total timepass...

Manikarnika is the story of one of the most famous queens of India, and a warrior queen at that. It stars Kangana Ranaut as the protagonist and that is enough to polarize the feedback for the movie 😀. There are enough people who liked it and a similar number who have a completely opposite view. My first feeling when I started watching the movie was the surprise on realising that even though I think I know enough about Indian history, I knew nothing about the Rani of Jhansi, except that her horse's name was Badal and where she had jumped from at the Jhansi fort (thanks to my travels to Jhansi). Other than that, I knew nothing about her background or her life. Even the fact that she was related to Tatya Tope and Nana Sahib, I initially assumed was a creative liberty taken by the writers! In fact, during the movie itself I checked on wiki whether that was true. And it was. It set the tone for the rest of the movie where I trusted it to be closer to history. And this also showcas...

I generally prefer watching Hindi movies as compared to English ones as Hindi movies don't require you to think. They are made in their own fancy world for pure entertainment and nothing else. And then once in a while comes a movie which is both and it affects you in such a way that you don't even realise it did. Raazi is one such movie - it is such a brilliant piece! It was enjoyable while watching it and stayed with me long after I had got out of the theatre. Raazi is the story about an Indian Kashmiri girl who is married into a Pakistani army family in 1971 with the aim of spying on the new family for India. She transforms from a college-going girl to a brave spy, willing to go to any lengths to do something for her country. The film follows her journey, with tense moments where she does things no one, even her could have imagined her doing. On the whole the movie follows a typical storyline, but the end... The acting by all the characters in the movie is perfect. As i...

Again a very interesting and light read where the authors highlights that success is not just based on talent and skill. A lot of other factors including luck, the time you were born, your parents, environment and many more external factors contribute as much if not more to a person's success. The examples he gives are quite convincing too. I would almost say its a must read book for anyone interested in reading about people and life... Some highlights and examples from the book are shared below: A lot of external events affect success. One example is the date or month you are born. A lot of games have a cutoff date when young children are chosen to be trained. And children born right after that date, are at an advantage as they are a year older than the rest when the next cutoff date comes. So they are more often selected and trained more and make it big. While other children who were born later in the year don't get in and generally do less better on an average The ten...

A very interesting and easy book to read, with a new take on how underdogs and the disadvantaged can turn their disadvantages into an advantage and win over huge Goliaths! A must read for anyone interested in psychology and life! Below are a few interesting observations highlighted in the book: Its not always the giant who wins. Sometimes their advantage can become their disadvantage too. And sometimes being unconventional can help you win! The story of David and Goliath is the perfect example where Goliath's size becomes the reason for his downfall. And another example of this would be playing full court in basketball as done by a few not so talented teams. By taking the unconventional route, you can surprise your opponent and even win with limited talent. Of course doing this is risky and tougher than taking the conventional and easier route. But this may be the only way underdogs can win Being rich parents is good and advantageous up to a point but parenting becomes toug...

This book has a very interesting take on some of the key countries of the world, why they do what they do and links their history and actions as dependent on their geography. Most of the observations were very interesting, am sharing a few below: Russia : Moscow is located in a vast flatland and was always at risk of attack from either the Central Asian powers in the south or from Western Europe in the west. Therefore it has always conquered land all around Moscow to keep a buffer zone, and that has been a driver of its foreign policy for a long long time. Till today two geographical limitations do matter to Russia and drive its actions – it still needs a port which does not freeze in winter. And it needs to protect itself from the great western plains of Europe and hence needs an ally in the Baltic States and Poland at all times. China:  The hinterland of China again is located in an open plain and therefore it has conquered other regions like inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Ti...

I attended an AR Rehman concert earlier this year, which was in the Wembley SSE Arena. The show had been delayed multiple times, from May to September last year and then from March to finally in July this year. I had been looking forward so much to attend it and was very happy that I finally made it with all the reschedulings too! I think for our generation, some of the best songs we have all danced to and hummed all our life have been composed by him. From Swades to Pardes, from Rangeela to Rang de Basanti, from Bombay to Rockstar, and so on. Who can forget Chaiya Chaiya and Humma and countless other such memories he has given us. I think most of my favourite Bollywood music must be AR Rehman's. And what can be better than listening to him play all these songs live? Its not being able to listen to him play these songs live... The whole experience was a big big let down for me. Maybe it was the expectations that made it so disappointing, but I did not enjoy being there at a...

Blackbox thinking is a book on another aspect of psychology - of learning from mistakes. Surprisingly enough, there are some parts of society where this is encouraged, and some where its not. And this difference in attitude can change the whole course of a person's life. Or a profession... Some interesting observations and learnings from the book: Learning constantly from failures, to improve your performance and systems is consistently and rigorously followed in the airline industry. This is done using the recordings from the blackbox installed in flights which is then used to add new guidelines given out to pilots and other airline staff. The opposite happens in the medical care profession though. Mistakes are not even acknowledged as their occurrence is assumed to be a weakness. And since no one even accepts the mistakes, there is no opportunity to correct it going forward, and so thousands continue to die as learnings are never taken. The mind naturally deals with mista...