Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie 'Black' has been selected among Time magazine's top 10 movies, according to an article by rediff.com
http://ia.rediff.com/movies/2005/dec/29black.htm?q=tp&file=.htm
Truly, this film is a masterpiece. The idea of the film is a bit on Helen Keller's life, as the main character in the film (Rani mukherji aka michelle ) is blind and deaf, and also that the methods of learning that she uses, are the same as helen keller ( spelling things out on her hand, typing out her answers etc)
Rani Mukherjee is absolutely wonderful in depicting the role, so is the little girl who plays the child role of rani's character. And of course, the big B is absolutely great in his role of the Teacher, be it strict, emotional, funny or just passionate about his work. There probably could not have been a better actor in this role than amitabh bachchan.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made some absolutely stunning movies, be it Khamoshi, Devdas, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or Black, and his touch is clearly seen in the movie, both in the idiosyncracies of Rani's character, and the overall picture that film depicts.
If you haven't watched it, do watch it.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
I won't drink till I am 100...
CNN is carrying the news of the death of an antarctica explorer Norman Vaughan
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/23/vaughan.obit.ap.ap/index.html
An interesting overview of a life of a person, his shot to fame as an explorer, high and low moments in his life ( his jobs include working as a dishwasher and as shoveling snow from sidewalks, as mentioned in the article), to his great work in the exploration of antarctica.
The interesting thing here is, that he had promised his mother that he won't drink till he was 100, and in the true spirit, he kept his promise,
'Vaughan had a taste of champagne Saturday during his birthday celebration'
Guess this must have been a great memory, and a good way to end an illustrious life..
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/23/vaughan.obit.ap.ap/index.html
An interesting overview of a life of a person, his shot to fame as an explorer, high and low moments in his life ( his jobs include working as a dishwasher and as shoveling snow from sidewalks, as mentioned in the article), to his great work in the exploration of antarctica.
The interesting thing here is, that he had promised his mother that he won't drink till he was 100, and in the true spirit, he kept his promise,
'Vaughan had a taste of champagne Saturday during his birthday celebration'
Guess this must have been a great memory, and a good way to end an illustrious life..
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Suicide..No!
Nithya sent me a mail about an interesting article, in which the author chetan Bhagat speaks of his opinions about suicide :
Nice article by Chetan Bhagat
Last week, an IITian committed suicide. People who commit suicide do it when they feel there's no future. But wait, isn't IIT the one place where a bright and shining future is a foregone conclusion? It just doesn't add up, does it? Why would a young, hardworking, bright student who has the world ahead of him do something like this? But the answer is this—in our constant reverence for the great institution (and I do believe IITs are great), we forget the dark side. And the dark side is that the IITs are afflicted by the quintessential Indian phenomenon of academic pressure, probably the highest in the world.
I can rant about the educational system and how it requires serious fixing, or I can address the immediate—try my best to prevent such suicides. For this column I have chosen the latter, and I do so with a personal story.
News of a suicide always brings back one particular childhood memory. I was 14 years old when I first seriously contemplated suicide. I had done badly in chemistry in the Class X halfyearly exam. I was an IIT aspirant, and 68% was nowhere near what an IIT candidate should be getting. I don't know what had made me screw up the exam, but I did know this, I was going to kill myself. The only debate was about method.
Ironically, chemistry offered a way. I had read about copper sulphate, and that it was both cheap and poisonous. Copper sulphate was available at the kirana store. I had it all worked out.
My rationale for killing myself was simple—nobody loved me, my chemistry score was awful, I had no future and what difference would it make to the world if I was not there.
I bought the copper sulphate for two rupees—probably the cheapest exit strategy in the world.
I didn't do it for two reasons. One, I had a casual chat with the aunty next door about copper sulphate, and my knowledgeable aunty knew about a woman who had died that way. She said it was the most painful death possible, all your veins burst and you suffer for hours. This tale made my insides shudder. Second, on the day I was to do it, I noticed a street dog outside my house being teased by the neighbourhood kids as he hunted for scraps of food. Nobody loved him. It would make no difference to the world if the dog wasn't there. And I was pretty sure that its chemistry score would be awful. Yet, the dog wasn't trotting off to the kirana store. He was only interested in figuring out a strategy for his next meal. And when he was full, he merely curled up in a corner with one eye open, clearly content and not giving a damn about the world. If he wasn't planning to die anytime soon what the hell was I ranting about? I threw the copper sulphate in the bin. It was the best two bucks I ever wasted.
So why did I tell you this story? Because sometimes the pressure gets too much. Like it did for the IITian who couldn't take it no more. On the day he took that dreadful decision, his family and friends were shattered, and India lost a wonderful, bright child. And as the silly but true copper sulphate story tells you—it could happen to any of us or those around us. So please be on the lookout, if you see a distressed young soul, lend a supportive, non-judgemental ear. When I look back, I thank that aunt and that dog for unwittingly saving my life. If God wanted us to take our own life, he would have provided a poweroff button. He didn't, so have faith and let his plan for you unfold. Because no matter how tough life gets and how much it hurts, if street dogs don't give up, there is no reason why we, the smart species, should. Makes sense right?
-------------------------------End of Article
I used to have a different opinion about suicide, thinking that well if you think you had had enough of life, you should be independent to take this decision.
I changed my mind, and very much so, after u realise the value that this life had given you. If you ever feel that you don't have a lot in life....
If you are a human being, you are probably among the luckiest living beings on earth....its a gift that God has given you,
Living in a civilised society, where your personal freedom is not taken from you, its a gift that not many people have...
If you have good health, you are gifted with it, a gift that many people spend their life dreaming about...
If you can simply read this blog entry, you have received a gift of education, which a good majority of people on this planet have not had....
And Suicide is leading you to? If you think tht you'll have a better life in your next birth ...i wonder who ever went back to his or her previous birth to speak about the wonderful life you had....
Doing good deeds in your life, hoping for a better life in your next birth, is a valid and acceptable action, according to me, because that in some way collectively makes this world a better place to live in. Giving up things or sacrificing good things in life, might also be an acceptable way of going towards it, though people have different opinions about it...
But then, life is a gift....a gift that God has given you, and you have to live on........
and if you feel tired, just think that you are performing a duty that God has given you, and the road will be easier...
Maybe this sounds philosophical...but then thats how it is...my opposition to the concept of suicide stays on....
Nice article by Chetan Bhagat
Last week, an IITian committed suicide. People who commit suicide do it when they feel there's no future. But wait, isn't IIT the one place where a bright and shining future is a foregone conclusion? It just doesn't add up, does it? Why would a young, hardworking, bright student who has the world ahead of him do something like this? But the answer is this—in our constant reverence for the great institution (and I do believe IITs are great), we forget the dark side. And the dark side is that the IITs are afflicted by the quintessential Indian phenomenon of academic pressure, probably the highest in the world.
I can rant about the educational system and how it requires serious fixing, or I can address the immediate—try my best to prevent such suicides. For this column I have chosen the latter, and I do so with a personal story.
News of a suicide always brings back one particular childhood memory. I was 14 years old when I first seriously contemplated suicide. I had done badly in chemistry in the Class X halfyearly exam. I was an IIT aspirant, and 68% was nowhere near what an IIT candidate should be getting. I don't know what had made me screw up the exam, but I did know this, I was going to kill myself. The only debate was about method.
Ironically, chemistry offered a way. I had read about copper sulphate, and that it was both cheap and poisonous. Copper sulphate was available at the kirana store. I had it all worked out.
My rationale for killing myself was simple—nobody loved me, my chemistry score was awful, I had no future and what difference would it make to the world if I was not there.
I bought the copper sulphate for two rupees—probably the cheapest exit strategy in the world.
I didn't do it for two reasons. One, I had a casual chat with the aunty next door about copper sulphate, and my knowledgeable aunty knew about a woman who had died that way. She said it was the most painful death possible, all your veins burst and you suffer for hours. This tale made my insides shudder. Second, on the day I was to do it, I noticed a street dog outside my house being teased by the neighbourhood kids as he hunted for scraps of food. Nobody loved him. It would make no difference to the world if the dog wasn't there. And I was pretty sure that its chemistry score would be awful. Yet, the dog wasn't trotting off to the kirana store. He was only interested in figuring out a strategy for his next meal. And when he was full, he merely curled up in a corner with one eye open, clearly content and not giving a damn about the world. If he wasn't planning to die anytime soon what the hell was I ranting about? I threw the copper sulphate in the bin. It was the best two bucks I ever wasted.
So why did I tell you this story? Because sometimes the pressure gets too much. Like it did for the IITian who couldn't take it no more. On the day he took that dreadful decision, his family and friends were shattered, and India lost a wonderful, bright child. And as the silly but true copper sulphate story tells you—it could happen to any of us or those around us. So please be on the lookout, if you see a distressed young soul, lend a supportive, non-judgemental ear. When I look back, I thank that aunt and that dog for unwittingly saving my life. If God wanted us to take our own life, he would have provided a poweroff button. He didn't, so have faith and let his plan for you unfold. Because no matter how tough life gets and how much it hurts, if street dogs don't give up, there is no reason why we, the smart species, should. Makes sense right?
-------------------------------End of Article
I used to have a different opinion about suicide, thinking that well if you think you had had enough of life, you should be independent to take this decision.
I changed my mind, and very much so, after u realise the value that this life had given you. If you ever feel that you don't have a lot in life....
If you are a human being, you are probably among the luckiest living beings on earth....its a gift that God has given you,
Living in a civilised society, where your personal freedom is not taken from you, its a gift that not many people have...
If you have good health, you are gifted with it, a gift that many people spend their life dreaming about...
If you can simply read this blog entry, you have received a gift of education, which a good majority of people on this planet have not had....
And Suicide is leading you to? If you think tht you'll have a better life in your next birth ...i wonder who ever went back to his or her previous birth to speak about the wonderful life you had....
Doing good deeds in your life, hoping for a better life in your next birth, is a valid and acceptable action, according to me, because that in some way collectively makes this world a better place to live in. Giving up things or sacrificing good things in life, might also be an acceptable way of going towards it, though people have different opinions about it...
But then, life is a gift....a gift that God has given you, and you have to live on........
and if you feel tired, just think that you are performing a duty that God has given you, and the road will be easier...
Maybe this sounds philosophical...but then thats how it is...my opposition to the concept of suicide stays on....
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Is this where your taxes go?
Read this news on cricinfo
"Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, announced this while adding that "a great injustice has been done to Ganguly because of politics in the game". "
I guess , people should seriously consider not payin taxes, if the parliament is going to take up such issues...
First, there is no substance...as in its not like zimbabwe or something, where cricket is being politicised, and there is a direct crisis. It's simply about one man not performing, and hence been given the axe.
If these guys think that they are angry at the selector's mistake, then why did they so much support the selectors when ganguly was taken back inspite of repeated failures...
Whatevre be the case, its a sport, and its an issue which has to be solved at tht level only..such cases cannot be brought to parliament....if u really have so much time, think about literacy, education, population control, agriculture, industry, external affairs, ,.....but not cricket......its not really what we are paying you for....
Sucks!
"Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, announced this while adding that "a great injustice has been done to Ganguly because of politics in the game". "
I guess , people should seriously consider not payin taxes, if the parliament is going to take up such issues...
First, there is no substance...as in its not like zimbabwe or something, where cricket is being politicised, and there is a direct crisis. It's simply about one man not performing, and hence been given the axe.
If these guys think that they are angry at the selector's mistake, then why did they so much support the selectors when ganguly was taken back inspite of repeated failures...
Whatevre be the case, its a sport, and its an issue which has to be solved at tht level only..such cases cannot be brought to parliament....if u really have so much time, think about literacy, education, population control, agriculture, industry, external affairs, ,.....but not cricket......its not really what we are paying you for....
Sucks!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
My Contribution to Wikipedia
This is exciting. When i first came across Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), i was shocked to see the information these guys had, and was thinking how they got it.
A simple idea, but works, and works well. Just leave some broken links and allow people to finish them, like I did today, added some more information about my home town of mulund, and now this excitement is going to lead me to do much more of it.
Of course, saw on TV a few days back, about misuse of this technology, by people writing bad things about other people, and yes, that is a negative, but minus that, this thing seems to be building up one of the largest resourse of information on the globe....
guess i fully support this one!
A simple idea, but works, and works well. Just leave some broken links and allow people to finish them, like I did today, added some more information about my home town of mulund, and now this excitement is going to lead me to do much more of it.
Of course, saw on TV a few days back, about misuse of this technology, by people writing bad things about other people, and yes, that is a negative, but minus that, this thing seems to be building up one of the largest resourse of information on the globe....
guess i fully support this one!
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Boney's Law of Time-Space Continuum
If the name of the post doesn't make any sense to you, it's normal, its not supposed to...
IMDB points out (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093578/trivia), that in the first scene of the famous film Mr. India, Ashok Kumar is explaining something to students and interestingly, this is written on the board...
'Boney's Law of Time-Space Continuum'
Boney Kapoor is anil kapoor's bro and the producer of the movie..
Also reminds me of one scene in the film Troy , where a plane is accidentally visible in a film , which is set in an ancient age.. :)
Any more such comments?
IMDB points out (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093578/trivia), that in the first scene of the famous film Mr. India, Ashok Kumar is explaining something to students and interestingly, this is written on the board...
'Boney's Law of Time-Space Continuum'
Boney Kapoor is anil kapoor's bro and the producer of the movie..
Also reminds me of one scene in the film Troy , where a plane is accidentally visible in a film , which is set in an ancient age.. :)
Any more such comments?
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