derelict07

The Joker

2009-04-03T06:17:00.001-07:00

I never knew my house was 5 minutes away from the so called “world’s largest screen” until Sunday when plain boredom pushed us to watch Dark Knight for the nth time on the big screen. I guess the screen size grows in line with the box office collections. There were 5 groups in all that were prepared to check this larger than theater version of the movie and I guess for one of the group, it was one of those Sunday night fun for the whole family session (think about it – you don’t have to talk to each other but at the end of the day, the whole family had fun! Wow!).
For the first five minutes, I was trying to adjust to that monstrous screen where everything was literally blown out of proportions. I have never turned my head so many times at a movie theater – when they shoot a bullet you need to follow the trajectory and you end up turning your neck by 180 degrees. Someone will say a “hi” in the corner of the screen and you will have to search the screen to spot the person who is responding.
Anyways coming to the Joker – I was wondering why people instantly liked the Joker. He is described as a “psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy" and everyone just loves that character (I adore the role). Is it because the Joker is personification of the Joker inside us? Given a chance, is he the person that we aspire to be if the barrier of civility is removed? Does he expose the human nature in a way that makes us accept his judgments on our weaknesses without any rebuttal? He was right about his social experiment though the movie proved him wrong – Ofcourse, Nolan had to show that people can come together during disconcerting times and empathy and trust will save the day! (that everyone lived happily ever after shit).
Look at the housing crisis and the moment the system does not perform the way it should, it leads to chaos. Everyone made money on the housing boom but blame the bankers because they made way more than everyone else! Joker’s social experiment in real life for Americans and in live streaming mode for non-Americans!
The Joker was right when he says “ Do I look like a man with a plan? I am like a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one”. People, at times, go berserk when something they badly desired materializes and many of them misbehave when they are peaking, which eventually leads to the downfall. (Refer to Like a Rolling Stone by Dylan). In a way, everyone is like a dog chasing cars – only a few can handle fame.
I think the Joker showed the evil inside me and things I would have done if not for the civilized society - Ofcourse, by not killing people or by robbing banks but by introducing a little anarchy and by upsetting the established order. I am a big Morrison fan!
“ The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules” because then, you don’t have to wonder if that rule makes sense.

Metallica: The day that finally came….

2009-02-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Probably, only one out of a zillion really rural villages in India, accessible through roads that cut right through the paddy fields, that has heard Metallica is located in Rajasthan.
I spent fours in a desert village called “Pilani” and any person who has dwelled there for that long will certainly fall in love and cherish, for the rest of their lives, the fond memories of a distant past. Some of the incidents that village dwellers readily recollect (atleast the ones who used to call themselves “enthu” guys) are the various inebriated acts of bravery that gave them a celebrity status in that isolated community.
Apart from the usual things such as opening up to the dear ones, hour long discussions on Sachin’s particular cover drive off McGrath, there was something that most of them related to and it proved to be the vent for many of the frustrated souls. Music was something that was frequently discussed and even three visits to the nearest music teacher were considered as eligibility to comment on the works of Rahman, classic rock bands, Illayaraja and Metallica.
Metallica was a very famous band then (now, unfortunately, I guess it’s Rihuana Mastana and the likes) and “Nothing else matters” struck a chord with everyone. It was a commonplace to see some of the angry souls banging their heads off to some of the vintage Metallica numbers. Metallica proved to be a good medium for communicating messages and the band, apart from echoing some of our thoughts, went a step forward and sang them with perfect accompaniments. Hetfield and Ulrich were Gods, Hammett and Newsted fitted in the plans well and it was the most popular rock band on campus.
For people who closely followed and researched Metallica, watching them live meant they had done shitloads of good karma in the past. Live concerts DVDs are legacies left behind by our seniors. Net downloads were impossible because the internet was slower than an overcrowded rural PTC bus. India’s GDP growth then was the modest “Hindu” growth and Deep Purple was one of the first bands that thought there was money in India and started including Bangalore in its tour calendar (2003???).
So, 30th January 2009 was definitely the day that finally came and it was superfantabulous to see the band 20ft away. It was sort of a walk down the memory lane with each song reminding me of various green label, contessa, blue riband and other less than 200/- alcohol sessions (ironically we spent judiciously when the economy boomed – smart villagers). So many of us put our necks through so much torture after hour long headbanging sessions and recently I realized that the characteristic pelvic thrusts in tamil dappankoothu songs goes really well with Metallica numbers.This post will be interesting to those metal fans in India until Metallica does a Maiden in India. Fortunately or unfortunately that wouldn’t be my Maiden Metallica show because I ain’t a Metallica virgin anymore! (losing virginity afterall is subjective!!!!!)

It's a girl thing!

2008-10-03T14:47:00.001-07:00

It’s a girl thing
I have never been invited to so many weddings in a single month and though I was initially overwhelmed by the fact that my social circle has expanded for good, it led me to another stream of thought partly driven by the amount of space I get for myself these days (underwater options thanks to mortgage crisis!).
My friends sounded really enthusiastic and happy about the weddings in a slightly contrasting fashion (Are they the same guys I knew a couple of months back?) but when they told me “they are looking forward to it”, I just drifted from the taste of reality and starting thinking about “looking forward to” in greater detail.
First things first, my theory is constrained by the small figments of imagination I possess and my inability to empathize with senior citizens (35 years and above). I strongly feel the concept “looking forward to” ceases to exist after you see your children start walking on their own (when you are 35).
When you are 16, you “look forward to” getting into a good undergrad school and when you graduate, you “look forward to” getting into a job or pursuing higher education. Post which you experience the biggest “look forward to” of getting married and it culminates when you “look forward to” seeing your kids take their first step. After that, I guess “look forward to” gets bored of you and goes into hibernation until your kids start this cycle all over.
So, that period of our lives when “look forward to” flourishes and attains unconquerable heights, it is very important to have a partner with whom you could share a lot of those revelations. Atleast for people who are straight, it is a natural thing to open up better with the opposite sex as one finds it easier to confide.
The absence of one is an irreparable loss as time does not provide the opportunity to go back and set things right – We ain’t harry puttars or Jules Verne. Most of the “look forward to” is partially shared with close knit circle and rest of it starts accumulating or gets written off. For someone like me, who celebrated the 25th continuous “single” anniversary (Yeah! I have not been noticed or looked upon as an option by any girl for the past quarter of a century!!!!), it pains to admit that I need to “look forward to” with some constraints.
A girl, maybe would have added some spice and I would have looked forward to looking forward to something. As they say, grass is greener on the other side! I think I need to get an update from my Karma on the actionable items moving forward.

Hard Rock Café Mumbai

2008-07-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Mumbai on 12th May, 2008 and since then, I have been hunting for a good drinking joint where you can tirelessly gobble down a couple of quarter dozen bottles of beer with good old friends. I did visit a few places and checked them out – visits mainly driven by folklore and forgotten tales, vaguely recollected, narrated by revered buddies who were trying to help me settle in a new city (I guess they were subtly trying to prove that Mumbai is a much better city than good old Chen Chen – I will definitely write a blog if they succeed).
Before we move on, I will tell you my definition of a weekend joint – the DJ should play the best of Peeco’s, Purple Haze, Legends of Rock and Styx and the songs should make you order more and not the lack of it. So, after visiting a few places such as Blue Frog (I can’t understand how people can trip on that genre when they are high on alcohol), Hawaiian Shack second floor (hip hop numbers which remind me of dull boring Saturday night music five years back), Zenzi ( see blue frog), Shiro’s (see Zenzi), Toto’s and Hard Rock. After a careful evaluation of the rates, crowd and other hygiene factors in Toto’s and Hard Rock (ofcourse, I did spend considerable time trying to get the pain points of other places off my head to concentrate properly), I chose to frequent Hard Rock because it was nearby.
The first Saturday was bliss because I have never heard any place play so many songs I knew for such a long time. Then, I realized that this place, like me, was stuck to this genre of music and failed to “move on” or “grow up” (as some of my friends would put it) and since they were making money, they did not complain too much. My second line of reasoning was that they invested too much capital on decorating the place with guitars, costumes and other souvenirs and were bound by that constraint as these were still being used for evading taxes through depreciation expenses. I thought second was more convincing.
Another loyalist, who hails from the same school of thought (we studied in school together as well) accompanies me and did contribute to the research findings. The second Saturday was a disaster as Iron Maiden and the famous candle wave for Fear of the Dark, received screams and shrills from four people – Me, the loyalist, Dj and the bartender who was trying hard to pep up the crowd. After witnessing yet another tragedy in a long chain of misfortunes, the DJ shifted to contemporary rock which got the rock hormones of a few school kids kicking. So, another conclusion – purple haze, styx and legends of rock should not think of expansion plans in Mumbai and I am growing old.
I was always thinking of starting a pub in Chennai that would play only tamil music and now I know how I can sustain the business. Invest way too much capital upfront by getting posters of Illayaraja, Rahman, Deva, S A RAJKUMAR (Full size cut-out), Superstar, Kamal, Vijay, Captain, Ramarajan, Sam Anderson, T Rajendar, C Sundar and other who’s who of tamil cinema. Then, evade taxes through losses and depreciation – sustainable business model.
Jokes apart, think of a pub that would start off with 80s Illayaraja classics, slowly and gradually move to Rahman classics and then increase the energy levels by playing dappankoothu and other rouse songs for an hour followed by remix songs and finally rounding it off with Illayaraja again. Beer would overflow! (ok not for all, for some maybe)

VISA - An emotional affair!

2008-06-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was impatiently waiting in the interminable queue outside the US consulate on a cloudy Monday morning, the purpose obviously being to get a permit to enter the so called “land for the free”. Given that I find it difficult to fit in small cars due to lack of leg space, I was able to see and observe most of the people in that queue buzzing with people from all walks of life.
The nature of my job and the “structured” thinking process imbibed in me through my school forced me to quickly bucket those people into various categories. Students raring to mould their careers, professionals waiting to get a paycheck in $$, parents desperately wanting to meet the kith and kin, the leisure travelers and others were awaiting their respective turns oblivious to the impending monsoon showers. The very fact that my favorite white shirt might get soaked in rain was the only thought plaguing my mind until I saw people walking out of the consulate.
Since I had to wait for atleast 45 minutes before entering that box, which reminded me of the confession box where you share all your deeply hidden secrets with the Father, I was desperately thinking of a way to divert my mind from imagining various angles at which the muddy water could attack my shirt. Lo! An argument near the entrance caught my attention and I invented a game that I could play to divert my thoughts.
The game was plain and simple – purely based on the reactions on the faces of people exiting the consulate, you will have to guess if they got the VISA or not. Though it started out as a simple game, I was also observing something that was happening in parallel. The relatives, friends and parents were standing on the opposite side, again oblivious to the impending monsoon showers and the havoc it can unleash on a white shirt, anxiously waiting to get rid of these people. The long and painful wait, for a variety of reasons, those nerve wracking moments inside the confession box otherwise akin to questions posed by an innocent security guard at the entrance of a plush MNC office, the flurry of emotions later on that invoke an abuse or two from the reckless taxi drivers for crossing the road like a demented chicken – all for one reason – I have the permit to enter the so called land full of promises.
Until then, I never knew getting a VISA could be such an emotional affair when there was so much at stake (your documents, the proof that you exist and have achieved something in life, wrapped in a plastic cover, the only form of packaging allowed, a white shirt soon to be blessed with natural random streaks of brown). Though I couldn’t really reciprocate to that emotional bit, it definitely reminded me of the day when I ran like there was no tomorrow to inform my parents about my board exam results.
So it dawned on me that those precious minutes after your VISA is approved, are nothing but moments of bliss - you forget all your worries and other worldly things and you have entered a transcendental level where nothing can harm you.
The choice is yours - Do you want a 10 year multiple entry VISA or do you want to experience those rare moments of bliss by getting a VISA stamped 10 times? There are some things money can't buy, for one of the those, there is VISA!

Mumbai

2008-06-11T15:20:00.001-07:00

I'm back and this time in Mumbai!

Popularly known as the financial capital of India, this is an interesting city and there are abundant things, processes, patterns that one can observe. I am from Chennai, heaven for those talented few who know tamil:P, and I just moved in to this city a month back. Conclusion: My hindi is terrible but manageable in Mumbai where anything sells (observation number 1)

Now comes the next question - Mumbai is fast is what they say, but is it????
Maybe, I have been getting all the wrong answers for this but the most common answer for this question is, Mumbaikars do not have the time and they are always on the move. Supporting facts include trains departing at 9:58:23, 10:23:59:59:59 and you are always engaged with something or the other.
Though I would vouch for the efficient public transportation in this city, what amazes me the most is the fact that people tend to spend half the time commuting from one place to another. When I was really ignorant and did not know too much about stock markets, I used to think those fast changing numbers on the BSE screen could be the reason for Mumbai being “fast”. Thanks to my fin professors, I beat the living daylights out of that gross misconception.
People in Mumbai work only 8 hours a day, and their non-work related activities seem to coincide with those of other less hyped cities (read Chennai). Then, why is it so fast?????
Reason 1: Commuting is a pain and you spend atleast one fifth of ur life traveling (i.e if you settle here). Traffic jams can get irritating at times and since the city is a linear strip, it difficult to avoid the major bottlenecks. Otherwise, with due apologies, I don’t see a reason why it is so fast! As they say offence is the best form of defense! When something is screwed up, flaunt it as strength! (observation 2)

Next, Mumbaikars are gritty. Whatever happens, be it a bomb blast or heavy rains, things continue to happen. Is it a question of grit or the lack of options? If catching a train at Church gate to reach office after a bomb blast (again, they don’t plant bombs at the same place twice) or floating to office during heavy rains are the only means of earning money, I would damn well do it (and I am doing it, Chennaiites adapt easily:P). (observation 3)

When it comes to safety for women, I definitely think Mumbai ranks high in the list. Women are bold, travel at odd times, routes and modes and safety is the last thing one would worry about. Women in Mumbai, when compared to Chennai, carry themselves well and it looks like majority of women give a lot of importance to their appearance and the way they come across. Hence, it turns out to be a problem of plenty and guys grow up watching pretty woman all the time. Whereas in other cities, it is difficult on relative terms, to see a good looking woman travel by train during odd hours and routes. Is that why it’s a safe city?? (Observation 4)

I am not taking the credit away from Mumbaikars but again, being the argumentative Indian that I am, I am looking at other “schools of thought”. I am still finding answers, for whatever its worth, and if a Mumbaikar has fitting replies, please feel free to drop in a line or two (now that’s foot in mouth)!

A nice weekend!

2007-11-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is my first attempt at writing a blog, the sloth that I am.

The nice relaxed weekend is the chief motivator that has pushed me in joining this huge ocean of creative writers. (read I am an exception, my creative juices are too viscous and don't flow smoothly)

I have never been satisfied with any of the weekends thus far. There are these weekends when you have a laundry list of things to complete. Some do complete, some tend to do some justice to the effort that was made in comin up with a list in the first place, and the rest I must admire them for making an effort to come up with such a list atleast!

My name always featured in the last two categories but never in the first category. This weekend was an exception! I finally did complete!!!!

The reason is pretty obvious. I never had a list in the first place. I finished those mundane never ending assignments on thursday and I found out from my esteemed friends that I have none for the weekend!!!!

Such moments of bliss occur rarely and when it happens, you should celebrate!!! So off I went to the Diwali celebrations to get myself a few bottles of what they call " the best thing to happen to mankind" and I thoroughly enjoyed every drop of it! Trust me, beer and no assignments is a deadly combination....Friday started at 5 pm only and was eventful too! Had Thali meals after a long time and watched the greatest block buster of 2007 " The Boss" for the nth time...

So far so good....Saturday was just another lazy day and thanks to three ppl, we got free liquour...and I was so jobless on Sunday that I thought of writing a blog! no offense meant to those sincere bloggers out there! Just that i am very lazy to do all this!!!

So the moral of the story is " When you plan to do something, you end up doing something and crib about the things you failed to complete. When you plan to do nothing, you end up doing something and you are so ecstatic about the fact that you pushed yourself to do something!"

At of the day, you do something but you feel happy about it!