Ramblings

• It feels so nice to meet your college friends after a long time....you wish time stood still.
• The sea breeze is wonderful, but the sea spray is yucky!!!
• I look HUGE compared to my friend, A!!!
• I like the World Space Radio ad....somehow, it is sooo convincing!!!
• Zara Zara from Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein is easily the most erotic song of recent times (well, for me at least!!!).
• I am beginning to wonder why I started writing this post in the first place!!!
• I SUCK at CAT quant!!!
• I am writing this from office, waiting for the stupid SPARC backup to get over.
• Why does no friend of mine have the entire F.R.I.E.N.D.S collection??
• You are probably wondering whether I have lost my marbles.
• I think I probably have!!!
• errrr.....I guess that's it!!!

Looks like the Rain Gods are angry with the BMC !!!

What a day!!!

Was looking forward to a completely free weekend ahead of me, yesterday in office when Mom messaged to tell me that her cell service had been temporarily discontinued. It seems the bill I had paid online had not been credited to her account. An hour of communication with my bank and her cell company later, I came to know that I had keyed in the wrong number while paying the bill. MISTAKE NO. 1!!! Thankfully, the cell company has agreed to help me correct the error.

Later, while leaving office, full of weekend ecstasy, I forgot my umbrella and, to top it, realised my folly only after I had reached home. On calling my colleagues, I found that they had all left office and that there was no one to claim the umbrella for me!!! MISTAKE NO. 2!!! I asked a colleague who was going to office today to check for it but, as expected, he didn't find it!!!

Then, while lazing at home today, I snagged my watch in a drawer. Struggle......struggle.....SNAP!!!!! That'll be 50 bucks, Sir!!! MISTAKE NO. 3!!!

And, finally, for the "baap" of all mistakes. I made a friggin' mistake while filling in my CAT form. Used a black pen where a pencil was needed!!! Damn!!! MISTAKE NO. 4!!!

Total unnecessary cost incurred so far?? Rs. 180. Could go up to Rs. 2199!!! Great....simply great!!!!

Golmaal - A Review

Went for Golmaal yesterday, simply coz of the hype created by my friends. Thought, why not give it a try. I must say that I certainly wasn't disappointed.

The movie begins by outlining the extent to which 4 friends are willing to go, in order to lay their hands on some easy money. Then, just when you are beginning to hate the lazy slobs, the narrative mellows down a bit and reveals snippets from their past which actually makes you feel sorry for these guys. Fate somehow brings them to the doorstep of a blind couple. The story picks up pace after that. Add a bumbling gang of goondas, a hissing idiot, a wannabe Munnabhai, and you have absolute mayhem!!!

Performance-wise, all 4 actors seem to have equally important roles. Ajay Devgan is dependable as ever. But, somehow, he doesn't seem to be as comfy with situational comedy, as with the serious dramatic stuff. Still, he does a pretty good job. Vrajesh Hirjee with his hissing antics is more suitable for a zoo rather than a Hindi film. His hissing fails to evoke more than a few feeble laughs. What was the director thinking? The goondas are bumbling, which is just the way they should be for this film. The remaining 3 of the quartet, Tusshar, Sharman and Arshad are quite simply hilarious. Whatever they do, you are never bored. And thankfully, for once, the comedy doesn't go overboard as it did with a couple of Sharman's early films. Which now brings me to Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukherjee. The two of them do a brilliant job as the eccentric blind couple. Paresh Rawal, with his perfect comic timing and Sushmita Mukherjee, with her vulnerability. The duo even share a song. This song is brilliantly picturised and the production team certainly deserves kudos for it. Rimi Sen is more of a garden ornament, if you get what I mean!!! The less said the better.

All in all, one can conclude that even though the movie does not boast of a proper storyline, the flair for comedy displayed by all actors is what keeps this movie alive. Go watch it, and forget your troubles for a while.

title it yourself!!!!

Earlier in the day, I had thought that I would write about the day I spent with my friends, giving them a treat on the occasion of my birthday. However, the day was marred by a series of events that took place in Bombay this morning.

All of us were sitting in the Bombay Blues outlet at Shopper's Stop, Andheri, when we got wind of the news that there was rioting going on in many parts of Bombay. It seems a statue of the late wife of the influential Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, had been desecrated by some miscreants, early this morning. Her son, Uddhav, who calls himself a leader of the people of Maharashtra, gave a statement saying that inspite his mother being a mother for the masses, it is indeed sad that someone desecrated her statue. I thoroughly agree with him and, am of the firm belief that the police MUST trace the miscreants, at the earliest. However, the "people's" Sena went one step further. Rioting began, buses were burnt, shops were forced to close down and the city almost ground to a halt. Is this the way to express your agitation at the insult of someone you hold dear? Is this the way a supposedly responsible party is supposed to conduct itself?

On any day, maybe 5 years earlier, people would themselves have stopped all activities as a mark of protest. However, repeated attempts by this party to make sure that the diktats of its now senile leader and his irresponsible son are obeyed at all costs have certainly not endeared them to WE, the people. I think it is time we had self-governance in Bombay (yes, I will call it Bombay, when I speak in English....to hell with political correctness!!!). Ban the political parties!!! Let individuals stand for the post of elected mayor. Let the Sena know that I am certainly NOT voting for them in the next elections!!!

In case the reader is wondering why I have mentioned names, as opposed to my style of using initials, I feel that in some cases, a direct approach is the best one!!! And there is no particular reason for this post.....its just me letting some steam off.

And July, the first passes by...

Just yesterday, a quizzing friend of mine, NI, called up to wish me a Happy Birthday. During the course of the conversation we had, one question he asked really made me think. "Does it feel any different becoming 23?"

Come to think of it, it certainly doesn't. I am still the same fat and lazy chap I was a year ago. I still get angry at the drop of a hat. I still love to drive the wheels off my car. But then, why is a birthday considered to be so important? NI had me thinking big time, and mind you, that's quite an achievement!!!

My thinking made me realise that though I may not have changed that much, some part of me has, indeed, undergone a transformation, possibly because of the events that took place in my life in the past year. I learnt that I could survive away from home, thanks to my company, which insists on training its recruits in far-off places like Bhubaneswar. I learnt that the rest of India is not such a bad place, but nothing can beat Bombay!!! I learnt that some people who you think are very good friends wont even bother to ask how you are, while others will keep in touch. I learnt that however skilled you may be at driving, there will always be someone who is willing to take more risks than you, simply because he has more money!!! I also learnt that Orkut can make you drop your sulkiness at your best friend, because she has forgotten all about your big day. I also learnt that when your best friend calls up at 11 pm to apologise, she makes your day (or at least, what's left of it!!!)

If I try and list all the things that I learnt, I will end up spending the whole day over it, and yet, not end up with a comprehensive list!!! So, a reader may ask...."Is this post getting somewhere?" My reply would be .... "Errr....No, I don't think so!!!"