Looser....but still a Hero..

Let me recollect two incidents that happened last week and my thought over the incidents :

Incident No. 1, Early Morning Hours : My shift at office starts at 6.30am, so everyday I keep alarm for 5.30am and start from my house to office at 6.15 am. Punctuality is one thing that I have learnt from my childhood and actually it is my father who imbibed this habit on me. But today when I opened my eyes, saw light everywhere inside the room....checked my alarm clock.....oh No... forgot to set the alarm last night before getting into bed. It was already 6.50am....straight away went to bathroom and finished my morning routines and got dressed...time was just ticking and it was already 7.10am....It took some more time to get my bike out of the parking space as most of my neighbours had parked their bike and scooter in a haphazard manner near my vehicle. Back of my mind I was cursing everybody in anger.....neighbours for parking vehicles in improper manner, the movie that I watched the previous night due to which I went to bed late, the street roads that was dug up everywhere, and so on......I started my bike and zoomed towards office...I reached near HAL market road and from that place the road condition is good so I picked up pace and swirled the bike through the office going HAL employees and the mammoth vehicles on the road. My hand and feet worked spontaneously on the clutch and gear in perfect rhythm like a dancer. Suddenly I saw a guy standing near the Airport Road junction and making gesture with his hands as if asking for a lift... Usually I dont stop my vehicle if anybody asks for lift..... but watching this guy, neatly dressed and with a small folder in his hand and the innocent smile somehow made me bring my vehicle to stop....four, three, two , one , neutral...opened the front glass of my helmet and looked back.. The guy came to me and requested if I can drop him near the Domlur-Koramangala signal... I agreed..... It was already 7.40 and I thought that it is not going to make much difference if at all I give a lift to this person because I am already late today. I took off again and at Murugeshpalya signal I looked into the mirror, the guy was sitting with the same calm face but looked as if he is in some deep thought... Out of curiousity I broke the silence and asked where is he going. He immediately replied in Hindi, that he is going for an interview for a job at Koramangala and as he is new to Bangalore, started early so that he can find the exact venue of the interview. As there was no much traffic, Domlur signal came too soon and the guy got down. He gave a smile and a thanks....I too reacted with a smile and went ahead...

Incident No. 2, Same day evening hours : Myself along with wife and daughter, went to Safal Vegetable market at Jeevanbhima Nagar. After purchasing vegetable we planned to have some snacks from the nearby restraunt. I like the dosa and Sambar of Hotel 'Pongal', so we went to 'Pongal'...there was no much customers inside and there were lot of vaccant tables. We made ourselves comfortable at one corner. My daughter was making strange sounds sitting in my lap looking at the lights. The waiter came and we ordered for one ghee roast dosa and one plain dosa...after a few minutes my daughter became restless and started crying,, we tried to make her quiet but she was not listening... My wife said that we will carry the dosa home as daughter will not allow us to sit. I asked my wife to take the baby and wait outside while I get the parcel and pay. Went to waiter and asked him to make a parcel of the placed order. I was waiting for the parcel , meanwhile I saw the manager of the hotel going to this waiter and shouting at him....The waiter was standing speechless...I tried to listen to their conversation so that I can make out what the problem is....The waiter was newly recruited and actually by mistake he had asked the cook to make a plain dosa which infact nobody had ordered....The manager was scolding him and asked him to eat this dosa as punishment.....The waiter was listening to manager's angry words....and also packing my order of dosas..... when the manager left.. I went to the waiter and asked him to pack one more plain dosa as parcel... The waiter wrapped the dosa that manager had asked him to eat and handed them over to me....I could read the smile of relief on the waiter's face. I paid for the parcel and headed home........

While going to sleep....I recollected the happenings of the day... the above two incidents had a great effect on me though these type of things happen daily with each one of us... I started to examine these incidents at a microscopic level...... The first incident of the guy going to interview.......I felt that the reason I got up late on that day might be because the purpose of my birth on that day was to give lift to that guy. If you look from the point of view of that person's life, he will be on his bed at the same time thanking God for the guy (that's me) who gave him the life early . So infact it was a bad start of day for me but it was a good start for him............The second incident the waiter might be thinking that I was like a God sent person as he was able to get rid of the extra dosa that he had ordered by mistake and was able to make the manager happy. Though in both these incidents I was the loser in a way but I was smiling, lying on bed and enjoying my role in both the above incidents.

ORAAL

Oraal(2005) is the debut movie of director Kukku Surendran. I liked the movie but this is the movie that one may not like to watch it in cinema hall. This movie can be enjoyed watching in DVD or TV. The movie was made with lot of financial constraints and there were a few controversy related to the script but I feel that Kikku and the crew members has done an excellent film. Oraal is a different kind of film, I would say that it falls in the category where the story fools the audience. This movie was the inagural film for Cochin International film festival-2005 and Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan praised Kukku for his direction during the film festival. The story has only three characters . I would not like to give away the story because it will take away the suspense (Sorry Resaf I am disappointing you again :)).

Renowned writer cum film-maker Gautam Shankar (Mukesh) is going alongwith his girlfriend Isla (Shreya Reddy) to a tourist house which is located inside a dense forest. Gautam is going there to write the script for his next film. During the journey through the dense forest towards the guest house, Gautam feels that he is being followed by someone. Though this is a very low budget movie, the forest has been captured excellently and at some moment I felt that I am really inside a dense forest. The Background music was used brilliantly. In the middle of the forest the car breaks down and both of them take refuge in a small abonded hut. As there is nobody in that dense forest, Gautham decided to stay in this hut for a few days and complete the script. Gautham always feel that somebody is following him and one day he happens to see a man in the forest. Gautham gets disturbed and to worsen the situation one day he observes that the stranger has befriended Isla. At one point Gautham comes to face to face with the stanger and the stanger questions the achievements of Gautham. Gautham feels frustrated unable to take it anymore, one day he tries to kill the stanger and escape.

Back home in the city, both Gautham and Isla start normal life . but after a few days one day Gautham again sees the stanger in bed with Isla. Not able to control his emotions and anger, he tries to stabs the stanger to death.

Who was this stanger? What was the relation between Isla and Stanger?....You need to watch this movie to know the suspense...It has a very unguessable climax. Mukesh who usually does comedy roles has a very serious role and he has done full justice to the character of Gautham Shankar. Shreya Reddy is okay and the actor in the role of Stranger is also done a commendable job. I dont think everybody will like this movie but if you want to watch a different film on your DVD during the weekend that will make you think, then go for this one.

Bhujaye sirf pyaas!!!

Parallel Universe

I have always believed in theory about parallel universes. We all know that the human eyes are capable of seeing colors between a certain frequency band. similarly we've also learnt that hear sounds only within a certain frequency band whereas other animals can see and hear colors and sounds even beyond these frequencies. Now this must be true for all our senses - sight, smell, taste, sound and touch. This means that we are experiencing a part of the universe around us while there definitely exists another part which we do not experience and just because we do not experience it does not mean that it does not exist! so we could say that we exist in the 'world' which we experience and there exists one or more other 'world' which we cannot experience and are not aware of! So now the question is, is it possible that there is an entire universe existing parallely with our universe which we are not aware of, which is beyond our experience? and is it possible that the creatures in those universe may or may not be aware of our existence? It might be possible that it is they who are controlling us or using us for their needs. We have devices which are able to measure signals and transmissions beyond those of human perception but just like the limitations of our sense organs i believe these instruments would also have a limitations. It is also possible that what you buy for your daily needs from the shop near you are actually the wastes discarded by the creatures from parallel universe :). Imagine that our day to day activities are the source of entertainment for these creatures, a sort of reality show for those beings. Oh God! I feel that I am getting out of this universe and have hacked into the the 'System' of the parallel universe :).

Imagine, there must be another 'being' sitting here next to me and smiling at these conclusions that i am arriving at and another one sitting next to you reading this with you :-).

Jab we Met !!

Gone Baby Gone

"I find the people who started in the cracks and then fell through. This city can be hard. When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God said to His children. "You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves."

When I saw the name of the movie 'Gone baby Gone' , I assumed that it might be a romantic-comedy flick but when I saw that the man in the poster has a gun in his hand, I became curious.

The first three minutes of the movie and I could sense that I was in for something special and it really blew me away. This is a tough movie where even people who set out with good motives can’t help but leave a lot of dead bodies.

The film is about a little girl, Amanda, who is kidnapped right out of her mother’s apartment. The girl's mother Helene McCready (Amy Ryan) seems indifferent as she is always drinking and high on drugs. She doesn’t seem to be too concerned that her daughter is gone. The girl's Aunt & Uncle do care and they hire Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to supplement the investigation because they will get info on the street and through the neighborhood unlike the cops. There is also two police officers Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton) who are investigation the case. The movie then tracks the investigation part by patrick and his partner Angie talking to shady people, using their contacts. What happened to the little girl, was she murdered, what was the motive behind the kidnapping? I don’t want to get into the plot anymore as it’s better to discover it as you watch the film. But the ending was surprising as well as shocking for me, It made me think was the decision that is taken in the end of the movie is right or wrong? Life is all about taking decisions and Sometimes, the choices we make are very complicated and it is hard to tell what the right decision is.

Ben Affleck's directorial debut is stunning. I hate most of his films in which he acted (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Paycheck, Gigli, etc.), so I think he is good to be in director's seat. The movie is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote the novel Mystic River. The acting is terrific across the board. Casey Affleck is perfect in the role of Kenzie. It is quite tough to believe that a soft and child faced actor can carry the arrogance and harshness the character needs at times with vigour and zeal. In a way his mild mannered face helps in giving the person the stillness and lucidity required to take decisions affecting many at conscience level. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris are excellent, as usual. Amy Ryan is excellent in the role fo missing girl's mother, she has been nominated to this year's Oscar award in the best supporting actress category. Personally I did not feel that she should be nominated for oscars, all I could remember was her character abusing and using a lot of foul language.

The film is beautifully shot by John Toll and perfectly cut by William Goldenberg. Ben Affleck has made a perfect thriller, the pace of the movie may be a bit different from the rest of the thrillers but it keeps our interest because the story is so powerful. I am waiting to see what Affleck direct's next and hope he comes out with something different.

Vegetable Art

Last weekend I went to attend a marriage reception function of a friend. At one corner of the function hall I saw table with art on Vegetables :). Have a look......