Josh Unlimited

My New Address

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 08:35:00 +0000

Moved all my blogs to my new external website

http://www.joshzindabad.com

All my posts from http://Joshzindabad.sulekha.com and http://joshunlimited.blogspot.com are now hosted at my new website http://www.joshzindabad.com

Do keep reading!

Cheers!

Kites- soaring high and dipping low

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:59:00 +0000

I have been away from blogging for past few months. Reasons have been many. Just for this time I won’t blame it on work. Because despite truck loads of things to do at work, if I had the will I could have taken out some time to post a new blog. Also, I had no dearth of topics- new novels and movies, lots of political issues that I really wanted to write about, and many a issues about which I had not much idea(like the Greece debt crisis).But somehow the lethargy crept in. And then there was twitter (and FB), where you get instant feedback on your 140 characters, so that instant gratification in a way overtook the desire to write a lengthy blog post (and as such most of the times my blog posts are very verbose). But then again friends asked me why I was not writing anything these days. The fact that at least some people read my blog motivated me to write again. And as a comeback post, nothing could be better than a movie review. (it’s like my area of interest;)

It’s been almost two years that we have been hearing about the movie Kites. After it finally released on 21^st to very disparate reviews, Kites has been soaring high and dipping low across the globe. Some praised it lavishly, others dismissed it as trash. One of my friends even compared it to maha-disasterous Tashan. I didn’t hate the movie, I didn’t love it either. It was okay and watchable. The story of two lovers on the run, who don’t understand each other’s language, makes for a decent viewing. The opening scene in kites would remind you of the movie “kite runner”. And it’s true of most of the scenes in the movie, which look very hollywoodish. My problem was the super hyped chemistry between Mexican mori and greek god. There wasn’t much of it. For starters, barbara is not as beautiful (read HOT) as claimed. Hrithik, He looks absolutely great, like he always does, blessed with the natural good looks and an amazing persona. As far as dance is concerned, well, I would say he has done much better in the past. I used to be a total Hrithik worshipper till some time ago. But in my opinion Hrithik might lose out to the likes of Shahid because his body of work in dance is very limited. Kangna, the girl who is always meant to play those psycho roles, gets a raw deal after her “fashion” ka jalwa performance. She gets harly 5-6 scenes in the movie. Before Kites, Basu, the director has made a very identifiable film named “Life in a metro”. And that emotional connect with the characters is totally missing here. And one of the characters who played kangna’s brother (somebody named Nicholas brown I guess), gives an awful and irritating performance as the villain. The film is shot in style across beautiful barren landscapes. But the slow speed of the film is a dampener of sorts. The songs are average.

Indian audience as such is not adept at reading subtitles, and half the film is in Spanish. The end point is- it doesn’t cater to the traditional bollywood market. It is primarily targeted at western audience with a lot of bollywood glamour and masala thrown in. Like Hrithik said in an interview-“kites is pasta, not biryani”. But that’s what they have tried, adding biryani masala to bland pasta. The end dish is tempting, good to eat in portions, but doesn’t end up to a gourmet experience.

P.S: Don’t feel guilty if you have booked tickets already. It’s fine as one time watch:)

C(h)atastrophe!

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

The latest fad in the social networking sphere is sites like Chatroulette and Omegle. I was amazed to see the extensive coverage they got on TV this weekend. I first accidentally read about Chatroulette in Vineet’s external blog. Chatroulette is not a very novel concept though. You have a webcam, you start looking for random strangers and just like the game of Russian roulette you will come across a random stranger with whom who can chat and talk. If you don’t want to, then you just have to press the next button. And voila! you will have another random stranger with whom you can chat with. So, this way you can peep into random webcams and meet an array of people. Omegle is like the text only version of Chatroulette - you don’t get to see cams, but can text chat randomly with other people. Both are relatively new sites and on their way to becoming big success stories (somewhat in the league of twitter may be!). Chatroulette was started in Nov 2009 by a 17 yr old student named Andrey Ternovskiy, in Moscow. While Omegel site was created by 18-year old Leif K-Brooks around a year ago. These guys make me feel old, I tell you..lol.

Okay enough said and heard. I decided to use them myself. Another reason of my curiosity was the fact that Chatroulette uses Flash and RTMP (Real time Media Flow protocol) and since I have been working on Adobe technologies like Flex for some time now, it’s an obvious area of interest. But the interface is pretty neat and minimalistic and it doesn’t look like flex/flash coding.

And my experience was-WEIRD..FUN..DISGUST..DUMBSTRUCK..YUCK..WOW..and more…

The biggest fun factor in Chatroulette is the ability to click Next. You never know who you are going to meet next. And that surprise keeps you glued. Also, there is this hope of meeting someone special or just to kill time or to have interesting conversations with people from all over the world. I spent some 4-5 hours and at one point it became quite addictive. I was mostly “Nexted” a lot. People looked at my cam and clicked “Next” very fast. So, you get “nexted” when your partner ditches you and clicks next on you. It’s like virtual dumping.lol

For some people it can be heartbreaking-The “rejection”- It may be a big blow to your confidence when a pretty damsel tells you how ugly you are. ;)

The nudity is perhaps the biggest the biggest turn off. It’s sometimes downright vulgar and very offensive. It’s a high risk site for kids and I was aghast to see a lot of kids, very young who should not be there. And some of them using profanities like anything. Also, a major turn-off is a group of people, mostly teenagers, who have nothing better to do and making fun of you. It’s very hard to find sensible folks. The site is a big NO for kids. It’s not very long ago that I was in that college-going phase, so I can totally relate to the rush the internet brings with it. I believe I still have that childlike excitement of meeting people. But this site is a reality check for optimists like me. There are tonnes of perverts around and if you are homophobic, then stay miles away. Because even you’re simple “Hi” and “hellos” can be misunderstood as gay advances. But then it’s simple- if you don’t want to chat, just click next.

It also shows that each of the people (and I am ashamed to admit it, me included) on Chatroulette had a common bond of being voyeuristic to some extent. So does sitting there, “next”-ing people in the hope of something interesting thing up next qualifies to be a voyeur? I am not sure though.

A bigger disgust, which I think would be common a lot if you look asian/Indian etc, is the racial slurs. I was called a paki and terrorist by at least 2-3 people. Pointing middle fingers is common and abuses are exchanged in abundance. But that’s the catch. At one point you will be having a blissful conversation with a sweet girl and the moment you click next you may find a sick psycho around.

Not all was bad though. I made loads of small and big conversations. Based on my skewed data, I would say- Chinese were a very enthusiastic bunch, with their broken English, very friendly, a few girls actually talked to me very decently, which was a surprise cause its actually very difficult and rare on Chatroulette to chat with girls. Lol;). French were very artistic, no one was into technical stuff…all were either artists, painters etc..The best conversation I had with an architect who even helped me with French language and grammar tips. Sadly I lost his email id.:(. Now that’s the down point. If you click the next button by mistake, all your conversation is gone. Let’s say you were having a great conversation with a “oh-so-beautiful” girl and accidentally u clicked next. Voila! It’s gone. Or maybe you bonded really well over some business stuff and you forgot to exchange contacts. Those deals are lost forever. You got the drift, I guess. Also talked to a Pakistani, a few from Brazil, a few from US, a group of students from IIT-kharagpur(thats what they said, lol), who were busy preparing chits for next days exams(hard to believe,lol)- Some of my conversations went interesting, even exchanged face book addresses and emails. And yes, also realized a few things- Indian IT sector is well recognized, people know about bollywood, and ofcourse the spicy Indian food..in short very stereotyped we are!!:)

I would say despite all its downsides, sites like are Chatroulette are here to stay. I don’t know how it makes money. There are no advertisements as such on it. But as long as there is a voyeur in each of us, it will thrive on itJ. So Go on. Try it and experience your share of FUN..WEIRDNESS..DISGUST..YUCK..WOW..

PS: The most strange thing is they have a mechanism that if someone reports you broadcasting profane material, the site will block you for, hold your breath, 10 MINUTES..10 minutes? i mean…ab kya kahein…;)

PPS: The best moments are simple waving of hands or a smile from unknown strangers. Makes you feel comforted in a not so comfortable zone.

PPPS: Edited Info-Just In- OMG, this has to be live reporting- As I was writing this blog, I went to look at omegle link and it has now a beta webcam option also, just like chatroulette..lol;)..things change so fast..;)

Musings of a Musafir- part 2- Mumbai

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:56:00 +0000

Continued from part 1-

In a few hours I was at Bhiwandi. I asked a few people and took a bus to Borivali (Thanx to Bollywood movies, I knew the names of at least half of the places in Mumbai). Next stop was Vijay’s place in Andheri. I had never met him before, but knew him for quite some time now. (Thanx to infy blogs). I decided to hop an auto and Vijay was guiding me to his place. Also, on sms support was my friend Mr. PF(pavementfrued) who fled the city when he got to know I was coming (jiske liye usey main kabhi maaf nahi karoonga:@..he he). But he is this perfect marathi google maps, giving me directions and options etc, while he was having fun in the Kerala backwaters ;)..grrrr..Anyway, finally I reached Vijay’s place, and it was like homecoming. In an alien city of this mammoth size, they made me feel completely at home.

Time for lunch and I was treated sumptuous ghar ka khana. Yummy South Indian meal. Vijay’s mom made sure that I eat properly. That’s the thing with Moms; they find such pleasure in feeding kidsJ.

Now Vijay was very keen on watching MNIK, and that kind of surprised me. He is a true KJo-SRK basher and leaves no chances to taunt me for my liking of that kind of cinema. But then he was curious as to how the film garnered some 100 crores in 3 days etc. And though I wasn’t very keen but I had to live up to my reputation of being able to watch Kjo-kajol stuff any number of times. So I agreed. Another reason was there weren’t any good movies around.

Now mumbai would have like 100s of malls, so it’s not difficult to find a movie show at any point of time. We zeroed in at Oberoi mall. But then I found one reason not to love Mumbai. The ticket prices-280 bucks for one ticket, that too on weekday. I almost had a heart attack. Man! I can watch 3 such movies in PVR Chandigarh. Bakwas. A little mall hopping followed. Went to this book shop –crossword (or was it landmark, don’t remember exactly). I like the warmth of a bookstore. Just being there makes me feel better. And for next one hour we discussed some stupid, some serious things and ultimately leading to thoughts of introspection. Time well spent chatting aimlessly with an equally chatter-box friend. A confused me, a friend who takes immense pleasure in pulling my leg and thousands of books around, make for very interesting conversations. And yes, NOM to Mumbai girls- But if this mall was anything to go by I would say Girls are way better in Chandigarh. lol. Anyday;)

Anyway I knew there are chances that I might get killed by anti-srk brigade. Luckily they didn’t show up, but Vijay didn’t spare me and finally I could not justify MNIK and my good review. A little more mall hopping and we went straight to Juhu beach.

Now after my first beach darshan in Valsad I guess I have started developing a liking for beaches. But this was not the “quiet” kind of beach. This was minikumbh mela.lol. It was full as far as I could see. There were people all around, lost in their own doings, lovers cozying around, families with kids, people from all walks of life. Our chit-chat continued, along with chai-shai and snacks. We sat on the beach and played with sand. I used to play with mitti a lot as a kid, and even eat a lot of it.lol.:) I made a small stupid structure and then thought that waves would wash it away. The filmi keeda bite again I wanted to walk in the waters. No Ikatara type feelings here. Wake up Nitin, I told myself. But since it was dark and I could not see the murkier waters so I decided to feel the waves, bare feet. That’s the thing with movies. They romanticize the idea of a beach so much. I found it underwhelming but still good. Vijay stayed away and continued with his praise for Chennai beaches. (Chennai tourism deptt should hire him)Chennai is this, chennai is that and I tried to counter-attack with horror- stories of chennai-suffered souls. After walking for good one mile or so, with sand in my feet and breeze on my face, we decided to have a good dose of junk food. That’s the beauty when you are out in a new city, you can have lotsa junk.lol. We headed back home and nonstop bakwas continued till late night. Nothing like time well spent with a friendJ

Wake up and smell the coffee, this phrase was perhaps coined for filter coffee it seems. I haven’t had much filter coffee in life, but got an “instant” liking for this one. So, I gulped down two full cups. Wonderful. And after a good dose of yummy, crisp and light dosas, it was good bye time after an immensely memorable stay with some very gracious folks.

Next stop was my college friend Roy. BEST is the best thing to commute in Mumbai, I guess. So, I took a bus from Bandra to Vashi and what all places in between. I wanted to take that double Decker bus (again my filmi curiosity) but I couldn’t find any. Met Roy after some 3 yrs and he hasn’t changed much since college, and we still talk the same things..Went to Mcd, ate junk, and bitched a lot, lol. He bought a jeans, we went back to his place, and chatted along esp about the real estate prices in Mumbai. Through the window, as far as I could see there were buildings, skyrises. Lazed around a bit, called up Mr. PF and cursed him;) and when Roy was back I asked him if we could visit gateway of India and stuff. My point was-“Main wapas ja ke kya kahoonga, ki maine Gateway bhi nahi dekha”..lol. so despite a time crunch, we headed to Gateway of India and the area around Taj etc. Roy the ever jugaadu dude made sure that my luggage was in place and we reached GOI. Since the GOI is almost in another city so the only option was, yes u guessed it right, to take a local.

Now the one thing that I was totally scared of in Mumbai was the local trains. Don’t know why. Local trains are like the lifeline of Mumbai. Thousands of people use them daily. I was really amazed to see the super quick self ticket dispensing system in place. You just have to be inside a local to actually believe that one train can accommodate 1000 people in one dabba at a time. And to this Roy casually pointed out-“Aaj bheed jyada nahi hai”. I almost fainted. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against crowd- I believe in Geetism- “Log kehte hain mumbai bada crowded hai, arre crowded matlab kya, khud bheed ka hissa hain aur problem bhi khud hi ko hai”. But filminess aside, that is perhaps the biggest problem of Mumbai- a city with overflowing population and limited resources. In fact any number of resources would be less because of the sheer size of population.

Jai ho! After 45 minutes of journey and surviving my “local scare” effortlessly we reached CST.CST is an architectural wonder in itself. Almost all the areas felt familiar because of Hindi films. The area around the iconic Taj hotel has that vintage feel, very royal very posh. Foreigners flock this place .Its two notches more elegant than say CP at Delhi. GOI is good, nothing great about it. But standing in front of Taj was an overwhelming feeling. All those 26/11 images flashed in my mind. But then as they say, Mumbai moved on. Do they even have an option not to! I mean in a city of this size, time moves very fast. Resilient by the circumstances I would say.

It was time to rush back and was forced to take a taxi when the local train actually ditched by a few minutes. Again took this shahid kapoor/JWM avatar and hopped a taxi with Roy only to reach the station just in time. And haan, the taxi costed 350 bucks, but thanks to a super fast sardarji, mamaged to reach on time!

As soon as I settled in the train the entire journey flashed like a film before my eyes. Like the sand struck on my feet in Juhu beach, Mumbai refused to go outta mind. May be I’ll come back, maybe I ll not. And me settling down here?, i guess never. Mumbai, as it has been shown in hundreds of movies, is not that bad after all. Its not that larger than life either. I agree, two days are never enough to judge a mammoth city like this. These thoughts are merely what I felt in the city. I have been to metros like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. But Mumbai is like mother of them all, at least in expanse. The city is both expansive and expensive. I really liked a few things though, e.g. the meter system in auto. Hassle free- you pay for the distance you travel. Simple. In some cities the autowallas will rape your pockets for such distances.(Chandigarh is one example and though I haven’t been to Chennai, but I have heard enough horror stories of auto wallas robbing gullible people.).Then there are the BEST buses.

Mumbai remains an enigma. The larger than life images are somewhat faded now.

Though I didn’t get a chance to see the Mumbai of Aamir or the Bombay of slumdog(not that I was very keen to) I still feel- Mumbai ek pagal kar dene wala sheher hai.. Too big for dreams to be lost, too large hearted to accommodate all..

Also, sadly, I didn’t find any movie director who would cast me in a movie, despite the fact that I am ready to do anything (yeah, only if the script demands).:D..lol..sigh..May be next time..;)

PS: If you are from mumbai and felt i was too skewed in my perspective..NOM..Dont rush to kill me, I have alreday fled the city;).

Musings of a Musafir - Valsad-Nasik-Shirdi- part I

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:17:00 +0000

Life is a journey they say. And journeys have a life of their own. Its not very often that I get a chance to be traveling alone. But when I do, I always end up cherishing the experience. This one week, super-fast, super-short trip to Shirdi, Nasik, Mumbai etc, which came up quite unexpectedly, was one of those memorable experiences which made me relish the rich expanse of this country and of course brought a chance of meeting a mélange of people. Also, the kick that you get out of traveling alone is unparalleled. The uncertainty and the unforeseen make it all the more exciting.

The trip began with a train almost missed. The auto-wala was however more confident than me about the chances of boarding the train from Kalka. “Pehle kyu nahi bataya”..he fumed..”ab aapko seedha platform pe le chalta hoon”. And he sure did. This guy saved my day by taking me directly to the platform(can you beat that!). And then started my run across the platform, and finally catching the train just in time..whoo..a.la Kareena in Jab we met. My breathing returned to normal after only after two stations had passed.The trip was peppered with lots of such JWM-ish moments, which made it all the fun.

And I love the train journeys. The good thing about rail journeys is you get a chance to meet so many people and see a wide range of scenic and sometimes not so-scenic things. Sitting idly and watch life passing by. And you get to eat..a lot..train journeys are the best time to let yourself go. Chips, chai, chocolate, moongfali, you name it! And in between all that munching, you can curl up with your favorite novel, listen to the songs you want, talk to complete strangers, or just gaze out and remain lost in your thoughts. I am usually shy talking to strangers but once I get along, then there is no stopping me. And the things that surprise me is that how we can share very personal details with complete strangers. Met this lady from Vadodra, who was reading Shantaram, and I was so ashamed of myself, cause I was finishing up last few pages of Twilight. Chatted with her and fellow passengers. There were businessmen, cracking deals and tracking consignments over the phone. It’s fun actually to observe people this way. And it was so strange that many people actually had the same link to this small industrial town in Himanchal named Baddi. Never knew one small relatively unknown industrial town could attract so many businessmen and entrepreneurs.

I woke up next morning at 4 almost sub-conscious. The train was at Ratlam..and again this JWM dialogue..ratlam ki galiyon main..struck my mind. I stepped out of my sleep just to get a vibe of the platform..which wasn’t filmi at all. Sad!. As the day progressed, I was in two minds, whether to go to Bombay or get off at Valsad. Valsad is a small, cozy little town in Gujrat. And why I showed confidence in stepping out of the train in this unknown place is because it was a small town. Had it been any other place, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, I would have been okay, But this was Bombay, Mumbai, call it whatever. This was scary..very scary. Now, thanks to hundreds of Hindi films, the perception about Mumbai is of a scary huge city(partly true), and the first timers always land up in a soup. so, I was naturally scared of landing straight in Mumbai and getting lost in the Mumbai maze. Now that's the power of bollywood films, had it been any other city I would have gone ahead without any apprehension or hitch. But the way our films have depicted Bombay in such a larger than life way that it tends to get a little overwhelming. So, I asked my fellow traveler, about the Valsad plan. When he confirmed , I got off the train at Valsad station, hoping that things would be smooth. But me in an alien land, I was wrong to expect smoothness.

The moment I landed in Valsad I sensed its not going to be as simple as I had imagined it to be. The good thing about valsad is it’s a small town, and the architecture is pretty unique that tiled-stone roofs- a semi-Portuguese and semi-Guajarati influence. Now as the general notion goes, men are from mars and don't ask for directions, and i m no exception:), so instead of asking people i thought i would just look at the bus and destination name and I'll be through. But, I forgot that there is a thing called language. All the signs were in Guajarati. One thing I really like to see happening sometime soon is, with due respect to regional languages, that the signs should be marked in English as well, just for the sake of stupid souls like me. When I am on a trip alone or otherwise, people are usually nice to me(may be because the “ye-main-kahan-aa-gaya” kind of expression is too evident on my face). But sometimes people who are very laconic or reserved don't like me intruding their space, so they respond in monosyllables. Anyway, since the timetable was in Guajarati, i could still read Nasik written somewhere in the middle and time marked 3:15pm. To reconfirm, I approached a few people, and they told me different bus timing-3 , 3:30, 4 and so on. My watch said 1pm. so, with two hours to kill, I remembered a sign board that I had seen a few minutes ago- kirthal beach- 4kms. Oh god a beach. Now, I haven't seen a beach till now in my life, in real. so I was hyper excited. I knew I had to just go there, even if its for 5 minutes. I hopped an auto and rushed straight to the beach.

The way to the beach was very nice, twists n turns and a cool breeze. And then it appeared. The expanse of the sea was overwhelming, when I stood at the shore. But then as I approached closer, all was not that nice as it appeared.

The beach, though there were hardly a few people during this time of the day, was rather dirty. As I went closer, I immediately removed any thoughts of stepping into the water. But it was still a good sight. A few kids were playing around. a young couple was cozying around. But it was largely silent and windy. I stared into the horizon for sometime and then settled for a nariyal paani in the shade with cool breeze on my face. The hot sun and cool wind, deadly.

I rushed back soon, to catch the bus. I met this enterprising Guajarati man, who had some factory in Baddi.(the B town connection again). The way from Valsad to Nasik was quite scenic. so, I got to see an altogether different landscape which I am not used to and also the different ways people live.

Once in Nasik, i just searched for a “hotel decent”(taking a cue from JWM again). A bath and quick dinner followed. And dinner in a Marathi style kaka da dhaba restaurant. No matter where you go in India, chances are you will always bump into some Punjabi restaurant or dhaba.lol.

Next morning, I finished the work that I had come for and I was left with lot of time. Now Nasik is a part of my childhood memories. I had come here when i was in 8th std. so that's a good 12 years back. Nasik has changed(obviously) a lot. so, i decided to relive my memories and feel nostalgic about the city.

Marathi is easier to read and understand for me than Guajarati. don't know why, may be i have some Marathi genes lol;). But I still couldn't read the bus plates.The auto wala was charging like anything. I tried to play it around. I tried to act local. Not much help.

I landed at Paandav caves. Though this a site of historical and architectural importance, but mostly lovers throng this place for obvious reasons. I mean you can hide inside the gufas and can do you stuff.ahem. The problem is, it can get quite embarrassing for others. Imagine, someone has brought his kids to show them the architectural and historical thing. And inside the caves you get to see the real life versions of khajuraho. I mean, guys do it, but spare the public places.There was this Buddha park at the bottom of this pandav hills. There were a few museums including a film museum but people were there for some other reasons. This was the official PDA space..If you are alone traveler, you will feel it all the more weird. On my way down, I stopped by a lady who was selling guava and kheera and stuff. Talked to her for a while in broken Hindi. simple folks are the best to talk to, even if you don't know the language.

I decide to give Traiyambkeshwar a miss and headed straight to Shirdi. Met this person from Bangalore, who again had a Baddi connection. Nice interesting conversation about what the older generation feels about our current generation. When he got to know about me working in software field , he went on like-“all you young folks these days work in IT and make softwares which make life difficult for us”. He then went on explaining how his ATM card, internet banking and stuff is giving him troubles. I thought next he would blame me for degrading Bangalore.lol. Interestingly,he had high regard for infy and murthy in particular. It was good to talk to him but I was little too optimistic about future. He was not. He said you will realise when you grow old. May be I’ll grow old, but will I grow up! This went on, till we reached Shirdi. The vibe about this place is just like any other religious place. But then Sai baba is highly revered for me and my family. The darshan queue brought back memories again. A lot has changed over the years, new construction, LCD screens, new systems in place, but the essence and the power of this place remains the same. People still come from all over the world to pay a visit to Sai baba making it one of the richest shrines in the world. And I am a follower and a fan too:). Once the darshan was over, we headed to an udipi restaurant and ate a lot and ofcourse, Uncleji payed the bill.:)

I came back to Nasik. Now again the big problem started. How to get to mumbai in the middle of the night.Though PF kept guiding me throughout the trip on sms, but then my friend Vijay suggested some other route to come to his home at andheri. And a dumbo that i am, I asked a sleepy conductor- “mujhe andheri ke flyover tak jaana hai”. He stared at me in disbelief. I quicly modified my question acc to the sms instructions-“okay mujhe borivali tak jana hai”. The conductor regained senses and suggested that I go to Bhiwandi then to Borivali. and then to Andheri. And so it began, finally I was going to mumbai..the megacity!A city that never sleeps and blah blah..I was excited and anxious..The bus roared to life i dozed off.

continued in next part..

PS: I know its a little too long, so decided to make it a two part series. Also, I think the two days in Mumbai were quite packed with lots of things, and Mumbai as such deserves a dedicated blog.:)

PPS: i know its a little too late also, but lets blame it on my health this time.Got a little down with health. Its been two weeks that I came back, so the duration of journey was 15-22 feb 2010.

Aal izz not welll

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:35:00 +0000

The twitterverse is abuzz with the 3 idiots team Vs Chetan Bhagat credit controversy. And I am clearly on Chetan bhagat’s side. Also, I feel very strongly about this issue- The due credit not being given to a writer(in a proper way). If this could happen to Bhagat, imagine what would be the plight of lesser known writers who don't have as much clout(or shall i say Klout;)) and marketing wisdom as Bhagat. I admire Bhagat not so much for his writing abilities but for the fact that he has turned sleepy uninterested engineering graduates into book readers. He has written in the language of masses, the way India speaks, and has found enough resonance esp. in middle-tier India. He has made English writing accessible to many who would otherwise have not read anything. so, my post is going to be very pro-chetan.

I have seen the movie as well as read the book. And I liked them both. Hirani no doubt is a brilliant filmmaker, and has a body of work(munnabhai films) which reflect his sincerity. The question is about credit being given in a proper way. Chetan would agree that his name is there in the end credits(yes, it comes after almost everyone has left the theatre). The matter of contention is about story credit. After watching the movie I can safely say its atleast 60% of the book. In my opinion, Abhijat joshi should get credit for screenplay, they made a lot of modifications in the movie and worked hard, which holds true for all adaptations. But they should acknowledge that the soul of the movie is still Five point someone. How? Simple-admit that its Based on/Inspired by Chetan Bhagat’s novel and Joshi has indeed written the script/screenplay adding his own inputs(lots of them). That should settle this.I mean how difficult it could be to share credit and put an end to this virtual mud slanging.

And a point about bollywood getting more professional. Its absolutely difficult for me to understand why Mr perfectionist Aamir didnt read the book. Even after the controversy. I understand he is a busy man, but just an hour of reading while he is on his way to those “shut-up” press confs would reveal the striking similarities. Take a leaf from Hollywood guys. like Vir sanghvi pointed out in his tweet about how Danny boyle credited Vikas Swaroop even though slumdog was quite different from his book.

And Why I believe this might not be just a publicity exercise for Mr Bhagat- He already has ample fans across college campuses, esp engineering colleges, who like the way he writes. Though despite being the highest selling Indian author in English, he has been under constant critical bashing about his writing style. Puritans have always being snobbish and discarded his books as trashy, pulpy etc. The reason why many journalists and celebs on twitter wont comment on this issue is because if they do, that would establish the fact they have read the book. Many of them would have read his books behind closed doors and enjoyed them, but wont admit publicly. For the uninitiated, let me clarify, reading Chetan bhagat books is considered a sin in the prudish circle who don't read anything beyond marquez.;)

The other reason why I am actually so keenly observing the whole episode is the fact that for the first time I am witnessing something so unique on social media. Will justice be done on twitter and blogs? I doubt, many people still don't use twitter after initial signup. I had to write this post because many of my unaware friends don't use twitter. But Bhagat is a man of sharp mind. The way he has used blogs and tweets to wage a battle is exemplary. This guy is no new to controversies either. A few days ago #chetanblocks rocked the Indian twitterverse. Also, lets not forget that the image of twitter in Indian social mind is slightly negative after Tharoor made the infamous cattle class remarks or more recently, took Krishna head on on the visa issue. Though it remains to be seen how this takes the power of blogging and twitter to new levels. But I think the impact has already been made.

Ohhh yes,finally, about the movie. Its kind of late to write this review, and it doesn't make much difference now. The movie is good, quite good and entertaining. Chatur rocked the show!! the speech was awesome. The songs surprisingly worked better on screen. the lead trio was good, supported by Boman Irani and Kareena. there are a few weird moments though- like babies being delivered using a vaccuum cleaner. But those moments aside its a movie which makes movie-going a fun, enjoyable experience. And yes delivering a wonderful message in the process without being heavy. Hirani deserves full credit…yeah minus the controversy. He made it possible that Bhagat’s novel reaches billions of people in a way he would have never thought.

Kurbaan

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Kurbaan is not Fanna, Fanaa was very romantic. Kurbaan is notNewyork(Thankfully), the actors are not wooden here. But kurbaan is not Khuda ke liye either (sadly). But Kurbaan, despite its loopholes, is an engaging watch for the mere fact that despite knowing pretty much everything, the audience waits for the next twist. Yes, you know all the way that Saif is a terrorist, but you still feel curious about his next move, even though you might guess it beforehand.

It’s a KJo production and he is turning out very well as a producer. Rensil desilva, the director, who is also credited with co-writing rang de basanti has made a good watchable first film, quite thrilling too. Saifeena are good together, nicely played their characters. Vivek oberoi is okay(except that weird american accent which he tries too hard). Om puri is good too. But one thing about Kirron kher, she has played the role of a punjabi mom so often that the minute she appears on screen you suspect she would go the maa-da-laadla way..lol. Thankfully she doesnt! And yes, there is not much about Islam too, unlike the very debatable and thought provoking Khuda ke liye, which remains the best template for movies based on Islamic terrorism. At certain points, kurban is very pro-fundamentalist, justifying the logic of terror. But somehow it becomes repetitive and the climax falters.

The music by salim-sulaiman gels well with the movie. Shukraan allah is good, but you can’t help but notice the mar jaawan influence. Also, its beats and guitar are similar to tujh main rab dikhta hai from rab ne bana di jodi(Both are salim sulaiman’s earlier works) But it’s a good romantic number. But the most haunting one is Ali maula, very pulsating. Kurban hua is wasted in the end credits. However, more than the music it’s the background score that leaves a mark big time. The movie is shot well. No one shoots foreign location better than Yashraj/KJo. And yes this does have a feel of a Hollywood movie, the suburbs and all.

Now that super hyped love making scene. Naah, nothing that burnt the screen but done in a quite clean way.

The overall opinion on Kurbaan has been quite negative. Many of the people in the audience said it has over simplified the terror thing and all. But despite its flaws, despite knowing most of the twists and turns in the story, it keeps you on your seat. And It worked for me.:)

Apocalypse Wow!!

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

While finding a pic for this blog for 2012-the movie over the internet, i came across a comment made on a site, which noted- 2012 is not just a disaster porn, Its a disaster gang-bang. The statement sums it up.This is like the mother of all disaster movies. You may end up loving it if you have a fetish for this genre of films. Or else you may end up having a severe headache. I liked 2012 overall. A nice watch.The Special effects are mind numbing. Clearly outshining other recent movies. In Transformers-2 two, they blew up the pyramids, in GI JOE they blew up the Eiffel tower, 2012 is about blowing up the whole world. And the scale is spectacular. The amount of hard work that has gone into the detailing in CGI effects is commendable.

Now the story. a few searches here and there on google will leave you with a huge amount of information on the apocalyptic prophecies, which are more or less similar to the Maayan prophecy that the world would come to an end in 2012 . But the idea of making an entire film, that too a 2 hr 40 mins hollywood movie out of it demands a script too.Sadly, the director didn't work much hard on it.The story(does anyone care) revolves around this one family and a handful of other characters who have to fight the doomsday. Some of them die, some survive. Nothing new.and yes, while they are doing it, the whole world is getting blown apart. The director Roland Emmerich(how do we pronounce his name), whose earlier works include “The independence day” and “The day after tomorrow”, is notorious for blowing up monuments in his movies. He has done it lavishly again.
The film is a little too long for a hollywood production. Plus there are not many wow moments like the president’s speech in The independence day. And most importantly, it doesn't raise a scary thought- “what if this happens in real”.

If you like to watch some fantastic special effects and the world getting crumbled like a cookie, then go ahead. Otherwise stay (2012) miles away from this.;).

PS: btw, what do you think, Will the world really come to an end in 2012?

Of London..and Ludhiana…

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:59:00 +0000

I was waiting for London dreams to hit theatres. In fact I have been hearing about this movie for quite a few years…almost a decade now. Raj Kumar Santoshi wanted to make this film with Aamir and Shahrukh, which was titled Rashque(meaning jealousy in urdu)then, which seems very apt (not because of aamir-shahrukh rivalry, but because it suits the central idea of the movie.lol). That didn't happen.(sad!).Ultimately Salman took the project to Vipul shah. And he managed to make it finally.

Its a story of two friends, of dreams and ambitions, of love and betrayal, in short a potent mix for a dramatic story. London dreams reunites Ajay devgan and Salman khan as co-stars, 10 years after their last superhit-Hum dil de chuke sanam, which is a very memorable film in more than one ways. The actors have done justice. But Ajay devgn( oops the a is gone now, god knows why), is no rockstar, and perhaps the weakest and totally indigestible point in the movie is his rockstar avatar. He doesn't look like one. But he is an excellent actor. And it shows, because this is his forte- dark, sensitive and angst ridden roles. However, sallu just rocks the movie with his charisma. His ada overshadows ajay’s talent in all the frames.The film is well shot..(including dancing at Louvre and Eiffel etc..now that's the beauty of a hindi film..lol;)

There are loopholes in the screenplay, ajay’s rise and growing up in london, people switching from london to ludhiana with such ease, the whole world getting suddenly crazy about indian music and this band in particular, the formation of band, etc. require suspension of belief.The screenplay is flawed at many levels, but the film works because the central idea of the film is quite potent. Friends, jealousy, music, love, passion, masti..its all there!.Borrowing liberally from Amadeus, the film works at many levels, mostly because of sallu’s charisma and devgn’s acting power. The best scenes are between sallu and ajay, the bonding shows and works! Asin looks good but the ghajini warmth is missing.Rannvijay and Aditya look good and did their bits and pieces.

Now a film based on music has to have some strong score. and when it comes to rock(lets say desi rock or folk rock) Shankar-ehsan-loy are the safest bet in bollywood. They deliver well. I am big fan of SEL and prasoon, because of the amazing work that they come up with.The songs are all good, never out of place. But what makes the songs rock are the lyrics. Prasoon joshi, like always, has given some memorable lyrics, very earthen in flavor, very motivational in appeal, full of oj-ras as we say in hindi. The association with the soil is evident in lyrics like- O Masti jaamun si, tapkey re darr-darr ke, mastiyon ki shaakh hila de, aaj jashn mana jee bhar ke..or Khwab na sagey, zindagi thagey, fir bhi jane kyu, ummeede jagey.. He has some liking for words like tyohaar(festival), suraahi(the long necked earthen pot),neend-khwaab etc. which have been used at least four-five times in the album. Shola hai tu, which is shot at Trafalgar square or watever, opens the film well. Khanabadosh,(i love the humming sound with this word) is a cool song on the lines of pathshala from RDB. Tapkey masti and Man ko ati bhave saiyaan are both fun songs. Jashn hai jeet ka and yaari also fit the narrative.The songs might not look very good on screen, but if listened otherwise, sound very distinctive. Barso re is a wonderful track, sung in total desi rock style, by Vishal dadlani and Roop kumar rathod. However they have edited the Hanuman chalisa portion from the movie(perhaps to avoid controversy).Had they kept it, it would have been the most rocking section of the film.

Over all its timepass, quite melodramatic, a good watch. It could have ended up being cult as Rock on, but it falls short on many levels. However, its all ready to set cash registers ringing!! This is how their fan base wants Sallu and Ajay to be. Charismatic and intense respectively:)

Technorati Tags: ajay devgan,london dreams,vipul shah,salman khan,asin,shankar-ehsan-loy,prasoon joshi

Almora Dusshera

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:59:00 +0000

Hi All,

Please find an account of the amazing Almora Dusshera at my Sulekha blog- Josh zindabad:

http://joshzindabad.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/09/almora-diaries-dusshera-dhamaal.htm

PS: I have removed the earlier post because of sulekha contest entry restrictions.

Have fun

Nitin

Top Gear Quizzing!

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:19:00 +0000

I have been to quite a few quizzes while in school, in college and in infy. Quizzing interests me a lot (though I may not be very good at it..lol) and gives me an adrenaline rush. I mean that feeling of missing an answer, or cracking a tough one cannot be described in words. So when Sunny asked me for Tata crucible, I said an immediate YES. We guys are like sucker for quizzes (and many a times a sucker at quizzes); we have won a few at our deptt. level(where there is a meagre competition..;) and failed miserably at a few.

The Tata quiz was superb.Man!! I was thrilled. This quiz is going to be etched in my memory for long. It was first televised quiz that I actually got a chance to see and also be a part of. We did not clear the prelims, but two other teams from infy did. And one of the two Infosys teams comprising Abhinav kishore and Yatharth won!! Now I know this guy, Abhinav is an absolute stunner when it comes to quizzing. He is a gem, heera hai heera. He would be an idol for anyone who loves quizzing. Very Commendable!.Two doctors from Indian army were runner-ups. they looked seasoned quizzers. talk about passion for quizzing:)

This quiz has encouraged me all the more to work harder!. A few questions were a close call for us. So, if we had used a little more discretion, we could have ended in top 6. But anyway. I am absolutely in love with this kinda quizzing. It gave me more adrenaline rush than any other quiz. It’s high on gloss and glamour too.:).he he

The host- the ever amicable- Giri was a powerhouse. It was great to see this guy. An entirely different experience from what we get on TV. Also, we got to see the Taj Chandigarh, my first visit to any Taj hotel, for that matter. The property is very average on outside, but quite lavish inside (it has to be, its Taj after all ;)). In fact it’s like Infosys buildings, lavishly maintained, though I must say the artwork and paintings were fabulous!

A wonderful experience overall. And yeah, it motivated me enough to improve my general knowledge which is biting the dust ever since I came to this project.;)

The Road never traveled...

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Yeah, it happens with me sometimes. I get into this introspection mode, even if it’s for a small duration. I watched Revolutionary Road today. The movie stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Carprio. The film follows the life of a couple, who are a perfect couple for the world, but in reality they lead a hopelessly miserable life in their perfect home at the Revolutionary road. April( Kate) is a failed actress, is married to Frank wheeler who dreamt of living in Paris, but now works at a regular office. One day, April asks him to leave his job and move to Paris where she could work and he will have all the time on earth to figure out what he wants to do in life. After initial resistance, Frank gives in, but the plan is not so easy to implement. Both of them have inner insecurities that stop them from moving.

I loved the movie for its identifiability (except the failed marriage part), many guys would relate to it. Trapped in a miserable life, not knowing why you are doing a job, when all the time you wanted to do something else, well, that’s another point that you could never figure out what is THAT THING that you want to do.

The acting is great. Esp Kate winslet, she is getting better with age. And I loved the house they lived in. Perfect!, or was it?

The lines are hard hitting. Like when April says to Frank, when he says that the plan to relocate to Paris is unrealistic, April replies in rejection- This is what's unrealistic. It's unrealistic for a man with a fine mind to go on working year after year at a job he can't stand. Coming home to a place he can't stand, to a wife who's equally unable to stand the same things.

Also, some truth about why people stand their bad jobs, year after year and so on.-“You want to play house you got to have a job. You want to play nice house, very sweet house, you got to have a job you don't like.”

Could things have changed had they moved to Paris? Could they have been happier? Could we, in general be happier if we leave our non satisfying jobs for something else which might be our true calling? We are supposed to follow certain rules. But is it that easy to break them? Is it that easy to move away, so easily? And once you are married, are things that difficult, or is it just that you would want to settle for your kids’ sake. This film has disillusioned me more about the concept of marriage, and if by any chance I remain unmarried, blame it on this movie. lolJ

It’s a good watch, but not the regular popcorn flick. It’s rather depressing. This film will make you realize that there are many people who are living hopelessly empty life. (And all the time we think that our life is full of problems:D). Has to be seen if one wants to get into introspection mode! And For Kate and Caprio . :)

Rab dikhta hai-Amritsar- Wagah trip

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:32:00 +0000

“Okay, so its rather strange that 2.5 yrs in Chandigarh, and you haven’t been to Amritsar”, my heart asked me. “But then there were reasons”, my mind answered. So when Prashant, and Vishal made this plan for amritsar trip, I had to agree. Early Saturday morning, five of us- me, Vishal, Prashant, Nishpaksh, and Anubhav started the journey-sleepy, dreamy eyed. Makke di roti and sarson de khet beckoned us. Anubhav kept us in splits throughout. Man, he is a firecracker. He comes up with these gem lines, that we were actually ROTFLOLing in the car:). We reached Amritsar, guided by an immaculate map made by our friend Gurbax.(Now this guys knows every single damn village on the way, he even knows the location of speed-breakers. Hats off gurbax!).

All hungry, all waken and shaken. We headed straight to Pravaa da dhaba, (literal meaning bro’s Dhaba).”Paranthe khaao, mast ho jao” was the motto. J

Next stop was Golden temple. We reached there after criss-crossing crowded lanes that are synonymous with small towns in India. Amritsar is no exception. But there is a nice buzz kinda feel about it. Punjabiyat is in the air; also it didn’t give the usual suffocating vibes that some religious places have. Once we entered the premises, the shrine was visible in full glory. No, nothing filmy, nothing yashraj, very simple, calm, religious and crowded. Bina line main lagey, rab toh dikhta nahi. He he. J. But this was very systematic, very well managed. Golden temple is indeed very beautiful.

Once inside, you feel a sense of calm, It’s kind of hard to believe that despite living in chandigarh for more than 2 yrs now, this was my 2^ndor third gurudwara trip.(last one was at Anandpur sahib). Now I don’t have much knowledge about gurudwara structure, but GT is a multi storied building, where each level has some place to pay homage. The nakkaashi on the walls is super intricate. The architecture is rather unique. The ambience is cool and quiet. The only thing that surprised me (in an uneasy kind of way) was the absence of any security check. I mean the machines and stuff were there, but there was absolutely no manual check, and we were not frisked even once. Quite strange for a place which is revered by millions of people from all over the world. Me and Nishpaksh sat on first floor for few minutes and soaked in the positive vibes of the kirtans.Bliss!!

Next stop was Jalianwala Bagh, which is like “Golden temple ke pados main”. This was rather disappointing. For years we were taught about how General Dyer killed hundreds of people, so some feelings were expected, but we didn’t get any nationalistic feeling, though people were clearly impressed by the bullet marks that exist even today and that anti-British feeling was there among some.

But it seems times have changed, love birds flock the garden, just like any other garden these days. We encountered the decent ones, but I suspect there could be more than it meets the eyes. We clicked a few pics here and there. till hunger called.

Next was food, because we were hungry as hell. But if you think makke ki roti and sarson da saag greeted us with open arms, then the answer is NO. To avoid more hustle we decided to play safe and raided Dominos. YUMMM… Extra cheese, bring it on guys!!..after adding a few more pounds, we headed straight to wagah border.

W(ag)ah!!

If anyone wants to see real patriotism, he should pay a visit to Wagah. Thousands flock here daily (mainly for emotional reasons). From nearby villages, villagers come in huge numbers. I don’t think there is a better example of “patriotism tourism” anywhere else in the world. The crowd started settling in. And it was a HUGE turn out. ”Jahan daal daal pe sone ki chidiya karti hai basera, who bharat desh hai mera” a cover version blasted from the speakers in sonu nigam’s soulful voice and it led to surge in emotions. This was followed by chants of vande matram, Bharat mata ki jai. The people were requested not to shout any other slogans other than these, but when blood boils with patriotism, no body cares. ;). But a few anti-pakistani slogans apart, it was more of pro-Indian sentiment. If Indian side was over crowded, the near empty stands on the Pakistani side made me wonder. Also, if I noticed correctly, then there were separate seating arrangements for men and women on Pakistani’s side.

While the chants of “mera-bharat-mahan” were in full blow, a few people decided to show their mahaanta by jumping queues and creating nuisance. Lots of heated argument later, nothing happened, and ultimately we had to adjust.:(. (Talk about mera bharat mahan in the songs and breaking rules in reality, ironical). Anyway, the deshbhakti geets were good, until a shocker came our way. They played- “Koi kahe kehta rahe kitna bhi humko dewwana”…really man... since when did this uber-cool DCH number became synonymous with deshbhakti. Neo patriotism I tell you!. I was still in shock due to what I just heard, when the next song cleared my doubts, “It happens only in India” (remember the govinda song?). Really, how apt- It can happen only in India. I mean we have supremely good patriotic songs, which could have been played. Who decides the playlist there? lol. And the final gem, slumdog fever hit it hard on wagah and the final ode was “Jai ho”(thank god they didn’t play the pussycat version)he he. We could not listen to what was being played on the other side of border, I wanted to know what kinda songs they play. Khair...the best one was perahps “hai preet jahan ki reet sada”..the manoj kumar number that starts with beautiful words- “jab zero diya mere bharat ne, duniya ko tab ginti aayi”!! gem!

After the ceremony at wagah was over, we decided to halt at Jalandher, because Vishal was so very tired of driving some 500 kms throughout the day.(Btw I am yet to see a more adept “delhi” guy while driving, no over speeding, nothing!!). After fixing a place to stay, we headed to The Haveli. Now this place impressed me a LOT. I had read about Haveli in the India today travel edition some years ago in an article titled “No Fly Zone”. The place has the concept of traditional Punjabi dhaba but takes it to a new level. The cleanliness and ambience struck me the most. There were mannequin versions of village munim ji, village belles cooking tandoori roti and even a dummy truck, half cut from the middle. All looked so real. The food is okay, nothing exceptional. But the ambience is very cozy. It’s like a traditional food in swanky clean and slightly rustic-royal environs. After sleeping for next 6- 7 hrs, we returned the next morning to Haveli, for breakfast. Paranthas, lassi, and yes..loads of butter….yummyliciousJ

Overall, a very nice time spent. What I liked the most was the fact that it is ideal for a short trip, and one can even go with the family too. Short, sweet and very enjoyable tripJ.

PS: I know this blog is delayed by at least 10 days…blame it on work load…L..and yes, I tried to be short and simple just like the trip.but…;)

AweFome !!

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:30:00 +0000

The reason I believe people love Vishal Bhardwaj’s work is because he can do justice to both Maqbool as well as Makdee. And when you have films like Omkara and The blue umbrella, in your repertoire, The expectations from your new film are bound to be high. Almost every one I know wanted to watch Kaminey as soon as it theatres. I was one of them. So, I watched the premiere show of kaminey last night. And guys, rest assured, the expectations are fulfilled. Its different, and alag, in story, and more in treatment. It’s a little dark and rather more comic tale of two brothers who can’t stand each other. The film will require total attention as it is kinda multi lingual (a good dose of marathi thrown in), the stammering and lisps and is full of intelligent twists. The interval leaves you excited about the possible outcomes in the second half. There are many scenes that stand out. My fav is the 6^th class ka pyar wala scene between guddu and sweety. J

Shahid plays twin brothers and you can actually differentiate between the two roles. Priyanka is good, playing a marathi mulgi with ease. Both play it very convincingly. The lead actors are good. But the film scores big time through its supporting cast. An ensemble cast comprising of very able and very different characters. Amole gupte stands out as the local goon turned politician with all the non-marathi venom making it all the more topical. The lines are smartly written. The film is very edgy and has this raw appeal. Mumbai is shot well slightly reminiscent of other gangsta flicks.

The biggest draw is the music. Already a chartbuster and going Dhan-te-nan !!.However, two songs are completely wasted. The title track which took the word “Kaminey” to a new aesthetic level is not used properly. Another gem, “pehli baar mohabbat” comes at the very end, after the end credits start rolling. At some place the film is very Maqboolish, but itdoesn’t have a shakespearen tragic end.

This one deserves to be seen, Fuperb, Awefome!!. The new “F” word is set to rule!! And being kamina was never so coolJ

Vaishno Devi Trip- Jai Mata Di:)

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Total fun. Beautiful trek uphill. My first trip to viashno devi. And all in all a very enchanting experience, both spiritually and travel wise. At the end of it, all my muscles were paining, but it was worth it. A few tid-bits and advices..lol:

· Take the route via Himkoti instead of going via ardhkumari. The former is short, very beautiful, less steep and the best part-no horses and horse shit.

· Stay away from paranthas. Guys, in this part of the world, parathas are either tandoori or very deep fried. They can be good, if done properly, but at the regular dhabas, they just don’t work, stay away.

· Eat plenty, and make merry during the trek. There are lots of options to eat roadside.

· The trek uphill is beautiful, so go during the day if the weather is good and enjoy the scenic beauty. During the night it becomes rather dull. The only problem is the horses and horse shit. That makes the otherwise beautiful trek a letdown. But you can’t help it.

· Take a mix of stairs and spiral routes to avaoid extreme leg pain. Climbing stairs uphill is fun and fast but that would leave you with aching muscles. While coming down the muscels would pain more, (contrary to popular belief), so whichever route you take wont make much of a difference. We completed our trek uphill in approx 4 hrs, and downhill in 3 hrs.

· And guess what, You can find software engineers everywhere these days. So, brace yourself, if you are thinking you can get away with office talks, think again. The guys who were trekking right along us were talking about TLs, PMs and issues and escalations and blah blah….such a small world..lolJ

One thing that I didn’t like in particular is that many young people, (all gym toned dudes and dudettes), opted for horses and palkis. Which is a shame!! The very same people will go for stuff like Roadies and claim how adventurous they are and bring a shame to our young generation. Horses and palkis are good if you are not physically fit or elderly, then it is justifiable. And also, people don’t seem to encourage their kids to trek uphill. I remember when we were kids our parents used to push us for outings and outdoors etc. these days city slickers don’t do that. Perhaps, it’s the downside of living in a fast paced world.

Next day we went to jammu, and visited the raghunath temple( I guess the same where some terrorists struck a few years ago). There was lots of security in the otherwise modest temple. And the most irritating part was the priests who kept asking for money and sometimes even threatened the devotees. Bad!

And lastly, when it was time to get back home, our “special” train was almost 2 hrs late. Real bad!!

Came back late Sunday night and bunked the office on Monday, such a blissJ

I would say, go and have great fun in the midst of natural beauty…and paap bhi dhul jayenge..lol

Aaj Kal ka Pyaar....

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Love aaj kal was one movie I was desperately waiting for. So, the review is inevitable.:).I have refrained myself from reading any reviews on this movie till now. But now that I have seen it I can say it’s definitely not JWM (means cult) but certainly a good time pass affair which touches these important issues related to love “today”. But surprisingly, it’s the love “yesterday” that ignites the screen.

The story runs in parallel timeframes, sometimes confusing, but easy otherwise. The film touches the issues involved in long distance relationships, career v/s love, and how the meaning love has changed across generations etc. Saifu has done a great job because these roles are cut out for him. He has by now mastered the art of playing this urbane, cool, suave, guy.DCH, Hum TUM, KHNH and so on..). But his sardar act works more than the modern one. Deepika wasted a precious, well written role. She just don’t get those complex dialogues right. Deepu dear, there is a huge need for improvisation. Just to paraphrase saif: “Tujhe acting nahi aati jaaneman”;)lol. But the one who took my heart away was the Brazilian model, Giselle Monteiro, who played Harleen. Minimal dialogues(thankfully), maximum impact-straight to the heart:). Dil le gayi….;)

But the best part of the movie is the music and the songs. The template is very JWMish. Ye dooriyan is a very good number, off late I have loved all Mohit Chauhan songs. “Twist” is the new disco anthem, very catchy very peppy. Chor bazari, is a beautiful number, very appealing. It’s perfect “break-up” song. Ironically, Pritam has created a song named “Chor” bazari…wow!!he he…Thoda thoda pyar, is beautifully filmed on giselle. Aaj din chadeya is also good. And the very happening number is aahoon aahoon, another chart buster which comes at the end just like mauja hi mauja. Special mention for the lyrics by Irshad kamil, very innovative very “in”.:) And lastly, the song named “main kya hoon” which is rather dull and average, but I am mentioning it because it is depicted in a way that every software engg can identify with it- like How saif gets excited about new job and towards the end of the song gets disillusioned by the life he always wanted. Must see for every SE. he he:)

The production values are high. The movie is shot well, across continents. The lines are smartly written. But the “imtiaz” touch is missing. So, overall it’s a nice time passable film, don’t expect answers to your love problems and see how love “yesterday” was so better than love “today”.

Toy Train journey to Shimla...chal chaiyyaa chhaiyaa:)

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:47:00 +0000

“Mere sapno ki raai kab aayegi tu”, Rajesh Khanna hit the road and wooed Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana in 1969…Circa 2009, In a sort of role reversal, we decided to do the other way round, so I along with Abhishek and Mridul ventured out to find our respective “sapno ki ranis”. lol. But we abandoned jeep and took the toy train:)

First things first, I love hills. Hills are in my blood and have lived a significant portion of my life on hills. But Shimla isn’t exactly my favorite when it comes to hill stations. It’s not that Shimla is not beautiful. The thing is I have been to Shimla many times already. Shimla is too crowded, way too crowded. But that doesn’t take its beauty away. I was not very keen on going out. But Abhishek like always; pushed me. And it turned out to be a worthy trip. One of the reasons why I am writing this blog is the TOY TRAIN journey to Shimla. It is the best part of the journey. It’s clean and neat, and comfortable. Remember the train that Shahid Kareena boarded on their way back to home in the second half of jab we met? We opted for the expensive than the JWM version… slightly royal looking train. But I checked the cheaper options which are equally good. Toy train is an amazing experience. Of course the weather played its part as well. The train meanders through some 50 odd tunnels and beautiful hill slopes passing through forests and small hill towns where the stations are small and oh-very beautiful. I remember last year this was given some UNESCO heritage status. That may be the reason why the train is so well maintained. Some stations like Barog are especially breathtaking. It is relaxing and a way to look at life moving slowly, the toy train assures you there is no need to hurry in life. Sipping hot tea (the yuck version that railways serve in shatabdis..lol) and watch enchanting natural beauty and life pass by…divine!!;)

This one is a highly recommended journey for all. Don’t go by bus!! And also for those who feel mountain sickness, nausea and vomiting!! Now the negatives- It is slow and after a point becomes monotonous and repetitive, but it still has the charm. You start enjoying nature up close and personal. Prepare to get bored after a time and it’s highly advisable to have noisy friends or ample music for companyJ. Also, weather is a big factor; you won’t like to get trapped in a small compartment in hot weather.

Once at Shimla we headed straight to the ridge, or the upper mall.( Though I am always confused what is the exact name- is it ridge or something else? Please let me know if you do). And we did click pictures, lots of it. Next was Jakhu temple. Now anyone who claims he loves mountain trails has to climb uphill to Jakhu temple. It’s a beautiful uphill climb and quite strenuous too. The most amazing are the monkeys. They rule this place. Mind you. You are in their territory so behave!! We behaved like good kids. he he :)

They even check you for Prasad and all. The monkeys frisked me nicely. I dutifully extended by hands for further probing. Though he was doubtful about my cell phone, but he “cleared” me. Other people submitted their prasads to them, dutifully. They are really smart and since you are in their kingdom, you dare not do anything stupid.
On our way down I thought of rolling down Mridul, but decided not to do it because could have caused an avalanche. Lol;)
Back downtown we did what everyone does in shimla- shop-hopping…eating…roaming around…eating again…to lakkad bazaar…some more munching..ridge…some pastries and ice-creams and so on. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you…Shimla has immense beauty..in every sense of word..he he..and yes my fav heroine is kangana…lol..The trip ended with sundown and we hopped a bus back home. A real nice day, well spent.:)

And yes this trip could have been perfect if we hadn’t encountered instances of PDA..in the bus..i mean real nasty stuff…..you know the things..That should NEVER be done in public…that was a huge turn off…anyway..;).
Overall a nice, fun filled Saturday outing;)

PS: I know the blog is two weeks late. But still. If you want to know more about toy train, go check the trains out on Indian rail site. And search between station KALKA and SIMLA(not Shimla, or else you will end up nowhere). The fares are normal, it cost us 290 each, and that was rather expensive version, there are cheaper options also available. But try to book at least one week in advance. Have fun:)

Kitabein bahut si...padhi hongi tumne...

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:19:00 +0000

I got a chance to watch “The kite runner” last night on HBO. I was excited because the book by the same name is one of my favorites. I liked the movie (despite some friends suggesting that it’s not that good). PF messaged me after the movie saying-“none of the characters “looked” the way I “saw” them…” Exactly that’s what has been bugging me for a long time, ever since I started watching movies based on books/novels. 90% of the times I am left high and dry because a certain character didn’t come across in the way I had imagined or that was way too different from the written word. One reason could be that there are different ways in which different people may perceive a plot. Let’s say, if a building is described in a particular way, there might be hundred different ways to build a mental image of that building, which varies from person to person. And the one that is shown in the movie can be “one” of those hundred ways or something else, in short the way the director has perceived it.

Let’s take an example: When I watched “harry potter” part 1, 2 and 3, I hadn’t read the books. I liked the movies immensely. But then I got a chance to read the books. I was rather disappointed in the movies and the books too. Because when I read the books, I found that a whole lot of things were missing from the movies. But because of the movies, now I had a reference point, for each character, like Harry potter was replaced by Daniel Radcliffe. It was, in a way, good too. But my imagination didn’t fly that high and I didn’t explore the plots much. Then, when I read the 5^th book, order of phoenix, I loved it, because the movie was not out at that time. I could imagine whole new things and imaginations soared again. And when the movie hit the theatres, I thought it was massacred. And my imagination was way better than the director’s..lol

Harry potter is just an example in this case. There are many others too. I have seen people who have religiously followed Tolkien’s LOTR and love the written word so much. I haven’t read LOTR but I like the movies. I absolutely loved “Da Vinci Code”, but the way it was depicted on screen made me cry (Haven’t seen Angels and Demons yet, because I want to maintain it as one of my favorites). Would it have been the same feeling if I had not known the story beforehand? I mean I knew the story inside out and so might not have enjoyed it that much. Back home, Devdas of the millennium has not gone down well those who loved the Devdas of 60s. And off late Dev D has broken all moulds and is totally Anurag kashyap’s interpretation of the literary classic.

So, that means when a director directs a movie on some novel or story, he would always face some or the other criticism. And also there are some aspects of written words which we can only perceive and it would be difficult to show them on celluloid.

On a different note, this is not restricted to just the movies. Let’s take the example of (whom else but) god. Nobody has seen “him”. Eg: Lord Shiva. Would we always “picture” him the way we have seen in calendars? Someone must have drawn that first calendar or picture based on either some written text or some description. So the calendar makers’ piece of imagination became something which is so sacrosanct to billions of people. Or more recently, take the example of mythological serials; I always wonder why there is a rotating “chakra” behind every god or so on?:) That is the way the aura of the gods has always been depicted in those serials. So, you see, the way, say Ramanand sagar perceived “Ramayana” became a matter of reverence for millions.

I don’t know if what I said makes much sense. But the thing is I am wondering, which is better- to read a book and not being judgmental about the movie or not to watch someone else’s perspective of your favorite book just to avoid disappointment.

Whatever..I won’t ever stop watching movies or reading…lolJ. In a way a novel is also a piece of imagination of the writer. We just develop our perception on the story when we read it.:)

It's Over!!

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:29:00 +0000

He loved coffee. The smell of it. He loved her because she smelt of coffee.

On days like these when nothing seemed to be going right for him he used to sit beside the pool and stare at the starless sky of a city which has taken everything out of him and given him everything in return. He wondered if there is anything else that is so fulfilling yet excruciating at the same time like his job, like this city.

I love to spent time with you. He said...almost desperately.

No, you don’t. You don’t love the time spent with a person. You love the person with whom you love to spent time with.*

Stop being filmy...

Yeah...I am always at the fault...Isn’t it? Remember you used to like my being filmy...That’s what has drawn you to me…

The coffee suddenly turned bitter. He gulped another sip. He always thought that the coffee machine hates him unlike anyone else for it constantly supplies him such awful liquid. But it was quite effective in keeping him awake. He dreaded sleep. He slept with issues and code-bugs. The nightmares…a loop getting out of place, values not getting saved in the database, User Interface crumbling…and so on...followed by more trauma. His fear of these nightmares developed into a love for the coffee, because it kept him away from sleep. He has started loving it. He started walking back towards his desk. Each step felt so heavy; like it does every time he had a bitter fight with her.

Ok please, I know where this is leading to…let’s not…

Let’s not what…you think you are smart or something...let me tell you…

Shut up please…will you…

You can’t tell me to shut up…you jerk…who do you think you are?

Don’t get on my nerves…now please...Will you…

He felt at ease when he moved in these corridors. He felt protected behind these glass doors. They kept him away from the dark ugly world outside. The coffee tasted yuck!! As he moved around with coffee mug in his hand, he stopped. The glass door showed his reflection. He was young, pretty young by every standard. The reflection in the mirror defied it completely. He saw a pale figure, messed up hair, and weak, very weak…He could see failed dreams, false promises and miserable hopes. He had made a mess of himself. After this module, he thought, I’ll take better care of myself. For sure!. That never happened. There were always some deadlines to chase, modules to finish and issues to fix. He drifted in his thoughts. The silence was shattered by his stupid ringtone. “Onsite!@#$@!#$”.He muttered. He was on production support tonight. Final implementation was going on.

He felt his throat choking up. He swallowed his pride and gathered all his strength to utter a meek “hello”. The voice on the other end started mumbling some technical crap. He wasn’t listening. His mind was elsewhere.

No I won’t, you ll have to listen…you are no-gooder…what do you think you are… a stupid good-for-nothing software engineer. Just because you play around with technical stuff you think you are GOD? Is it? Freak, You are a DOG!!..

Yes, yes, I am a good for nothing creature and it was so benevolent of you to shower your divinity on me….happy…

Stop being sarcastic...

Ok...Ok…let’s stop it ...see I am sorry,I really am!.. it’s just that this project is so nerve-breaking that I forget everything and the pressure is ..is..too much to handle..you know it..dont you…

She had left the room with a deep sigh. Over the past few months, he came to understand what that means. It was somewhere between desperation and resignation. He knew he would sort this out, like he did every time.

…and yeah...the implementation was smooth. Thanks for your support. You can leave for the day..Oops night…bye take care. The call ended. The implementation part was over. Finally!! He was free, at least for the time being. The feeling took some time to sink in. He decided to call her up. Not reachable, gawd!!, this freaky cell..He started typing out an sms. What should I tell her…confused. He typed and deleted the message several times. Sleep was taking over him. He decided to keep it short and typed-

It’s over, it’s all over!!

Relieved, he stretched his arms and fell flat in front of the desktop. Tomorrow, he thought, things would change.

He didn’t know how long he had slept. Through the glass pane he could see bright sunshine outside. He yawned and jumped towards his phone. “One unread message”!! He couldn’t hold him anymore and opened it!! The message read- “Its easy 4 u 2 say its over. Fine. If dat’s wat u want, so b it!! It’s over. I won’t bug u ne more, I am going away..far away frm u. I am leavin u”

It took him some time to contemplate what had happened. He was shocked. He went numb and dumb. He stared at the monitor in despair. A new mail flashed in his inbox. He opened it. It read- Congrats on the completion of the module. You have been allocated to a new project…

He was not reading anymore. He collapsed!!...A new day has come…

PS: This story is loosely based on the lives of a few people that I have come across in and around my workplace. I think the general perception about being in IT field is that IT guys live a glossy lavish life. The grim realities behind the gloss can take heavy toll on certain aspects of daily lives. Crumbling relationships which in turn lead to more desperation are direct consequences of slogging long hours.

PPS: Not my story, though the settings are strikingly similar ;)

PPS: This style of story writing is borrowed from many such stories that I have read on blogs and other places. So, I don’t know if that’s plagiarism, but if you find any, all of it is unintentional.;)

*- Pyar waqt se nahi, us se kiya jata hai jiske sath hum waqt bitana chahte hai…translated verbatim from the movie salaam-e-ishq, one of my favorite lines, have seen it in action in real life too;)

Tiger in the company of Women...;)

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:33:00 +0000

I kept the promise I made to myself. Despite such super hectic work schedule, I managed to finish two books last month. First is “The Company of women” by Khushwant singh” and second is the booker winner Arvind adiga’s book ”The white tiger”.

First about Khushwant singh’s book. I have always been confused about whether to praise this guy or to hate him. I have written loathing pieces about him in the past and then have praised him lavishly. I still maintain that he is a person who likes to read (and write) stories interlaced with sex...lots of it. The company of Women, which Mr singh started writing at the age of 83!(don’t believe that) is a full-on erotic fiction. It celebrates sex in perhaps the most unique way. Every second page is full of intimate details and description of you-know-what! Some people claim that this is perhaps the most erotic piece of English fiction written by an Indian after kamasutra. I agree to a great extent. The book was pretty enjoyable..he he..for obvious reasons…but yeah..it has another side as well. The way it explores the relationship between a man and a woman is rather commendable. And women here are very independent, very fiery, and have a mind of their own!!. This book depicts high life and sexcapades but still has an emotional undercurrent. Read it once to believe how at an old age a person starts “thinking” at such wild extremes.

My second pick- The white tiger, makes Slumdog millionaire look less brutal. India bashing seems to be the easiest way to achieve global phenomenal success. But the sad part is most of it is true. There are indeed two Indias that we live in. One- on its way up, buoyed by economic progress, and the second in direct contrast- always in “darkness”. This is perhaps the first account I have read about Naxal hit areas in fiction. It’s a wonderful book, an eye-opener of sorts which shows us the world through the eyes of a driver. How a man rises from darkness to light and makes a mark for himself in a brutal bad world out there. I was told the protagonist of White tiger- Balram Halwai, is similar to Salim Sinai of Midnight’s children. I haven’t read the latter so I can’t really compare the two protagonists. But through his protagonist, Adiga has managed to lash out his feelings on superstitions and hypocrisies of Indian society. He has ridiculed stupid religious practices of almost all the religions (esp. harsh on Hindu rituals and has a problem with millions of gods!!) and placed a tight slap on the face of those who claim that India has finally “arrived”. Its in-your-face tale of two Indias and a super shocking book!! . Only problem is the ending, which could have been tauter. And for the first time ever I found a book worthy of the booker. (My hatred for God of small things is well-known). Has to be read for its “shock” element!!

PS: two books last month doesn’t mean that I am outta work..on the contrary I am overloaded with tonnes of work, but I still am hopeful about reading a few new books every now and then…J

Danco Re...

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Weekends can get really boring sometimes. Esp. since there are no new movies coming in these days. So, I am left with no choice but to resort to mindless switching of channels. My remote will soon start complaining like me, I guess. I really over use it. It’s like my job in the IT sector these days-Always under pressing demands!!aah…never mind!

But for the past two weekends I have been watching only dance shows on TV. Because there is hardly anything else to watch. yeah yeah, the omnipresent IPL is there, but I got bored after first few matches.(And I think this has something to do with Mandira’s new haircut, YUK!!). Moreover, every channel these days has lookalike shows. For e.g.: if one channel decides to pick up the topic of girl child and female foeticide, then there would be at least two more such shows on rival channels. One such overexposed genre is Dance shows. After an overdose of singing talent hunt shows and stupid reality shows, this time dance reality shows have gripped India like never before. There are many such shows currently- Jhalak, Dance india Dance, so, you think you can dance (on AXN)..and so on… But my current Favorite has to be Dance India Dance on Zee Tv.

Dance India dance is an absolutely wonderful show. Simply because of the performances which are top notch every time. Even the judges- Terence, Geeta Kapur and Remo (though lesser known but pretty capable) are good enough. The only irritating part though is the presence of Mithun Da. I have never really liked Mithun as an actor and neither as a dancer. So watching him in the grandmaster’s role is a little too much for me to bear. But yeah, he brings his own sense of judging and is passable.

Coming back to the quality of dances- Boy!! They are Super good!!. The contestants perform all kinds of moves, rope tricks, hip-hop, sensuous numbers, extreme dance forms, everything!! And that too, brilliantly!! And like all reality shows, yes there are tears, lots of them, they flow like a tap needing a repair. But it is okay sometimes.

Second hot favorite these days is-Jhalak Dikhlaja on Sony. It is perhaps the flagship show of otherwise defunct Sony entertainment channel. Sony is all set for a re-vamp from 25 May onwards and it’s still to be seen what results it yields esp. after exceptional surge of Colors as a GEC. Jhalak is interesting because it has that “celeb factor” which makes it a little peppy. Otherwise it’s quite difficult to digest the idea of watching Saroj khan and the likes!! Sony is also the home to what I would call the mother of all Dance reality shows- Boogie Woogie. It has never ever disappointed me. I remember watching boogie woogie as a kid too!!. Simply superb. High standards, esp. the kids special. (Okay a secret now, I wanted to audition for Boogie woogie but could never muster the courage. He he J)

In the past Nach Baliye was a good attempt but previous seasons started getting sillier after season two or so and I lost interest. Also, it must be really difficult to find real life jodis or something.

With so much dance happening around, it’s bound to have its impact. And the impact of these dance shows could be seen since last 3 years or so. People are taking up to dancing like never before. With dance classes mushrooming in almost every other corner, and enrollments on an all time high (even during recession), dance reality shows have made significant and very “moving” impact. It also shows the new found confidence among the people. They see it on TV where people like them are doing it, which in-turn generates a feeling - “Yes we can….dance too”(oops Obama influence here too;).

On a personal note, I have always liked to dance (though I am not sure how good I am at it). After watching one of these shows recently I was rather determined to learn hip hop style at the newly started Dance classes at my workplace. Ultimately, I couldn’t. These stupid deadlines and my nerve-wrecking project would never allow me to do that. **sigh**. Also, one big problem is to find a dance partner for dances like salsa. I remember last time I wanted to join salsa classes, I couldn’t find a partner .Every time I approached a girl asking her to join salsa with me, the response was never immediate, they first gave me a ”you-think-you-are-good-enough-to-join-salsa” look. And yes, almost all of them already had partners fixed. Poor me!!. I can only pray..he he

Wahe guruji da khalsa, ek soni kudi ki laalsa, for dance classes of salsa*..wah wah;)

But the case in not so grim for everyone else. People are increasingly joining dance classes for reasons more than one. Fitness is one of them. Kids are absolutely into it!!(Primarily out of parental pressure, parents want their kids to excel in extra-curricular, or better, be a part of reality TV bandwagon!!). I read this morning in TOI about how kids these days are getting better marks and shaking a leg at the same time. And interestingly, it’s not a metro centric phenomenon anymore. As Javed Jaffery pointed out in one of the recent episodes of Boogie woogie– that people from remote areas of Jharkhand are doing hip hop moves better than those in, let’s say, Mumbai.

So, you see, the stage is all set, all ours. All we need to do is...Shake a leg!!

Break a leg!!:)

*NOM on that one

The Zoya Factor...

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:35:00 +0000

It’s been quite long time. The past one month or so has been real depressing especially at work. Some real stupid issues lead to super hot escalations and I suddenly found myself in the middle of a turmoil And the funniest part was, that I was not even remotely associated with those projects. But such is life,..sigh…. kyaa karein…It seems the dust has settled for the time being..so I found some time to write something. Lots of things are there on my mind these days..Poor me…I can’t handle all of them simultaneously….but yes, despite all the mess at work; I maintained my resolution to finish one book a month. So I completed “The Zoya factor” by Anuja Chahuan. A super cool WOW novel!!
I am not sure what exactly chick-lit means (and if there exists such a hyped category!!), but this is a rocking book. A perfect companion for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I would say, have something to munch or a cuppa hot coffee or something… get into the bed.. and just read along. It’s a breezy read, very contemporary, and the references from the world of advertising make it all the more interesting. It’s absolutely hilarious!! Anuja chahuan has been into the advertisement field for quite some time and has been the brain behind super hit lines like “ yeh dil maange more”. It has bollywood written all over it. Very filmi, very mast. I read somewhere that SRKs production house Red Chilies has brought the rights for this book and it would soon be made into a film. I am dying to see this on celluloid with Konkana playing Zoya’s role.( and I hope it doesn’t end up like “Hello”, which totally massacred ”One night @ call centre” on which it was based) .

The lingo used is very hinglish, and fun. And on top of it, this combines India’s favorite pastime- cricket with romance and glitzy world of Advertising. So, find out what happens when an advertising professional Zoya, who was born on the exact moment India when India won the 83 world cup, finds herself in the position that her mere presence at the team breakfast table leads to victories for India on the cricket field, her world is turned upside down. Also, our heroine has her heart skipping a beat for the heartthrob of the nation, the Indian skipper. Its total masala!! Don’t go looking for intellectual stuff. The way the book is written, it will warm you with its charm. And you get to see a whole new perspective on “Luck”. The novel would obviously not find takers among the intellectual bunch who would shun this as typical chick-lit. But I am sure even they would laugh out loud when they read it behind closed doors.

It’s a lovely book. Lots of fun..Guaranteed!!…J

The Hungry Tide

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:41:00 +0000

As a part of my New Year resolutions (most of which never see daylight, simply because they never come out of my head) I had decided to finish up one book a month. I guess I am quite on track, because I finished reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh by Jan end which makes it one book a month.;)Well started!! He he:)

I picked “The Hungry Tide” for two reasons. One was, of course- Amitav Ghosh, perhaps one of the most celebrated writers of our times. I always wanted to read his books. But I never had the courage to read his huge volume Sea of Poppies( which I suppose is going to be a trilogy. That would be mean at least three thousand more pages….aaahh!!) . But yes, I wanted to read his works. I would have picked up some other book, may be his much acclaimed “The glass palace”, but I picked this one up because of my second reason- that is the brilliant picture of the cover.

After finishing this book I m still not sure whether I liked it or not. Its not a bad book at all. It is food for intellect..loads of anecdotes about stuff which is quite unique in itself. But somehow, it fails to tug your heart.

Basically, it’s a story about a handful of people. Piya, kanai and Fokir- Three people very different from each other. Fiction blends into myths and real stories and make an interesting read. Perhaps the biggest reason why the book engaged me is because it is vivid with descriptions of places which we might never have seen. The sunderbans and the Tide country are intriguing places and even a simple story gets a surreal feel to it just because of the setting and backdrop. It takes the readers imagination to an entirely different level. I have seen little of Subderbans, restricted to what I have seen in a few documentaries on Nat Geo or Discovery. But this book took me to a journey inside those unimaginable places which come to life. This is the biggest strength of this novel. The characters are okay.. But they are surrounded by such natural diversity and unimaginable terrain which makes them all the more appealing. The biggest turn-off, perhaps, is the description of dolphins and the descriptions of cetology(study of species of dolphins, whales etc.). That stuff about the dolphins and all, was really a little too much for me.

It’s a good read, a perfect companion for mind (loaded with information, local history, myths etc) but it’s not very emotionally gripping. It’s not a page turner in any way. It’s a book which you can finish at a leisurely pace. (I finished it in some 20 odd days…). But yes this is book that I liked reading because of the novelty factor because it’s rare to find such an unusually appealing backdrop most of the times

Luck by chance...

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Luck by chance is an extremely engaging watch. It’s an intelligently written movie and very good attempt by a debutant director (Zoya Akhtar). I loved the movie for three main reasons:
1. The lead pair Farhan and Konkana: They are the most unlikely pair and it shows. They don’t have many scenes together, but both of them did a wonderful job. Farhan has this throaty voice which many people hate, but I believe that is his USP. Konkana is my favorite actress and I believe she is THE BEST actress that we have these days. She doesn’t really steal the show here but these kinds of roles are tailor made for her and it’s a cake walk for her. She has that amazing warmth about her and her likeability quotient is very high (in general).
2. The supporting cast: All are very good. All of them have fit well into their respective roles. Sanjay Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple etc.
3. The music and exceptionally well written lyrics. Shankar-Ehsan-Loy take inspiration from their earlier works (Lakshya, Rock on, Mission Kashmir, yeh kya ho raha hai etc) and deliver a superb score. The movie opens with the heart tugging Yeh zindagi bhi which has a word of caution for all dreamers. Baawre is Rajasthani fast beat track and very foot tapping. Hrithik’s dance make it all the more awesome. Yeh aaj kya ho gaya is a breezy sunshine song with a dash of hope and feel good factor. Sapno se bhare naina is classical with lots of techno beats thrown in. Clearly the best.
Pyar ki dastan is a cool love song. Very hummable. And then the final piece- O rahi re. very motivational. It talks about choices to be made and fits brilliantly into the narrative.

There are other reasons as well. A few smartly written lines and screenplay full of subtexts. There is an inherent wit in the film. For the first time I guess our hero has shown his selfish self. Moreover, the heroine is not willing to accept his remorse, when he feels guilty about it.
I liked it a lot. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable movie. And if you love Hindi films, you are sure to fall in love with this.

PS: Many people didn’t like the movie. So don’t rush to kill me if you don’t find it that interesting.;)

Arrey huzoor..(w)aah Taaj boliye

noreply@blogger.com (Nitin Joshi) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:15:00 +0000

I still remember that day. It was the day when some goons (a sobriquet for politicians) decided to show their fighting skills with mikes and furniture in the UP vidhan sabha. That was the first time I was at Agra. I was hardly 13. Almost a decade has passed and lots of more sewage has flown into the Yamuna. It was the same city, the same old dusty city. Perhaps more populated and polluted than ever. But it called me back and I was happy to go.

Day 1: Arrey huzoor..(w)aah Taaj boliye

The hunt for a decent hotel room began and we ended up at a place with some strange name. Apparently it seems, Agra is made up of hotels. It’s a burgeoning and huge tourism sector that makes sure that there are Hotels in almost every nook and corner. After freshening up and some parantha grazing, we headed straight to The Taj. The memories kept coming back. I remember as a kid I was so awe inspired I never wanted to leave the Taj premises. Taj had made me realize the power of human emotions, the power of love. And the fact that someone actually took an effort to make such a mesmerizing place is really- too cool!!

The same feeling didn’t come back this time.

It’s difficult to fall in love with the Taj now. It’s not white any more. It’s more of yellowish shade. The dome, clearly, is the biggest hit because of pollution. It has turned a darker shade of yellow. It’s not anymore the “oh-so beautiful “monument that people flock to see. It’s a “wonder” that makes you wonder what happened to the good old Taj.

But yes, despite the damage it’s such a brilliant structure. Super sexy architecture and just the feeling of being there, standing in front of The Taj arouses thousand distinct emotions. It’s an imposing building and the surrounding buildings add to the overall sense of something larger-than-life. All those who have not seen it, should see it once.

Our next stop was Agra ka Qila. We decided to hop a taanga. The horse was rather smartly named Bablu;) he he. It’s similar to Delhi’s laal quila. We clicked pics at every corner. The distant view of the Taj from the roof top was superb. It’s a full text book on the architecture of Mughal period. It’s really cool and hasn’t changed much since my last visit. (Probably, red-stone might not show signs of ageing as evidently as marble).

After a long tiring day, we ended up at the Sadar market at night which was quite nice. Bought truckloads of the justly famous Agra ka petha;)

Day 2: Laal hai rang pyaar ka:

Went to Fatehpur. Amazing place!. Despite endless nagging guides which made our lives hell. It reminded me of the movie Pardes and Jodha Akbar. Such is the power of our movies that we instantly indentify these locations with one movie or the other. he he.:)

Next on our mind was Bharatpur bird sanctuary. But then we gave it a skip and decided to go to Mathura and Vrindavan instead. The krishna janm boomi temple is perhaps the rare few temples anywhere which has a mosque right next to it.And that makes it all the more apppealing. After some darshan in the temples, we headed to buy the super famous” Mathura ke pede”. And they tasted YUM!!. Next we wanted to go to some really big temple but gave up in the middle of it because we sensed the chances of a stampede; in fact we barely escaped one. The best part of Vridavan was the boat-ride in the middle of an overly polluted Yamuna, just after the sunset. It was an ultimate experience, overlooking the ghats.

I think after the trip I can say that- Agra doesn’t deserve The Taj. I know, I am no authority to comment on this because I don’t know the city inside out, but at places where it matters, it’s really in a state of pity. The problems are many:

1. Nagging Tourist Guides: they make your life hell with their endless nagging and insensitive nature. Real big hassle.

2. Ill- maintained heritage sites: Taj has turned yellow and seems to have lost its sheen. It pains to see that despite being a world heritage site, Fatehpur is so ill maintained. The best part is the buland darwaja. It’s really buland-est and super huge. But you can’t stand in front of its stairs because there is an overflowing gutter right in front of it!

3. The food overall was YUCK!. Basically, Agra doesn’t seem to have a distinct local cuisine of its own( like the Rajasthani food). So what you usually get is some tasteless, super oily stuff, which they pass in the name of mughlai food.

Overall, a nice trip. I definitely needed a break from work. But yeah, I am definitely NOT looking forward to go again. I know it’s easy to criticize. I understand that it’s a daunting task to maintain the architectural sites. But I seriously believe that the authorities are just not doing enough. Perhaps out of sheer disinterest .There is no dearth of funds but a lack of willpower.