Secularism

At the Tanot devi temple 20 kms from indo-pak border.

Temple and a muslim mazaar in the same complex.

I don't know any other country where religions can co-exist in this way - while always seemingly being at war :)

Now THIS is the real desert.

Sure, at Sam dunes we saw the sunset and saw some dunes but NOTHING compares to the vastness of the desert that lies before me as I drive from Jaisalmer to the Indo-pak border - about 140 kilometres away.

While this photo is kinda useless (crappy BB cam) the sand dunes are the size of proper mountains. If you really want to know how tiny mankind is in nature's scheme of things, you don't have to go into space, just spend 5 minutes in the vast nothingness that is this desert.

Asia's tallest TV tower

Standalone.

Rajasthan seems to have a lot of 'asia's largest'

1. The largest man made lake
2. The largest library
3. And now the tallest stand alone TV tower
4. I think also Thar may be asia's largest desert but I'm not sure.

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Jaisalgarh hotel

Nice pretyy little hotel just on the outskirts of Jaisalmer.

Now off to indo-pak border which is about 125 kms from here.

Sunset at Sam dunes

The amount of people is staggering.

I thought desert would be a lot quieter than this.

Haldi vegetable

Wow.

I didn't know there were vegetables made from haldi - entirely!

Deshnook - Mice everywhere!

Situated about 40 minutes from Bikaner, this is a temple built for goddess Karnimata who was 1 of the 7 sisters that have temples dedicated to them.

The temple is famous for being a place that's crawling with mice - called kaaba.

The Rajasthani word for 'little boy/son is Kabba and kaaba is derived from that - the mice are considered as sons of the goddess.

Considering how dirty they are, it was surprisingly clean and absolutely un-smelly.

The 600 year old temple has never had a single case of plague in its history. Even when there have been plague cases nearby.
It is said that the mice of the temple never ever step out of the temple - which seemed true since before entering we couldn't see even one!

It is further said that the mice from outside the temple don't enter the temple either - something a LOT harder to verify - but probably giving a good explanation for their ability to escape the plagues - insulation/isolation.

The temple has a long 'parikrama' that spans 36 kilometers and apparently has to be finished in one night - this year 80k people finished it.

Interestingly enough, the lady forbid people to worship her through her entire life (150 years estimated) but ofcourse once she was dead, people went ahead and did it anyway.

Karnimata was not really interested in the social life but her parents were after her life to get married. So, she did what any normal goddess-in-the making would do - she married the king.

However, she probably didn't like the honeymoon destination or maybe the king sucked at seduction but the wedding wasn't consummated because she wasn't interested. So she got her sister married to the king as well so that THEY could have a normal married life - I think some minus points for lack of foresight of getting the sister married in the first place - especially since she was a goddess in the making.

Anyway, so coming back to the temple, there are literally hundreds, maybe even thousands of mice roaming the place - so much so that first time visitors are advised to put their feet on the white tiles because its easier to spot mice on it - and avoid stepping on them.

Apparently its lucky to see a white mouse. I saw one - twice!
Don't care whether its true or not but its a good feeling :))

Bikaner

Christmas at select citywalk

More amazement at just how seriously we celebrate this festival.

For shops, ofcourse this is another reason to offer more discounts and increase footfalls.

For me, its a 10 day vacation! Woohoo!!

Also, why is this purple?

Christmas decorations

At dilli-o-dilli at IHC.

I find it increasingly surprising just how many places are getting these christmas decorations and just how many of us look forward to christmas breaks.

It speaks volumes for our collective secularism. Well done!

Man ka radio

At the hall. Attempting to watch Man ka radio. We are the only 7 ppl in the hall.

I plead temporary insanity.

Taj Mahal Photos

Photos from my recent trip to the Taj

Enjoy!

These are sweets!

This is a 'seasonal mithai' which is made only during winters since its made of butter - which melts in summers rather quickly :)

It was too sweet and I couldn't get over the watermelon look - which is one of the few fruits I hate!

I don't know what this is called though. Do you?

Lifesaver

At 2am, and with temperatures that felt below freezing, we took shelter under this gas heater.

There were 3/4 of these surrounding the area where the feras were taking place.

We also had our suits on as well as a razai to curl into.

It was all I could do to not fall asleep!

It was fun though!

My bro gets married!

It always amazes me when 2 people tie the knot and decide to spend the rest of their lives together - through sickness and health, sorrow and happiness, triumphs and tribulations.

Even though I have known the bride for about 3 days, I can say that my bro is one heck of a lucky guy. She is super cool - and that is a word I don't generaly compliment ppl with very often.

Btw, this raised platform was an excellent idea so everyone could stand around and have their fill of the 'doolah dulhan'

Have a great life you two!

Pottery

At fatehpur sikri.

Better pics from my recent agra trip will follow shortly!

Wall fixture

Cool wall fixture at lazeez on malcha marg.

I'd like to put this on my cieling so that it looks like stars twinkling at night!

The Wedding spread

It's amazing just how many gifts get spread out at weddings.

I've been asked to sit in a room full of wrapped up presents while the ladies do their dance etc. in another part of the house.

Weddings are awesome!

Foggy morning

Slight fog and lots of cold as I begin packing to leave for agra.

Oh and, finally IT gave me my BB back so atleast the camera works :)

Phone slippers

I have never seen a 'cuter' phone accessory than this slipper attachment.

Cinderall phone jokes flood my mind.

Awesome tag line

Reads: "Joins everything except broken hearts! :)"

Genuine Imitation Life

Recently, one of my relatives walked into a room where us 3 brothers were sitting together, each busy on his own laptop or mobile device.

Jokingly, he referred this belafonte song - Genuine Imitation Life and it has been stuck in my mind ever since:

--
Chameleon changing colors-
while a crocodile cries
People rubbing elbows,
but never touching eyes.
Taking off their masks,
revealing still another guise
Genuine imitation life

People buying happiness and manufactured fun
Everybody doing what everybody's done
People count on people who can only count to one
Genuine imitation life

All the pretty clouds are a lovely shade of black
You find the right direction, someone tears up all the track
People worship crosses, fingers crossed behind their back
Genuine imitation life

Old friends get together but it's solitaire they play
Everybody's rainbow done in different shades of gray
It's a lovely place to visit but I wouldn't want to stay
In a genuine imitation life
Genuine imitation life
---

I am back!

It's been a while since I've posted here.

One of the main reasons was working around the various corp BB restrictions - my primary mode of blogging is banging my thoughts out on my BB.

Hopefully, I can be more frequent now!

The shopper monks

Having given up the world"s pleasures was a given as a monk.
However it seems the lure of designer shoes seems too much for these folks.

I don't blame them, considering how much they walk!

However, I do hear that since the monks get a lot of money as donations, they are literally rolling in money.

The problem with delhi traffic

Can you spot it?

Junk jewellery

I knew women loved shopping for junk jewellery but I never realised just HOW much till I spent 3 hours playing shopping assistant at Janpath.

Security warning of the day!

flyover

First a flyover was made. Then another was attached to it YEARS later.

Finally, a metro link is being built going over both flyovers.

Why the hll can't they put such engineering skills to use in bombay!

Amer Fort

Fabulous sound and light show. Must watch.
Costs 200 rupees, lasts an hour and will give you a great history lesson.

Funnily enough, they talk about the exact same stuff they created controversies over when Jodha Akbar released.

Makes me think it was all a publicity stunt :)

Ah... The torment

Priyanka endorses Nokia. I don't know why they dont have more ads of her.
Apart from this, I do believe that Nokia has BRILLIANT advertising.

Check this post for more. http://meandmycam.blogspot.com/2007/04/music-gets-you-talking.html

Burberry workers protest

Lots of music and anger.

Video once I reach home!

Rules of a ship.

The most hightech audio guide!

At the maritime museum, they hand out these super cool pdas as audio guides.

The port must be very very rich :)

The columbus monument

Dedicated to the famous traveller.

You must recall your history that the king an queen of spain (ferdinand and isabella I think) sponsored columbus's trip to search for india when he accidentally discovered America.

Also, of note, is that the statue was supposed to point to the new world but actually points in the wrong direction :)

Lottery

The spanish are pretty big on lottery.

Many buy tickets on a regular basis and that includes people who r already rich :)

Lottery

The spanish are pretty big on lottery.

Many buy tickets on a regular basis and that includes people who r already rich :)

Arch de triomphe

Barcelona's sad excuse of the really cool french monument.

Its just a waste of time.

You cannot even go on top!

Lunch!

After major meandering inside casa mila - a house designed by gaudi for the Mila family (its awesome and a must visit!) I'm so hungry I could eat spain's entire annual produce. Especially considering my breakfast consisted of 1 cup of coffe and about 5 pieces of "chips"

Got some helpful local advice on where to eat (walk around ull find something) I finally found this place called Tapa Tapa.

Menu in six languages. Courteous staff and even though I'm drinking coke, I get to sit on the bar side! Yeaa!

Excellent place.

Chairs

Replicas of gaudi's nature inspired chairs. Comfortable as hell.

Really! It feels like there is no wood at all and is made of a soft comfortable material but its not. Its all wood.

Incredible.

The moon at noon?

Have u ever seen the moon at noon?

Can you spot it in this picture amongst the clouds?

Enjoy :)

View from Park Guell

One of the higher points in barca. Awesome view

Sorry about the crappy BB camera

How much tissue can someone use?

Apparently a LOT!

These are the tissues used by my friend for just drinking coffee.

No wonder we are running out of trees!

The most ill designed cup

At Cafe Zurich, major barca landmark.

The cup is so terribly ill designed that the cup handle (for lack of a better word) is too tiny for even my pinky to fit in.

Which means u gotta wait for your coffee to get reasonably cold before u can drink it.

You just can't hold it from the handle!

The Magic Fountain

On the base of Montjuic, this is a musical fountain which moves to the tune of music (obviously) - most of which is english actually and not spanish.

It operates only on the weekends - Friday to Sunday. 

If you are in Barcelona, this is a definite place to go. I shot a video too. Will upload once its up on YouTube.

BTW, this black and white effect is a complete fluke. My BB camera got royally confused because the fountain had varied lighting and changing colors so I suppose it gave up trying to figure it out and spat out b/w instead. But I really like it this way. Don't you?

Olives II

Olives

Its interesting that a major departmental store (caprabo) sells olives in open jars akin to a flea market.

Dev D. D for…

Have you ever been in a joke narration where there has been tons of build-up and you eagerly await the punch line so you can laugh your ass off and say "hell yeah!"

But the punch line never comes?

That's almost exactly what Dev D. is like.
Except that there is no build up and the joke stretches for around 3 hours by the end of which you are so irritated that you feel like hitting the people sitting in the audience, beginning with yourself.

So incase you don't know, the movie is a modern interpretation of Devdas (hence Dev D.) and attempts to showcase the movie by tying it in with the issues in our "modern day" world of pre marital sex, drug abuse, MMS scandal and a rich kid running over people with his BMW.

Firstly, before my eyes see red again and I lose all control of my temper at the sheer absurdness, pointlessness and stupidity of the film, I must say Abhay Deol acts brilliantly and portrays his role rather well - something I have come to expect after such movies as Oye lucky, Ek chaalis ki last local and socha na tha.

The movie begins with a young dev being a pain in the ass and his father shouting at him.

Dev calls his mom and dad by their first names - a funny but idiotic attempt at portraying him as unconventional and rebellious. Still, it is cutely bearable in way – I think mostly because of the actor.

He gets shipped to London where he grows up chatting with his childhood sweet heart via the web and of course love/lust blossoms.

Dev is shown (to begin with) a guy who is rebellious and doesn't indulge in the molly coddling of stuff that people (usually older) don't want discussed openly.
He wants to fuck, instead of "indulging in the physical act of making love"
He is direct, to the extent of being rude about what he wants, when he wants and how he wants it.
From casually asking his girl "do you touch yourself?" To asking her to send naked pictures of her, and uttering lines like "main aa raha hoon" instead of its obvious english version, Dev D. then, stands for Dev Dude.

And just for a moment, you start thinking that maybe the fresh take is that the movie shows Dev as the guy who takes no prisoners, is direct and blatant and doesn't give a shit about what the world in general or people within ear shot in particular think or perceive.

Cut to his India visit where he meets his childhood sweet heart and the next 20 mintues in the movie are spent showcasing their inability to find some private space to "do it"

Yeah, TWENTY minutes.

Finally that chapter closes when due to a misunderstanding, they have a fight and Paaro marries some other rich guy because Dev D in his Dude style asks her to go to hell.

Had the movie from here taken on a role where Dev moves on and continues his sex cigarettes and whiskey lifestyle, it would’ve probably been a fun and realistic take in today's world. But no.

From here the movie tries to mimic the older dev das with dev missing paaro and taking to heavy drinking and hooker induced sleep.
Paaro meanwhile moves on forgets dev and lives a happy life.

Dev finds a particular hooker Chanda who is a firang girl depicting the DPS MMS scandal victim. He takes a liking to her and a small friendship blossoms but he still loves Paaro.

He pays the pimp to let Chanda go.
Meanwhile, he runs over 7 people in his BMW.

His father dies (he was ill anyway) and Dev literally becomes a beggar for about 2 mins in the film.

Suddenly, a car rams into a wall missing him by several feet but this becomes the life altering moment. He seeks out Chanda and they try to start a life together which is shown by her giving him a sponge bath and later taking him to the police station for his daily hajiri- (he is out on bail in the BMW case)

The pointlessness of the movie is beyond words.

Infact the movie should’ve been called Paaro because her character is the one that is different, she is no longer in love with Dev, marries an equally rich man and lives happily.

So what's so new about the movie? Nothing, unless you count the several ingenious ways they have invented to completely screw up what could’ve been a great movie.

What perplexes me even more is how is it that the other movie reviews I've read have been very positive - did they show a different movie at the premier? I don't know.

If I could have it my way, I would gather up all the people who made this film, their families, distant relatives, offsprings, suspected offsprings and anyone having even a single gene common with any of them.

I would then shoot each of them several times so that never again can they mess up the human gene pool and subject us to such criminally terrible movies.

Dev D. D for… Disaster.

Nerdy as hell

 

Just very very ashamed that I actually got this joke and LOL’d my ass off.

For you..

Since I am studying all this math and I think I’m so awesome at set theory, here is a message for my high school sweet heart :)

copyright xkcd

Luck By Chance

A few months ago, I went to dinner with this really great friend of mine. We have been friends since our college days (although we went to different ones)

She is smart and funny and charming, kinda pretty too ;) loves sports and will tell you more about cars than Autocar ever could and can put most guys to shame when it comes to discussing women. She is just very very cool.

So the obvious question (and some common friends have asked me this) was why is she not my girlfriend? Well, mostly because I already had a great one before I met her. But suppose I didn’t. what about then?

After college though, we lost touch and went about our lives and got super busy. However, with my new found “time” I have been busy seeking out long lost friends (thanks FB, orkut, LinkedIn) and luck by chance (c’mon I had to use this SOMEWHERE!), I ran into her.

We started chatting and it was like time had never passed. Like we were right back in college lamenting how little pocket money we received and bitching about some common friends (you know who you are and you know you deserve it!)

It was during this meeting that I found out the answer to my question. Why even though she had every single attribute a guy could ever want, why nothing could’ve happened.

It was because during all our the times we spent with each other, there was not one moment where it all just came together.

Even though all the signs and ingredients were there, put together, it just wasn’t clicking.

The sum was less than the parts.

Which is almost exactly how I would put the one line summation of Luck By Chance.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the film. Infact, the parts are positively brilliant - but put together, they just doesn’t click.

Farhan does an absolutely excellent portrayal of a struggling actor who is charming and cunning at once and wants to succeed and believes in making his own luck.

You can’t help but like him even though sometimes he can be an a***ole (a line that also apparently describes me as I was told only yesterday).

Rishi Kapoor proves why he is so awesome with his excellent depiction of a “jolly” (sorry no other word quite sums it up this well) producer who is in there to show that “bollywood is one big family” angle – replete with his funny and pretty trophy wife played by Juhi

Dimple amply demos the “yesteryear superstar heroine now launching her daughter” complete with tantrums and nauseating involvement with everything in the movie.

The dialogues are really sharp and randomly funny. Funnier are the one liner’s that Farhan delivers while flirting with the starlet daughter.

Sample some classics -

Rishi Kapoor describing Dimple - “she is a crocodile in a chiffon sari”

And - talking to his script writer who is trying to turn a negative character into a positive character because the actor throws tantrums: -

“Oye institute, main yeh film Film Festival ke liye nahin bana raha”

The movie touches all aspects of the Indian film industry – from the dignified and muted potrayal of the casting couch to the insecurities of a big star who is threatened by a successful young comer. The new role of corporates investing into movies and “trying to change the culture” is also beautifully weaved in.

More intelligently connected is the way Farhan (or Vikram) goes around literally making his own luck, getting his own break and how the attitude of people around him changes once he lands the big role.

From the aunty who stops being caustic about him living in her house (he is from Delhi – like SRK?) to the childhood friend and fellow struggling actor who turns visibly bitter about Farhan’s success.

However, somehow, the bits and pieces don’t come together to give you the entertainer that was OSO nor is it as thought provoking or introspective as a Page 3.

Despite great performances by every single actor in the movie and some great songs, great dialogues, and superb direction, the movie just doesn’t quite work.

Infact, it oscillates between trying to decide whether to be dark or funny about the film industry and ends up being a grey (ok light grey) sarcastic caricature that will leave you confused about your feelings for the movie.

The sum then, is less than the parts.

So should you watch it?

You CAN watch it for Farhan and Rishi kapoor if you have absolutely nothing else to do on the weekend.

However, if you have a life altering situation (like say.. you are feeling lazy) and you miss the movie, don’t fret.

Raaz II – The Return of Horror

There are some things that just aren't done.

No matter how good it tastes, a Frenchman will never accept that anything from Napa is any good. And god forbid you gift him one, he will break the bottle on your head. That is, if you are lucky.

Ask a German what his favorite car is, and you will never hear the answer as a Ford or a Chevrolet. Because Detroit sucks at making anything that can go further than 5 miles on a tank full of gas - and I don't mean in a giant tank sort of way where you can sit pretty in the knowledge that if the traffic is bad, you could just driver over them.

If you ever get late for meeting a Japanese the chances are you will see a contorted painful expression which will make you wallow in self pity for being around 1.296 seconds late.

On the contrary, in Spain if you turn up for a 11pm party at 12, you will still have around 2 hrs to kill before the host shows up.

Being on time just isn't done.

In India however, we have no such issues. We are as frequently late as we are on time.

German cars are so overpriced that you can buy several houses for the price of 1. So we love Chevy and ford.

We really can't tell the difference between Napa and Bordeaux and we don't care.

In India, sab chalta hai.

Except, when you talk about horror movies.

We just don't make good ones. Directors, actors and audiences run away from any that actually get released and if you look at the stuff we have churned out so far, you wouldn't blame them one bit.

Who can forget the psyche altering rubbish churned out by the Ramsey brothers - the stalwarts of Bollywood Horror. Movies of such abject stupidity as “Do Gaj Zameen Ke Neeche”, “Shaitani Ilaaka” Puraana Mandir or… I could go on but the bottom line is, we just don’t know how to make a proper horror flick which is without the gore and funny makeup. We are awesome at doing song and dance sequences while jumping off buildings holding an umbrella, but when it comes to the horror genre, we suck. Horribly.

Which brings me to Raaz II – The Mystery Continues.

With a reasonably big budget and a star cast which is respectably A list, Raaz II is perhaps the first A grade India horror flick.

The story is the same old formula about a spirit possessing a pretty girl (a model no less!) who has a boyfriend who doesn’t believe in ghosts or spirits. In fact, his disbelief is so complete and bordering on the idiotic that he actually has his own TV show talking about the superstitions going on in the country.

Cut to an angry arrogant painter who paints the future but only about Kangana and the story revolves around of course how they beat the spirit that possesses her. And yes, true to the stereotype, the painter roams around with the Bhagvad Gita in his pocket.

As performances go, Kangna has proved my theory that the only roles she can do remarkably well are those where she has to be hysterical and crazy – bordering on the psychotic. Which she does with aplomb.

Adhyayaya..yaya..yaya..n (or however else its spelled) is a terrible actor. Completely botching up simple scenes like asking Kangana to go back to sleep while he is sleepy.

The dialogue writer needs to be shot in the head – twice.

I cannot believe someone was paid to come up with lines like:

Kangana to Adhyayan, explaining her slit wrist in the hospital -

K – “Tum sochte ho ye maine khud kiya hai? Tum jaante ho main apne aap se kitna pyaar karti hoon!”

On second thought, also shoot whoever approved this line’s use.

The story then meanders its way to various parties and scary scenes to reach the climax which seems inspired from The Ring – complete with black and white effects and a well for you to drown into. Ofcourse, our hero wins in the end and good triumphs over evil.

Sounds nothing new does it? It's not.

So then is this movie the Napa to a Frenchman and a Ford to a German?

No. Not even slightly. Infact, what it is, is excellent.

You see, despite the dialogue writer who should be shot (twice. remember.) and Adhyayan who cant act and parts and scenes inspired from a multitude of Hollywood films, the direction and camerawork is from a different planet. And its exceptional.

The story is superb, the plot is gripping and scenes will really make you pull that Red Lounge blanket up to your eyes.

The movie is genuinely scary in parts and is thrilling and exciting in its entirety.

Emraan Hashmi is just incredible. His acting is both intense and measured and to the point. None of the onscreen kissing business and no longer do you feel that he walks around thinking he is gods gift to womankind. He is smooth and carries his role off with ease.

The music is catchy and haunting at once and except for one song, the others are really not that out of place.

The movie doesn’t rely on past make up tricks of sticking painted vegetables on people’s faces and dirty yucky funny moving “Shaitaan” trying to kill. It relies on effects, anticipation and surprise and in that alone, we must give a presidential pardon to the script writer.

What this movie is, then, is that rare Ford that can make a German smile – a Mustang. It has its quirks and its kinks and its not perfect but its entertaining as hell and will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire 2hrs 45 minutes.

This movie is to our horror genre what Barack Obama is to the United States of America.

A movie inspiring hope and instilling in us - the "Yes We Can" of making horror movies!

Go watch! It is full paisa vasool!

Sign of marriage

How do you know a couple have been married for a long time?

When the cushions leave the sofas and hit the streets!