s love for his wife, his stepson, his mother, his brother, a certain Mama Jane who helps him on one of his road journeys, all culminating in him wanting to meet the US Prez and give him the simplest of messages, ‘My Name is Khan and I am not a Terrorist’ captures the entire nation’s fancy touching infinite lives in the process.I liked the movie.
This is one of the interesting reviews of MNIK I came across online.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Testing times!
This seems to be the culmination of all the testing times one gets to face given the fact that I have quizzes going on with impending hostel elections where I am standing for the post of literary affairs secretary and a few other miscellaneous complications. But then its also going to be one of the most exciting opportunities which is quite unique in itself since this is the first time I'm doing anything of this (political) magnitude.It's going to be an interplay of a myriad of factors all making for a highly interesting showdown in the hostel.I'm positively banking on my strengths trying not to brood over the future ramifications a lot letting Lord Krishna's 'Karmanye Vadhikarasthe...' guide me through this journey :)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Shucks! I am on a fast
I did it! I did it again!
It's Shivaratri and I once again told myself and everyone who matters to me that I am going to fast on this day(for the second time in a row),in-spite of knowing that I would invariably end up breaking it well before the day breaks.
Strangely enough, I wanted to go have breakfast in the mess today though I don't remember when was the last time I woke up in time to have one.I was itching to have that terrible SK mess lunch like never before.Living true to the ChemE reputation, I didn't have classes in the morning slots.So,starving in the room,doing nothing to engage myself substantially didn't help me much to get over my gastronomical troubles.My mom is the only person who could help me out of this fix.She told me it's technically acceptable to have some fruits and fluids going in.So,there I go to Gurunath to fetch some fruits from this newly built fruit shop(Trust me,it's awesome!)and find people all over the place hogging on all sorts of food possible on the planet making me feel sick in the stomach. I had to get out of the place with a packet of humble dates.How I cursed this guy who just then got his order of hot chicken puff under my breath!Poor chap!I officially ended my fast at 7.30 with a plate of Tifanys' Idly feeling a little guilty but with a fresh revelation that fasting is so not for me :D
P.S.:Why did I want to fast in the first place? Well folks,its good for health-spiritual and physical! So am I told!
It's Shivaratri and I once again told myself and everyone who matters to me that I am going to fast on this day(for the second time in a row),in-spite of knowing that I would invariably end up breaking it well before the day breaks.
Strangely enough, I wanted to go have breakfast in the mess today though I don't remember when was the last time I woke up in time to have one.I was itching to have that terrible SK mess lunch like never before.Living true to the ChemE reputation, I didn't have classes in the morning slots.So,starving in the room,doing nothing to engage myself substantially didn't help me much to get over my gastronomical troubles.My mom is the only person who could help me out of this fix.She told me it's technically acceptable to have some fruits and fluids going in.So,there I go to Gurunath to fetch some fruits from this newly built fruit shop(Trust me,it's awesome!)and find people all over the place hogging on all sorts of food possible on the planet making me feel sick in the stomach. I had to get out of the place with a packet of humble dates.How I cursed this guy who just then got his order of hot chicken puff under my breath!Poor chap!I officially ended my fast at 7.30 with a plate of Tifanys' Idly feeling a little guilty but with a fresh revelation that fasting is so not for me :D
P.S.:Why did I want to fast in the first place? Well folks,its good for health-spiritual and physical! So am I told!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My Entry
This is my entry shortlisted for the finals of Saarang CSR Youth Summit aka Essence.It is a piece written in extreme haste just a few hours before the deadline.Just thought I'll share it here! I found it satisfactory though there was a lot more depth to the given topic which I am of the opinion, is not quite quite delved completely:
'A governance problem in my city: My solutions'
I no longer am a regular citizen of my birth-town Hyderabad but it doesn’t make me any less critical to the problems of the city which I grew up with. Most of the big cities like Chennai (where I currently stay in), Hyderabad etc. share common, inevitable problems that come with the modern urban civilisation like inflated traffic, sewage and garbage management, rise of slums, terrorism, flood management etc. But meticulous planning and implementation on the part of policy-makers and administrators can help make the situation better. The following are a few problems plaguing the city:
• Unmanageable traffic that causes fatal accidents in some cases and loss to productive work hours ruining economy to a considerable extent.
• Sewage overflowing in certain areas especially during flood throwing a spanner into normalcy of city life.
• Garbage problem on the roadside due to lack of motivation and such other problems on the part of municipal employees leading to piled up waste mottling the city beauty.
• Slums are on rise owing to more number of poor people moving to cities in search of employment sort of encroaching on the urban space. They are the breeding grounds for communicable diseases and unrelenting poverty.
• Hyderabad has been attracting a spate of terrorist attacks over the past few years. Those blasts at the Lumbini Park, the famous Gokul Chat area etc. shook the citizens thoroughly. It is one more concerning which needs to be immediately redressed.
• Floods are not, as a matter of fact, as big a problem in Hyderabad as the above but yet, when they arrive, city life is halted to an alarming extent.
• In addition to this, problems associated with burgeoning cosmopolitan circles like night life which more often than not, are reasons for drunken driving, drug peddling, raunchy culture, creating a highly imbalanced social life.
My Solutions:
• To curb the traffic menace, it’s important that a minimum degree of awareness is created among everyone that uses the road. Effective planning of city, fly-overs at appropriate locations, traffic education in schools, motivating people to use techniques to curb pollution and traffic problem like car-pooling, strict traffic supervision, monitoring speed of the vehicles through modern technology etc are a few measures which may alleviate traffic to a large extent.
• Modern science can get electricity out of sewage and garbage. So, setting up board of workers to collect them regularly from time to time to this purpose can be a productive way of solving this problem.
• Slums can be discarded through establishing rapid action committees which work towards betterment of slum-dwellers condition by providing them with compulsory education, employment, bringing them under the purview of various government policies.
• City police officials claim to have an efficient intelligence system in place to curb any impending terrorist attacks on city. But time and again, terrorist outfits managed to break all the rungs of security to make a negative impact on city. People should be made an active part in vigilance of city. Advanced intelligence methods and modern forensic techniques should be made effective use of in tracking down the criminals and prevent future attacks.
• Flood management can be achieved with effective designing of city roads, underground water management.
• Night life is not something which can be avoided or completely gotten rid of for its a matter of people’s right to express themselves, relax and indulge themselves in their own hard-earned money. But when it takes ugly shapes like drug-peddling, it causes immense damage which needs to checked. Enforcement of anti-drugs and narcotic laws should be strictly done. Youth should be counselled, drug-addicts should be rehabilitated and motivated against this menace.
• Child labour and unemployment are other major social problems affecting society. Employment schemes like NREGS should be brought to everyone’s reach and every child’s right to education should be identified and respected. Stringent legal measures should be taken against people who go against these fundamental rights. Humanity of people should be appealed to help the poor in receiving education to shape good citizens of a better nation.
• Women have better opportunities in city than elsewhere. Still, many of them are yet to come out of the confines of their kitchens and take an active part in policy-making. Fifty percent representation of women in local bodies is a welcome move. But thirty-three percent women in parliament and state assemblies is still an unrealised dream which needs to take shape through effective political lobbying. A lot of women are victims of domestic violence even in cities. This is an issue of alarming concern which can be solved by empowering women and strong legal support provided to them.
To create a model city, all the above problems need to be addressed without any procrastination on the part of legislative and executive bodies.
'A governance problem in my city: My solutions'
I no longer am a regular citizen of my birth-town Hyderabad but it doesn’t make me any less critical to the problems of the city which I grew up with. Most of the big cities like Chennai (where I currently stay in), Hyderabad etc. share common, inevitable problems that come with the modern urban civilisation like inflated traffic, sewage and garbage management, rise of slums, terrorism, flood management etc. But meticulous planning and implementation on the part of policy-makers and administrators can help make the situation better. The following are a few problems plaguing the city:
• Unmanageable traffic that causes fatal accidents in some cases and loss to productive work hours ruining economy to a considerable extent.
• Sewage overflowing in certain areas especially during flood throwing a spanner into normalcy of city life.
• Garbage problem on the roadside due to lack of motivation and such other problems on the part of municipal employees leading to piled up waste mottling the city beauty.
• Slums are on rise owing to more number of poor people moving to cities in search of employment sort of encroaching on the urban space. They are the breeding grounds for communicable diseases and unrelenting poverty.
• Hyderabad has been attracting a spate of terrorist attacks over the past few years. Those blasts at the Lumbini Park, the famous Gokul Chat area etc. shook the citizens thoroughly. It is one more concerning which needs to be immediately redressed.
• Floods are not, as a matter of fact, as big a problem in Hyderabad as the above but yet, when they arrive, city life is halted to an alarming extent.
• In addition to this, problems associated with burgeoning cosmopolitan circles like night life which more often than not, are reasons for drunken driving, drug peddling, raunchy culture, creating a highly imbalanced social life.
My Solutions:
• To curb the traffic menace, it’s important that a minimum degree of awareness is created among everyone that uses the road. Effective planning of city, fly-overs at appropriate locations, traffic education in schools, motivating people to use techniques to curb pollution and traffic problem like car-pooling, strict traffic supervision, monitoring speed of the vehicles through modern technology etc are a few measures which may alleviate traffic to a large extent.
• Modern science can get electricity out of sewage and garbage. So, setting up board of workers to collect them regularly from time to time to this purpose can be a productive way of solving this problem.
• Slums can be discarded through establishing rapid action committees which work towards betterment of slum-dwellers condition by providing them with compulsory education, employment, bringing them under the purview of various government policies.
• City police officials claim to have an efficient intelligence system in place to curb any impending terrorist attacks on city. But time and again, terrorist outfits managed to break all the rungs of security to make a negative impact on city. People should be made an active part in vigilance of city. Advanced intelligence methods and modern forensic techniques should be made effective use of in tracking down the criminals and prevent future attacks.
• Flood management can be achieved with effective designing of city roads, underground water management.
• Night life is not something which can be avoided or completely gotten rid of for its a matter of people’s right to express themselves, relax and indulge themselves in their own hard-earned money. But when it takes ugly shapes like drug-peddling, it causes immense damage which needs to checked. Enforcement of anti-drugs and narcotic laws should be strictly done. Youth should be counselled, drug-addicts should be rehabilitated and motivated against this menace.
• Child labour and unemployment are other major social problems affecting society. Employment schemes like NREGS should be brought to everyone’s reach and every child’s right to education should be identified and respected. Stringent legal measures should be taken against people who go against these fundamental rights. Humanity of people should be appealed to help the poor in receiving education to shape good citizens of a better nation.
• Women have better opportunities in city than elsewhere. Still, many of them are yet to come out of the confines of their kitchens and take an active part in policy-making. Fifty percent representation of women in local bodies is a welcome move. But thirty-three percent women in parliament and state assemblies is still an unrealised dream which needs to take shape through effective political lobbying. A lot of women are victims of domestic violence even in cities. This is an issue of alarming concern which can be solved by empowering women and strong legal support provided to them.
To create a model city, all the above problems need to be addressed without any procrastination on the part of legislative and executive bodies.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Essence of Saarang!
Finally caught some breathing space to write a post about Saarang and the "quintessentially essential Essence" (as my co-coords at newsletter liked to call it!) that kept me occupied those four days. My thoughts on this experience are quite mixed up.Should I have just gone around, had fun, tripped more as a newzie coordinator and put a li'l more peace in life?Well..maybe! I couldn't catch more than 4 hours of sleep every night those 4 days. It was pretty grueling that way. In retrospect, that's a very enticing and too-painful-to-have-squandered-it kinda thought. But then, was Essence that bad after all that I lose my sleep over thinking what I missed elsewhere? Not really..I got to meet and befriend quite a good number of people from different parts of the country, from both engineering and non-engineering backgrounds. I got to be a part of some highly intellectual discussions like the special session we had with Dr.Arun Shorie (He liked my question!!! :D) ,panel discussion with bigheads like Vibhu Nayar, Sasi Kumar etc , a field trip to Mr.Elango's model village, Kuttambakam. Each of these was greatly different from what I am usually exposed to. They did trigger some really interesting train of thoughts in me about issues ranging from sexual abuse of children and women, unemployment and illiteracy, microfinance etc. It was quite an enriching experience but then I would be totally lying if I said I didn't miss being with my friends and let Saarang take over me completely.
All that I enjoyed in Saarang apart from Essence are the professional shows. I had my own sweet time on stage emceeing the Choreo Nite (Apparently, I seemed like I ran short of adjectives :( at the end of the show). SEL show was awesome but come to think of it, Sonu was better.No regrets in missing the Rock show for I got the much needed rest from all the madness only then. All in all, it was a highly hectic Saarang that left me totally exhausted and being a workaholic that I am,satisfied.
All that I enjoyed in Saarang apart from Essence are the professional shows. I had my own sweet time on stage emceeing the Choreo Nite (Apparently, I seemed like I ran short of adjectives :( at the end of the show). SEL show was awesome but come to think of it, Sonu was better.No regrets in missing the Rock show for I got the much needed rest from all the madness only then. All in all, it was a highly hectic Saarang that left me totally exhausted and being a workaholic that I am,satisfied.
Ishqiya
One of the mind-blowing movies I watched lately. Absolute originality and boldness of the plot hit you like a splash of cold water. Its razor-sharp characters and unconventional plot keep you hooked till the end. Very well-cast movie with Vidya Balan stealing the show inspite of the presence of seasoned veteran Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad 'Circuit' Warsi .A special mention to the totally awesome music by Vishal Bharadwaj!
Monday, January 4, 2010
First Encounters!
The first few days of the semester can be real fun in class. It is the time you get to know a totally new person wearing the mantle of a professor from really close quarters. Trying to figure people out has always been of great interest to me! Based on the policy they put forth which they say is going to be adhered to as strictly as Barney follows Bro Code or our Parliament follows constitution for the rest of the semester, one can easily draw a map. I end up liking a few,compromising with many and in very rare but not impossible cases,absolutely loathing a few which makes up for very intriguing first encounters :)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
19!
No,it's not a movie in the league of 7 or 8 or 21 or 2012!It's what I happen to turn this very day,3rd of January.It was a special birthday celebrated in a train for the first time for I was traveling back to IITM. I didn't miss bumps at all for it was one helluva bumpy train journey [:P]. I had my dear friends by my side,Nitya and Shreya waiting for the clock to tick 12 though I missed my family very much.And thanks to all the friends who made it a point to wish me at that time of night. Last year, at the same time,I had all my batch mates in hostel coming to wish me. It is more or all less made up for with all those calls and SMSs! [:)]
And by the way, my new year resolution:Blog more!!
And by the way, my new year resolution:Blog more!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)