Welcome

Welcome is not an Akshay Kumar film, it is a Nana Patekar film, he is a revelation in the film. So is Anil Kapoor. First thing first, it is not a great movie, but it is one of those movies which give you what you expect from them. Welcome promised a nonsensical masala movie and it is just that.

A simple plot, a ‘Don’ wants a good gentle guy for his sister and they found one as well. The problem, this gentle guy’s uncle, will never let this guy marry someone whose relatives have criminal background. Then there are sub-plots and characters thrown in to prepare this comic-caper.

Though I enjoyed the movie, Anees Bazmi could have done far better. The house scene at the end of the movie is too stretched and songs are not welcome in this movie. The music is pathetic and probably Mr. Bazmi’s idea of making a big masala movie is quantity not quality. So he got Akshay, Nana, Anil, Paresh, Firoj Khan … as actors.. so many big names, he roped in Himesh Reshamiya, Anand Raj Anand and Sajid-Wajid as music directors. Though the actor somewhat justified their presence and added value, music was a complete disappointment.

All the oneliners and best scenes have gone to Nana and Anil and they are the real heroes of the movie. Paresh Rawal is as usual infallible in making you laugh. Akshay is there, but this time he is more ‘sidha sada’ kind of guy unlike his earlier movies of the year. His look is getting repetitive and he needs to innovate if he really wants to hold this superstardom for long. I don’t know why in all his recent comedy movies, there is not even a single scene where somebody tries to utilize his action /martial art skills. After all, Jackie Chan is doing in all his movies and Akshay’r ‘Return of the Khiladi’ act in Om Shanti Om was one of the best scenes of the movie. If you can put some idiotic songs which do not have any thing to do with storyline, you can always put a fight scene. I think I have to wait till release of Tashan and Chandni Chowk to China to see Akki flexing his muscles.

Though Taran Adarsh for a change has given 4 stars to a non-Shahrukh, non KJo-YashRaj movie, but his review seems to be realization of the fact that Akshay is new Shahrukh. I did not see anything which deserved 4 stars.

It is good time pass movie, where you will enjoy this movie and considering the hype and popularity of Akshay, this is going to make loads of money. Remember Om Shanti Om. Now I am going to see Taare Zameen Par, for just one reason. The debut of Amir Khan as Director. The perfectionist is not only in front of camera, this time he is calling the shots as well.

Orkut Nama -2

After crossing different  orkut phases, my profile has got more than 160 friends and more than 6000 scraps (a prized possession on orkut land). I still remember, when I just played around some javascripts nuggets to flood some friends’ scrap book (those who used to complain that I did not scrap…) and immediately that was most requested thing by my orkut friends.

In between I did some constructive work (I think so.. you might differ…) and created a community for my alma mater and the community attracted almost 60-70% of our elusive alumni on one ‘active’ platform. A byproduct of this effort, I started getting more visits to my profile, more friend requests and more request to be an unofficial PRO for IIFM admissions.

But the best part of Orkut for me was Testimonials I wrote for people and testimonials I received. There are some testimonials which I have written with utmost of sincerity and some ‘template’ testimonials which can be assigned to any one!. But testimonials written about me… OMG. I never realized that they are about me. So ignorant of my own virtues…  These testimonials (or testis as they used to call on orkut.. without wondering what exactly it meant and how the habit of abbreviating everything can produce some really brillieant gems..) can be a replacement for confidence boosting steriods.

Here are gems.. sourced directly from my profile .. talking about some virtues and vices, which I only wished they were right..

“saw a storm coming from North, and then i saw a man walking head on from south..facing the storm bare chested, up front and conquering the devil in its full might“…..  The above lines are about me.. and for those who have not seen me.. If I go bare chested,I think I carry the risk of getting blown by the zephyr, forget about storm.. The weight of my clothes used to  give me some weight…… (This testimonial was written 15 month back… ). I must say this guy (one of my fav juni at campus) had really wild imagination and this was probably  result of some highly ’spiritual’ thinking.

“Was the real Dark Horse in our batch at IIFM whether it b excelling in the Academic Performance or gaining Popularity among the Fairer Sex..” … Here the only thing which goes with me is word ‘DARK’.. nothing else.. . A similar testimonial “ has been admired n loved as well by majority of people in IIFM” .. probably the writer forget my ‘behali’ in GBMs (General Body Meeting).  And this one should be really the best.. “.His list of Girlfriends will leave you in AwE!! (but I ll still say he s not a Casanova a wonderful Friend (truly-in-deeds)” …Hmm.. my list of girlfriends.. I am just looking for the list.. I would love to move from “Havnots” to “Haves” status. (and  those who are moving to comments section after this line.. the definition of ‘Girlfriend’ is key here.. and it is surely not about ALL  THE FRIENDS WHO ARE GIRL.). 

In nutsell, the testimonials were as true depiction of personality as Musharraf’s poll stats  about his popularity in pakistan. But anyone you love reading/receiving  them….

(The post is getting long.. so rest in next posts… or whenever I am free to do some BC..).

Orkut-Nama

Recently I removed a lot of information and pictures from my Orkut profile and unjoined many communities, though this was done only to curtail my online presence on different sites, but this invoked many responses from my always ‘holier than thou’, omniscient and caring friends. None of them near the truth. I was trying to end some speculations which resulted in some more speculations.

But that led me to think over the whole issue. I joined Orkut two years back when all the social networking sites were still in infancy in India. I joined just for the curiosity and my desire to be abreast with all the latest happening in tech arena.

For the early two-three months, there were no friends, apart from the one who invited me (at that time you needed to be invited from someone who is already on Orkut to be there and there were not many, in fact techies were proud that they were on orkut.). But Orkut created huge userbase in just one year. And some of my friends came on Orkut and the chain reaction started.

Soon I realized that my ‘FAN’ list is attracting names, who would never say a single nice thing about me (probably they do not know a nice things about me..), I was surprised why people are becoming my fans. I am not a star. But, surprized vanished very soon. The scrapbook (place on your orkut profile where you can put publicly displayed private messages) explained. “S**e, main tera fan ban gaya hun, tu bhi ban ja.. “(I just became ur fan, now you too get in my fan list) . Unabashed self–glorification.

Soon people were comparing and how many ‘FANs’ they have in their list and who has got the most number of ‘FANs’ and who is yet to be included. Dumbass like me were having fans..

Then came the testimonials. A lady whose profile profile name will ‘hit you hard’ wrote the first cutie cutie all goodie kind of testimonials and then I was writing the same for a couple of my good buddies trying my best to do jutice with what to be written and what not to be written. Ofcourse, my ‘ Writing Orkut
Testimonials’  book contained the following sacrosanct rules

• You shall write only good things.
• You should try to fill the limit of 1024 words.
• You must reciprocate the testimonial gesture.

Though I can write a book on Art of Writing Orkut Testimonials, but I am keeping it for my coming posts…. I think the post is getting stretched like Indian inning on flat cricket pitch, so declared. 

Next post: Orkut Nama Second Part

Technorati Tags: Orkut

A trip to Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park/ Tiger Reserve was always a part of discussion whenever we discussed anything about wildlife management or national parks during our coursework at IIFM and if it is Prof. P C Kotwal’s class, no class was complete without mention of Kanha.

A few days back, got an opportunity to make a quick trio to Kanha National Park and it was really an experience. Though the forest safari was not that fruitful, we missed the tiger sighting by a few seconds (our vehicle was second and by the time we could spot the tigress, she was out of sight and we could only manage to view her pug marks) the experiences of being inside a lush green forest, watching deers grazing in open without being bothered by the intrusive safari vehicles and not so civilized visitors, were amazing. 

But it was also a glaring example of inefficiency and lack of planning by MP Tourism. We started our journey from Raipur in a rented Tata Indica (a bad choice for this trip!) and the driver informed we would be covering the distance form Raipur to Kanha (225 kms approx) in about 5-6 hours. We had chosen this driver as he had been to Kanha earlier also (as claimed). The journey took almost 9 hours and the ‘road’ to this famed National park can only be called a ‘road’ if Rakhi Sawant or Paris Hilton can be called ‘an actress’. How can you talk about promoting tourism and attracting international visitors if you do not have basic things setup first?

There were no signboards to indicate where you are heading once you are inside Kanha and if luckily you find some signboards, they only indicate the destination and do not provide any information on how far that place is. We spotted a signboard for a Resort 25 kms away from the resort and without any indication of distance. There are no milestones to tell you whether you are moving in right direction or not. And the roads in side  Kanha are so bad that it will take an expert driver and lots of courage to move ahead.

We had listed out a couple of resorts for our stay there, but did the grave mistake of not doing advance booking. Then it became really task to find a resort (a good one) and start for safari.

Based upon my experience I am listing out a few precautions and preparations you need to do, in order to enjoy the Kanha.

• It is not advisable to travel in small vehicles, prefer SUVs like Safari, Sumo, Bolero etc. Small cars are not suited, especially if you are traveling from Raipur to Kanha, the roads from Jabalpur to Kanha are in somewhat better position, but even then I would advise to go for big wheeled vehicles.
• Take a route map and look for a drive who has been there recently.
• Take a lot cash with you. Kanha is a very small place (you will not find any ATM in 50 kms radius) and most of the resorts, restaurants do not accepts credit/debit cards.
• Make an advance booking in the resorts if you are planning to stay there and I think you must plan to stay there at least for a night so that you can have two trips of Safari. There are two safari trips one in morning from 5.30 am to 12 noon and second from 3 pm to 6.30 pm.
• You have a number or resorts available at village Mocha, but the road to that place (via Raipur) is really pathetic. Try to bargain at the resorts and you will make a good deal. 20-30% is the normal discount you can easily ask for.
• Take a pair of good binoculars (we missed ) and a good camera, even if you do not spot the tiger, there is enough worth clicking.
• Once you are on Safari, make sure that your vehicle is the first one on the trail, or you are just behind the first vehicle, otherwise the first vehicle is bound to devoid you of any sighting.

Technorati Tags: Kanha National Park, Wildlife Tourist Spots in India, MP Tourism

My Growing Anti-Library

Frequent visits to Landmark and not much time to read.. result a fast growing anti-library (collection of unread books). I am planning to spend all of this weekend reading and trying to finish some books which I started reading but left midway. Reading is the best activity for this weekend as my plan to visit Pondicherry and enjoy the peace of Sri Aurobindo Ashram  now stands canceled and after 9 days of fast (juices and fruits only) I am not very keen on any outdoor plan, so reading is the best indoor activity.

But the problem which book to finish first, should I go for Richard Dawkins’ best selling The God Delusion or finish Umberto Eco’s pedantic verbose thriller Foucault’s Pendulam? Paulo Coelho and Martin Amis seem to be scheduled for some in-flight/airport reading. Michael Foucault’s Madness and Civilization is surely not meant for pleasure reading (the same can be said about God Delusion, but that is half read ..).  

Cool- Hotmail

MSN India has launched several cool and funky domains (Click Here to visit http://Coolhotmail.com )which you can use for your email e.g. xyz@techgeek.co.in, xyz@iamhot.in, xyz@iamsingle.com, xyz@clubrajni.com . There are a number for funky domains to choose from, whether you want to express who you are or want to feel proud about the place you live, just have a look there.

All emails on domains would be powered by Windows Live and hence would have all the features of Windows Live email with 5 GB mail box. The id would also be your Windows live id.

So if you have missed having yourname@somedomain.com id, grab your chance right now.

Technorati Tags: Windows Live, Cool Hotmail, Emails, MSN India

Pownce - Some Invites Available

I have got some Pownce Invites available with me. Those who are interested in having a look at this much talked about this (oh.. yet another) social network which is meant for sharing files and events with friend, can get them.

The site has a nice look and if you are looking a tool through which you can send/share small files (upto 10 mb), pictures and bookmark to your friends, this can be useful for you.

Technorati Tags: pownce, beta, invites, filesharing, social network

The Secret - Is it going to work?

Last night I finished the much hyped Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. Frankly speaking I could not find any thing new about ‘The Secret’ or Law of Attractions. But, yes, a few thing impressed me. The whole marketing strategy of this book and the layout and design. The book make you touch and feel when you see it in the bookstore and the name itself adds some charm to it.
Now coming to the content or rather to ‘The Law of Attraction’ on intellectual level my brain refuses to see any reason why ‘The Law of Attractions’ should work (all the reference to Quantum Physics and the claims are very vague.). Though one cannot deny that if you have been really dreaming about something and you want to achieve it, you are sure to move ahead, but this book talks about something more.
‘The Law of Attraction’ says visualize a cheque coming into your mail box and you will get it. Think and Feel about driving a car, getting desired partner and you would get them. Interesting. What if all of my friends start dreaming about Salma Hayek, will the universe (governed by The Law of Attraction) create multiple copies of Salma Hayek so that everyone can be happy? What if, everyone starts wishing to be the President ? No answers.
But yes, Creative Visualization works ( or it seemed to work to some extent and I am sure there are some laws which might be governing its efficacy so it does not grant any of your stupid wishes, for sure it did not grant any of mine). There were things which were impossible, I could only dream about them. They turned into reality and I have no idea how. So I do not see any harm in being positive. But for sure, I am not going to rely on ‘The Law of Attraction’ and visualize that I am turning into a bullet proof human being when somebody has put gun on my head, better rely on some other skills.

Technorati Tags: Books, The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, The Law of Attraction, Creative Visualization

Education, Schools, Teachers, Grades and Life

After a long time, got an opportunity to read a Hindi novella ‘Bigade Bachche, Sabse Achhe’ (Spoilt Kids, The best Kids) written by V R Jogi and P G Vaidya. A very simple story (it seems that you are reading a book written for 5th graders), yet a thought provoking story.

This story seriously questions our education system which puts too much emphasis on mugging up facts and figures and obtaining good grades in examination instead of acquiring real knowledge Those kids who could not perform well on these parameters are thrown out of the schools, no one bothers to look into the problem and find out why they are not able to do it. Aren’t we supposed to provide more attention and care to these students rather than labeling them as ‘failure’ in early impressionable years which stunts the proper growth of their personality and make them suffer from inferiority complex. These kids are forced to follow a system which is designed more for the convenience of operations/executions rather than for identification of the existing talents in an individual and providing it platform to nurture that talent and excel there.

Its a story of a teachers who runs a school for those who have been thrown out by formal education systems or those who cannot attend those schools for any other reasons. A teacher, who transforms the life of many and shows us an alternative to existing system.

Recently there has been a significant increase in incidents of teachers crossing all the limits when it comes to punishing students and inflicting inhuman corporal punishments. Frequency of these incidence is raising at alarming level and it shows that our teachers need comprehensive change in their attitude and way of teaching. I think this book should be included in B.Ed/M.Ed or teacher training programs just to show that how a teacher affects its student and to make them think.

Though this book is not that you will enjoy reading it on train/plane or if you have been raised on staple diet of Cook, Archer or Rowling, it raises a serious issues, addresses a grave problem and also put you on the track which can lead you to solution.

Technorati Tags: Education, Concern, Rural Education

Educating India???

Look at the picture below. No these are  not ruins of some neglected heritage site, this is a school (situated just 20-30 kms away from Lucknow) in Uttar Pradesh . So where are the students are teachers. They all were very well there, I could not muster the strength to take the picture of the school when teachers were there. They opposed it (Of course they were busy in stuff other than teaching and not appreciative of someone clicking them.).   

It was pleasure to listen our Prime Minister talking about educational reforms and setting up thousands of high quality schools and institutes of higher/professional education. But where these schools are going to be? And for whom? How many of the students coming out this school or of many similar schools would be able to get into these new institutions? I do not think many, or probably none. We need to think about revamping the whole primary education system we have. The journey towards better future starts from that place. The quality of education we get in our initial years, decides where we are going to be.

For millions of Indian, Education is the only hope to take them out of vicious cycle of poverty, only vehicle tool available to build better future, but it seems even this is not available properly to these people.

Technorati Tags: Education, Concern