News overkill

Some of the news trivia surrounding Dr Haneef's return to Bangalore as seen on one of the news channels on TV

There is an atmosphere of celebration in Dr Haneef's residence.

But of course !!!

Haneef's wife, Firdous Arshiya decked up to meet her husband.

Is this supposed to be of interest to the viewers??

Chicken biriyani has been prepared to welcome his return.

OMG !!! Gimme a break !!!!

Am sure this is not the end of things.....there definitely is more.

News reading has come a long way indeed...from the serious broadcasts of Doordarshan in black and white, to this over colorful and over public nature of events.

Wonder what's next ??
What should be the right balance

Music and more

I just finished watching "Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee" ...... and as always I was moved by the music in the movie.

The songs are beautiful.....penned by lyricists Kaifi Azmi, Qateel Shafai and Zameer Kazmi....directed by Anu Mallik.

Timeless tunes, I would say. The movie went unnoticed but the music was pretty successful when the movie was released in 1993. A classic example of one of those movies who go into history only because of the songs.

I enjoy music....but am not the types who keeps track of who directed the music of my favorite songs. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the songs of this particualr movie was directed by none other than Anu Mallik.

For the kind of songs Anu Mallik is coming up with in the past few years, and for all the "inspiration" he seems to draw from songs all over the world to give music to his own....maybe he does have some talent. Wish he would use his talent more and not just stick with "make what sells" kind of music.

Rajni Can :))

Last Friday...I saw "Sivaji" finally.

I had been planning to see this movie since it was released, out of sheer curiosity, after hearing and reading about the mania around its release.

Three of us went for the movie...one knew Tamil very well, one knew Tamil partly and me...I do not know Tamil at all :)

Fortunately, the story was easy enough to understand and follow, though of course I could not follow the dialogues. There were times I felt that the movie has been made to suit Rajnikant and not the other way round, which probably could be true.

On the whole I found the movie okay......the story that is. I loved the songs..... especially "Sahana...."(downloaded the songs the very next day). I liked the sets and the picturisation of the songs (Shreya looks very pretty).

I did not find Rajnikant very good till he reappears after his death with shaved head and beard (new style....never saw that before). I loved him after that. I think he was much more comfortable with that part of his role than the earlier one. I could finally relate to the mass hysteria surrounding him and his movies.

I have heard he has acted in some really good movies where his true acting talents have been tapped. Hopefully, would get to see some of these movies in future as well !!!

Pottermania

I have strongly come to believe that there will never be dearth of surprises in this world. The mania around "Harry Potter and The Deathly Gallows" is unbelievable.

Potter fans, both young and old, queued up outside book stores since midnight to lay hands on the book

Apparently, the sale of the book has broken all previous records in India.

Frankly I only heard of people queuing up like this for either train reservations or for US visa interviews. This definitely beats everything hands down.

Just wondering.....will I ever line up outside a book store at midnight to buy a book?????

Wah Taj !!!

The entire nation recently celebrated the inclusion of Taj Mahal in the list of new 7 wonders of the world, in a ceremony in Lisbon on the just the right date 07/07/07.

I recently visited Taj Mahal in Feb, as part of a short tour of North India, which I have been promising to write about in my blog for quite some time :).

This was my first visit to the world famous monument.

Yes, I loved the place.

What struck me was the sense of peace which I felt there. It was kind of unexpected, but the serenity of the place was overwhelming, inspite of the milling crowd. Maybe it was because of the white marble. I just did not feel like walking out the place.

Surprisingly, the entrance to this world famous place is very unassuming. You need to pass a series of extremely narrow roads before you reach the gate where the entry tickets are sold. I think I entered through the east gate. Inspite of the fact that these narrow roads were outlined with shops selling souvenirs for tourists, I was still not sure if I had come to the right place. I was unsure even when I entered the gardens shielding Taj by high walls. Then suddenly I entered a huge arched gateway and there it was. I felt a shiver of excitement run through me, for setting my eyes on the Taj Mahal for the first time in my life, and also at the realisation that I had not lost my way :))

Just after passing the arched gateway, lies the "famous bench" where everyone who visits Taj gets their photo clicked with the Taj in the background.

The inner sanctum of the Taj has a foul smell to it. I was surprised because there is ample air flow inside because of the carved marble panels forming the walls. It is difficult to stay inside for a long time. More than that, it is very disappointing. Come on !!! The last thing you want to be greeted with, when you enter Taj Mahal is foul smell !!!! Its time something is done about it, especially with Taj being in the new list, and the new increased tourist activity.

It was evening time and the place was full of tourists. Photography was at the top of everyone's mind. People were trying to capture the monument in various creative ways, e.g, there were many lying prostrate in front of the small water body in the front garden, trying to capture the reflection on water. Others would pass by, first wondering what was going on, and later joining the activity :)

Anyway, I walked around and spent as much time as I could there till darkness set in. I would love to visit this place again and spend more time if possible.

I have been travelling.....

For the past 2 weeks...To Delhi, Agra, Rishikesh, Amritsar.....Saw quite a few places and would love to talk about them...

And as a result of which you will soon see some travelogues up here...

Hopefully, the two week break will help me put an end to my blogging break and put some life back on this page.

Will be back soon !!!

Christmas quote

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
Claustrophobic. :))

~ Unknown

Cheers to longer life !!!

Want to live long? Say cheers !!!!

Its too good to be true, isn't it ?? :)

The time is now....

It is 9:58 and it is now. Tomororw at 3:00 it will be now. On my deathbed it will still be now. Since it will always be now, learning to respond to now is the only thing there is to learn.

- From "Notes to Myself" by Hugh Prather

From "online" to "offline" matchmaking

They say the world is round...and hence everything comes back.

After the initial euphoria of online dating died down, what people mostly experienced was disillusionment and in many cases deceit.

Hence back to the age of matchmakers

A very wise move I would say :)

The "I do" guide

There is solution for everything on the net these days.

So if you are one of those people who don't know how to go about getting married, check out the wedding planner.

People do really think of everything these days !!!

The new Basanti

Yuck !!!

How can they replace Hema Malini with Nisha Kothari???

Yet one more reason not to see the remake !!!

Anyone for fried coke?

Am sure you read the title of this post twice....before reading on...

I did the same when I read about fried coke

Looks really inviting.....I am glad there will be a diet version soon :))

The "Indian" apartheid

Very true.

Being from the North myself, I can very much relate to what the author of this article is trying to say. When it comes to fair skin, people do not have merely a liking or a preference, they have an obsession !!!

How does it really matter at the end of the day?????

Court of law vs Court of Religion

I am speechless !!!

For all its booming economy and its shining new status in the world, incidents like this makes one wonder if all this proclaimed national success means anything at all !!!

Frankly, I have never heard such a whole of bull s**t being pronounced in the name of religion. I refuse to believe that any religion will have such senseless laws. All the senselessness is being injected by the interpretors or the so-called religious leaders who are supposed to be the enlightened ones to keep the religion alive and guide other lesser mortals. More often than not, these religious leaders only contribute in aggravating the exisiting problems rather than sorting things out. Which is a shame !!!!

Does she not have her hands full already to be now even branded as an adultress? Any woman in her right mind will definitely not committ adultery with a 70 year old man !!! Give her a break !!!

And as if all this was not enough, one of our dear Bollywood producer is even planning to make a movie out of this !!!

Can this get any worse??

The Bangalore bus tragedy

The bus accident in Bangalore yesterday was a major one, but I am sure not very surprising for many Bangaloreans like me. The driving skills of the bus drivers in Bangalore is something which is not appreciated by anyone sharing the road space with these buses. You can never be sure when they will decide to change lanes all of a sudden without any indication(as it is, lane discipline is something which Bangalore traffic seems to ignore blissfully). Their stops at the designated bus stops is quite often at an angle of of 45 degrees to the bus stop, causing huge inconvenience to the traffic behind. On narrow roads, these buses, driving in the centre of the road, ensure that no vehicle can pass from either side.

The bus drivers are no less than the rulers of the road(since on the road, your power is decided by the size of the vehicle you own). Do they realise how much inconvenience a bad bus driving can cause, because of the sheer size of the vehicle? Do they realise that a small mistake by them can claim several lives?

Maybe the government should consider printing complaint phone numbers behind each bus, similiar to the cabs. And pay heed to the complaints. Maybe then, there is some hope !!!

Campus recruitment...with a difference

Cannot think of a better example of the booming job market in India.

Amazing initiave by the jail authorities.

And a big applause to the employers!!!

After all, everyone deserved a second chance.

Munnabhai's "Gandhigiri"

In practice in UP.

Case study on the "Rail Man"

Lalu's stint as the Railway Minister has made its way into the business schools case studies to explore the turnaround of Indian Railways.

Looks like Lalu's career as a politician is finally on track !!

Utterly butterly delicious...

What started as "Operation Flood" in two village cooperatives, will now be the world's largest milk brand.

Anand Milk Union Ltd or AMUL as we all know it was started in 1970 by the National Dairy Development Board to resolve malpractices by the milk traders and merchants. From 250 litres of milk to 48 lakhs litres of milk per day has been a long journey

"Think big, start small" is what they say !!!