Stanley Ka Dabba

"Stanley Ka Dabba" takes you to your school days when life was all about homework, teachers, friends, pranks and of course, the lunch box. Amol Gupte (the director ), this time gets his due credit and shows that you can hit success without the casting of superstars ( like Aamir Khan ) and with a low budget. You will appreciate the way he has portrait the characters especially the teachers. You can relate them to your childhood teachers - the khadoos Hindi teacher (played by Amol himself), the science teacher always limiting herself to the curriculum, and then there is this beautiful English teacher (Divya Dutta) who encourage the students for every good work. Haven't we met all these teachers when we were in our schools ? Without complexity, the story revolves around the lunch boxes (dabba) bought to the school by the students. The climax can catch you unaware, so be ready.It is indeed a refreshing watch.And make sure you go with an empty stomach !!

"Life bahut simple hai. Gol- Gol mat Bol"

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Sometimes you just wanted to live in the story never wanting to return to the world you belong to. "Big Fish" is one such story where you wanted to believe more in the fantasy than the reality. A seamless display of storytelling from Tim Burton about the protagonist "Edward Bloom" who keeps telling the story of his life time and again in a way that he can only narrate.

"Have you ever heard a joke so many times you've forgotten why it's funny? And then you hear it again and suddenly it's new. You remember why you loved it in the first place. "

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No wonder why India falters in every Olympics. The 34th National Games is currently going on in Jharkhand. Sportsmen from all over the country are competing in 36 different disciplines of sports and yet there are no news in the air about them. Its quite ironic that people keep track of the New Zealand v/s Kenya 's World cup result but not many are aware that Richa Sharma has just bagged 11 Gold medals in swimming. Or for that matter, a tiny north-eastern state of Manipur is currently in the 2nd position just below the Services. I bet these athletes put the same hard-work if not more as that of our esteemed cricketers. Yet, they struggle to get attention even after hauling Gold medals after another. Is the worth of these medals lesser than that of the 'six' that the cricketers hit? I doubt.

Currently reading "The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga". I loved the way the book is being written - raw and sharp.

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Of the end of 2010

Ten years from today , I remember looking at the dark sky above on the same winter night - eve of a new year. It was the start of 2001. It has been a very long journey since then. Sometimes you don't make path, you happen to follow it. Back then, I didn't knew what I wanted to become. And even today, I don't. Never even in my wildest of dreams, I would have thought that I would be writing a computer program on the eve of another new year. But then, stranger things have happened in these years. Of all the things that happened, I took pride in having made not many friends but few chosen ones with whom I can share everything. Ten years is indeed a long period. Things get changed from the way you look to things you want. Let us welcome 2011 as a year to cherish and fulfill all those dreams and things that you have always desired. I wish you a very happy new year.

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Of the unused umbrella

Four monsoons have passed since it was picked from the supermarket. Whenever the old man predicted rain, it never did. It did rain when it wasn't expected. Thus, remained unused, unscathed. Will this monsoon be of any different? Or is it just that some things are meant to be remain virgin? He sighed.

PS:-
Inspired from Short, Fast and Deadly to write this prose in 420 characters.

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Of Tribute to Irom Sharmila Chanu

Forced fed by a pipe through the nose,
fighting and still strong - is the human spirit.
Is a decade long struggle not enough?
Yet, we still call it a 'Democracy'.

PS:-
Its been 10 years since she is on a fast demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA. She has spent most of her time in jail, being force-fed by a pipe inserted through her nose. It is really sad that there are no answers to her questions even after a decade. Apart from a seasonal burst of interest from the media, nothing really is happening. I fear it would just lead to a tragic end.

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Sabko maloom hai main sharabi nahin ...

Just few days back I saw this advertisement in the newspaper about a concert "Shamee Ghazal" by Pankaj Udhas. I asked my brother if he would like to accompany me but he said he would prefer staying at home watching the CWG. So, I booked a single ticket since I don' t want to invite anyone who would not really appreciate spending an evening listening to Ghazals. I was just thinking what it would be like attending a Ghazal concert alone.
Well, the whole experience was good. It all started with "Dil Dhadakne ka sabab yaad aaya ...". It was followed by "Deewaron se milkar accha lagta hai ". When he started "Sabko maloom hai mein sharabi nahin ..", the audience just couldn't stop applauding. Then he explained that a "Nazm" is usually an urdu poem which describes a full story. He followed that with a nazm - "Dukh sukh tha sabka ek" which describes the story of the changing times -the past, the present and the future. Then "Jeeye to Jeeye kaise .." stole the limelight. This was followed by numbers like "Yaadon ka ek Jhonka", "Thodi thodi peeya karo..", "Patti patti Gulab - la pila de sakhiyaan". With time running out, he started the marathon of his famous numbers starting with "Chandi jaisa ..", "Chitthi aayi hai .." which brought him to the limelight again, "Kisi se koi pyaar na karen", "Ahista ..", "Zamaana kharaab hai ..." , "Ae Ga-me zindagi". And finally it ended with my favorite "Ghungroo toot gaye...". And at the end of the program, I found my lost interest and Ghazals found some space in my Ipod :)

PS:-
It was glad to see Pankaj Udhas in flesh and blood. But the six musicians (flute, violin, mandolin, tabla, dholak and keyboard) accompanying him were equally good.

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