Cure for spendthriftry

Want to get over shopping addiction ? Want to get someone (husband/wife/son/daughter) to stop being a credit-card fiend ? Want to teach your teen the value of money ? (Oh wait that reminds me a I have a bank account to flood, to be ready in 15-18 years for this experiment).

Well make them shop like hell for a month. But only with CASH. Yes that's right. Oh wait they already made a movie on it - Malamaal.

But I am talking from personal experience. Real-life.
The effect is same as making someone gorge or eat continously. Absolute hate for food, or money. Puke-worthy. The person will stay away from money (atleast cash) for a long long time. That's what happens

• When you shell out 120-200 Rs every morning, and evening to Autowala. For a 4 km ride, each way.
• When you part with 4-5 crisp notes of 500 to fill up the petrol tank.
• When you hunt exact change for Rs 45 to give to vendor for a tini-wini pav-bhaji, which you know may not have cost 10 bucks to make, but only that you are too hungry to care. Again.
• When you carelessly strew 5-600 for a lycra t-shirt which you know wont last 5-6 washes.

Forget making anyone 'earn money' to realise the value of money. Just the exercise of doling out cash after cash, calculating the exact amount, handling those solied or crisp new notes, watching them all the time ... just go away and away ... can drive anyone crazy. I know it did to me.

I just wonder how parents do their kid marriage shopping. Or build house from scratch, supervising each and every component and its payment.

I think I have zoned out by now ....

Bangalore to Minneapolis

Well, as of now, we are enroute to Minneapolis.

Sideways

Sideways. I bought this book nearly 3 years back. And now found time to read it. Its ok type. I am a very discerning book buyer. But this time I got swayed by the Sideways the movie promos.

First few chapters are only about Wine and Women. Fortunately women bit eases out, replaced by some bit of adventures. I think adventure is too strong a word for what happens. It's that tame. But there are bits & pieces of humour around. I am not talking of level of subtlety. Only quantity. The book is my introduction to the world of wine snobbery.

The hero and his friend, they are more like a grownup version of Tom & Huckalberry Finn over a week. Or even a debaunched version of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. And closer home, like Lucky & Bangali (of Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye); only they are more real friends.

But one thing for sure. This book has made me curious about what the hell is "Pinot Noir" ? I think I want to check it out. Amazingly once I finished reading this, the first thing I buy is "Pocket Reference Book of WINE". At a good sale price too. Let's see how this is.

Happy New Year - 2009 !!!

I spent my New Years Eve with Tanni and Raj, while they celebrate his bud-day by causing a partial blackout in Amritsar. All the while Bangalore played out fireworks. And Vividh Bharti played in background. And me packed my bags for the weekend trip. And made a list for my travel next weekend. And then a list of things-to-do the week-after onwards. More about all these later. Till then ...

Wish ya all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !!!

Ghajini

I think this must be the first Hindi movie I have seen, in which the eponymous character was not hero or heroine or sidekick, but ... someone else.

The penultimate sequence which changes the course of Hero's life, that was so 1980-ish. I must have watched 100s of gorish voilent movies in my childhood, those being the 80s. But for this one I used my palm to screen out strategic locations on screen. I must saw, I did not see all 3 'smashing' scenes.

Kalpana track was the best one. Every single tale in it. Asin was definitely the best choice. If I watch Ghajini again (most probably not, but if I do), then it would only for those sequences which play out of the diaries.

Dialoges were good. That's what worked in the Sachin-Kalpana sequences. That plus Aamir-Asin acting ofcourse. But I loved it when 'Sarfarosh Sultan' says "Short-term memory loss patient" as a taunt, and repeatedly too.

'Bheka' and 'Kaise Mujhe' were beautifully sung and wonderfully picturised. 'Gujarish' was rendered very well by Javed Ali and Sonu Nigam's humming was good too.

Speaking of 'Kaise Mujhe', it was picturised in all night settings, with Aamir moving from vehicle to vehicle progressing from autorickshaw to car to limo to plane. That is so reminiscent of SRK's Swades promos, which were more on blue tones and where he travels in cycle, moped, boat, train and every possible rural vehicles.

Aamir does use some more of SRK tools. Like the 'at peace with ghost' ending. And Autumn colored (plastic) maple leaves flying around in the end. In Mumbai that too !! And the six-pack abs look.

And so many mobiles phones in the movie, each of them wow. I wished they displayed the model name onscreen subtitle. I need to choose a good one for myself.

News Media Bubble

Yet another instant why news media needs restraints.
With competition, it has lost all bearings of priority, responsibility and honesty.

News media has become a rumor mongering tool and an attention grabbing one. Most of them function like personal publicity machines of celebrities and terrorists.

Terrorsits depend on media, to air, hype and pump them up in front of the whole world. Even chota-mota goondas, use them fully. It's well known fact, that any group wanting to disrupt anything, like valentine day celebration or language board on shops, they first inform a news channel. And begin work, once the cameras are there. Or shoot it themself and air it for publicity. After all what's the point in doing something, if it does not get known ? Who hears the log which fell in a forest ?

The whole celebrity economy is fueled by news media. Untalented, long forgotten, useless people are resurrected, and played up on airtime and newsprint, solely for what they wear, what cluth they carry and who their latest gf/bf is.

We say wars are fought for just an idea, a thought, a philosophy. Gas, as I call it. Similarly economies are also run just based on ideas. The whole gossip related economy is way bigger than say farming or carpentry. Latter needs days & months of hard work and attention to minute detail, planning, action, everything. And the returns, practically nothing for them, and everything for the buyers. While Gossip related one, that just needs to light a fire, and laugh your way to bank. It doesn't take much to demolish anyones good work.

Atleast today, the negatives and the uselessness of news media far outweighs their supposedly idealogical superiority.

Dotcom bubble burst. So did real estate.
I am waiting for the News Media bubble burst !

Human species

Malcolm's reply was immediate: "What makes you think human beings are sentinent and aware ? There is no evidence of it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but uniquely in animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs'. The reason is that belief guide behaviour, which has evolutional importance among human beings. But at a time when our behaviour may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion. Next question.

From The Lost World, by Michael Crichton

Thank you

It's over for now.

Heartfelt and tearful THANKS to all the Police Officers, Armymen, Navy men, Firemen, NSG commandoes, CST announcers, Hotel staff and so many unknown heroes.

mumbai

this is just way too big.
i dont want to utter any foolish words.
all i can think of - is protect. and defend.

RIP Micheal Crichton

Oh my no !

My fav author Micheal Crichton is no more. I just read and its hard to believe it.

For me his books never got boring inspite of repeated reading. He brought out many of the unknown theories, technologies from dingy corners of academia into popular literature. And most of his woman characters are still etched in my mind.

I loved his Airframe, Jurassic Park, Lost World, Disclosure, Sphere & Congo. They totally set my imagination on fire, for years together.

RIP Micheal Crichton.