tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-280959572024-03-05T19:40:19.157-05:00science of confusion...and thus, life happens.rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-48245680842342036292010-01-29T23:47:00.002-05:002010-01-29T23:49:24.944-05:00I AM MOVINGThis blog has a new address. Moving to Wordpress from today. Catch me at: http://rathchakra.wordpress.com/Update your bookmarks please (yes, I do live in a la-la land where I think someone out there has bookmarked my blog....).rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-17918721146995615362010-01-19T21:54:00.023-05:002010-01-21T10:05:22.572-05:00Dus Saal Pehele - Chapter 22002 2002 was a lackluster year in comparison to 2001. This year would be remembered for the debut of a wonderful actress who would eventually carve a place for herself by the end of the decade (so much so that writers would write roles with her in mind) – Konkona Sen Sharma. A young girl, with unusual looks who really got her break only because of her celebrated mother – Aparna Sen. It is rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-33129908443311545992010-01-14T15:45:00.035-05:002010-01-19T17:52:13.764-05:00Dus Saal Pehele - Chapter 1In the last 10 years, Hindi cinema (and in general Indian cinema) has undergone some significant changes so much so that this decade can be termed as both evolutionary and revolutionary- new subjects were tackled, new technology was used, collaboration between studios and the corporate world took place, Hollywood studios entered the Indian market, digital film distribution was introduced, full rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-32672917770707989452010-01-05T21:32:00.008-05:002010-01-05T22:22:14.290-05:00Anu MalikBefore the five of you who read my blog decide to judge me over this post or abandon me and my blog completely hear me out. I am no fan of Anu Malik and this post is not any attempt to change your personal opinion about the person. This post is about those songs composed by Anu Malik that I personally enjoyed and liked at some point of my life. Some of these, I still do. Anu with all his rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-66881661288420841332009-12-25T08:29:00.008-05:002009-12-25T13:51:54.522-05:00Best Movies of 2009Hindi cinema saw breaking some more boundaries this year. From a dark crime dramedy to an insider look into the big bad and fantastic world of the Bombay film industry (sorry Raj "the" Thackeray - Mumbai film industry does not have the same zing to it). It is refreshing to see actors and producers taking their chances on risky subjects and the risks being paid off: Examples: Karan Johar producingrathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-32505807945976814432009-12-21T21:36:00.006-05:002009-12-22T09:02:55.619-05:00Best Songs of 2009End of another year, which means its time for the annual list of songs that made me sing (to much annoyance of Aditi). Disclaimer: This in no way is an exhaustive, scientific list of all the music released this past year. It is purely based on my personal likes.Song: Emosanal Atyachaar Movie: Dev.DSingers: Rangeela, RaseelaLyrics: Amitabh BhattacharyaMusic: Amit TrivediAmit Trivedi shined with rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-608397665832776912009-12-20T09:35:00.007-05:002009-12-20T22:30:26.190-05:00Paa - A ReviewI must admit upfront that I was very skeptical before watching this Bachchan family movie. I was on a short trip to India and the Indian television was replete with promos of this father-son-son-father gimmick of a movie on every channel, every FM radio station and on billboards all over town. I will be honest and admit that I have developed a new "allergy" towards the Bachchan clan. To me the rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-18948024198780382342009-12-18T16:38:00.003-05:002009-12-18T16:51:17.673-05:00I Am A Stranger Here MyselfBill Bryson is one of my favorite authors – primarily because his writing is totally non-pretentious, is not about any great philosophical. political or scientific thoughts, uses an English which does not need a frequent visit to dictionary.com and has a genuine frank quality as if that’s how he intended to write it in his first draft – ‘straight from the heart’. One such published works of his rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-44799975900425978032009-10-24T08:50:00.005-04:002009-10-26T10:53:30.226-04:00Amu - A ReviewThere are some stories that must be told. Shonali Bose's Amu is one such story. A story set in the backdrop of one of the many gruesome (politically instigated) communal riots that took place in modern India.New Delhi - November 1-3 1984: Thousands of Sikhs were massacred in a methodical fashion at the behest of the then ruling Congress party leaders and their operatives. To this date, the peoplerathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-41878123043396999762009-08-18T08:53:00.004-04:002009-08-18T09:11:03.321-04:00Kaminey - A Review"Life badi kutti cheez hain", says a character early on in the new Vishal Bharadwaj movie, Kaminey. This theme is the center of many events and sub-plots in this roller coaster ride of a movie. It twists and turns the fates of its characters inside out and upside down and downside up when you least expect them. It screams out loud that good actions and bad actions don't necessarily result in goodrathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-31158979671757947432009-08-14T10:08:00.003-04:002009-08-14T10:23:27.602-04:00This I Believe - The Cleaning LadyIt was a cold March night in Manchester, New Hampshire. I was working through some mundane piece of code trying to get it to work, my head buried deep into the program. The only sound around me was the faint humming of the computers and the HVAC on the 16th floor of that building which was my first office in the United States. It was the year 2000. It was the first time I was in the office past 7rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-88919279034452156942009-08-06T13:09:00.008-04:002009-08-06T16:11:36.942-04:00Raj and RashmiThere are movies that shape or define a generation. They have a large scale impact on an entire demographic and help create trends, slangs, dictate fashion, attitudes and the overall outlook of a generation. There are some that have made a mark during the formative years (late 1980s to late 1990s) of the generation that I belong to. Note that this post is not about the quality of these movies andrathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-67059630611032296512009-08-03T13:03:00.004-04:002009-08-04T09:30:32.220-04:00Goodbye Dear Friend – You Served Well On August 3rd 2009 after about 9 years and 107000 miles, I traded my VW Jetta for a brand new Infiniti EX 35. The Jetta was my first automobile – ever. Before her, I never really owned a vehicle of my own (other than bicycles). This post is a heartfelt goodbye to a good loyal friend.I laid my eyes on you in July 2000 at a VW shop in Concord, New Hampshire. It was a hot day and your silver was rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-7609091668697437942009-07-28T04:51:00.004-04:002009-07-28T05:05:30.252-04:00Common SenseStumbled upon this shocking little piece of news on TOI. Students from a school were used for performing dangerous stunts to celebrate the birthday of some long dead ex-chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu. There are so many things wrong with this scene that it's pointless understanding the "why" behind the purpose and the outcome of such a ghastly display. What is even more disturbing aboutrathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-57514816879343468542009-07-14T15:09:00.005-04:002009-08-14T10:24:22.329-04:00This I Believe - The Divine in the BookThe other day, I saw one of my colleagues use a pile of yellow pages as a stepping stool to reach to a cabinet which was beyond her reach. Words from my mother echoed within me:"पुस्तकाला पाय लावायचा नाही. पुस्तकात विद्या असते, विद्येचा अपमान म्हणजे सरस्वतीचा अपमान. अणि पाय लागलाच तर पुस्तकाला नमस्कार करायचा".Never touch a book with your feet, books have knowledge and by touching it with your rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-28100456873617587302009-07-12T07:33:00.009-04:002009-07-14T22:34:02.888-04:00Kaminey - Music reviewThe last Vishal-Gulzar outing was with No Smoking, the stoner movie by Anurag Kashyap. The duo is back in Vishal's own directorial venture named "Kaminey". The trend of using swear words in songs has been around for a while and was popularized in the recent past by "Kambakht Ishq", a high energy number from the RGV flick "Pyaar tune kya kiya". It was sung with tremendous gusto by Sukhwinder and rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-72553486307528648112009-07-08T13:39:00.001-04:002009-07-08T13:41:23.000-04:00Funny?I was standing in line to order my lunch at a neighborhood restaurant. Two 50 something white guys were behind me, the line was quite long and slow. One of the guys was checking his blackberry and all of a sudden he burst into a loud laughter. The other guy asks "What's the matter?" The blackberry guy goes "This friend of mine from South Carolina, he is too funny, listen to this one". He goes on rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-39917764718836516702009-07-05T13:34:00.007-04:002009-07-06T11:47:54.853-04:00FIFTEENRecords are made only to be broken. Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras' record of 14 grand slam wins at the age of 27 by defeating Andy Roddick in an epic final at Wimbledon on July 5th 2009. He had to play 77 games and hit 50 aces against an equally tenacious Andy Roddick. The last set alone had 30 games and lasted 95 minutes. Federer was broken twice by Andy, and Andy was broken only once in the rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-91359699524946274472009-06-06T06:35:00.005-04:002009-06-06T06:44:05.534-04:00Did anyone ever consider?Embedded video from CNN VideoThis scene has become a regular staple since the war in Iraq started in 2003. I am all for bringing the soldiers back and reuniting them with their loved ones. What I do not get is the overtly public display in a classroom full of kids. Did the media or whoever stages these reunions ever consider what impact it must have on the other kids in that classroom whose a) rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-9751497500697148542009-06-05T14:59:00.003-04:002009-06-05T15:08:52.357-04:00Outraged - AGAINThe American television did it again. The French Open men's semis are not being telecast live on any channels - NONE!! Why? I do not know - a) Days of our lives , Dr. Phil and Ellen are more important , b) no American is left in the French Open draw, c) the Americans don't care about the French d) all of the above. In this day and age in a country like the United States, I had to rely on rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-78390502746368210922009-05-27T21:56:00.007-04:002009-05-28T09:31:19.502-04:00Gulzar Kuch Huye Nagme - 8Movie: Kabuliwala (1966)Music Director: Salil ChoudhurySinger: Hemant Kumar In 1966 Bimal Roy Productions adapted the short novella of Rabindranath Tagore “Kabuliwala” to the silver screen. Salil Chaudhury composed the music to Gulzar’s poetry. Manna Dey’s soulful rendition of “Aye mere pyaare watan” still evokes emotions in all those who have left their homelands in search of a better life in a rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-17781542432191126662009-05-23T12:46:00.007-04:002009-08-14T10:25:01.632-04:00This I Believe - An Open DoorWhile reading some of the essays from the compilation of NPR's series "This I Believe", it was natural that I was stirred to think about my own beliefs. It does sound easy to know what you believe in and write about it in 300 words or less, however, it is quite a task. Peeling layers and layers of emotions, prejudices, experiences and thoughts is a daunting task. It's almost the equivalent of rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-5479233488707879572009-05-11T22:43:00.005-04:002009-05-12T09:36:13.469-04:008 Countries in 5 hoursOn Saturday, May 9th 2009, embassies of the European Union in Washington DC opened their doors for the public. I was looking forward to the day and was planning to visit as many of them as I possibly could. A could not accompany me and the thought of walking around on Mass Ave by myself on a hot muggy day wasn't quite appealing. Thankfully, E and E joined me and saved the day for me.The entire rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-60304262329696766382009-05-01T08:49:00.004-04:002009-05-01T08:58:00.589-04:00Well, up yours too, Ghai!! After inflicting the world with such atrocities like Yuvvraj, Yaadein, Kisna and Trimurti and many more; this alleged "show"-man has the nerve to show the world his middle-finger.(P.S.: This picture was taken after he cast his vote at the recent general elections. I remember, the index finger was used to mark the little holy dot of ink, but guess the middle finger makes a lot of sense. You can rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28095957.post-37274455523553042622009-04-06T21:14:00.006-04:002009-04-06T21:44:39.457-04:00Ek Do Teen...It was 1988 and one particular song was blaring from every corner of the country and every man (straight or gay, 10 years old or 60 years old) in the country was screaming "Mohini, Mohini". Mother's of young boys were disgusted by the utter shamelessness and brashness of the song (at least kids were learning to count, they consoled each other secretly). The song was "Ek Do Teen" from Tezaab. A rathchakrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881486194606181380noreply@blogger.com2