Random Ramblings

Everyone has some idiosyncrasies when it comes to watching a movie. I tried to list some of mine in this post -- Some random movie watching habits, that belong exclusively to me (Idea for this write up has been blatantly stolen from other blogs!) --> There are few movies I get extremely excited about (e.g. TZP, Jodha Akbar, RDB), and there have been few I have always been excited about ever since I saw them ... and people have been bored of hearing me recommend that movie to others (e.g. TZP, RDB, The Truman show, Forrest Gump, ... even Aaap ka surror!) While watching movies (esp. angrezi ones!) on my lappy, I often use Wikipedia and IMDB as reference (esp. to know where the story is headed for) ... Even with such references, I could understand only half the movie Memento! I love reading movie reviews. Few of the ones I follow are Taran Adarsh ke crappy reviews, Rajeev Masand (who is somewhat reliable) ... and few reviews occasionally in TOI, HT, Rediff, and other random websites.

"Freedom of expression is the freedom to say what you want, as long as you say what they want to hear" - Freedom of expression – One of the hallmarks of great societies of the world; one of the basic rights guaranteed by our constitution. But is it all in theory? Take the case of Tasleema Nasreen or M.F. Hussain or students of MS University, Baroda or many others who dare to express things against the norm, but have to face wrath of some self-appointed moral police every now and then? … Or consider countless others who do not even dare to express, because of the fear of consequences from likes of Shiv Sena or Bajrang Dal or infinite others self appointed guardians of our culture. Yes. As a nation we have had fairly decent record on this front, if not anything great … but that is not enough. It must be made much better if we need to progress as a society. But where are we heading for ?

"Isn't it strange that in hope of a better future, the present is often screwed, and this continues even when the future has become present ... and in the end when we look back, we often realize that we have lived only in hope of a better future, and it never really translated into a good present"

Is there a fixed pattern of thinking one ought to follow? Is there a 'one size fits all' solution or a standard prescription for getting best out of any child? How good is it to just focus on faults of someone (especially children) and overlook the talent and good qualities he has? Are there just a few things that become indicator of your worth or how good you are? Is it always about comparison with what others are? Is it appropriate to suppress what a child actually is, in order to make him what you think he should be ? Isn't every kid special ? The movie Taare Zameen Par (TZP) provides food for thought for above questions and many more. Story of a dyslexic 8 year kid who is helped ... rather inspired by a teacher to bring the best in him. But it is not just about dyslexia. It is also about our attitude towards children. The movie blends realistic and touching treatment with creative elements in showing some elements during songs! The performances are awesome ... in fact a

Figure this - Some (publicity hungry!?) lawyer sues Mr. Narayan Murthy for showing disrespect to our national flag! Some other (publicity hungry!?) lawyer sues Sachin Tendulkar for showing disrespect to our national flag by cutting some Tiranga cake! There have been many other controversies related to insult on national flag, and pertaining to millions of code of conduct to deal with it. But, probably these two have been he most high profile ones in recent times! But all seems too idiotic to me. Probably these two persons in question have contributed million times more to the nation than those 'petitioners'. And they are being belittled on basis of doing some act which they think is a proxy for insulting national flag, which they believe is a proxy for disrespecting the country. Hadh hai ! But, a part of blame lies with the kind of laws and code of conduct that exists for national flag. Maybe, we are too much concerned about proxy for respecting a nation, than doing something c

Recently I read about the New Zealand cricketer Craig McMillan announcing his retirement at an age of 31, the age when players are often in their prime. Although he wasn't anywhere close to being a great player, he was certainly a good one, having played some good knocks in recent times. There was not much hue and dry, or fanfare and all, though there were some usual courtesies exchanged and all. I was just wondering what if he had been an Indian player and done he same ? In fact, first of all would he have taken a similar decision here, considering various stakeholders! Maybe, there would probably have been tons of news channel smelling something fishy, many fingers raised here and there and few extreme public reactions, and maybe politicians coming in to plead him to consider his retirement once again and return to game. Rest assured, the player who has retired might probably not have been let to live in peace ... at least for few days! And the decision to retire might have an el

“Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” – Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged) There are some premises on which you build your thoughts and opinions; and often there are times when you visit these very assumptions and question them. These are usually when we find that something is not in sync with what we believe in or what we believed as self evident. Assumptions exist at different levels. At individual level, it these are usually the core beliefs upon which we base our other beliefs and attitudes. Most of them have been passed on to us, as part of our environment or teaching. There are some assumptions on which institutions like the legal system are based, like principle of natural justice or principle of equality of all men. And there are assumptions in bureaucracy about seniority being equivalent of competence. Those in favor of caste based reservations (in principle … and not just poli