Me and My Solitude

This is the first of my post on some of the photographs/collages that I have taken/made. Hope I'll be able to make it regular and do justice to them as well. This first one is a collage and adorns my desktop as well as the blog :).

I have tried to capture my fascination for silence and loneliness in this. Capturing the elements and entwine them to display the charm of silence. To take you through the genesis of the three shots, two of them are from Lakshadweep and one from an on campus party.

The Essence: The background is fire. The fire of our emotions and the fire of our imagination that we can never escape from. Perhaps I should use the word "illusion" instead of imagination but that may differ from perceptions. So in this heat of imagination/emotions the search is for peace. The life is an ocean as it carries ahead into the next shot .. In the darkness somewhere, under the dim light of knowledge, which may be clouded by the atmosphere, there is this urge in my belly to take that boat and head for the unchartered territories. Distant and yet so alluring. And so I take the waters, learning unlearning how to find my way through the choppy waters and the light of my knowledge increasing. I reach the stage of bright sunlight. And I take rest, stopping at a beach where the water is shining in all its glory with different colours. I see two empty chairs, inviting .. to relax and reflect on the journey I've just covered. With an additional one for someone so invisible and yet longed for with whom I could share what I've just gone through. But there is only silence and the gentle humming of the waves. Sometimes they raise in crescendo to ask why have I stopped? But i'm still wondering.. Or am I waiting for someone to come and sit beside me on the next chair .. Or am I still charmed by my solitude ..In the meanwhile, the day starts falling.. The light is growing dim again .. I feel scared .. my knowledge is stagnating .. Something else is calling .. to be discovered .. And I grow restless .. Is this my destiny or the call of the wild. I am confused .. I am the contrarian torn apart .. I am ..
.. a confused question mark??

Nishabd .. Literally Speechless ..

Null Hypothesis: RGV needs to take a break
Statistical Evidence: Road .. "Darrrrrr"naaaaa manaaa hai .. James phew .. Nishabd
Confidence Level: 100%
Conclusion : Null Hypothesis holds true

In case you have started wondering what am I talking about, the whole idea is to illustrate the point that how does one feel when something turns out to be how its not supposed to. So if you read a review/critique like the one above how would you reckon me as? Dumb right? Now imagine how would you describe a person who takes the best of ingredients and serves the worst of dishes? Plane dumb right? That is how I felt when I came out of the theatre after watching Nishabd. Literally at loss of words, wondering why the hell did I chose this movie to cap my wonderful weekend (we had decided to maximize the utility of whatever time remained after our trip to Nasik).

The movie is a classic example of how one can make a hash of a good subject. Whether its due to the doubt of Indian audience's palatibility or a lack of understanding on his own part, RGV just doesn't get it right. Off course the movie has its brilliant moments, from cinematographic viewpoint and Big B's acting (esp during his hysterical laugh scene). But such moments are just few. Nothing to write home about. If the inclusion of Jiah Khan was to give it a touch of skin flick, well for one she ain't sexy at all and two she can't act !! Plain dead pan expression being worn through out, she looks like a dumb doll !! The rest of the cast is just lost and you don't know what they are doing. So by the time you wake up from the sleep the movie is over and you haven't even heard the song so beautifully sung.

To summarise, we used to hear a story when we were kids "Ek tha raja, ek thi rani, dono mar gaye khatam kahani" and this one goes like "ek tha buddha, ek thi ladki, ladki bhaag gayi, budhha mara nahi".

On a final note:

Null Hypothesis 2: Is RGV a type two error ?
Statistics: Whomsoever reads this, give it to me
Conclusion: Inconclusive

P.S: Puritans of statistics/Engineers/MBA's don't fret over the liberal use of statistical terminology.

The Trip To Vineyard

The times are good the times are strange. This weekend added another chapter to the interesting times I have been having amidst the heavy workload at the office. The fact that this post is coming after a gap is because of too busy a schedule that I have been having off late. Nonetheless this is not a crib post but one on the way that I celebrated Holi.

We (me and couple of my closest friends from Hel(L)) had been deliberating upon a way to spend the weekend (finally I had one thanks to the "Holi"day on sat). Having ruled out Kashid for certain reasons, we settled on a trip to vineyard in Nasik. Working in a beverages team obviously has its advantage, so courtesy a colleague of mine, everything was fixed in a jiffy and lo we were on our way to Nasik on a sunny afternoon from Mumbai. Two assholes and two ladies with the intentions of making merry (no need for any wild imagination here :D). My friend, with his new car was driving it with care (being a kind of first drive on Highway for him). Mumbai was also to add to our delay with its traffic and it took us more than an hour to get outta it.

Anyways soon on course through bumpy roads (who calls it a Highway I dunno) we enjoyed the drive despite all efforts of Sun to give us a beating. We had the intentions of witnessing the sunset with a glass of wine but given the delay we finally reached at around 8 only to the Sula vineyard. There the contact, we had to touch base with, first took us through the operations of winery. With lotsa fundas he made the time count and we surely gathered some knowledge.

Soon it was time that we had been waiting for and we headed for the wine tasting. The person took us through it tastefully (literally). So till date what was just a casual understanding of tastes became a little more than that, with some light thrown on the nuances of wines and their characteristics. From dryness to sweetness, to "legs" of wine and the fermentation temperature etc we did gain quite a bit of stuff (not to say that we are already experts!!).

Having taken some amount during tasting itself we finally settled down to go on a binge. And soon the blabber of words was suggesting that we were splurging. And tastefully so. Bottles and pints were soon empty. With a heady feeling (the women experiencing it more ;) ) we finally headed back after draining a good amount. Most of us being totally sloshed there was quite a bit of concern on part of ladies about who'd be driving. In the end despite me being most sober, I didn't get a chance to drive :D . But yes I became a witness to most interesting of conversations :) (no details on this :) )

Day 2, we woke up late despite having made plans last night to have breakfast at Taj. As usual we gave up the idea and decided to have a light one at the place we were staying. Soon we headed back to Sula for another dive into the divine world of wines (oops .. did I make it sound poetic ?? ). Anyways back at the Sula tasting room we made merry. Its a beautiful place very tastefully done. So to add pleasure to your tasting buds it adds pleasure to the visual taste buds as well. Overlooking a vineyard one can see a beautiful lake a little ahead as well. The interiors have been done with heart put in it and is a visual delight. All said and done we were soon back to business of another drinking session. This time a bit less though as we had to head back.

Soon with a heavy heart (its becoming so common after each trip of mine) we headed back, with sun not that angry this time. We criss crossed the ghats with some brilliant display of glory of sun in orange light.. The air this time being much more cooler we reached in lesser time back to the ghettos of Mumbai.

To summarise, it was a great/different way of celebrating Holi and helped me get back to the groove of loving wines.

Last King of Scotland

Three things that West can't do without:
1) War
2) Paranoia
3) A white man's burden to prove he's carrying the world ahead

With much hopes we went for the movie .. High Hopes indeed with Whitaker getting the Oscar .. And we came back singing a dud tune. With a series of good movies last year esp on Africa/racism (Crash, Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamonds) we were expecting another good flick. But maybe that expectation itself turned out to be too much for asking. Based on the life and times of Idi Amin, the movie does hold well for most part of its running but then it doesn't appeal either as a cinematically sound work or a metaphorical expression. Visually it depicts the story pretty well perhaps. But where it lacks in is the purpose. The director seems to be clueless about the purpose for which he's made the movie: Whether it is to entertain, or remind us about the past or a plain simple political statement. I haven't read too much of Amin's history but the movie is not entirely about that either. Its more of a person story/biography than anything more. And even in this effort it disappoints badly.

Another point that hits you directly is the Oscar for Whitaker. Certainly not for god sake! Its def not an Oscar winning performance. Is it the phenomenon of Counter Racism that we are witnessing? Did the academy succumb to the pressure of "anti-racism" to deny D'Caprio of what would have been thoroughly deserving act in The Departed? I don't know. Its for everyone to see. All I can say about the movie is see only if you have nothing else to do. Else you may skip the story of a guy who's willing to have sex at the drop of a hat.

P.S: Oh Ms Anderson, how old you look in the movie. If only you could continue to look the way you did in X-Files.