Reality 55

The birthday boy gave us a piece of his cake. He really wanted to give it to Aishu only, but we were with her, so... As we wished him, Aishu shyly ran away to her mother who was sitting at the next table, the birthday boy walked back to his friends. We ate the cake.

until next time, cake khane ke liye......

To be Shore..

And "Alan Shore fans" makes it to my orkut communities because of this...
Alan Shore: Well you need to hear it! ......... to abuse a talented, selfless employee only because his social skills lack the polish! To allow him to work tirelessly under the delusion that he could make partner! A delusion you carefully nurtured so as to make piles of money off of him in the short term. That’s a betrayal, Shirley. Not just of Jerry, but of you! And your character! Which up till now I haveconsidered undeniably decent.

Shirley Schmidt: Are you finished?

Alan Shore: No. Jerry Espenson, no doubt, will go off quietly into the night as the meek often do. But somebody around here has to get angry about it. Otherwise you’ll just go off and blithely do it again.

Shirley Schmidt: We have not yet made a decision concerning Jerry Espenson, when we do I will call you first to tell you, “It is none of your concern!”

Alan Shore: There’s a saying Shirley, perhaps you’ve heard it. ‘All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to say, “It’s a business.”

While that might have been boring to the non-followers, what interested me was that it addresses an issue that i have found constantly encountered in professional life - social skills, or the lack of it. I've been ambivalent about this myself, but it irks me when people with lesser skills tend to be able to push their case only because they are aggressive, especially in situations where the hard skills are more important than the soft ones..

And sometimes i see this aggression being used in a social context when the people who prefer to exist in the background are subject to the sort of bullying that usually is associated with school life... And each time i see it happen, i thank god for a reasonably sharp humour sense and a dichotomy of personality :)

until next time, the meek shall inherit the earth...

Social Currency

Was chatting with a friend last week on the complexity of human relationships. Of course, she is of the view that it is not so complex after all, and i tend to complicate it with my penchant for over analysis :D I admit to the anlaysis bit, but in this case, am not convinced about it being undue. Double the negative, double the fun.

Coincidentally, also saw a movie last weekend, which brought out my stance almost perfectly, almost, because the character of the protagonist does a U-turn midway. Anyways, the crux of the matter is that i believe that every relationship, even, rather especially the close ones are tinged with a selfish motive, actually, not tinged, more a strong undercurrent. There are precious few exceptions.

It depends on the individual's choice whether this gets acknowledged or not, but i strongly feel that there is always currency involved, and it is not always unconditional love or any such seemingly pure emotion... the acknowledgement does not happen perhaps because we mould ourselves to fit into a society and its forms of expression...The undercurrent may be that of emotional security, convenience or anything else - based on the situation, but its most definitely there. And for every help/favor/token of affection etc there isa meter ticking, some of us keep it in mind, and some of us keep it deep in the recesses of our mind

until next time, mind it :)

Faced Out

I asked a question on facebook recently 'Is facebook just a phase', like cerelac, toy cars, comics etc and more importantly, as we become older, virtual orkut and real relationships. Its perhaps part of the overall picture of decreasing attention spans, the need for instant gratification and the gradual extinction therefore, of patience.

Patience to seek and find answers, patience to sit through the 5 minute ad break, patience to discover new things, patience to wait in the atm queue, patience to understand people, patience to wait till the site loads, patience to work on relationships and so on...Since that's being lost, is virtual networking an easy escape route, where virtuality allows us to bypass the difficulties of working on relationships, where entry and exit strategies are much easier, where scraps can be started and ended with scraps, and the writings on the wall are easy to do and undo, where it might be easier to live with masks?

Or is it the opposite, moving on to a plane where masks become redundant? Is that why we are so hooked on, is that what we mean by convenience? Is it wrong, hell no, i am just wondering :)

until next time, face off

Fictionary

The uneasy feeling you get when your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend peers at a person of your gender in an appreciative manner - Peer Pressure

until next time, peerless? ;)

Ram Gopal Varma ki ma!@#$%^

Ram Gopal Varma's gags should be stopped, period!! His next movie should be "How to make a big B movie with Big B". Coz thats what he has done, taken 3 national award winning actors and made the biggest B-grade movie ever. (with due apologies to B grade movie makers, dont sue me)

With Mohanlal, Big B, Ajay Devgan, Sushmita Sen, guess who gets maximum screen time - Nisha Kothari as ghunghroo, basanti's new age avtaar!! I wouldnt have minded much if she stuck to her regular attire, but no, RGV made the cardinal mistake of trying to make her act. Since basanti's horse cart was replaced by an auto, she had to do both Basanti's and Dhanno's roles, and as far as dubbing goes, she succeeded, coz she sounded like a child that they might have had while horsing around!!!

And poor poor Mohanlal, who in my view is the finest actor around, bar none. i wonder how RGV convinced him to wear a beard that must have come out of Anil Kapoor's waxed remains or something, I am sure RGV didnt pay for it. That, or somewhere, some bear is missing its posterior fur!!

And Chakravarty (Satya), Rajpal Yadav and VJ Gaurav, all in roles which competed with Nisha Kothari's regular costumes and acting talent in terms of miniscule-ness. To cut a long story short, the only entity that deserves Aag is RGV's factory, they really should set fire to that place.

Until next time, aaaarghhh

Source: Unknown

PS: This post is issued in public interest (the fact that this blog has attempted a review is proof of that)

Serves you right

It used to amaze me how D used to serve me the right quantity always, and i never had to waste anything, unless of course, it happened tobe something i detested, like brinjal or lady's finger (yuck!!)

But i suddenly realised a few days back that it was more of a planning that i did in my head that made it right.. yeah, yeah, sometimes i am duh!! I also realised that it might reflect the way we treat life, and with that said, contrary to the blog policy (for once), here's a forward i got.. Its a bit long, but worth the read, me thinks..

until next time, i'm no: 4, what kind are you?

Ram Gopal Varma ka Onam

(All charcaters in this are a product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to anyone living/dead/missing is a product of the reader's imagination)

You might want to read the original story here or my earlier version .....

Bali ruled his land with a velvet fist, in an iron glove. Though his front was that of a businessman with dairy and bee farms, his money and power came from real estate, and not all of them were totally legal transactions. But he was a fair man, and so the people of the land loved him, inspite of the cruelty of his ancestors. In fact his reign was so good, and the land so prosperous, that they started calling it God's Own Country, where milk and honey flowed on the streets. There were critics who said that Bali was equating himself to God, but then, they were critics.

But a man was watching him closely - a man who ruled the neighbouring area, who went by the name of Devendra Gowda, a stark contrast to Bali, who needed absolutely no front for his devious land scams. Just so that no one interfered too much in his affairs, he was an active politician too. Devendra realised that Bali's lands were pure gold, and started thinking of ways to get it.He didnt want to have a direct confrontation with Bali, his previous experiences had taught him a lesson, so he gave Bali's supari to a common enemy - Vishnu, an encounter specialist.

Vishnu also had an interest in dairy farming, in fact quite a big interest. Legends had it that he had a mansion in the middle of a lake - a lake of milk. Also, Vishnu had had several encounters with Bali's forefathers and was responsible for their deaths, but he knew Bali was a good man and didnt want his reputation to be tarnished. So he disguised himself as a newcomer tapori, and with his trademark umbrella, quickly climbed the ranks.

Bali meanwhile, decided to have a party, complete with item number (Happy Rakhi... of course Rakhi would be happy to do it) to further his grandiose real estate plans. His khaas aadmi, a swamiji, forbade him from calling Vishnu, but Bali would have none of it. He was feeling so good about his plans that he publicly stated that he would give anyone any amount of land they asked for. And Vishnu chose that moment to walk in and demand 3 feet of land. Bali laughed, and agreed. Vishnu's first step was on Bali's chair. Despite counsel from his men, and inspite of penetrating Vishnu's disguise, Bali asked him to take the next two. Vishnu next stepped on the map which had Bali's expansion plans.With a smile, Vishnu told Bali that he had lost all his land, where would he keep his third step? Bali bowed his head, and to add insult to injury, Vishnu stepped on Bali's head.

And that triggered something in Bali. He decided to take a step himself - into the underworld, but with a chilling threat to Vishnu - 'Ek na ek din, main wapas aaunga.' And Bali's men, taking this to heart celebrate this day every year and sing (the remix version of) "Onam ke din dil khil jaate hain......."

Meanwhile, Bali was a hit in the underworld..for the first time, the underworld was organised in to one entity- the B Company.....

until next time, happy onam ;)

Parental Outsourcing

Since our man has the annoying habit of deleting posts, i havent been able to yet locate his take on it, but i have read her take on it.
The subject in question is that the young parents of today outsource the job of parenting to their parents and treat them worse than housemaids... Now, i think a lot of grandparents love being with their grandchildren, perhaps for the simple reason that their children dont have the time anyway. Its an arrangement that works for everyone concerned. Does that make it right? no, but that doesnt make it wrong either.

We happen to be in a generation that is bearing the brunt of a drastic change in lifestyles and therefore mindsets. Being 30 year old parents is a bit like being between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea - feeling guilty of not doing much for the parents and knowing that the chances of their kid looking after them are very slim...So perhaps it is a good thing to put the two stakeholders of their time together, and meanwhile working their butt off to ensure that they themselves have a good tomorrow.. now, can they be really blamed for trying to a get a bit of happiness out of today also... maybe not, because they are paying for it in their own way..
Meanwhile, taking a leaf out of the aforementioned annoying man's book ;), this sums it up

until next time, not just kidding

Freedom from Freedom

Inspite and perhaps because of the response to the last post.. Yes, maybe the easiest thing is to not take up the offers that are displayed with banality year after year, but perhaps i let an example become the theme.. The intended theme was not the offers but our callous attitude to the concept of freedom. Like i said, maybe the root of all this is that we were born free, and didnt have to experience second and third class citizenship in the land where we were born...

In an era in which even ads have to be contextual for them to garner any response, what hoped oes a concept like freedom have, especially when it has lost its relevance and definitely has no context. The only context is the one created by the offers. Yes, it is a function oftime, but only because the child that munched the sweets happily and celebrated the holiday on Freedom Day has a bit more understanding now. And precisely because most things are a function of time, maybe we should revisit the day and figure out whether we need a holiday on Aug 15th. Is it any different from a Sunday except for the kind of movies shown?

Perhaps the respect for freedom belongs elsewhere - in our day to day lives - by being more tolerant and compassionate and respecting each others' freedom a bit more, and most importantly, by becoming more mature in the use of personal freedom and stopping its abuse daily.Perhaps that will bring joy to those who fought, and died for the holiday.

until next time, freedom for a state... of mind...

Oh, the irony of it all...

Once upon a time, the biggest significance of Aug 15th was that it was a holiday. And Gandhi and Roja have given way to Lage Raho Munnabhai and Rang De Basanti..

Makes me wonder, the relevance of this day has become worse than it being just a holiday. And the irony? To make a free country, they burned foreign cloth. In a free country, we burn money to buy international brands that give special discounts on I-Day... No, this is not tirade against MNCs (hey, i use them too) but maybe, we should make this a normal day and stop mocking the efforts of a generation long gone?

until next time, born free, perhaps thats the root..

The more things change...

the more they remain the same....

Gandhi was the man they followed then, we still do..

until next time, happy birthday India.

To each his own...

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Just tell him its flat :D

Speaking of ways into men's hearts, saw an interesting comment here. When the interviewer asked SRK about the cold war between him and the bachchans, SRK said shabby (or should it be shaB? abhishek with that awful beard and dressing style should be called that) was with him till 4 am.. Now, is it that abhi finds ash cold or SRK hot or both? hmmm...

until next time, was that flat? ;)

Rooms with a view

The vacuum left behind by Heroes has been partally filled by the series that occupies the same time slot- Boston Legal. Also, it helps that i can bug D when they show the city shots with 'Do you know this place?', since she spent some time there recently..

And i love the night shots of the city, to be precise, the ones which show the high-rise apartments, not just in this particular show, but any city.. No, come to think of it, its only the American cities, not say, the London ones or even the local mumbai ones... strange, but thats okay...I've wondered about this fascination for high rise apartment night shots, and i am yet to get a complete answer from myself... but i have been able to get some insights...

in the shots, each of those tiny lights is a window into the life of a person/ family... each of those has a story to tell - some exciting, some mundane, some funny,some tragic.. but each a story nevertheless... and more importantly, it perfectly symbolifies a lot of lives - in a crowd, yet alone...

until next time, story of our lives.....

Make it hot!!

She gripped it hard at first, rubbed it all over, then rolled it. Then she started shaking it vigorously.This was when his irritation just burst out. "If you’re doing it, do it properly, otherwise, I’ll do it and let you know when its ready.You're making it look as though you're doing it for my sake.”, he said sarcastically.

She didnt know what she was doing wrong, for already the effects of her work was showing. It was getting moist, a sureshot sign that it was responding to her touch. "ok, see if something is coming out", she said.

"No, nothing is coming out. This is becoming an everyday thing now. Next time, we'll buy that jar pack. Coconut oil bottles in winter are a pain!!

until next time, get a grip!!