Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
THE CHILLING REMINDER
It is two years today since the day when 10 terrorists wreaked havoc in the south of Mumbai. Over 150 people were killed by them, and billion left in the wake of pain: the pain of being left prisoners in your own home. It elucidated the danger normal Indians live in everyday. They are not secure; they have been targeted. It fails to impress me how certain people could mastermind such a dastardly move, and make individuals go on a suicide mission to kill as many people before they themselves are killed. Die, and kill them too.
It is completely opposite to the Indian philosophy of “live and let live”; no wonder it left us in such a pain. Why would a group of people conspire cowardice over a peaceful nation? I can only pity them. The government was jerked awake by this fact, and definitely carried out required measures in full steam. They even sacked the then under-performing minister of Home Affairs, and mobilized a massive task force in order to determine who the culprit was.
Some said it were the Pakistanis, some said it was Al-Qaeda. I do not know, and not that doth matter. These terrorist are a cancer. They must be exterminated.
I don’t consider them humans, and hence terrorists have no religion. They come from no region of the earth, and they possess no feeling for their brethren.
Yes, the war on terror is necessary.
Now, when on the 4th of December I go to Mumbai, the shocking signs of Bullet marks at the Leopold Café would chill my blood again, and remind me, that the war on terror is necessary.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Interstices
The great all-rounder, Umberto Eco, author of the best-seller The Name of the Rose, was not only a wonderful novelist, but also a perspective changing professor of semiotics in the University of Bologna. His seminal work on semiotics is well known in the literary circles. And, the man made a bestseller book. How could he achieve all this?
Many people have called him a man of many skills; a master of all trades, jack of none. Yet, what he actually was is merely a great time-manager. ‘Merely’ is a wrong way to describe it, because it is ultimately what differentiates between Steve Jobs and other people. We must accept this fact – we can never become someone like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
We can only be us.
But what allowed Umberto to simultaneously produce to seminal work, both on the fictional and non-fictional spheres of literature. Semiotics isn’t a lightly study. It often requires people to work long at seemingly unending pile of books, and historical texts, trying to link strange signs and make some meaning out of it. So how exactly did Umberto manage it????
In an interview, he explains, that he used to work in the interstices.
It is a well-known fact that if we could magically reduce all the empty spaces within the atom, the universe could fit within the fist of our hand. Of course we don’t really have a chance to put it to the anvil because no such infinite extension charm is available with us today (except in the world of Harry Potter).
Interstices are similarly the times that seemingly seem worthless. He explains further that “consider you are visiting my house, and I am waiting for you to come up through the elevator. In between the time, I try to do something useful. Because, by the time you would have arrived through the elevator, I would have already written a newspaper article.”
This is what interstices are. We must fill the gaps. And our lives would be fulfilled.
Many people have called him a man of many skills; a master of all trades, jack of none. Yet, what he actually was is merely a great time-manager. ‘Merely’ is a wrong way to describe it, because it is ultimately what differentiates between Steve Jobs and other people. We must accept this fact – we can never become someone like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
We can only be us.
But what allowed Umberto to simultaneously produce to seminal work, both on the fictional and non-fictional spheres of literature. Semiotics isn’t a lightly study. It often requires people to work long at seemingly unending pile of books, and historical texts, trying to link strange signs and make some meaning out of it. So how exactly did Umberto manage it????
In an interview, he explains, that he used to work in the interstices.
It is a well-known fact that if we could magically reduce all the empty spaces within the atom, the universe could fit within the fist of our hand. Of course we don’t really have a chance to put it to the anvil because no such infinite extension charm is available with us today (except in the world of Harry Potter).
Interstices are similarly the times that seemingly seem worthless. He explains further that “consider you are visiting my house, and I am waiting for you to come up through the elevator. In between the time, I try to do something useful. Because, by the time you would have arrived through the elevator, I would have already written a newspaper article.”
This is what interstices are. We must fill the gaps. And our lives would be fulfilled.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Harry Potter and the "maut key taufey"
Would you believe how base these people could become while dubbing??? Diabolical!!!
They turned Deathly hallows into a mortified version of a bloody Hindi horror film! Maut key taufey!
Bless Dumbledore's beard, never thought i would go to watch this stupidity. They even forgot to translate "Deathly Hallows" correctly.
"Maut key taufey" means "The gifts of death"; which i think is correct, as far as the tales of Beedle the Bard is concerned. But it miserably fails when it comes to the fact that they are hallows. They are holy to death, or at least coveted possessions when it comes to the Crypto-Wizards, like X. Lovegood.
What these exactly are, there is little to debate: skilled handicrafts from the most skilled wizards of the times. The Peverell Brothers might have made that out of curiosity, or just for the lust of power, it doesn't really matter. What matter is how a confusion over the name killed a day that i had been waiting for ever since the book came out.
Yesterday was such a day. I woke up, feeling as fleet as Tinker Bell. I went with plenty of time to spare towards the multiplex, with the plot fuzzing through my head like a stream of bubbling waterfall. But just as the movie was about to begin, two asses cam to sit beside me, and that was it.
Along with "Maut key Taufey" you get a free Harry Potter hater but Emma Watson lover sitting beside you, you know the day you had been waiting for is coming to a painful abrupt close.
OUCH. That did hurt.
But the movie was nice. The way they carried the plot was absolutely wonderful. I must give credit to David Yates for reproducing such a marvelously crafted book into an awesome movie.
I will not comment on comments stating that the movie is quite slow. Are you friggin' crazy??
I wanted the film to be even slower. I wanted to savour each moment of intense emotion that the characters go through. I wanted to get lost in the world of Rowling, for once without having to imagine everything myself.....
Huh... expectations shouldn't be so high, especially when you go to Harry potter and "maut key taufey".
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
DEEPER Regret
I am a big fan of owl city.
In fact, I am a really big fan of Owl City. Some people say Owl city is a rip-of &c. But, I believe those people should hear his music two times over and if no vision breaks in your head, you can qualify yourself as a human without imagination.
Ah, I love Owl City so much that I could go ranting a hundred times over. But that is that. Inevitably, as a fan, I am susceptible to reading Adam Young's humorous and interesting blogs, which feature his insight into his music, his life, and his wonderful power of imagination.
This November 8th post was really very interesting. You can actually go and read it over yourself. It is humorous and slightly true.
http://owlcityblog.com/
I must say the guy is hitting the right areas in the article. For those of you who don't possess the strength of turning over pages (or rather clicking on hyperlinks) "Deep Regret" is a disorder of men loosing there guts and mind while in presence of beautiful women. Like for example if Scarlett Johansson was in front of you, the stakes of you uttering a very stupid response to her is about 198% higher than normal.
LOL. For me that accounts for 258%.
So, has it ever happened to you? Usually this disorder is seen among adolescents over the oh-so-beautiful girl in class &c. But I think it persists for a far a longer period of time.
So what is DEEPER REGRET? The Regret of never having met a girl beautiful enough to have DEEP REGRET.
Let us be frank people. We are men; and for biological, prestige and ... whatever reason, we love to have at least one beautiful woman around. Oh, there are exceptions to presence of beautiful woman: they are most unwelcome in laboratory discussions, mathematics problem solving sessions, hands-on rugby sessions, and of course for that most important game of the season.
I would be lying if i told you I never saw a person with whom i had DEEP REGRET, but then it has never been that difficult. I don't find socializing with women a tad difficult. It in fact comes to me easily. I am more comfortable with exquisite women around than being with a rowdy group of males, banging beer bottles or shouting four-letter-words with them.
Women, and I deeply respect them for that, have class. Yes sir, they have class. You may consider me a feminist, but i consider my mother in the highest manner. I consider some of my friends (who are girls) is the highest manner. I like their behavior, which I find a little more civilized than 65% of the male population of the world.
But then, such a view, coupled with constantly being hounded by girls, make my attitude towards them rather more friendly. But, yes, I miss the DEEP REGRET. I miss it so much. I wish I could find a few faces in the crowd who are like "O WOW". Feminine sensuality tends to miss me at times.
In fact, I am a really big fan of Owl City. Some people say Owl city is a rip-of &c. But, I believe those people should hear his music two times over and if no vision breaks in your head, you can qualify yourself as a human without imagination.
Ah, I love Owl City so much that I could go ranting a hundred times over. But that is that. Inevitably, as a fan, I am susceptible to reading Adam Young's humorous and interesting blogs, which feature his insight into his music, his life, and his wonderful power of imagination.
This November 8th post was really very interesting. You can actually go and read it over yourself. It is humorous and slightly true.
http://owlcityblog.com/
I must say the guy is hitting the right areas in the article. For those of you who don't possess the strength of turning over pages (or rather clicking on hyperlinks) "Deep Regret" is a disorder of men loosing there guts and mind while in presence of beautiful women. Like for example if Scarlett Johansson was in front of you, the stakes of you uttering a very stupid response to her is about 198% higher than normal.
LOL. For me that accounts for 258%.
So, has it ever happened to you? Usually this disorder is seen among adolescents over the oh-so-beautiful girl in class &c. But I think it persists for a far a longer period of time.
So what is DEEPER REGRET? The Regret of never having met a girl beautiful enough to have DEEP REGRET.
Let us be frank people. We are men; and for biological, prestige and ... whatever reason, we love to have at least one beautiful woman around. Oh, there are exceptions to presence of beautiful woman: they are most unwelcome in laboratory discussions, mathematics problem solving sessions, hands-on rugby sessions, and of course for that most important game of the season.
I would be lying if i told you I never saw a person with whom i had DEEP REGRET, but then it has never been that difficult. I don't find socializing with women a tad difficult. It in fact comes to me easily. I am more comfortable with exquisite women around than being with a rowdy group of males, banging beer bottles or shouting four-letter-words with them.
Women, and I deeply respect them for that, have class. Yes sir, they have class. You may consider me a feminist, but i consider my mother in the highest manner. I consider some of my friends (who are girls) is the highest manner. I like their behavior, which I find a little more civilized than 65% of the male population of the world.
But then, such a view, coupled with constantly being hounded by girls, make my attitude towards them rather more friendly. But, yes, I miss the DEEP REGRET. I miss it so much. I wish I could find a few faces in the crowd who are like "O WOW". Feminine sensuality tends to miss me at times.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
How People Honk
Honking styles can reveal a lot about the people behind the button. It is of course, a continuous earache, especially when you live beside the busiest street in the town. Living in a city of 2.8 million people, with all its honey-beeish people, one can easily recognize these particular patterns.
Every day, just as the clock strikes eight, a cacophony of horns emerges across my front window. It lasts a good amount of fourteen hours since then.
It starts with the late school boy, with his trailing horn, warning the others that his brash recklessness can them in the hospital. How much do you need me to display me irresponsibility? I’m already freakishly late, he says.
Then there comes Mister Busy. He is the guy who drives the slowest, showing his just-washed sedan to all, and honks an unbelievable tune. He would stop behind people on the traffic light, and try to blow their eardrums off. His intention: he wants to stand right in front of you crossing over the white line that says STOP.
Miss Perky travels very fast, zipping across the streets with abandon, literally. Reason: she knows only two speeds, 0 km/h and 60 km/h, nothing in between. She will blow her high-pitched horn, mimicking her own voice everywhere, wverytime. She believes that hearing it everyone will fear that a railway engine is through.
And then comes the Railway Man, always on his scooter, blowing his horn only after the crossing is crossed.
Suddenly you hear a heart thumping noise. What was that? A demon? Apocalypse? Oh no that was only the school bus honking madly because a pupil is late.
Mr. Cool has his own way. He blows his horn differently, leans like a pro on the turn, and does a wheelie every time he sees a girl. Boy, and he thinks he is cool.
Miss daydream is next. She is all about her own business, looking lost and confused. Only after someone honks does she meekly reply with a small jab at the button. I rather like her; she does not disturb me in the morning snooze. And so the sun settles down into her afternoon position.
It so passes, that whenever you are concentrating on something important, Master Rockstar come out. He bends away like a MAGLEV, almost out of touch of the road (and sometimes he does get out of touch). He always blows his horn in a particular manner, always in a tune. He is loud, boisterous, and, my, he is fast. He just whizzes away, with his horns doppling away.
Then, there is Hurry Billy. He is a sophisticate, and always in a hurry. He tries to beat Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo right in India’s dilapidated roads, every time he goes out! He always horns, much like miss perky, but always after overtaking. He does everything honking, blowing five-six peace shattering blasts while cruising in the open road, just to show that he is in a hurry.
Then, it is Miss Meticulous. She’ll always blow her horn a particular way, for a particular time. Always 2.63 seconds.
Mr. Hero. He is the person with perfectly set hair, with goggles on his forehead, wearing a handkerchief on his neck, like a scarf with a open shirt showing his vests, and a low waist jeans. He rides a chopper, and with his polished smile, he calmly attaches his air horn. As if he needs one. Such a character, with so loud a bike, can hardly be missed by anyone. But when he it comes to honking he is a villain for sure. He goes crazy, pressing the button like he is keying in a 80 character phone number.
Oh! Had Beethoven heard it, he would have been glad he was deaf. Though, I believe, he would become deaf after hearing that any way.
But the most lethal of them all is the Ninja. Quiet like an owl, he swoops down upon his prey from sharp angled turns, and blind corners, travelling as fast as starlight. He is the most dangerous, and I don’t like him a bit, even though he is not a honker.
And who’s that? He doesn’t need a horn, he has the siren. Oh, he is the local politician; bloody leech of our democracy.
So where is the simple one? The one who uses his horn just to warn others? Why, he is writing this!
Every day, just as the clock strikes eight, a cacophony of horns emerges across my front window. It lasts a good amount of fourteen hours since then.
It starts with the late school boy, with his trailing horn, warning the others that his brash recklessness can them in the hospital. How much do you need me to display me irresponsibility? I’m already freakishly late, he says.
Then there comes Mister Busy. He is the guy who drives the slowest, showing his just-washed sedan to all, and honks an unbelievable tune. He would stop behind people on the traffic light, and try to blow their eardrums off. His intention: he wants to stand right in front of you crossing over the white line that says STOP.
Miss Perky travels very fast, zipping across the streets with abandon, literally. Reason: she knows only two speeds, 0 km/h and 60 km/h, nothing in between. She will blow her high-pitched horn, mimicking her own voice everywhere, wverytime. She believes that hearing it everyone will fear that a railway engine is through.
And then comes the Railway Man, always on his scooter, blowing his horn only after the crossing is crossed.
Suddenly you hear a heart thumping noise. What was that? A demon? Apocalypse? Oh no that was only the school bus honking madly because a pupil is late.
Mr. Cool has his own way. He blows his horn differently, leans like a pro on the turn, and does a wheelie every time he sees a girl. Boy, and he thinks he is cool.
Miss daydream is next. She is all about her own business, looking lost and confused. Only after someone honks does she meekly reply with a small jab at the button. I rather like her; she does not disturb me in the morning snooze. And so the sun settles down into her afternoon position.
It so passes, that whenever you are concentrating on something important, Master Rockstar come out. He bends away like a MAGLEV, almost out of touch of the road (and sometimes he does get out of touch). He always blows his horn in a particular manner, always in a tune. He is loud, boisterous, and, my, he is fast. He just whizzes away, with his horns doppling away.
Then, there is Hurry Billy. He is a sophisticate, and always in a hurry. He tries to beat Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo right in India’s dilapidated roads, every time he goes out! He always horns, much like miss perky, but always after overtaking. He does everything honking, blowing five-six peace shattering blasts while cruising in the open road, just to show that he is in a hurry.
Then, it is Miss Meticulous. She’ll always blow her horn a particular way, for a particular time. Always 2.63 seconds.
Mr. Hero. He is the person with perfectly set hair, with goggles on his forehead, wearing a handkerchief on his neck, like a scarf with a open shirt showing his vests, and a low waist jeans. He rides a chopper, and with his polished smile, he calmly attaches his air horn. As if he needs one. Such a character, with so loud a bike, can hardly be missed by anyone. But when he it comes to honking he is a villain for sure. He goes crazy, pressing the button like he is keying in a 80 character phone number.
Oh! Had Beethoven heard it, he would have been glad he was deaf. Though, I believe, he would become deaf after hearing that any way.
But the most lethal of them all is the Ninja. Quiet like an owl, he swoops down upon his prey from sharp angled turns, and blind corners, travelling as fast as starlight. He is the most dangerous, and I don’t like him a bit, even though he is not a honker.
And who’s that? He doesn’t need a horn, he has the siren. Oh, he is the local politician; bloody leech of our democracy.
So where is the simple one? The one who uses his horn just to warn others? Why, he is writing this!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Burn the Koran?! Oh my god!
What? Did I hear correctly on the news? They just said that a group of ill-minded paranoid American Folks are burning the Holy book of Koran. Why? Cause they want to give it as a tribute to those who died on the sad day of 11th September.
It was bad I agree, but this is worse. America, was never like this. America showed the world democracy, and fought for righteous ideals. This was not what was expected of american people, who openly embraced Gandhi and his ideals in Martin Luther King Jr.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/International-Burn-A-Koran-Day/134718123226530?ref=ts
Not only does such an occurrence haunt me, but is absolutely ill-timed and absolutely politically incorrect.
We have never been brought up to like this sort of dehumanizing acts. They say they are condemning the Islamic religion. They say that Islam is not a religion of peace.
No religion is! In fact, I must go on to say that Religion has often than not stirred wars amongst Human beings.
But this is madness. People don't understand the Socio-Political unrest this action could create. And another thing, how could humans be so vile that they burn another's Holy Book. People have started to do this monstrous thing already, because some stupid Pastor (I call stupid people stupid) called on this "great drive to salvation".
I dislike this. This is not according to Gandhian Principles. How different does it make you from Osama bin Laden? He is an infidel, so to counter him, must you be the same?
We should be burning (rather not, the global warming is high this year) Osama bin Laden and reading the Koran into his face adn telling him where he has wrongly interpreted it.
Hail Islam! The religion of Peace!
It was bad I agree, but this is worse. America, was never like this. America showed the world democracy, and fought for righteous ideals. This was not what was expected of american people, who openly embraced Gandhi and his ideals in Martin Luther King Jr.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/International-Burn-A-Koran-Day/134718123226530?ref=ts
Not only does such an occurrence haunt me, but is absolutely ill-timed and absolutely politically incorrect.
We have never been brought up to like this sort of dehumanizing acts. They say they are condemning the Islamic religion. They say that Islam is not a religion of peace.
No religion is! In fact, I must go on to say that Religion has often than not stirred wars amongst Human beings.
But this is madness. People don't understand the Socio-Political unrest this action could create. And another thing, how could humans be so vile that they burn another's Holy Book. People have started to do this monstrous thing already, because some stupid Pastor (I call stupid people stupid) called on this "great drive to salvation".
I dislike this. This is not according to Gandhian Principles. How different does it make you from Osama bin Laden? He is an infidel, so to counter him, must you be the same?
We should be burning (rather not, the global warming is high this year) Osama bin Laden and reading the Koran into his face adn telling him where he has wrongly interpreted it.
Hail Islam! The religion of Peace!
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