total timepass...

Who is going to be the next Prime Minister of India is going to be an ongoing debate for the next one year, with continuous comparisons drawn between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. And it is going to be fun and colourful times; Rahul's inexperience and Modi's nonsecular credentials thrown at all of us throughout this period. With barbs and re-barbs on pages after pages, and supporting fire from all the loyal comrades. As I said, it will be fun. In between this whole process, the fact that the biggest democracy in the world is going through a vote for its next government will be lost. The government is expected to bring about change, reform and development to the country. There are many aspects of this change which need to be talked about, stressed on and promises made for (irrespective of the fact whether those are kept or not). However what will happen is that the personalities of the leaders will be the focus of the campaigns, and with whatever little airtime issues get...

For a sports illiterate like me, my knowledge about players in sports other than cricket is very limited. I know a couple of famous ones; Ussain Bolt, Phelps, Tiger Woods, Messi, Lance Armstrong... The list is not long. And of those, the only one about which I know more than their name and game they play is Lance Armstrong. I read his book, one of the rare biographies I have read and was very impressed and motivated. Maybe because have not read about people coming out of cancer and achieving as much as he did in one of the most physically challenging sports, it felt really unreal and great. His book was inspiring at many levels and I took each of his words to be true. Including his tirade against people who 'wrongfully' accused him of doping. It had to be true, how could a person going through such tough times do something as wrong as that? And then it all came crashing! I don't know why, but I felt personally let down when the truth about him came out. I had read his...

Saw the movie 'Trance' by Danny Boyle recently and was not impressed. The movie is a thriller, with too many overlapping sequences that gets you confused between reality and dreams, present and the past. So what could have been another Memento or Inception turns out to be just a poor copy of it. The premise of the movie is very interesting; an art house employee steals an expensive work of art and then forgets where he hid it. Hounded by his fellow partners in crime, he uses the help of a hypnotist to delve into his mind to find where he hid the painting. What follows are a sequence of thriller chases, ego clashes, betrayals, dreams mixed with reality and so on till the final curtain on the truth opens. The climax is quite unexpected, and would have made it a great movie, except that it was lacking on clarity, Maybe if the storyline had been clearer, the movie would have been worth watching. The acting was good, the action sequences thrilling but the confusion killed it...

For a long time, I have been looking for comedy plays in West End, and looks like there are not many left which I haven't seen. So when someone mentioned One man two guvnors, I booked it as soon as I could. And I wasn't disappointed; we had a great afternoon, laughing a lot and all the time trying not to fall over laughing! Its the story of a ruffian, Francis in Brighton, who gets hired by two masters (or guvnors). One is a local goon, Roscoe but actually his twin sister (Rachel); and the other master is a murderer on the run, Stanley but actually Rachel's fiance. What follows is a comedy of errors with Francis trying to serve both masters simultaneously without getting confused or letting either know about the other. Francis played by Rufus (?) is a great actor, and holds his own on stage. He is a treat to watch; confused, witty and doing all kinds of antics on the stage (like pretending to fight with himself) with such a flair that it makes you laugh all the time, wonde...

The Iron Lady is no more. And parts of UK are celebrating her death! Other than being a very sad thing to do, it makes you wonder about her, what kind of a person was she; how extraordinary would she be (not necessarily good or bad) that her death brings out such kind of emotions in some people. Hearing about it led me to research her views, her actions and her decisions, to understand how can people either hate her so much or not hate her (I still haven't found people who love her yet, but think its the same as don't hate!). And so I realised how split the country is when it comes to her. On the one side, there will be a ceremonial funeral for her (something rarely accorded to politicians) and on the other side, there are street parties on her death. Just goes to show what an extraordinary woman she was! And as I learnt more about her, I realised what she stands for, is taking decisions, and bold ones at that. They might not necessarily have been all correct (this can ...

This is an old article from last year I think; Karnataka government spending 18 crores to conduct pooja across the state for the rain gods to give rain to the drought hit land . And all I thought after reading this was that either the ministers in the state are stupid or they just needed 15 crores urgently and cooked up this idea! And honestly, both are equally plausible reasons! In this day, who would think that praying in temples across the state would help! I can understand we are a religious country, but this is taking it to a ridiculous level. It doesn't work this way and am sure the ministers of the state know it as well. Anyways, I never read about whether it worked or not, so don't know if the 18 crores worked or not; but am sure 15 crores of it did make some people happy!

Indian cricket and Sachin have been synonymous for so long now; and our fascination for all kinds of statistics related to Sachin have been talked about for so long now, that a new one coming out does not make us bat an eye anymore. On top of that is the hotly debated question on when he should retire, its been a national obsession for long now (after how Abhi-Ash got married and what Aradhya looks like that is). It doesn't matter anymore what people write about Sachin, most of it doesn't matter. He is going to do what he wants and play how he wants. Thats it, what can anyone do about it? But then I read this today, and again felt like laughing. Everytime Sachin scores a duck, Mumbai wins . Hahaha! Do the statisticians really have no work other than coming out with such stats? And honestly, to give a complete picture, they should also mention how many times does he not score a duck and Mumbai wins! Anyways, I found it funny, so thought of posting it to my blog.

A lot of news item that I read in the Indian newspapers make me feel sad and want to write about them. Not all of them are about our major problems: illiteracy, poverty, population, female exploitation, corruption and so on..; but about other facets of our society and nation which though not critical are still important for us as a country. And this falls under the same: 35 protected monuments in India are not traceable anymore!  I know that we have bigger problems to focus on than historical monuments but still how can such things happen? There is an ASI formed for just this purpose, can they not keep track of our historical heritage so that it doesn't get lost? I wonder how tough would it be. As of today, this does not harm us at all. But in the future, we will miss these remnants of our past. Plus, a lot of times when I compare historical monuments in Europe with India, I find that Europeans preserve their heritage so well and earn so much off tourism even though ...