Whats wrong with us????????

Obama Pooja :)

The power of ….

Sweat beads glistened on his forehead. His eyes, knitted in concentration, were staring at the wall. Though he was staring at a blank wall, a zillion thoughts ran through his mind. He was a busy man, he had a call to attend, an appointment to keep up, a flight to catch…Yet, he was immobilized by what had happened. His world was shattered. And all he could do was wait…wait an endless wait…wait until 10. Yes, he would wait until 10; something had to happen by then.

His eyes slowly moved to the clock on the wall. It was close to 10. The hands on the clock moved in rapid succession, yet time seemed to have come to a virtual stand still.

He shifted uncomfortably on his chair. The cushions had become moist and he was covered in sweat. He looked at the clock once again, this time the hands were nearing 10. The mystic number 10. The number that saved him from all the trials and tribulations. 10, the time he would be freed from the ordeal he faced everyday.

He waited…another ten seconds…five…three…one...and…

In a gust of activity, the fans started rotating, lights flickered on, and the computer started beeping. Yes! He had survived yet another day…His daily dose of power cut was over...

Sakkarakatti -movie review

What starts off on a very bad note ends equally dreadfully in 'Sakkarakatti', one of the lamest movies ever made.

The story line is as hackneyed as ever. Boy meets girl 1. Girl 2 meets boy. Boy and Girl 1 fall in love. Girl 2 pines for boy. Girl 1 fights with boy. Girl 2 is still pining. Girl 1 and boy make up and become friends. Girl 2 never stops pining. Climax Scene: Girl 1 and boy hug. Girl 2 starts positively bawling. This weather beaten, time tested formula never seems to go out of fashion in the Tamil film industry.

The hero wears branded shirts, drives the latest bike, and talks in English with his mom and dad even when he is at home with no girls around to impress. He also has a fake accent that gets on your nerves after a while. Ok...this is a note to everybody who wants to sound cool in a put-on American accent. Never say ‘SHAAAIIYT’ when you just want to say ‘SHIT’. It sounds completely gross and totally un-American… ‘SHIT’ is just ‘SHIT’!!! Incidentally the hero says it to the heroine just before the interval and it pretty much sums up how the rest of the movie is gonna be.

Since when did colleges start allowing bikini clad lasses inside classes? The two heroines can only think of make up, designer dresses and the hero throughout the movie. They also speak Tamil like they have gum stuck on the inside of their mouths. Eye sores!!!

Songs are the only highlight of the movie. The ‘Taxi Taxi’ song deserves special mention. A.R Rehman has definitely delivered his best. Then again, the visualization is terrible. The beauty of the songs is lost in slip shod visual sequences. The amateurish animations, sloppy characters flying up and down and jazzed up graphics spoil the music.

The hero definitely has to learn to look more romantic. He gapes at the heroine. There is this particular scene where he gives the heroine a love-bite. This supposedly steamy scene (!) looks like he is about to gorge down a two-week supply of rations from a godown. You can actually count the number of teeth he has.

One lesson I learnt from the movie was, if you pass snide remarks at a guy trying to be nice to you, he will immediately fall in love with you. Further, if you point at things even remotely cuddly or furry and go ‘cho chweet’, all guys fall in love with you. (Hmm…well that explains why I have been single all this while).

So, please go watch this movie. If not for anything, it would definitely instill a fear within you next time you book tickets for a movie.

Random thoughts that 'rat'tle!!!

I just happened watch Ratatouille once again this afternoon on TV. I certainly did miss a lot of finer moments in the movie the first time I watched it... There is this particular part where the dad rat tells his son rat that rats are always rats (don’t duh!) and how making friendship with a human is almost near impossible.
He shows him bottles that the hotels stock to kill rats and other pests.

He says “Rats are always rats. You cannot change nature"…and our lil chef goes "But change is nature".

I found this thought extremely interesting. We are all scared to try out different choices at some point of our lives. We sadly resign ourselves to the decisions others make for us. We lack the guts the tiny lil rat has!! He boldly chooses to be a cook in spite of what his family tells him. But in the end his family comes to his help simply because he did what he believed in.

Geez!! Am I getting old or what?!!!

True...

Wizard of Oz: As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.
Tin Woodsman: But I still want one.

One of my favorite lines from the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
Well, it is true...All of us rip our hearts open for few things not worth our time or love…
At times we also know that we are going to get hurt finally…
We end up going the extra mile for something not really worth our attention…
Yet we continue...
That’s exactly why the Wizard says...hearts will never be practical...

I agree.... :)

Fourth Estate Fun

I just happened to read an article reported by two leading dailies in Chennai, The Hindu and TOI…The story has been reported very differently in both the papers...Read on…

Headline:

Hindu: Major-General dismissed from service

TOI: Major General to be fired for sexual harassment

A few excerpts:
Hindu: A serving Major General was dismissed from service by an Army Court after he was found guilty of molesting a woman officer under his command, in the first such case in the history of the country’s armed forces

TOI: Though general-rank officers have been court-martialled for financial bungling and other scams in the Army in recent years, this is the first time that such a senior officer has faced a court-martial for sexual harassment.

Hindu: Woman officer Capt. Neha Rawat gave a written complaint that he indulged in sexual misconduct under the pretext of conducting meditation classes at his residence.

TOI: The court held him guilty of molesting the woman officer serving under him on the pretext of teaching her yoga and meditation in his bedroom.

Hindu: The GCM, with the Army’s 10 Corps commander Lt. Gen. R.S. Sujalana

TOI: GCM, commander of the 10 Corps at Bhatinda, headed by Lt-Gen R S Sujlana

Hindu: Two-star general serving as the 3 Infantry Division General Officer

TOI: Commander of the strategically-located 3 Infantry Division

Well, TOI this time has shown some kind of maturity in reporting this issue. In fact the TOI article goes on to show a few statistics about how many woman commanders are there in the Indian army and the like. Whereas the Hindu article has not really delved deep, and has under played the issue to a considerable extent. Hindu also published the name of the victim which is against the PCI rules.The name of the Lt-Gen is spelled differently in both the papers. TOI has spiced up the issue...Hindu has ignored it…

This leaves me wondering…Do papers report news or do they report for news?

I am tired of saying goodbye...

Over the period of three months, I have been constantly saying goodbye to too many people, a few of them whom I may never see again. I don’t regret too much, but it still hurts.

People from whom I could derive constant support and energy have all gone. The strong walls I could lean on are no longer there. It sometimes leaves me shivering in the night, longing for a familiar hug, a midnight chat, a sudden inspiration to say good night to the moon...

The constant goodbyes have left me numb and indifferent. It has changed me. For the better? I do not know...only time can tell.

I have yet another goodbye this week. And probably another one in a few months…The only solace I get is that, all the friends and relatives who have flown away are all happy. Yet, it hurts to say goodbye…It hurts...a lot…