The attention-grabbing “Wakes you” campaign of the most-read daily in Mumbai is not an exaggeration by any means! Backed by their extensive investigative research, the indefatigable team strives to get meaningful and insightful stories happening right here, right now to a table near you! Which explains why the focus never strays from rainy days, events blasé and stray strays. You can’t fault their logic really, as these arguably form the most ‘current’ news stories that you can get.
However, one gets the feeling that a vicious cycle is emerging. While people were previously content with schmoozing their way into Page 3, the new trend emerging is to perpetrate gory and spine-chilling crimes to stake their claim to fame. Even more worrisome, on introspection, I think the depressing and morbid scenario seems to be rubbing off on me as I start a beautiful day! Please note that this is a hypothesis, and is purely speculative. Therefore, it cannot be used in any manner in a court of law or for any law enhancement activity. This disclaimer is especially important in recent times due to the reckless spate of frivolous arrests in connection with crimes that have pricked a nation’s conscience.
For the uninitiated, Vikrant is my flat-mate who has not graced his humble abode in over a month now. My maid and watchmen have started giving me suspicious looks as to why Vikrant is not to be seen of late. The problem is aggravated by the fact that Vikrant makes it a point to make conversation with the watchman, cobbler, newspaperman, etc to ensure continued exercise of his facial muscles. He is therefore the bright point of many souls’ life and my taciturn demeanor does not exactly endear myself to the aforementioned. Add to this my being a ‘migrant’ in an increasingly regionally-polarized society, and you have Mr. Murphy rubbing his hands with unconcealed glee. I therefore send occasional spam e-mails to office junta marking Vikrant just to entice him to rely and ensure there is documentary proof of his continued existence.
Word has it that the venerable Mirror’s foot soldiers have been spotted in the neighborhood recently. Sleep is a luxury that will not come easy in the near future. Sigh!!!
PS: Blogging after nearly a year feels strange. But ‘working at client site’ permits such small mercies after long last J
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Idiot and the Box
The weekend inches closer to a hasty end..... Dementor thoughts gleefully start to overwhelm me and fill my weary soul with dreary Monday blues.
Yet another weekend gone by..... all that remains is to analyze my weekend goals and monitor progress. Goals - here I come!
- Trekking (at least a little farther than my neighbourhood shop)
- Working out (new year resolutions are too damn hard to adhere to!)
- Salsa (physically, as opposed to appreciative analysis on TV)
- Reading (something apart from Mumbai mirror and Mumbai times*)
- Movies (Bourne Ultimatum - postponed for quite some time now)
- Blogging (just to help dear readers meet one goal... c'mon, its ok to admit :))
- TV (lowest hanging fruit, if ever there was one)
- Working (in stark contrast to the other previously mentioned goal)
The first section of the goals was on account of declaring war on my companion for many years, through situations kabhi khushi kabhi gham - my loyal paunch :). Not to mention being bombarded by newspapers, magazines and TVs everyday about healthy living, diet plans and "subtle" workouts at office including resistance tubes**.
As is obvious, the second section of the goals has been added purely to enable easy ticking-off. So then, no surprises when I announce a respectable 50% target achievement. The weekend got off to a delayed start as most of Saturday involved exploring hidden recesses in my new office.
However, things started resembling a regular weekend when I trooped into a theatre to catch "Johnny Gaddar". As warned, movie reviews form a natural ally for the lazy blogger. "Johnny Gaddar" is a fairly smart movie targeted at the "entertainer<>brain-dead" fraternity and is eminently watchable at reasonable prices (read as 150, to avoid any ambiguity). This caper movie wisely does not attempt a whodunnit, and has several twists and turns in the tale to keep one guessing. As yours truly is a budding critic, pet peeves persist - Dharam paaji's hilarious English one-liners (the mileage & dark path ones evoke guffaws), Rimi Sen's bimbette character, the usual absence of the police till the ending credits and the criminal under-use of the wacky soundtrack! All said and done, this movie is definitely worth a dekko!
Sunday started off in similar delayed fashion, though completely on account of waking up late :). The welcome sight of Alonso, F1's whiney-boy, getting whacked ensured a bright start to the day. The remainder was a mish-mash of "Ab tak chappan" and re-runs of "Friends" for the umpteenth time. Lo and behold, we are back to where we started off. The end of the weekend is real close at hand and its time to bid adieu with a solemn promise of returning very soon.
A still night. Occasional wafts of breeze playfully interrupt the melancholy. The thickening silence, interrupted by defiant barking and the occasional flutter. A busy city settles down for a well-deserved rest. Aching and tired limbs rejoice at the inactivity, but the minds tick on. Anticipation of the day that approaches, of dreams waiting to be fulfilled. Hunger and passion, effort and struggle, exuberance and exaltation.... the beat must go on. The starry sky envelopes the city, snug and warm in the embrace. A temporary solace, before the city awakes to the pursuit of destinies. The city of dreams drifts off into blissful sleep.
* Non-Mumbaikars cannot fathom the treasure trove of information that the Mirror is. It renders yeoman service by delivering Mumbaikars their daily survival kit including among others - where the biggest potholes on Mumbai roads are, helpful pictures of overflowing garbage cans so smart commuters can easily avoid them, the crucial outcome of a dispute among residents of a building about feeding stray dogs, an insight into the lives and catfights of our very own television superstars - I could go on at length without repeating myself...... A dedicated post to this topic would still not hold a candle to the venerable Mirror from the illustrious Slimes Group
** Obviously, all offices are filled with completely self-obsessed people who wouldn't even blink when co-workers whip out resistance tubes. How subtle is that, really?
Yet another weekend gone by..... all that remains is to analyze my weekend goals and monitor progress. Goals - here I come!
- Trekking (at least a little farther than my neighbourhood shop)
- Working out (new year resolutions are too damn hard to adhere to!)
- Salsa (physically, as opposed to appreciative analysis on TV)
- Reading (something apart from Mumbai mirror and Mumbai times*)
- Movies (Bourne Ultimatum - postponed for quite some time now)
- Blogging (just to help dear readers meet one goal... c'mon, its ok to admit :))
- TV (lowest hanging fruit, if ever there was one)
- Working (in stark contrast to the other previously mentioned goal)
The first section of the goals was on account of declaring war on my companion for many years, through situations kabhi khushi kabhi gham - my loyal paunch :). Not to mention being bombarded by newspapers, magazines and TVs everyday about healthy living, diet plans and "subtle" workouts at office including resistance tubes**.
As is obvious, the second section of the goals has been added purely to enable easy ticking-off. So then, no surprises when I announce a respectable 50% target achievement. The weekend got off to a delayed start as most of Saturday involved exploring hidden recesses in my new office.
However, things started resembling a regular weekend when I trooped into a theatre to catch "Johnny Gaddar". As warned, movie reviews form a natural ally for the lazy blogger. "Johnny Gaddar" is a fairly smart movie targeted at the "entertainer<>brain-dead" fraternity and is eminently watchable at reasonable prices (read as 150, to avoid any ambiguity). This caper movie wisely does not attempt a whodunnit, and has several twists and turns in the tale to keep one guessing. As yours truly is a budding critic, pet peeves persist - Dharam paaji's hilarious English one-liners (the mileage & dark path ones evoke guffaws), Rimi Sen's bimbette character, the usual absence of the police till the ending credits and the criminal under-use of the wacky soundtrack! All said and done, this movie is definitely worth a dekko!
Sunday started off in similar delayed fashion, though completely on account of waking up late :). The welcome sight of Alonso, F1's whiney-boy, getting whacked ensured a bright start to the day. The remainder was a mish-mash of "Ab tak chappan" and re-runs of "Friends" for the umpteenth time. Lo and behold, we are back to where we started off. The end of the weekend is real close at hand and its time to bid adieu with a solemn promise of returning very soon.
A still night. Occasional wafts of breeze playfully interrupt the melancholy. The thickening silence, interrupted by defiant barking and the occasional flutter. A busy city settles down for a well-deserved rest. Aching and tired limbs rejoice at the inactivity, but the minds tick on. Anticipation of the day that approaches, of dreams waiting to be fulfilled. Hunger and passion, effort and struggle, exuberance and exaltation.... the beat must go on. The starry sky envelopes the city, snug and warm in the embrace. A temporary solace, before the city awakes to the pursuit of destinies. The city of dreams drifts off into blissful sleep.
* Non-Mumbaikars cannot fathom the treasure trove of information that the Mirror is. It renders yeoman service by delivering Mumbaikars their daily survival kit including among others - where the biggest potholes on Mumbai roads are, helpful pictures of overflowing garbage cans so smart commuters can easily avoid them, the crucial outcome of a dispute among residents of a building about feeding stray dogs, an insight into the lives and catfights of our very own television superstars - I could go on at length without repeating myself...... A dedicated post to this topic would still not hold a candle to the venerable Mirror from the illustrious Slimes Group
** Obviously, all offices are filled with completely self-obsessed people who wouldn't even blink when co-workers whip out resistance tubes. How subtle is that, really?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
When Giver Gives, Gives in Abundance....
The title of the post draws upon the pearls of wisdom showered upon us mortals in Hera Pheri... a.k.a "dene wala deta jab bhi, deta chappar phaad ke..." :-). And the trigger for this thought was the fact that this is my second post in the same day. My return to blog-land after an extended hiatus is really proving to be a roller-coaster of emotions for faithful readers..... sniff sniff.....
You honestly cannot have expected really interesting events since my last post. I am taking the easy way out and reviewing a delightful movie I saw recently - Ratatouille. Well, needless to say, the movie rocks. I am self-confessed fan of animated movies in general (Shrek, Ice Age, The Emperor's Last Groove, Surf's Up, Simpsons) and Pixar in specific (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Incredibles). Ratatouille is a heart-warming and delightful movie in the Disney genre which you would want to take your kids to. However, given my no-kids-in-the-horizon status, that alone is hard to justify my appreciation for the movie. The movie reminds one of the clean and good-at-heart entertainment during our childhood (courtesy censorship by parents obviously :-)). The characterization is top-class and full credit to Pixar for making an rat (ugghhhh!!!!) into a cute and likable protagonist with remarkably expressive eyes. After stomping all over the blog with my goody-two-shoes, I should also make special mention of "Surf's up". This is a movie which few have heard of, and even fewer have watched, which is a real pity! A smart and witty movie featuring cute penguins and targeted at a slightly mature audience (with references to reality shows, egotism, etc), the movie rocks and is work a dekko.
Till the next post, if and when I have the inspiration and time, I leave you with a sample of my creativity at office. My limited attempts at poetry have been met with winces and groans in the past. Luckily, the blogging medium insulates from such forms of instant feedback. If you do not wish to spare me my misery, your comments are welcome and shall contribute towards realizing my medium-term goal of writing a post completely in prose - to borrow from Vikram Seth......
Office office go away...
Going home early needs a lot of luck,
Here we are, in office, stuck,
Till the early morn and the rooster’s cluck.
Thought about going to a movie,
And watching Sivaji babe get groovy.
Fate has other plans, it seems,
The gold tooth of manager catbert gleams,
And trashes all these fancy dreams.
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