Bitter Sweet Symphony

Books, Blogs and Cricket

utkarsh — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:33:41 +0000

This post is a culmination of my thoughts for over 5 minutes, so you have to forgive the gibberish that you are about to read.
Books : After what feels like an eternity, I have managed to get hold of a book that I have wanted to finish as soon I read the first page. ‘The immortals of Meluha’ is to me the book that has brought back the interest in reading and writing. I first heard of this book from my father in law. The very next day Kunal ( a dear friend and now a famous writer, hence the dear-before-friend – get used to it ) reviewed the book and wrote about how enjoyable it was. It did seem like a worthy buy. However, one of the problems of living in Pardes is, the scarcity of English books. The most famous Book store here has a collection of 5 English books, neatly stacked in the most obscure corner of the store, collecting dust and inviting spiders. Expecting to find a book written by an Indian author here is like expecting Dolly Bindra to shut up (Yes, am still not over her .. the after shocks of watching her wake me up in the night, perspiring). Anyway, my In laws were here for a visit, and one of the unexpected perks of their visit was that they gave ( / I stole / they forgot ) the book to me.

As for the book, it holds so many unexpected surprises that I just could not put the book down, at the cost of being accused of ignoring the wifey by the wifey (I wasn’t, swear to you sweet heart ). To me, I judge a fiction book by two parameters, possibility and relatability (I know that’s not a word, but inventing words makes you sound smart and competent – Just ask Barney Stinson). The demystification of Indian myths is done in such a matter-of-fact way that you (an even an atheist like me) can accept it. The Somras, the so-far larger than life characters, the events, all seem possible when put this way. About the book itself – It manages to detach Shiva from the mythical, heavenly creature, known for his rage and make him seem human. His faults exist, his love is as real as any, he too bleeds and for the life of his, can not understand why is he being treated god-like by everyone.
I think Amish has done a fantastic job at two fronts. One, He has stuck to the myths but has not tried to hide behind them. He has not tried at any point to get away by saying something in the book and then throw it to the readers as obvious because it was related to religion (or mythology). Second, he has accepted the science factor in everything. A particular passage in the book that I enjoyed the most is the conversation between Bhraspati ( a scientist , not a god ) and Shiva ( a human, but still looked upon by everyone as a saviour) about the importance of science when following religion and the reason why people do not look up to science, the same way that they look up to Religion for answers. This is the relatable part that I talk about.
Kudos to Mr Amish Tripathi for penning down one of the most fantastic books of recent times. If you still havent read the book for whatever reasons, I suggest you grab a copy now.

Blogs: My personal blog post count has gone down like a house on fire – in self-destruct mode – being crushed by the Hulk at the same time. However, the joy in reading what others are writing hasn’t diminished. However, the problem that I face now is that everyone whom I knew as a good writer, has either stopped writing altogether or started writing 55s. As enjoyable as 55s are, they do not really spur me on to comment, respond or commend people on a job well done. I know it is a pretty tough task, to finish telling a story in 55 words (and looking at the size of some of my previous posts – I should be compulsorily made to write a few), but it gets over before it begins. The fascination of going from the build up to the twists to the climax is just not there (and I am still talking about 55s and blog posts – not anything else). So, I request friends, foes, jackasses, weirdos, to come together and contribute the ever-growing blog database at wordpress or blogspot (whatever catches your fancy). The joy of actually knowing the author of a well – written post should be experienced by everyone.

Cricket : I finally have a reason to look forward to cricket, again. The Ashes are back, and for the first time – in what feels like a zillion years – England look like a serious threat to Australia. I know they have won it a couple of times, and also managed to draw some matches, but they have not looked threatening at any time. Australia on the other hand, has never looked as vulnerable as they do now, even at home.

Let me be a little more honest here. The real reason I am so interested in Ashes is also because of the Cricinfo fantasy leagues, where my wife is kicking my ass (At the moment, I am at some 6k and she is at 500 – damn you Peter Siddle).

An evening in Venice

utkarsh — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:09:11 +0000

Whoever said that there are very few good people left in this world, probably hasn’t done much good himself. For some insane reason, I do believe in “what goes around, comes around”. May be its nature’s flawed implementation of Newton’s “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” .. I will never know.
Anyway, I was in Venice a couple of weeks back. The reason I brought up the topic of good people is because I encountered a truly generous soul while I was there. After a hectic day that involved lots of last minute running around, we had finally caught the train from Rome to Venice and the only task left for the remainder of the day was to check-in to the hotel. As it turned out, the hotel was not really in Venice proper and we had to take a long-ish train ride to get to the Preganziol station. This was the closest train station from the hotel and once we got there, finally at 9:30 in the chilly night, we realized that we had no idea how to get to the hotel from there. It is hard enough to find English speaking people in Venice, and we did not have very high expectations when I asked the only person present at the train station about how to get to the address provided. To this day, I have no idea what he said, but decoding his body language I can safely assume that he had no idea about this address. So we stood outside the deserted station, hoping that we could find someone who speaks English who could tell us where to head to.
I was getting desperate after waiting for about 30 minutes, and a part of me was also infuriated with myself for not carrying GPS or atleast a print out of google-maps. How could I be so careless? A guy in mid-30s appeared almost out of nowhere and he seemed to be walking towards us. I had not seen a single person passing that street in the past 30 minutes, so this guy was almost Sachin-sent for me. I asked him if he spoke English and to my utter surprise he answered in British accented english – “Yes, I do”. I asked him for the address, and he said he knew where it was. His next line surprised me even more “I can take you there, if you want”.
Frankly, I had no other option but to follow him. I could stay there waiting for someone else, but what were the chances that he/she could speak English? This guy, suited up in almost flawless manner, had strange shoes – running shoes. Also, there was a big water stain mark all over the front of his suit. I asked him “Didnt you have to go to the train station?” and he said “It’s ok, there will be another train in 30 minutes”. I didnt know how to tell him to just tell us the directions; it seemed awfully rude in the face of such generosity. And lets be clear, he didnt look like he could rob us or anything.
So, we followed him. He was straightforward enough to tell us that there is a direct road that leads to the hotel, but that road is an expressway with no sidewalk. Since we were carrying some luggage, it would not be safe at this time with cars zooming at over 100 kmph. He also told us that he would be taking us through some small, not-so-well-lit roads, which might seem shady, but were completely safe as it was completely a residential area.
We walked through the small narrow streets, through pebble-lined pavements, took turns where walking straight seemed advisable, walked straight where turns seemed inviting. All the while, I was surprised at how much trust I had put into this guy. Afterall , I didnt even know who he was. Heck, I didnt even know his name. He could cut me into pieces here and bury me somewhere around and no one would ever know. Of course, the mind imagines the wildest possibilities even as it tries to convince itself that nothing wrong could happen. We talked a little on the way. I was exhausted because of the time spent travelling and waiting and now dragging the heavy luggage. He chit chatted about his job and how he had moved to Venice just recently. He talked about his job as a waiter at a nearby restaurant, about how awful the pay was and how most of the money goes into rent in a place like Venice. I thought to myself that if I get to the hotel, may be I should give him some money. May be that is why he was doing this ‘favour’.
We finally reached the hotel from what seemed to be the longest route to get there. I was happy to see it all lighted up and shiny. Money well spent, I thought . It was getting cold and late and we wanted to rush in as early as possible. I thanked our generous helper and started taking some money out of the wallet. He politely declined whatever we offered. We didnt know how else to thank him. Without his help we would have probably been stuck in the cold for another hour or may be more. Anyway, I offered the most heartfelt handshake and thanked him profoundly.
We went in, checked in, and asked the receptionist as to why the hotel was located in the middle of nowhere. She said that they catered mostly to people who travel by cars, so it was an OK deal for them. I told her that if it wasn’t for a kind stranger we would have never reached her hotel. Her eyes lit up in a way that I had never seen before. She asked if the kind stranger wore a suit, to which we replied affirmatively. She almost gasped as we told her that he dropped us to the gates. She ran outside and then walked back in , looking completely shaken up. We were perplexed, and had no idea as to what was causing this reaction.
The story was then narrated to us by the hotel owner who came in a few minutes later. The receptionist’s husband had died right in front of the hotel about 3 years back. A speeding car ran over him (remember the unsafe expressway ?? ) as he was going back to work after dropping her off for night duty. Over the past 3 years, the receptionist had heard the story of a kindly stranger dropping off first timers, by making them avoid the expressway, about five times. All five times, he came so close to the hotel door, but never saw his wife again. She never saw him again either, but only heard of him through the people he helped.

Things that I am waiting for

utkarsh — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:17:08 +0000

Analysis of Indian Bowling Attack over the years

utkarsh — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:36:20 +0000

Back !!

utkarsh — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:26:51 +0000

I am back !!!

Last post was more than a year back and significant changes have happened since then ..For instance, I have realized the futility of blogs and turned to the more concise forms of expressing myself – Twitter and Facebook updates.

But people talk about small attention spans and why twitter is evil etc etc., so I thought I should give this old blog a little face lift, a little more content, and little more substance, and possibly a little more time, before it eventually dies it’s natural death .. when I choke it.

So, here I am .. and what should we talk about. My work contract ensures that I can not discuss work with anyone without being sued, or possibly found dumped dead in a dumpster somewhere (and no, am not developing missiles). I remember being in college and laughing out loudest when a senior told about the corporate policy in his company that could be summarized as “If possible, do not give anyone a computer”. Little did I know that is actually true is all Indian Services Companies. Word of advise : If you like to sit in front of a computer and your dream job is an Indian MNC (hahahahaha), well then .. may god save you.

On the subject of God, I am officially an atheist now. Feels good and free. Wish there was an atheist registration form somewhere. The concept of god is something with which I have wrestled a zillion times in my head and, I have to give it to the people who came up with the concept .. you just cant beat it. The answer to everything is ‘You have to have faith’. I don’t think you need religion or old stories or superstitions or temples/churches/mosques to be a good person. If the feeling comes from within you, then you are a good person. You don’t need the priest to tell you what is wrong and right for you, people need to be evolved enough in their head to know what is right and wrong for you and for the society. Ask yourself this question – when was the last time a god man told you something about right and wrong that you didn’t already know, and how many times you paid a god man to tell you about an age old story/myth/superstition, which does not really do any good for you.

Summary of Satyanarayan Katha : Do It again and again and again .. and you will be happy. #

PS: For everytime you do it, you need to give the pandit some money. Guess who came up with this ?

Bloody bugged

utkarsh — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:59:44 +0000

I ….

1. Hate authority .. hate authority when it gets political … hate authority when it gets real

2. Hate people who think the world circles around them .. people who have to be pleased to be allowed to stay on their friends list ..

3. Hate arrogance .. specially when combined with utmost stupidity

4. Hate artificial, superficial people

Hate not being able to tell all this to people on their faces … !!!

phew … am done !!

Dasvidanya

utkarsh — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:02:55 +0000

Before I begin writing about the movie, let me just take a moment and welcome myself back here on my blog.

Phew .. its been such a long time .. I actually forgot that I had a web presence. Lots of things contributed to my absence from the blog, namely .. lack of an exciting social life, and the pressure to keep my personal life, personal

Long back, when I had begun writing, I used to actually post just about any crap I could think about without even thinking about what I was posting. Limited audience does that to you. But after posting crap for about a year, I got a comment from a non IIIT-ian and that is when I realized that reach of the blog. Its not that I didn’t know that outsiders can read the blog, but I always thought what would make a non-IIITian be interested in the life of a IIIT-ian and that too a rather dull boring life

Anyway .. Here I am ..Reviewing one of the 2 movies I saw last Week – Dasvidaniya

If you are going to see a movie about a dying man, you expect lots of emotional drama , lots of crying, and LOTS of boredom. Dasvidaniya was the exact opposite of that on every count. The emotions were there, but there was no unnecessary drama. There were no unnecessary death scenes stretched out over half hour in front of a temple. There was no crying, no boredom – not even for a moment.

Vinay Pathak plays the role of one of the most well organized account managers you would know. His life’s sole aim is to make a TO-DO List everyday of his life and ensure that he finishes his list by the End of the Day. If he can’t, he takes care to include that item in his list the next day. His Geyser though, remains unfixed all through the movie. Reason – the day he included the geyser fixing in his TO-DO List, he finds out that he has just 3 months to live.

His alter ego looks like some extra from some crappy 70s movie, but that is not the point. The point is that his alter ego makes him realize that there are better things to do in life than to fix geyser and take shit from your boss every day of your life. In short, If you are dying, there are better things to do than worry about life. His life turns rosy all of a sudden, with a new car, a flashback love, a foreign trip to see his best friend from school, make up with his brother.

There is no unnecessary drastic make over for him though, he doesn’t all of a sudden become the SRK of Kal ho Na Ho .. though he does try to learn guitar and the first song he wants to learn is Kal ho . His simplicity remains with him, so much so, that he needs to be reminded time and again by his alter ego that he is dying and needs to live life. From making him buy a car, to proposing to the “love of his life”, who is married now by the way, to making him take a foreign trip.

The best part of all of this is, even though we know that he is going to die in the end, its his very simplicity while going through all of this that makes us like him, to an extent that we hope for a fairy tale , typical Bollywood, ending .. “Reports mismatch ho gayin thi .. you are not dying”. But this was real cinema .. and it would not have been so great if Vinay Pathak had not actually died in the end.

The most touching moment of the movie would be the time when his angry brother finds out about his looming death. The angry young man suddenly turns into a loving brother. It just makes you think that sometimes we take relations for granted and think that they will continue being the same with us, no matter how we behave towards them. Sometimes we get angry with them , and forget how nice they have been to us all life. Probably we should learn to value family relations a bit more.

And , the idea for the ending was really awesome. They interviewed all the actors in the movie, and asked them what they would like to do before they die. Simple question, but something that really makes you think about your life’s real ambitions and goals.

Kahaani ‘K’ Ki

utkarsh — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:56:46 +0000

I remember a quiz I participated in 4th Standard.

On being asked the author of Mahabharata, a team from another school responded in alarming chorus- “B R Chopra”. Obviously they didn’t want to waste the chance to get easy points.

Well .. ladies and Gentlemen .. gear up for the new answer from 4th graders – “Ekta Kapoor”.

Last week, I read this, and was very sure it was all just fiction and nothing of this sort was actually materializing in our very own Ekta Kapoor’s head. How wrong was I.

Saw the promotional ads for ‘Kahani Hamare Mahabharat ki’ last saturday and they have had me thinking since then, whether Ekta Kapoor has actually reached the position in Indian Television Industry to re-tell the biggest Epic of all time.

As I see it, there can be only two possible outcomes of this latest endeavor from Ms. Kappor -

1. Either the Indian public will love it, and my kids will someday tell me that my knowledge of Mahabharata is flawed and Arjun really did die twice and was re-born with a plastic surgery. Also the real reason behind the Mahabharata show-down was not that Pandavas were fighting for their right to rule but because Kauravs had business interest in Kurushetera and wanted to set up marijuana factories there, which Pandavas objected to. Am also sure, that my kids will also someday tell me that plastic surgery had originated in Mahabharata times and is not a new thing from the 20th Century.

2. On second thoughts, Ekta Kapoor might be forced to shut down the transmission of her latest Kahani because of protests from Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena who would object to the fact that Draupati was not appropriately dressed. But knowing Ms. Ekta, the chances of this happening are pretty much the same as are the chances of her marrying George Bush.

Am sure Ms. Kapoor saw a brilliant story line already available to her and thanks to her twists and turns habits, am sure this Mahabharata would end up being the next big thing on Indian Television. The more I think of it, the more I understand why Ms. Kapoor decided to re-tell Mahabharata.

1. Mahabharata has the inbuilt K-factor. Multiple husbands for the same wife and she need not even dispense with actors – all five husbands were known to have lived together happily with one wife.

2. The episodes with Geeta recitation to Arjun will be a huge money saver. The TRPs will continue to rise because of die hard devotees waiting for each word coming out from Lord’s mouth. But Ms. Kapoor can easily ask other actors to take a month long break while only two actors (Poor Lord Krishna and Arjun) need to come for shoots. Of course, other people like spot boys etc can also be relieved of their duties for this month with only three people required – Arjun, Krishna and the Camera Man who can run from one place to another and do flashy things on the duo’s faces.

3. Am sure Ekta Kapoor, by now, already gets discounts from the animation and sound people because of her habit to over use the flashy faces and sounds in every scene. These discounts will come in handy, finally, in Mahabharata with every scene being a high voltage drama and all fight sequences being hard fought.

Of course, Ekta Kapoor can actually prove all her detractors wrong and make a splendid Mahabharata which would be on the lines of the actual Epic and would make all – fundamentalists and aunties at home – happy. But then, the chances of that happening are pretty much the same as her chances of marrying – at all.

With that out of the way, here is the latest happening from the streets of Bangalore

Saw a GUY a couple of days back at a traffic signal wearing a T-shirt that said “Wish these were brains”. What can I say .. I only hope he was wearing the T just as a bet and it wasn’t a part of his permanent collection.

A Senseless post

utkarsh — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:17:55 +0000

Am Tired of reading digg right now .. and considering the amount of senseless shit I have just been through .. I think I will do a good job of reproducing a little on my own.

Hmm .. so the last post was about two and a half months back and since then the only thing that has changed in my life is the addition of a refrigerator and a couch in my living room. Now I can comfortably lie down on the couch .. gulp down cold water and move my hands over my ever growing tummy and watch the Cricket matches . Occasionally, when I get bored of this .. I move on to the Bean Bag .. and repeat the same.

Cooking Experiments have taken a hit since I made myself a water logged Version of Poha, and the cooking confidence is on an all time low level. I might give it a shot again, you know .. but till then .. its ready to eat Aloo Parathas with Boiled Eggs and Toast for me. I did once convince myself to go to the kitchen and open the half consumed packet of Maggi, but ate the rest of it raw .. its every bit as much tasty as the cooked version .. and lets face it .. who wants to wait 2 minutes for Maggi anyway.

Professionally .. uhmm .. ok .. lets ignore this section .. not much happening there anyway .. as you would understand because this post is being written at 2:30 PM on a Thursday Afternoon. The only cheer for the day will be, I will be going out to get the Birthday Cake for Team Birthday Celebration this evening. How fascinating my work life is.

Am planning to buy an Xbox or a Wii sometime this week though .. Jayaram suggests that the Wii is a chick Magnet and if I manage to get some chick to play with me on a Wii at my place, she would definitely marry me. Duly noted .. next step .. need to find the next hot chick going alone, whom I can gag and bring home and make to play on wii with me.

Oh and by the way .. if you notice lesser Girls on Bangalore Streets these days .. its not my fault .. its the heat. Speaking of the heat .. read a rather interesting argument about Bangalore heat in the newspaper yesterday. The author of the article suggested that the real reason why we are feeling more heat in Bangalore these days is actually due to the rising number of High rise buildings that use a glass facade. He produced data from meteorology department to prove this. May be he is right .. Wish Al Gore had read the article though. His two hour movie on global Warming (An Inconvenient Truth) is making me switch off the Refrigerator when I leave home along with the TV, Geyser and light equipments.

Also, if you haven’t tried the Cape Gemini CricBuzz challenge, do not try. The questions are the most worthless lot I have seen in a long long time. And someone in Cape Gemini needs to be reminded a thing or two about the aesthetics of web pages. About the quiz as such, most of the questions are developed in a way that will make you bang your head against the keyboard. This is because you will know the answer, but the web page will not accept it as an answer, because it has been programmed to accept a different spelling of the same.

Yesterday’s question ->

A picture of Vodafone Ad with the little boy and the little dog and next to it a picture of Kris Srikkanth. The hint is .. “Connect”.

Now even if you know the answer to this one .. I can bet on it that you wont get it right

Alright, its time now to go now to buy the Cake for Birthday Celebrations .. Yuu Huuuuuu !!

Super Sick !!

utkarsh — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:53:34 +0000

Fell super sick this time .. almost all of last week was spent on bed. But then, if it takes a few days of sickness to get a hold of a few facts about yourself .. well .. may be its’ worth it .. On second thoughts .. may be not

1. Realized that there are medicines that can put me to sleep for 19 hours. Next time I am going home via train, I am taking them.
2. Realized that if I don’t shave for a week, I can easily get the part of Daku Mangal Singh in any day time serial with negligible audience.
3. realized that if I see myself in the morning after sleeping for one full day, unshaven, I can come pretty close to giving myself a heart attack.
4. Also, One week of not shaving puts me about 3 days away from the Jesus Christ beard.
5. The sensation of cold and warmth can be experienced together and it doesn’t feel good.
6. Doctors talk a lot, sometimes it’s good .. sometimes I just wanted him to shut up and let me go.
7. Maggi is super tasty when you are sick.
8. Learned to make different variety of Poha .. its called Water Logged Poha or Flooded Poha. Its not so good to eat, but the good point is .. you don’t need to drink water after eating it.
9. I can’t spoil Maggi … even if I am sick
10. I now know the entire schedule of programs on most of the channels .. it can be summarized in one word .. Advertisement.
11. The construction workers in my building are nice people, after I spent all Wednesday in fever, which kept getting worse because of their non stop bang bang down stairs, I only had to yell at them once to make sure they carried their work to basement.
12. Cricket matches Rock ..

Small time viral infection, that the doctor diagnosed on last Wednesday, suddenly turned into major viral infection on Thursday morning. Friday morning was better, but not by much. Headache and fever finally started disappearing on Saturday mid day. Sunday was good and relaxed .. watched the match .. felt good even though India lost .. started reading James Hadley Chase – The Wary Transgressor. Seems pretty good so far.