I am often accused of being an Anglophile especially when it comes to voicing out my opinions about tacky hindi movies replete with the usual, loud song & dance routines. Okay, so my favourite hero isnt the effervescent, stuttering Shah Rukh Khan and I cannot help but laugh at silly, melodramatic sob stories like Baghban but that doesnt mean I am anti Indian cinema at large. For me, a non-funny production like ‘Welcome’ just doesnt epitomise the essence of a comedy movie and god forbid I have to watch another disaster like the screechy song or title, I couldnt make out which one - ‘Apne toh apne hote hai….’
I admit a movie such as any of the above doesnt appeal to me at any level and I dont usually put myself through three, sometimes four hours of gruelling rollercoaster of emotions to finally leave the cinema hall thinking, now thats wasted time of my life thats never coming back. I dont like a regular, masala movie because I cannot accept anyone breaking into an abrupt song come what emotion may. Nor can I tolerate a holier-than-thou, self sacrificing lead who lets people walk all over him/her in an effort to show society what an awesome role model one should be like.
Extreme on-screen Gandhigiri doesnt work for me. I’d rather the character be a bit more human, with accepted flaws and more grey shades than the puppet-makers care to portray. I’m more of a Rahul Bose fan and can effortlessly watch a Mr & Mrs Iyer or a Page 3 than I can with a Don or Dhoom 2,3,4 and so on.
I cant think of any recent movies that I’d like to watch, not even Jodha Akbar. I dont mind admitting I have a severe allergy towards idiot movies and I’m finally beginning to wonder the name of the type of audience I belong to.
Read an interesting post today titled: A Fan of Indian Railways by GWBE. Had to comment on it and my thought process refused to call it quits even after I hit publish-your-comment, thereby pursuing some more details about it on my own blog.
I never was a very big fan of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav but he seems to be highly motivated into bringing some radical changes in our railway system. With his new railway budget declaration, he has sought to address a lot of concerns which frankly, I will be surprised to actually see it happen.
Given the choice between air or train travel, which one would I choose? Air travel - mainly because of the commute time. Although cost is a very big factor. To rephrase it, I would travel by air if its necessary and also if I have enough cash to fork out the ticket.
On a three day train journey, I have encountered:
- Ace snorers. Cross bred between an autorickshaw engine and a fully automatic machine gun. Guaranteed to make you lose sleep. Especially if they’ve got the berth above yours.
- Mobile phone battery drainage. That is if you were foolish enough not to charge it fully when you board the train just like me. And no, my train didnt have a phone charging point in it.
- The train toilets. Need I say more?
- Idiotic bickering with fellow passengers about luggage space. Some people look like they’re moving house when they travel.
- Chappal-thieves. Once a beggar-thief nearly walked off with my slippers.
The bottomline is - if trains are indeed going to be safer, cleaner, cheaper, on time, entertaining (tv & internet on board) and have easily available tickets, then I am highly persuaded to switch over to their side.
You bit some chumps! Soon they will join your Vampire army! Mwuh ha ha ah HA HA!
(as they say in Tennis commentary)
I pulled a long strand of white hair from my head last night. As I watched life pass me by, I remembered two things:
If you pull one white hair, seven more grow back in its place. That means, my life is now officially over.
This one proverb kept repeating in my head - True wisdom is born with white hair. For which I couldnt help retaliate - I’d rather be a fool instead with thick locks of black/burgundy/reddish brown hair or whichever non-white colour thats currently reigning on my mood.
Last weekend was the Annual Sports Meet during which two days were spent in a whirlwind of every sports event imaginable. Whats interesting about this meet is that one gets to observe the students outside of their classroom and witness their incredible stamina and sportsmanship. I think the Best Athlete also enjoys other perks such as attention from the opposite gender and all.
She’s Chozum and can she run!
The most fun was the 800 m race where everyone, including some children also participated; although finishing the race wasnt a priority for most people and rightfully so. Before you ask, let me clarify here that I was not a part of ‘everyone’ and that finishing three circles of the huge cricket ground isnt my kinda thing. My lunch-mate claims he ran one & half rounds. Yeah, like I believe it.
I had the opportunity to observe a Kabaddi match up-close as I threw caution to the dust flying everywhere, not caring if the aggressive bunch of the kabaddi team actually collapsed on me where I stood cheering. Some of the participants were so aggressive that it was almost scary watching their contorted faces, determined to either bash their opponents, if thats what it takes to win. The losing team members actually starting slapping their rivals out of anger instead of just tagging them by the fag end of the match. By the end of it all, I drew to this conclusion that I’m undoubtedly going to be nicer to certain students henceforth.
This is not a student 
Strip SMS has spoiled me so, I found the latest episode just ok. My dislike for Shambhavi has intensified so much that I want to nominate her for Best Actress in a Distressed, Spoilt & Vengeful Role. The Snob had a hanky clasped on her royal nose in the trip to the village and has a thing against local, roadside jeans - who knew! I knew beforehand Vikrant was going to be voted out - Damn you Orkut Community spoilers!
I felt sorry for Ayaz - watching the rest plot against him cause he isnt ‘fit enough’ was like watching a National Geographic special where an injured & bleeding shark is about to be devoured by the rest of the hungry group. Suddenly there were new doctors-cum-Roadies who gave their verdict as to how Ayaz wouldnt be able to recover within a week whereas the real doctor had the opposite observation. Only Snehashish was helping the injured Ayaz although I wish he wasnt so blatant about his schemes and use words like ‘pawn to move ahead in the game’.
Judging by the trend, the devious ones (or strong contenders as applicable) are the first ones being voted out. I fear for Snehashish, my new favourite, that he might just be the next one to get out. And as for my old favourite, Ashutosh, he’s been quiet & observant the whole time. I guess that just about tilts the odds in his favour. Rest of them can be classified as ‘bhed chal’ - a word used often before in the show. Looks like Snehashish & gang are ruling the roost for the moment.
P.S. Loved Sneha’s new tan!
My name is Winkie. I am about 2 feet high and people usually seem to cross to the other side of the road as soon as they see me coming. I dont know why. I am friendly enough although I sometimes like to bark at random noises at equally random times not ruled by the clock. I can tell when its inopportune because thats when usually a slipper first comes hurling straight at me. Thats my cue to hush up or else a sleepy yet pissed being emerges out of bed to beat me up.
I spend most of my life staring at my owner while she spends most of hers ignoring me. Actually, she spends most of her life staring fixedly at an idiot box, while I can never imagine whats so important to keep her glued there for hours. I cant complain though - I’ve got an easy life. I consider getting two meals a day & sleeping as much as I want a good deal. Speaking of food, I’ve got my owner thinking that I wont eat my food without some meat in it. Heh heh. Some of the canine privileges that humans will give in to easily. I respect my owner for the fact that she includes meat in my diet irrespective of her financial condition at any period of the month.
She also tries to take me for my daily walk as much as possible. In fact, I wake up at the crack of dawn myself after which it is a long wait for sleepy head to finally wake up. If all goes well, we walk unless there’s the inevitable excuse of weather, hangovers and whatever it is that renders people unusable.
I never went to obedience school. My owner uses three different commands for the same thing and she thinks I’m an idiot! I’m never sure what to do when she says ‘Come, Chalo & Aja‘. I know ‘Sit‘ but am usually lazy enough to make her repeat it several times just for the heck of it. I also know ‘Shake hand‘ although transferring human traditions on dogs isnt very high on my agenda. Unless its for an edible treat for which I can shake both hands and more.
I dont have any other animal friends where I live, not counting the strays that get shooed away from the neighbourhood. Last time I tried to befriend the cat, I learnt about their retractable claws. I once tried to make friends with a goat that wandered in from somewhere but instead got introduced to one head butt of a really angry creature. My owner then smacked a stone right between the eyes of that goat but it stared back at her so much that she quickly left the scene with me in tandem.
This winter posed a crucial problem for me, sleeping arrangement wise. Since my owner no longer lets me sleep on the bed, I moved in to the sofa at night. She doesnt approve of this and always shoos me off it whenever she sees me. Thats why, I pretend to sleep on the old blanket on the floor and sneak up quietly on the sofa when she’s fast asleep. She has no clue whats going on and always seems puzzled to see the sofa covering all messed up in the morning, not to mention why the sofa cushions are on the floor. I am so clever, I should be a detective.
You said, I said