Monday, 4 October 2010

Review - Robo/Endhiran - Global with local elements

Robo/Endhiran - was in news for quite a while before the release of the movie for all kinds of reasons...right from the name of the movie registered by SRK to creative differences between SRK and the movie direcotr Shankar..putting besides all the negativity about the delay in making and post production, this is a movie Indian Cinema will be proud for some time to come.



The lethal combo of Thalaiva (Rajni) as protagonist and antogonist and doll Aish (not in terms of looks anymore but in acting skills) as the female lead, megaphone handled by Shankar, who according to me was over rated as a director for his unnecessary VFXs and expensively shot songs, has raised expectations beyond imagination just before the release. But, the hype slowly disappeared and the movie remained for ever in the hearts of the audience and for Shankar, this one was bang on!!

Rajni's introduction in the movie is probably the most underplayed scene in all of his movies and the credit goes to Shankar for not getting carried away with Rajni's image and sticking to the story line. It was well conceived, scripted, executed and expressed. Through out the movie, though i watched it in tamil, which i barely understand, i was hooked to the movie with no other thought in my mind. The last time i watched a movie with such avidness was 'Transformers', way back in 2007.

The movie was magnanimous, fantastic in conception, intimidating in visuals (never before in Indian Cinema) and perfectly told. All said, there are minor flaws in the direction department which can be casually ignored for there will be mistakes as Shankar is also human and to err is human.

Hats off to Rajni for pulling it off with an ease as fluent as water. Kudos to the team of Robo/Endhiran for their creativity, message and bringing a good movie to the audience. Must watch!!

'Happy Dipawali Folks!!'

Rating - 4.25/5

PS: The story is not revealed in the interest to safe guard the enjoyment of watching the movie. It has to be watched and felt in theatres without doubt. 

Seen a gal...

Seen a gal...

Tingling and tangling all her way
she has it her way all day
never a jerk nor a bump
very smooth is the ride along her jump

creative novelty in her smile
spreading joy and cheers on the aisle
has an attitude like a clock
she sure will tick her way to the top

lady beautiful kid playful
she has got energy plentiful
talks like a spring and walks like a stream
as if she is living a dream

it is worth spending zillions for her laughter
as it sparkles more than water
reminding everyone of oyster
like never before never after

Catch up!!

Well, it's been quite a while since i last did some activity on my blog. Reason..travel to Hyderabad, India. I always wondered why can't i find time in Hyd to do all the stuff i do when out of India. It was and still is a mystery. I have been searching for an answer ever since my first business tour outside India and haven't been successful in my pursue, as yet.

Nice...is the feeling that rushes in me when i land back in Hyd, as was the case this time. Had a fantastic tour to South Andhra and North TN in the blazing heat of July..Spent weekends with immense satisfaction and a feeling of content..Had wonderful parties with friends and family...watched almost every movie that released without being partial to the good ones and yes, made new friends. As time went by i felt restless with lotsa things started surrounding me without a point of reference.

Nevertheless, it was good to be back home after a suffocating stint in UK. But, i knew i had to be back in UK and i could not free my self from that haunting thought. I took one step after another as slow as a snail to board the flight from Hyd to Dubai (connecting), preferred to leave the rest part of the journey in the safe hands and abilities of the captain and all credit to him for landing me safely at Dubai and then at Birmingham. You never know with the flights these days eh!! they do a lot while on the ground than in air. Expectedly mine was a bon voyage.

Now that im in UK, i am sniffing the possibility to return to 'mana' Hyderabad in a short time from now. I am gonna celebrate Dussera and Diwali with my family and friends after..hmm...3 yrs i think it is..NICE!! That's just for updates about me...but i am gonna keep this space busy for sometime now..:)

Adios!!

Friday, 18 June 2010

Finally...end of a relay!!


"It's been a hard day's night, i have been working like a dog...i should be sleeping like a log". - Beatles..love these lyrics when tired and out of life.

Enjoy the song - Hard Day's Night!!

Last two weeks have been frantic..heavy duty meetings..new acquaintances..frenzy people..crazy discussions..pointless arguments..endless drives..sleepless nights..to say the least. One of those periods in life where you do not realize what's around you and get carried away by the fast pace of life...no regrets though.

Can't just get over the relay of meetings and overshoot in timings we had over the last 2 weeks. at work. Offshoot discussions, multiple layers of debates, no single mission all contributed to the hectic schedule. The worst part is to play roles in bits and pieces. I ain't no good at that.

When finally done with it, i expressed my relief with a 2 hour sleep. Goodness me, it so relaxed my nerves and mind. Now all set to have a 'Fun-filled Friday'.

During one of these days, i met people with negativity towards life. and ragged behavior, after which i feel more confident with all that i am. I am glad i met them as that ascertains me the value of my life which provides me with such opportunities.

During the same time, I also ventured out to do one of the silliest..adventurous..crazy..'out of nowhere' acts of driving all the way to London just to watch a movie acclaimed by all genres of people..'VEDAM'. The 'out of nowhere' experience is not a result of sheer act but he manner and timing of it. Can't explain everything here..will post the experience sometime soon. All i can say for now is the experience was worth it!!

Now the all so happy part...my travel to Hyd on 21st of June..Yay!! excited!!

And when my travel plan to Hyderabad broke out i was in no position to relish it..But it has sunk in now albeit another travel plan. Packing and stuffing all the incredibles into one case is not an easy job...infact i feel that i should get paid for that too..but no idea who would do the payment to me. 

Even after traveling like rain..i hate packing up my unorganized and randomly placed items into one baggage. It reminds me of 'living life in a suitcase'...believe it or not, i had done it and not without atleast 30 kgs of lugguage with me when i was in the US and Canada last..kept moving from one place to another for every 5 to 7 days..raged to death with packing and shifting i should say.

Nevertheless, 'No pain, No Gain!!' Alrite folks..my next post would be from Hyd, if at all i can buy some time for it, or after i am back in the UK...hopefully with a BANG!! :)

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

A typical workday...

When everything falls in place around you, the world you live in seems to be heaven..it was one such day i had at work. I woke up to heavy showers of rain only to realize i had to hurry to catch the early morn meeting at work. reached office..got the work going with morning rusty musings. These days it is nothing but meetings all the way..from 830 hrs to 1800 hrs i was trying to 'satisfy' different set of people by attending them and providing info and clarifications on what i presumed was obvious. But as my profession says, irrespective of who it is and what is asked for, oblige with more than worth customer's bucks.

By lunch i had already completed a couple of long meetings and discussions trying to explain nothing more than what i had been doing for the tenure of my stay in UK...at lunch time we, the team, had started cracking 'naansensical' jokes on people around in native language or our own Hindi while gulping stuff through throat. Quick lunch and back to business, customers waiting to allure, with questions though...oooohh!!you bad mind, c'mon after all i ain't into 'rhandi baazi'!! pause..or am i on parallel to it?? wateva...a pretentious smiley on my face with logical (or not so logical) answers to make them feel better with sounds of 'oops!!' here and there as even the product does not turn up to be a support during these times of heavy self betrayal as much as the management,  if something goes wrong.

In the end, closed all discussions on a successful note with a broad smile on the face..this time for real..not because of the success but the relief of being revealed from the torture of explicit feeling of self betrayal and modesty uncalled for. I was swift to pack up for the day and head home for a quick nap..like ever ended being a 3 hour sleep..all in all, it was a smooth and neat stroll in the park and good display of wits to keep the attention of the audience. At last 'I' also am satisfied!! YAAY!! not a bad thing once in a while..required at the fag end of every hectic day.

Referring to the very first line of the post..everything had fallen in place and i had fallen with it..'in line' with it..."no confusion only great combination!!" ;)..now doesn't that make a place for heaven?? or may be not...

I opine that if everything around you is just perfect, then something in you ain't right..coz 'NOTHING can be PERFECT' neither mother Nature nor Sachin Tendulkar!!' I now stand corrected "When everything falls in place around you, you fall with it, and then the world you live in seems to be heaven".

Sunday, 23 May 2010

B'days are expensive!!

You expense not just another year in your life but also sometimes shell out bucks enuf to call it an 'Expensive B'day'.


One such B'day was my latest (2010). Hope you guys remember the date.


The feeling of having most of my close allies with was really special. As usual, i was late to the venue, Water Front, making my entrance embarrassing for me however 'star'(r)ing for onlookers. Had blessings and wishes flying in the air accompanied by warm hugs and arms arounds. Thank you guys for making the night special by being there, especially after the kinda party we had one night before.


Waited for close to 3 quarters of an hour to find a table (again embarrassed myself by not booking the table in advance), folks with cameras pounced on the opportunity to put their disastrous creative talents to use by clicking random pics and the waiting time flew by like a jiffy (samples provided). Flip side, delay put some guests in discomfort on timelines.


People who have been to W't'F (Water Front..i don't read between the letters :P) will concur with me that the service is anything but satisfying. Cliched, but service could be better, atleast with the time taken from order to serve. Had food and drinks served, at last..and gulping it down dint take much time for the group that was.


Slowly the group started to shrink in size as people started to disperse in different directions to head back home in different paiyyas..i was with the last set of people who were dependant on me to drop them at their destinations. How stupid of them knowing me..i mean what were they even thinking?? huh!! but i guess they know me real well...


Then came the SHOCKER..the check..a whopping amount which blew me off my feet (literally) and off my drinks, for sure. Until that point, i had not bothered about the rate on the menu card. But the moment of truth, which it was, made me read the menu card once, twice , thrice and also enquire on a few things, with one of the remained stewards in the restaurant, which may have sounded idiotic to him. By then, i was back to my normal life. Had no choice but to pay the 'check' amount with 'credit card' (of course mine!!); what a ridicule in life!!


I spent the rest of night making sure that the entire situation dint get into my head and heart. Had i allowed that, the set of people with me would have lost control on their senses...as i was behind the steering wheel of my car...hahahaha!! 'All is well that ends well'.


Albeit expensive till date, was place beautiful, guests lovely, night special and unforgettable...Had a blast!!


Now that's wat i call a B'day to remember. Every single moment was worth it!! Really WORTH IT!!

Thursday, 20 May 2010

It can happen to anyone!!

and i am no exception...

Day started on a dull note with a team huddle first up as usual..but ended up as a meeting with twists turns, ups lows, discussions arguments and finally got to my desk to setup laptop with a 'morning namaste' (routine and mandatory bend to reach for the adapter plug in).

As habituated as i am, logged into gmail, bad at work and injurious to job though..then checked my emails..this time official and sat back thinking about all the work i had to finish during the day and realized there was too much for a soul lacking day. But deadlines forced me to start stuff that was expected of me. 10 mins down realized deftly that it was not day but me that lacked enthu...so tried different stuff like reading through news, sports, movies,etc..etc.. for the kick to creep in, but nothing helped me. I continued to work continually, thanks to multi tasking, finished a task JIT but was tired trying to find a grin on my face. That was when something flashed in orange on my laptop screen.

It was a message from one of my very close allies about movie 'SHREK'. Loved the way he expressed his disgust of not finding company to watch that animation movie. That chat triggered brightness in my day.

Indulged myself in performing the other dry tasks pending to be closed when met another friend of mine online and this bit had actually, in true sense, raised my spirit to a level where i put everything i was doing on hold and engrossed myself in the conversation with a deep dive. By the end of working day i was happy for i had a check mark against each of the tasks on To-Do list whilst concurrently the enthusiasm and excitement levels were shooting over the top.

I called it a day when i realized that my state of mind was in no way better useful than it was in the morning except that they were 180 deg apart and at an unbeatable radius from what i would have liked.

A day with mixed feelings . As i write this post, i feel content as i had more than required of both the worlds.

On one side, if 'how many of us?' get to experience such a day is a query, then reserve it for later coz on the flip side, 'how often??' in a week is a bigger question. If the answer is almost everyday, then my recommendation is to find a counsellor (expensive might help!!), twice is an average. Above average - buy time to find what is missing in life. Folks below average are doing fantastically great for themselves.

Oh, I should not leave my answer to guesses. I fall under below average category which means i am doing great for myself...AWESOME!!

On this note, i bid adieu and wish you guys a rockin weekend!! Let yourself loose....not a bad name for a pub!!..hmmm!!

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

Believe it or Not!!

Here i am..back after a month hiatus caused by reasons that seem silly in this age of internet and technology. I HAD NO INTERNET AT HOME for a month :( ridiculous!! But that's the fact i had to put up with. But now things have started to look better and this makes me even more optimistic about the days to come in UK. Phew!! Nothing has come easy here unlike other places i had been to. There is lotsa drama around activities in this part of the world. More saddening is the rate at which the drama unfolds.

Disappointing, disheartening, irritating, frustrating, depressive, demoralizing..aaaahhh..can't type all the synonymous adjectives in here. To say the least, experience in UK has been nightmarish thus far. Coincidentally all my colleagues have expressed similar feelings. That makes me feel better that i am not the only one to suffer from IUS (Irritating UK Syndrome).

To open a Bank account, address proof in UK is mandatory and for residence agreement, Bank account is mandatory...follow up for 18 days after raising a fault against broadband line had finally resulted in getting the internet going..astonished to know that there are 3 phone lines for the same residential address (where i live) and none of them work....a few examples of how things work here.

Now when things started to get tough, everything around me seemed almost impossible. My laptop crashed when at work and took me a day to reboot it with the help of some real honest folks from my client's place who gave up saying the resolution to the problem was not their skill. Well, worse is not worse always, it can be be bad..as it turned out in my case. I was cribbing over lack of internet when my laptop gave me a full plate.

When so much had happened just over 2 months of stay here, there was no way...no frigging way that i cud see this day without contributing to the income of UK Govt...oh yeah!! you guessed it right...the habit has continued from US to UK. A speeding ticket was issued to me on my way back from London. This time it was due to lack of information though.

Missed bloggin!! Will start sharing more experiences in my coming posts.
Anyways, i sign off with a hope to revive my plight during the next few weeks of my stay in UK. Until then, CHEERS!! Kecchhhhaaawwww!!

Monday, 12 April 2010

Kabhi socha hai??

Everything just before and till the time eyelids are shut is crazy more often than not. This is one such thing!!

Gosh!! I know this is my blog and i am the blogger which means I can/could post anything (in) 'Under the Sun' from the silliest to the most matured thoughts/activities/topics/blah...blah.. blah...But throwing scattered pieces of mind into one tiny place, Blog, makes it a jig saw puzzle. Nevertheless, there are common chunks across everybody's mind.

I was trying to put together all that passes through our mind in a day. Here is the list i could come with, not in a particular order...

Waking up
Coffee/Tea/Milk
Family
Friends
Almighty (includes blasphemy)
Colleagues
Corruption
Girls (if guys)/ guys (if gals)
Traffic
Means/modes of transport
Food
Appearance - mostly thru mirror (cracked or uncracked)
Restaurants
Music
Movies
Driving
Money
Love
Laziness
Embarrassment
Weather
Time
News
Fate
Memoir/memories
Phones/calls
Emails
Chat
Googling
Thirst
Any of the other living creatures
Sleep

I am sure there are more. Add-ons are welcome and expected.

By now, you must be either thinking out of your minds to add a few or hating me and my post for wasting time - yours and mine (read lines 2 through 5)

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Memoir revisited!!

Quite splendid!!

One of these days i have been itching to post something on my London trip which was fantastic, fabulous and one of the best. Okay..alrite..Harsha and Bhargavi!! the next line is about you guys. You were perfect company through out..thnx for that..:)


For guys who must be thinking heck...they are my cousins whom I met in Hyderabad, India but gotta know them in Birmingham, UK. Such strange is life!!

Now, back to the content of the post...the itch to post was not enough for me to melt the piled up lethargy in me. But something i saw today urged me to express myself about the unsettling and disturbing flashes of my memoir..one pic posted by my good old friend from Engg. Ahhhhhhh!! it took me back through the years into the era where nothing mattered. NOSTALGIA!!

Responses to the pic were something like the silliest feeling of possession to the description of the pic. Following are a few (fabricated statements to convey the meaning)

i dint know u had this pic; was it at that place??; i clicked this pic; camera was mine; amazing response guys; pool in some more friends on ur network; and so on..........

Not to be left behind, by then which i already was, i put up my version of comment as well. A curve ball this, to see if there were takers for my thought, "hoho!! dated ages bac, this pic received tremendous response..i have a few more of these..interested ppl let me know and i will upload them for u.." to my surprise there were a few..

I browsed through all my external storage devices. My eyes lit up when i saw one folder which contained all my Engg days pics. I got working with the little knowledge i had about facebook and uploaded a selective few pics which were fresh in my mind. The entire process created a feeling of contentment and sudden rush of almost dead cells in my brain like a refreshed browser at 100 mbps.

College days..huh!! can never be replaced ala memories and memoir of the best days of life. It was memoir vs present for a couple of hours.

It's like a f***ing o****m...Frigging awesome!!Could not end the post without using those asterisked words...such strong was the evocation of this emotion.

Here is link to the album http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=160316&id=590897478

Thursday, 1 April 2010

Be it!!

Gotta go...gotta go!!

Someone at the phone continually buzzing like a bee and all of a sudden a big THUD!! My mobile phone hit the carpeted floor at one hand distance..reminds me of the drill sessions in school - physical fitness by maintaining one hand distance to your friends all around you..huh!! never gained any though.

As zombie as i am, tried all ways to lift the phone off the carpet without getting myself out of the warm quilt. I am a deft follower of 'Try and try until you succeed'; and i did!! Hurriedly got off the bed went to peep out of the only window in my little room to my shock...bright sun, mild breeze, beautiful day!! You don't get such days very often in UK at this time of year....

Stretching my arms i glanced at my watch. 0815AM!! and i should have been on my way to heaven either ways, in dreams or reality. I promised to see my cousins at 0830 at their place near Birmingham. Working through my mind I multitask and get out to my car asap. Time for one of my dreams to turn real...LONDON..here i come!!

My typical performance to stand by my commitment, if any, on a holiday morning। But, tomorrow, I would like to wake up at the very first ring of the alarm, not to force myself into multitasking and in turn damage my already battered mind. I do not want any of the things above to happen tomorrow morning but for heading to London.

Dreams do come true!! London Calling!!

Chuckles, Laughters and Frowns!!

Have you been fooled today?? or have you fooled today??

Among the days i like during a calendar year, April 1st has high significance. The relevance of this day to modern world, in my opinion, is very high. The global presence of the acts we do on this day is phenomenal in every walk of life. We go any extent to see ourselves in others lives by playing pranks and cranks. But isn't that the funniest and best part of our lives?? Yes/No.

जीना सीखे तो हुए बर्बाद
किसीने सोचा भी नहीं खुद का औकाद

Friday, 26 March 2010

Colors do say a few things!!

Reading through different blogs, i noticed some of them are really awful in design and hurt eyes (cause of unexpressed embarrassment to a sizable gamut of female gender). I was exploring ways to make the blog presentable when i heard a high decibel ping from my mind. TING!! I saw a bulb trying hard to prove its existence - thought struck.

Off came my laptop from the heavy backpack in which a resident evil browser (time killer) was flashing bright asking to be used. Like most of us, I was hesitant at first but gathered my thoughts to leave myself no choice but to use it..oops..read as Mozilla FireFox.

The art of designing my Blog (with due credit to Google for providing the base version) thus began...

The look and feel of the blog is carefully designed to replicate the elements in life.

Background - Black - represents the flip side of human nature and existence (I typed in the color used, if you are unable to figure it out, refer to the last two lines of this post)

Blog Title - Orange - the very source of existence, the Sun.

Blog Description - Blue - apt to the wordings (majority wins, 2/3)

Post Heading - Green - flora and fauna (Green revolution)

Post - White - Peace and harmony for they say 'Pen (post) is mightier than Sword' (no one uses pen these days)

Uncolored borders for side bars - mystery of life demanding attention

Overall Theme - Black and Blue - my fav colors

Any thoughts?? aaaaahhh.... this reminds me of an utter tragedy that hit me recently when a close ally of mine one day exclaimed "Oh!! you think!!", interrupting me before I completed my lines starting with "I think..."

But you folks keep thinking. After all this is just a blog
!!

Under The Sun

Welcome to 'Under the Sun' folks !!

Finally!! Here I am, blogging. The thought has been on my mind for quite sometime now, but i always kept myself busy with other things 'under the sun' comparatively interesting. 'Then why now?' - an obvious question in your mind.

All i can say is, i felt 'The time is right!!' on Friday, the 26th of Mar 2010, at 7:40 PM GMT...pssstt...never mind!!

I was inspired to blog by Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan,......naaaaaaaah....MY LIFE. It has given me an opportunity to visit places which i could never imagine even in the shortest of my dreams and i would prefer to think it is worthwhile sharing my experiences.

As a kid I always was skillful in essay writing and examinations (stories), i would like to think, but as i type this post, i began to question myself - 'Where the heck have my skills gone??'
I will take a break now to refurbish myself with what i need to be a blogger to make sure my blogs do not disinterest you.

Until then keep watching this space and keep well

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