...shoOOonya...

2011 Movie Roundup

2012-01-29T12:57:00.001+05:30

I saw the 9 movies in the second half (as compared to 5 in first half) taking the total score for the entire year to 14 movies in 2011. So in effect, Along with reading, even movie watching increased in the second half of the year.

The first half was like this …

Jan to Mar – Zero

April - Dum Maro Dum & Scream 4 (Premiere)

May - Hanna (Premiere) & Cars 2 in 3D (Premiere)

June - Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in 3D

The second half went one like this …

July – Bbhuddah Hoga Tera Baap

August - Zero

September – Mausam

October - Zero

November - 4

Rockstar

Immortals

Ra.One

TinTin

December - 3

Happy Feet 2

Mission Impossible 4

The Dirty Picture

It's the season of the sequels … 5 of the 14 movies I saw were sequels. I also missed some Some good ones.

2012 is going to be a year of many eagerly awaited sequels of Sherlock Holmes, Madagascar, Batman, Ice Age, Spiderman, The Hobbit from the Lord of the Rings series (Hobbit being a prequel), Bourne, Narnia, Ghost Rider, G I Joe and so on ….

This article (long) might be an interesting read for anyone interested in sequels, prequels, reboots and re-shoots of Hollywood movies … http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/866031/95_movie_sequels_currently_in_the_works.html

2012 Reading Plans

2012-01-28T10:30:00.000+05:30

I plan to read the following authors in 2012 …

Robert Ludlum - haven't read any Ludlum in last 2 years. Have to read some this year.

Devdutt Pattanaik – have read one. Now want to read more. Myth=Mithya next.

Rick Riordan – Series like Percy Jackson / Olympians / Kane Chronicles etc … have been on reading list since some time. Good time to actually start reading them.

I am also planning to read more of Indian Authors. In the past decade (especially the last 5 years) a number of books written by Indian authors have been seen prominently displayed in book stores. I have already begun ordering books by Indian Authors from Flipkart, IndiaPlaza etc.

Strangely, somehow I haven't even read Chetan Bhagat till date so I might just pick up some of his works too.

Besides the above, I will continue to read the Sherlock Holmes stories and Three Investigator series (will complete the stories by primary authors and then move on to Fan Fiction and stories by other authors).

I am planning to add one more childhood time series here. I will read the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. There are 25 of Famous Five books and I hope to complete them before the end of 2012. Somehow, I kind of never read Famous Five or Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew in school days; it was only Sherlock Holmes and 3 Investigators for me.

I read a comment somewhere that Clive Clussler writes like Matthew Reilly. Now that is a too big a compliment for a writer and being a MR fan with no more of his work to read (I read all of his works last year itself and now waiting for the release of his next novel in India); I have decided to give CC a try. Will read some of his works and if I like it, a lot of it.

And I also received a recommendation for Frederick Forsyth … so maybe a book or two by this author also seems probable.

And how can I forget that I had read Inkheart in 2010 and then did not read the other two books of the trilogy. Maybe I will finish off the series this year.

I am also considering reading the Millenium series by Stieg Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire & The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest.

Just completed a novel by Chris Kuzneski …. WOW … Loved it … so this is one author I would try to read a lot this year.

And of course, my best friend will surely introduce me to some new authors and BlogAdda might also give me some interesting books to review in 2012.

So … my reading shelf for 2012 seems pretty full and it will be only after a full year from now that I will be able to tell you how much of my planned reading is actually achieved.

Now that I look back at this post and try to calculate all the books that I have noted here … it looks like about 2 years or maybe even 3-4 years worth of reading!!

Best scene from a 2011 Bollywood flick

2012-01-24T01:49:00.000+05:30

Check out this video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGEJAmmJjqk

Absolutely Hilarious ...

No doubt this one has to be the Best scene from a 2011 Bollywood flick

The scene is but a part of an equally fabulous movie. Few movies are better than their trailor. Pyaar Ka Punchnama (PKP) is just that. A fabulous movie, which I saw very late and that too by chance.

Fantastic casting, fabulous acting, fantabulous direction .... this movie that was perfect in many ways. The actors who were incidentally 'all new' .. played their parts to perfection. I found each one of them just perfect for their roles. I couldn't really find flaws in any of their performances ... loved the movie, the actors and everything about the movie.

This is one movie I could watch again and again .... (few bollywood flicks would get that from me). Kudos to the Director LUV RANJAN, the actors and everyone involved in the making of this fantastic movie - I seriously hope it gets some awards.

The primary cast ... You all did a fabulous job. Loved all of You ...

Rayo Bakhirta as Vikrant Choudhary

Nushrat Bharucha as Neha

Sonalli Sehgal as Rhea

Divyendu Sharma as Nishant Agarwal

Ishita Sharma as Charu

Kartik Tiwari as Rajat

Now waiting for its sequel ... hope it lives up to the high expectations that have been set !

Reading Series Count ‘Correction’

2012-01-19T14:01:00.001+05:30

I have been putting series completion score along with all the Reading record posts last year, which include my completion count of the Feluda, Sherlock Holmes and 3 Investigators series.

I have completed the Feluda series so I would be removing it from this score-card AND I forgot that Canon Doyle wrote 56 short stories and FOUR novellas (short novels) in the Sherlock Holmes series (I have been counting 56 only).

I have also discovered MORE Three Investigators stories (almost as many as I had, making the total 3I to jump from 35 to 64) … so that score card needs modification. Also, I am adding Famous Five to this block which I plan to read in 2012.

The last entry I made was

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st Dec 2011):

Feluda 35 out of 35 – FINISH*

Three Investigators 25 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 43 out of 56

Total 103 out of 126

Now, I am re-setting the counters to ….

Series Completion Score: (as of 1^st Jan 2012)

Three Investigators 25 out of 63

Sherlock Holmes 43 out of 60

Famous Five 00 out of 21

Total 68 out of 144

Trivia - In 2012, I have to read 12 stories in each of the 12 months to complete the target J (144 = 12 X 12)

Correction to Trivia: I don’t have to read 12 in each of the 12 months since out of 144 stories, 68 are already done and only 76 are remaining so that actually makes it about 6-7 stories every month. Pretty much doable !!

2011 Reading Roundup

2012-01-14T11:13:00.000+05:30

Overall a very nice year as far as reading is concerned. A total of 125 stories/novels read.

The high score should be seen in context since it has only about 12 full length novels, about 30 novellas (short novels) spanning about 80 pages and the rest of 83 are all short stories (20 to 40 page length – albeit in small print).

I started the year with the intent of reading the entire Feluda, Sherlock Holmes and 3 Investigators series, Well … mission accomplished for Feluda at least while I have quite some ground to cover on Sherlock and 3I. Guess I will complete them by end of 2012.

I have completed about 100 out of the targeted 125 stories of the Feluda, 3I and Sherlock Holmes stories. I also read a collection of 12 short stories titled '12 Red Herrings' by Jeffery Archer. I also read almost a dozen novels to keep some variety and bring in some change in reading genres.

New authors tried and tested which include … Catherine Jinks & Devdutt Pattanaik … which I would continue to read. Also, two much awaited sequels by Indian Authors read – sequels to Sidin's DORK and Amish's Meluha were both released this year and I managed to read both in December.

Reading Score was helped by the extensive travelling the second half of the year 2011 brought for me. I made 8 international flights (all of them on the Dubai-Mumbai sector) … almost all of them in second half of the year. Beside flight travel and airport waiting, travelling in the second half of the year also increased in terms of road travel. Several Mumbai-Pune trips as well as daily travel to clients who were located at significant distance from my hotel apartment in Dubai … all helped my reading score a lot.

Monthly Score (Total – 125)

Jan - 9 Feb – 14 Mar – 6 Decent first quarter (29)

Apr - 3 May – 3 Jun – 5 Sad second quarter (11)

Jul – 18 Aug – 7 Sep – 15 Very Good third quarter (40)

Oct – 5 Nov - 13 Dec -25 Fantastic last quarter (43)

Reading trend looks interesting and shows how the second half of the year has been so much more favorable and productive for reading. Also reading score has not been consistent, going up and down several times.

I read the following books besides the short stories collections …

1. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (senti-mental)

2. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (took several months to complete ... Boring)

3. God's Debris by Scott Adams (Head spinner)

4. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella (nice)

5. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks (interesting)

6. Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks (interesting)

7. Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks (interesting)

8. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (senti-mental)

9. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet (interesting)

10. 7 Secrets of Shiva by Devdutt Pattanaik (eye opener)

11. The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi (fantastic sequel to Immortals of Meluha)

12. God save the DORK by Sidin Vadukut (hilarious sequel to DORK)

And Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffery Archer (nice short story collection)

Falling in Love

2012-01-13T10:54:00.000+05:30

<Read this on FB … added my own thoughts to it too. Posted on my blog for future read and for you, who is reading it now>

Before you can grow up, you must fall in love three times.

Once, you must fall in love with your best friend, ruining your friendship forever. This will teach you who your true friends are, and the fine line between friendship and more.

Once you must fall in love with someone you believe is perfect. You will learn that no one is perfect, and that you should never be treated as anything less than you deserve.

And once, you must fall in love with someone that is exactly like you. This will teach you about who you are, and who you want to be.

And when you're through with all that, you learn that the people who care about you the most are the ones that you hurt, and the ones that hurt you are the ones that needed you the most.

But most of all, you learn that love is only a concept and is not something that can be defined, it is different to each and every person on this earth, knowing that everyone wants to be loved

<< FB msg ends here; my own thoughts begin :) >>

So go ahead … fall in love !!

(And forget what Shahrukh said in Kuch Kuch Hota Hain …

"Hum ek baar jeete hain, ek baar marte hain, shaadi bhi ek baar hoti hai, aur pyar ... ek hi baar hota hai")

Of course, I am sure you have a comment / counter point / thought / something ….

Go ahead … put it down in comments below !!!

Photoshop Skills

2012-01-10T05:36:00.000+05:30

For years, I have been using Photoshop …

BUT

My skill level with PS hasn't changed much. I have stuck to the rudimentary things I knew and somehow never took enough efforts to learn more (this is in spite of the fact that I did find some material – pdf files and videos – for learning the advanced tricks of PS).

One of the things I would like to put on my 2012 new year resolution things is learning a bit more of Photoshop.

Want to do this so that we can take Arbit to the next level – in terms of its visual appeal etc.

Want to do this for fun too … if I knew more of PS, I am sure I will find opportunities to use that skill somewhere; and I am talking of personal usage here. (And No ... I am not hinting at reducing my size/weight/girth/tummy in my photos)

December Reading - Part 2

2012-01-08T08:43:00.001+05:30

Continued from December Reading … Part 1

Well, taking the December Reading post further, as the end of the year 2011 came near; I read some of the best of my 2011 reading along with my favorite. I had read DORK and Immortals of Meluha last year and had also read about these being trilogies with sequels to be expected in late 2011. The wait was over and I could get my hands on their sequels only by December.

17. 7 Secrets of Shiva by Devdutt Pattanaik

This one is a very interesting book that I have reviewed independently in a separate blog post. I received this book for review from BlogAdda as part of their book review program. I had heard about the author from my best friend and was planning to pick up some of his books from my friend and start reading them in 2012.

It was interesting to read a book with pictures; after a long long time. This book was half text and half pictures with every left hand side page of the book filled with pictures. That would be almost 100 pages of pictures.

The book attempts to explain the symbolism of Shiva and what the concept of Shiva represents.

18. Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A lot of the details from this story were pretty strongly etched in my weak memory. The hound, its glowing mouth (thanks to the illustrated versions of the children's version I read in school days), the missing shoe (not shoes) and of course an adversary who challenges and amuses Sherlock Holmes by turning the tables on to him in an almost funny way … something which made Sherlock have a hearty laugh and then regard the adversary as worthy one

The adversary was keeping a watch on someone and following them when Sherlock 'almost' caught him. Sherlock then traced the cab and the cab-man and enquired about the passenger only to be told that the passenger had actually mentioned his own name to the cab man … it was Sherlock Holmes. The adversary had sent out a strong message to Sherlock by doing this.

The story provides plenty of opportunities for Sherlock to use his deductive powers and there is a time at the beginning of the case where he has three threads of clues to follow and ALL of them turn out to be dead ends!! Also for a change, Sherlock is busy with other cases so he sends Watson alone along with the client; or does he?

Nature plays a spoilsport in the story when a heavy fog engulfs everyone in the climax putting Sherlock's client to a fatal risk. The 'villain' is ultimately not caught but is presumed to be dead; his death assumed to be caused by nature.

21. God save the DORK by Sidin Vadukut

I had read DORK last year and had loved it. That's why when I got the pre-order opportunity; I did it without thinking twice. But the actual reading of the book got delayed. The second book of this series lives up to its reputation

It has a 'gripping' story right from the start and it holds you in suspense of a combination of 'What happens Next' and 'What really happened' … the author choosing to tell some and hide some. I would consider Sidin a very good story teller who holds the reader's attention completely.

He writes in a way that if possible, I would indeed read the whole book in a single non-stop sitting. I would give that kind of a compliment to only to a Matthew Reilly book so you can imagine how much I am impressed by Sidin's DORK series.

What MR does for Action-Adventure; Sidin does for humour. Gripping (in a humorous way) storyline and writing full of suspense and edge of the seat anticipation; and that too on every page, throughout the novel. J

20. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A client arrives at Sherlock's home and even before he begins to narrate his problem, Police enters the room and want to question him. A murder has been committed; say the police BUT the client has not come in for seeking Sherlock's help in murder investigation.

He simply came to inform Sherlock about a new friend if his who invited him to his home and then disappeared in the morning with all staff and sundry of his house. A very interesting problem which upon Sherlock's investigation leads to a complex plot of murder and betrayal

There were a few things in this story which kind of struck strange to me. There is a dead body found with its HEAD/Face completely smashed out; which is usually done in cases when you don't want the dead body to be identified and often done to actually give an impression that a certain person is dead whereas the person is hale and hearty and has escaped putting his identification things on the dead body and smashing his face to avoid recognition. THAT was not the case in this story. Another feature was that there was a dead bird found in the kitchen of the house and there is a giant of a man in the story, both seemingly have no great specific purpose. The dead bird is but an indication of a ritual and the giant of a man is just an aide.

I was so sure these things would form an intricate part of the mystery but they did not. WHY?

Did Canon Doyle plug these into the story with some intention and then simply wrapped up the story without directly involving them (since that might have made this one also into a novella rather than a short story) or was it intentionally done to make us wonder and then provide an anti-climactic end.

19. The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

This has been a long awaited one. The sequel to 'Meluha'

Expectation from Amish Tripathi was anyway high because of Meluha and I would say he did not disappoint. The Secret of the Nagas is a worthy sequel and now makes us yearn even more for the third and last part of the trilogy.

Amish can weave an excellent story with characters from mythology. The story has a fair share of twists and turns with plenty of action and thrill. There is a tendency for the reader to compare the story with the mythology and that is where things get confusing at times; we trying to correlate the mythology to the story.

If you really want to enjoy reading Meluha series, you have to take the story independently of the mythology and the ideology of Shiva as a God. When you finish, you are free to correlate and connect the dots. You will probably enjoy it that way rather than get confused.

One thing which did confuse me was the story has Lord Rudra as a GOD or another human like figure who rose to godliness. We know that Rudra is one of the names of Shiva and they are but one entity, so how come we have Rudra as a God in the story and Shiva as a mortal. Confusing

Reading two books on Shiva within a span of 20 days and both being so much diverse in their ideology and concept was a pretty unique experience. While Devdutt Pattanaik attempts to explain the symbolism behind every aspect of Shiva; Amish Tripathi makes Shiva a mortal human who rose to god like stature by his actions and virtues. It is interesting to read both as one explains and other fictionalizes.

24. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Cardboard Box by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A parcel is received by an old lady leading a peaceful life. It has 2 human ears.

Looks like a joke and a mild harassment by an old tenant of hers but turns out to be something else all together. Sherlock does not ignore any clue that he can find and deductions are made which are far beyond the obvious (but seem so logically simple when explained).

He deduces a lot about the dead people by simply looking at the ears and then some more about the whole mystery by his observation of the old lady and some photographs in her room. Such is the expertise of Sherlock !!

25. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Dancing Devil by William Arden

Random things begin to get stolen which would seem to have no perceived value to a thief and this itself is an interesting and intriguing fact that draws the attention of Jupiter who decides to investigates and manages to find a connection between the seemingly unrelated thefts … going to the extent of laying a trap for the thief.

The plot involved a small priceless statue and a larger than life real alive replica of the same who keeps confronting the trio and frightening them. The thief turns out to be a most unexpected fellow who is kind of never suspected by the trio while they keep their focus on the usual suspects. In the end, it turns out that the culprit was actually 'toying' with the trio and 'using' them as a means to an end; but makes some small mistakes leading to the discovery of his plot.

26. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Red Circle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

There is a mystery close at hand in this story with the 'victim' being Sherlock's own landlady who has a mysterious tenant she has seen only once and who wishes to remain in his room without showing his face or coming out for what so ever reason.

Sherlock takes interest out of his kindness and also just for his own education (no client here who would pay his fee) and again he exercises his logical mind to draw out several deductions from tiny clues.

27. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Dying Detective by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is one story where I remembered practically every detail of the story. They were kind of etched in my memory from my school days. Don't know why but that's how it was.

Sherlock is dying and he seeks help from a particular person who is not a doctor but someone who has knowledge of the disease. He even insults Dr. Watsons skill and capability in the story.

The story is NOT about deductions … its about an entirely different skill of Sherlock which we haven't seen much. It's a remarkable story and special for me since it is somehow permanently etched in my memory.

The Sherlock Holmes stories were the last to be read in 2011 and the one before them were the sequels of DORK and Shiva trilogy … What a fantastic way to end the year … !!

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st Dec 2011):

Feluda 35 out of 35 – FINISH*

Three Investigators 25 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 43 out of 56

Total 103 out of 126

* I have read only 34 out of 35 Feluda stories and still claim to FINISH the series since the pages of one of the stories are not in proper order and some of them are missing. So I can't read that story and hence consider that as 'read'.

December Reading - Part 1

2012-01-07T13:07:00.001+05:30

The month of December began with a 'false start' but then I got back to the regulars and the going was smooth. The end was absolutely amazing with fabulous (much awaited) books being read and closing the month and the year with my favorite.

There was a lot of travel actually. I spent practically only one week in Mumbai and the rest of the month in Dubai. Dubai gives me a lot of opportunities to read and hence this month has a pretty splendid reading score of 27. (This is the reason this post will be in 2 parts, since I will be writing about each of the 27 stories I read)

Key achievement being the completion of Feluda volume after a dry spell of couple of months and 2 very green months of Nov and Dec … practically read the whole volume in less than 30 days.

1. The Deck by Catherine Jinks

The intro read … "Meet Roanna Hagelburgh. Her husband is never at home. Her two younger children are always fighting. Her next-door neighbour is a thorn in her side. Will a new deck really solve all her problems?"

I have read the Genius Trilogy by Catherine in past 3 months and thought of picking up something else that she had written. The last sentence in the intro above (the question) sounded interesting and hence this story got picked up this month.

BUT it turned out to be a sad experience. The story did not move forward for most part of the PDF file I was reading and then suddenly the PDF came to an end without the story reaching any conclusion.

Conclusion: I had a partial PDF. It did not have the entire novel. Just a part of it

What a cruel waste of my time.

I am not making any attempts to find the full version. Was bored of whatever I read.

2. Feluda: Murder in the Mountains by Satyajit Ray

Crime follows Feluda in the most scenic and beautiful of all places. Jatayu's novel is being made into a movie and the shooting is in Darjeeling. He also (by a turn of events and a missing actor) gets to act in this film. The indoor shooting is being carried out in the mansion of a gentleman who is a singularly interesting character who maintains a scrap book of crime reports.

He gets murdered and the shooting comes to a halt. Feluda obviously gets involved and is also attacked (literally thrown off a mountain road into the valley).

Beside the usual crime and dentition stuff, Satyajit Ray talks about the place and the beauty of the mountains. He gets the reader interested in places (be it Rajasthan or Banaras or Haridwar or Darjeeling). Tourism department should promote Feluda amongst the youngsters of today. They would surely be inspired to visit these and many other places of India.

3. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A sports player goes missing just before the day of an important game and Sherlock is asked to trace him. No crime here. Just a lost boy needs to be found.

4. Feluda: Peril in Paradise by Satyajit Ray

There is only one Paradise on Earth and that is Kashmir. Feluda's leisure trip again becomes a business trip and for a change he is attacked even before there is a case or a crime.

Surprisingly, although the 'case' is solved, murderer discovered and caught … Feluda could not really pick out who attacked him (till the end. So the case is partially unsolved).

5. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Dead Man Riddle by William Arden

A man dies and leaves his 'will' behind which announces that his inheritance will belong to anyone who finds it !!! He has left behind a riddle to be solved to reach the 'treasure'

The three investigators get involved and it is a continuous joy ride. For a change, they have another kid in the story who seems to be actually smarter than the 3 investigators and also there are a lot of occasions when competing parties crack the riddle and reach the spot BEFORE the three investigators do it. They are either catching up or applying a bit of an extra thinking. For a change, they were normal kids rather than investigative super heroes.

6. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Abbey Grange by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A man dies and his wife is found tied to a chair next to him. She reports that 3 men had come with the intent of robbery and done the damage. A simple enough straight forward case

BUT Sherlock finds some clues which point towards an entirely different story. He digs deeper and reaches the murderer. Listens to his story and then decides to let him go scott free.

This story again shows the remarkable deductions and powers of observation of Sherlock

7. Feluda: Shakuntala's Necklace by Satyajit Ray

A necklace is stolen and the thief needs to be caught. People other than the thief get exposed in the climax and the thief turns out to be the most unexpected of all characters; someone above (or should I say below) all suspicions.

8. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Second Stain by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

An interesting story where Sherlock traces a stolen document (of national interest) and even gets it back diplomatically without bringing the thief to the limelight. It's a sensitive political document and the matter is extremely sensitive.

9. Feluda: Feluda in London by Satyajit Ray

A gentleman in his 50's approaches Feluda with a photograph from his youth. He wants feluda to find out who his companion is in the photograph since he himself cannot remember anything from 3-5 years of his youth since he has suffered a memory loss bcos of an accident. His parents are also no longer alive to tell him.

He had found this photo pretty recently and was curious to find out about the boy in the photo. He had studied in London for some time and hence the queries lead Feluda and his companions to London. Feluda manages to not only find out about boy but also uncovers the real story behind the boy's death 30 years ago.

Once again, you enjoy not only the story but also a new place. Along the story, Feluda describes London and takes you on tour of London describing the city and its people.

The highlight of the story (not the plot) is Feluda's visit to the famed dummy address of Master Sleuth and World's most famous Detective … Sherlock Holmes ! Feluda visits Baker Street and stands before the non-existent House No. 221 and refers to Holmes as his GURU (teacher, guide, mentor) and even asks for his blessings so that his trip to London on a 'cold' case is not wasted !

10. Feluda: The Mystery of the Pink Pearl by Satyajit Ray

A rare pink pearl is at the centre of this story and like the paintings in the other story; there are fake copies of the same. Jatayu plays an important role in the story and saves the day !

11. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Invisible Dog by M V Carrey

This one was a very very interesting story where several different seemingly unconnected incidents begin to occur in a neighborhood and the three investigators have to grapple with the multiple threads and threats to several lives around them.

What adds to the complexity is that in a bid to mislead the kids, the culprit creates a situation where he himself is seen as one of the victims. Filtering the culprit from amongst the 'real' victims does indeed add to the challenge.

And of course, adding the mystery to the story is the presence of ghosts & spirits who are seen and who seem to be disturbing things. A ghost is seemingly seen by one of the 3 boys.

Last but not the least, there is indeed some unexplained supernatural element to the story.

12. Feluda: Dr. Munshi Diary by Satyajit Ray

What happens when a psychiatrist decides to write an autobiography? Nothing special … ?

Consider the fact that some people who have committed a crime go through guilt pangs which often results in depression and need for psychiatric help wherein they share their 'secrets' with the Psychiatrist !! Now does that make the autobiography interesting ??

Consider now that the Psychiatrist himself is guilty of something ??? More interesting ?

And then add to the fact that some members of his own family might have reasons to 'prevent' the publication of the autobiography ….. Guess I have your attention now J

Well … let me say no more … go ahead and read this one yourself J

And yes … Jatayu again steals the thunder from Feluda at the climax of the story !

13. Feluda: The Mystery of Nayan by Satyajit Ray

A boy who can see numbers in his mind … ask him any question to which the answer is a number and voila … you have got it.

Be it bank account numbers or the amount of money in the safe OR the combination code for the safe itself … or the number of the winning horse at the race course and so on … You must have got the gist of the 'criminal' uses for such a talent by now.

That is why when the 'powers' of such a boy get publicized, Feluda gets himself involved voluntarily to protect the boy from all those anti-social elements.

But then evil is not really obvious. A bit of evil is there even in those who are seemingly good.

14. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Death Trap Mine by M V Carrey

An over enthusiastic girl who wants to prove to the boys that she is also a good detective.

A new owner of a dead mine (and the girl dislikes him … so suspects him).

A dead body found in the mine … by the girl and the trio together.

Things begin to connect and they begin to connect to events 5 years ago when the entry to the mine was sealed.

The trio and the girl have to trace the movements of the dead guy who was probably involved in a robbery along with 2 other guys and a gal. For a change, the story had no 'spookiness' in it.

15. Feluda: Robertson's Ruby by Satyajit Ray

A precious Ruby is at the centre of the story which the current 'owner' wants to handover to a museum in India but there are those who wish to buy it (or get otherwise) and add to their personal collection. Feluda considers the Ruby a national heritage and voluntarily gets involved to protect it from the elements.

On the other hand ... This was an interesting story where a theft is committed but the intention is not to steal but to teach a lesson. Everyone is surprised that the case is solved by the Police and NOT by Feluda but Feluda has the feeling that something somewhere is wrong and things just don't fall into place. HE cracks the case eventually thought he allows the real 'culprit' to go scot free since he himself agrees to his actions and intentions !

I have read a couple of Sherlock stories too where Sherlock eventually decides to let the 'culprit' go since he pacifies with them and understands their actions and even agrees to them.

16. Feluda: The Magical Mystery by Satyajit Ray

There is magic in this story … and magicians too. (Although magicians were there in Nayan's story too but they were not in focus but more of supporting cast).

A young magician and an old one (who is writing a book on Magic which the young magician wants to buy)

The old magician is murdered almost immediately after the arrival of the young magician and there is (once again) no dearth of suspects. Anyone could have done it. All have Motives.

…. End of Part 1 …. (the best is yet to come)

Feluda Movie

2012-01-04T11:35:00.001+05:30

Just saw the promo of the new Feluda movie 'Royal Bengal Rohoshyo' ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiEw56_-pio

I just have one thought ... Why is Feluda looking so OLD in the movie ...

I mean, why choose an actor of that age group. Feluda was supposed to be a young sleuth and Topshe was supposed a teenager. Why don't indian film makers try to be as authentic as possible and stick to the original charachters.

I had a similar qualm with the new Sherlock Holmes movies. Sherlock Holmes was famous for his deduction and 'brein work'. The movie has been made into an action movie with Holmes himself getting involved in a lot of action. This is not the character Canon Doyle created.

Also, both Sherlock and Watson don't look like the characters described in Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock has pretty sharp features and had his customary tweed jacket and cap ... Watson was more round and stout fellow. The movie has glamorized them. Made them slim and highly action oriented.

While I can understand the compulsion to 'modify' things to make them glamorous to appeal to the Hollywood movie audience and today's generation ... also the need to spice up things with action and special effects .... so i let it pass !!

But making Feluda an older fellow ??? What justification do they have for it ?

Do they think that they want to make the movie for those people who are now older (middle aged) but who read the Feluda stories in their childhood and so choose an actor from their age group with whom they can identify ???

I hope the movie is good.

I would rather prefer the entire Feluda series to be converted into a TV series/serial ... detective stories are more appropriate for the tv format and making it into a movie means that there might be a compulsion to add unwanted glamour/masala in the movie which is not required and which somehow would dilute the whole effect.

How can we ever forget Byomkesh Bakshi on TV :)

The Year that was 2011

2012-01-02T05:58:00.001+05:30

Highlights of the year that was 2011 …

9 months continuous stay in Dubai and then 3 months caught 50-50 between Mumbai and Dubai with occasional visits to Pune too

8 international flights between Mumbai-Dubai (all between June and Dec)

14 movies seen in theatres; 4 of them being Premiere shows (all of them in Dubai)

120+ stories read – novels, novellas, short stories. Feluda completed. Complete collection of Sherlock Holmes & 3 Investigators in progress; some new authors read whom I will continue to read in 2012.

Lots of places visited in Dubai … in the first 4 months before summers began

At the Top of Burj Khalifa – 360 degree view of Dubai city from 124^th floor

Dolphin Show – Amazing is the word

Desert Safari – Fun Fun Fun in the sand

Abu Dhabi Tour – twice … Grand Mosque is truly amazing !

Para sailing experience – parachute flying being pulled by sped boat over the sea with a view of the fantastic dubai skyline

Ski Dubai – snow park inside a mall in dubai … freezing in minus 6 degree Celsius while outside it is 45-50

All the amazing and huge and beautiful malls of Dubai - The Dubai Mall, Ibn Batuta Mall, Wafi Mall ...

Overall it was a fun filled and happy year … hope the same from 2012 !!

In fact, hope 2012 is even better

The Beginning

2012-01-01T16:42:00.001+05:30

Well, first things first.

Wishing you a very very happy happy near to you ...

Wishing you a year of hope, peace, happiness, fun, laughter, joy, love and more ...

This short post is just to share the name of the book that I have begun on the first day of the year. "Myth = Mithya" by Devdutt Pattanaik who explains the concepts and symbolisms of Hindu Mythology thereby giving us a deeper understanding of our own (Hindu) beliefs.

I read the first few pages today morning and I am hooked !

College Days Nostalgia

2011-12-29T17:42:00.002+05:30

It is strange how memory works and how can random things trigger nostalgia shots.

Two things happened today which reminded me of my college days and my best friends.

First thing is i saw a Reynolds ballpoint pen. In my late school days and all through college days, i always used the Reynolds Bold ballpoint pen. I just loved them. Black, Blue, Green & Red ... all four would always be in my bag inside a small compass box (which was with me since 4th standard and still had the Mowghli sticker on it)

Well, I spent quite some time during my junior college days in the library (no no no no .. not studying. It was the favourite hangout for me and my 2 best friends). AND we used to keep our Reynolds pens standing on the library table. It was a sort of game and something that became a part of the lovely memories we have of our college days.

The sight of the Reynolds today brought back a flood of memories of my college days and my best friends. Those wonderful days !!

Another thing was a key chain I carry with me. It is always in my laptop bag and I get to use it every day since I use it to hold a small device which gives me half of the password for my official email. Well, a colleague saw the keychain which has a wooden oval shaped piece with words inscribed on it "Friends are Golden But my friend is Gold". He asked me where I got it from and I told me it was almost 15 years old and was from my college days. He marveled at the key chain while I was hit by nostalgia hit me again.

This keychain was given to me by my best friend and it again evoked countless memories.

I soooo wish I had a time machine and I could go back in time … or at least I had a photographic / videographic memory and I could re-live those moments in my mind with HD clarity on a 52 inch screen inside my head.

Mumbai Airport Experience (Continued)

2011-12-25T12:15:00.001+05:30

Well … in the previous post, I wrote about my bad experience at CSIA and the problems/inconvenience that millions of passengers face while travelling through the airport. I shared the link to the post with the Twitter account of CSIA (@CSIAMumbai) hoping that someone might read it.

What happened next 24 hours was something that is blog worthy, share worthy.

Within an hour of sharing the link on FB, I got a feedback from CSIA that they are looking into my feedback and will receive a response soon via email. I shared my email address and indeed an email arrived within an hour with detailed explanations to why the problems existed and what action was being taken to resolve them.

For the telephony and wifi problem, they said that they were recognized problems and they have been working on it already. For the baggage trolley problem, they said that the matter was being taken up strongly with the trolley contractors and trolley retrievers had been briefed.

I was pleasantly surprised at this quick response with firm actions being outlined in the email.

The story doesn't end here though.

I got another message from CSIA asking for my mobile number (this all email exchange and twitter message exchange happened in the evening) and next morning I received a call from CSIA Customer Service executive who discussed the problems with me in details and also shared the name and contact number of Duty officer at CSIA. Since I was travelling, I met the Duty Manager at CSIA and discussed the mentioned problems and a few more.

This chain of events prove that the Customer Service executives at CSIA are pretty much customer oriented and focused on feedback. What needs to be seen is whether the airport authorizes are equally responsive and quick in resolving the problems that I highlighted.

I will be travelling from Dubai to Mumbai again in about 10-12 days and it remains to be seen what difference in experience I will get.

(I have asked for permission from CSIA to publish their response email on this blog. I will post it verbatim if the permission arrives.)

Bad experiences at Mumbai International Airport (CSIA)

2011-12-23T15:57:00.000+05:30

I have been travelling international for past 6 years now and so I have been in the Mumbai International Airport extensively. I have never been happy with the Mumbai airport. Having travelled to Zurich, Geneva, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Chennai, Hyderabad (new), Bangalore (new) … Mumbai airport really disappoints in terms of infrastructure, facilities etc.

Now coming to my recent experiences …

I have travelled several times in past 6 months on the Dubai-Mumbai sector and my airport experience in Mumbai has been extremely bad (not unsatisfactory but bad).

I faced problems with telephony, wifi internet and last but not the least, baggage trolley.

Public phones are such a basic facility. In an international airport, many people do not have their mobile phones. Non-Indian passengers arriving will most probably not have a local mobile number. Indian passengers might leave their Indian mobile number at their homes in india since they would not want to incur the 'way-tooo-high' international roaming charges.

And it comes as a shock that I could not find a single PCO / public phone in the international airport in my last 2 trips. There was not a single phone in the departure lounge after crossing immigration counter. I could not locate a single PCO in arrival lounge also. None of the staff members or customs officials could help me on this.

How is a passenger supposed to reach out to anyone from inside the airport ???

And how can the CSIA authorities ignore such a basic service/facility.

WiFi Internet – CSIA boasts of free wifi but u need a phone to use it. The thing is that they want you to use your phone to send/receive a code so that you can activate wifi on your laptop or other device. So …. Keeping in context the fact that I stated above that quite a few passengers in international airport are without a mobile phone / active number; for them the wifi facility is not usable.

I would really like to know why does CSIA need to bring in the mobile phone in the workflow to access the wifi on the laptop.

Baggage Trolleys – CSIA is known for huge crowds at night time. There are times when multiple flights arrive in a short interval of time. The airport becomes a fish market or a stock market ring at that time. You can see a huge crowd (yes, crowd. Not queues) near the Immigration and the baggage conveyor belt and then outside for cab too. I do understand the crowd but I am sure it can be organized. I have seen bigger crowds at Dubai airport but they really manage their crowds well.

But let's come to the problem which hits the passengers the most. After having a tough time standing the crowd and queue for the immigration; when people rush to the baggage conveyor belts; they face a problem which is as stupid as an absent PCO. No trolleys.

It has happened to me twice so it was not an exception but a normal situation at CSIA. I could see hundreds of passengers (Men, women, children, senior citizens); all going round in search of baggage trolleys. And there were no trolleys to be found.

The passengers are in a fix since they need to look for their baggage and also for a trolley. If they pick up the baggage then they can't move around chasing the trolley and if they don't pick up the baggage for too long, the belt gets loaded up with no space for more bags to be added.

Some staff members would bring in a few trolleys and men would pounce on them. The women and senior citizens were looking at them helplessly. I myself had to pounce on a trolley (after 20 minutes of wait) which I shared with a lady with a 1 year old kid; since there was no way she could go trolley hunting with the kid.

The Airport authorities, airport police/security as well as the customs officials were simply looking at the absolutely helpless passengers and doing absolutely nothing to help.

I also saw some airline staff members getting 1-2 trolleys for their 'special guests' … maybe business or first class passengers for their airlines. And I also saw some currency notes exchanging hands and trolleys for the donor coming up in a matter of minutes.

I was tired, angry, disgusted, disappointed at the whole situation. Hundreds of passengers inconvenienced due to lack of trolleys. In my last trip of October, I got hold of the trolley after 40 minutes and this time in December, it was about 20 minutes.

And the best part was yet to come. While coming out the lady was complaining about the situation and I was trying to explain that about 10 flights had landed in a matter of 30 minutes and hence the rush. All trolleys were probably taken up by people who landed before us. I was still positive and looking at it as a situational problem.

I came out of the airport and moved towards the right side where there is less crowd and I could wait for my dad to pick me up. This is where I saw literally 100's of trolleys neatly stacked but no one taking them inside. I saw some staff members coming in and taking away a few trolleys rather than the usual practice of moving 50-100 trolleys together inside.

This was a real shocker. Trolleys were there. Plenty of them. Adequate and Enough for all the passengers inside the terminal standing and waiting at the baggage terminal. BUT, no one was taking them inside where they were really needed.

CSIA is supposed to one of the high passenger density airports of India; which only means that millions of passengers have to face inconvenience and bad experiences when they go thro CSIA. What an image of the Commercial Capital of India is being formed in their minds.

I hope someone from CSIA reads this and takes some concrete action to solves these problems ... and also the several other problems that the passengers face in the airport.

(Just when I was about to post this blog post, I saw the Amir Khan advertisement … Athithi Devobhava …

I am sure they could make an ad on airport experience of foreign travelers as well)

Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee !!

2011-12-21T10:18:00.002+05:30

I am sure you must have read this several times as email forward ever since you started using email. I am putting it here on my blog so that I can read it as and when I need some inspiration to see life and its problems differently

Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked, "Daughter, what do you see?"

"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.

"Look closer," he said, "and touch the potatoes."

She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs, and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity, the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

"Which are you?" he asked his daughter.

"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?" In life, things happen around us and things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

Book Review – 7 Secrets of Shiva

2011-12-20T10:41:00.004+05:30

Warning :) Long post ahead ! I just couldn't make it short. When you write from the heart, words flow!

I had heard about Devdutt Pattanaik from my best friend who is my guide for reading material J I was looking forward to reading some of his works when I came across the Blog Adda Book Review program. I registered and waited for something interesting to come up and voila … 7 Secrets of Shiva comes up next and I grab the opportunity!

Well, all fine till this point. I receive the book and unfortunately have to travel for work as a result the reading of the book gets delayed by almost a phenomenal 20 days. I come back and the first thing I do is pick this book up.

2 surprises even before I begin reading the book.

First one is the size of the book, the book is sized unconventionally (at least I haven't read a book in this size for a loooooong time). One may not realize but the size of the book changes things. You hold the book in your hand and it feels different. This changes the entire reading experience too.

The next surprise came up as soon as I opened the book. PICTURES. Remember your childhood when you would preferably pick up books with pictures (I 'fortunately' was not really that type and I picked up a Nandan or a Chandamama with equal or even higher zeal than a chacha Choudhury or a Tinkle; since less pictures meant more reading content).

7 Secrets of Shiva has pictures on ALL left hand side pages. Yes. That's right. HALF the book is pictures. It has been a very loooooong time since I read a book with so many pictures (barring comics of course).

Well, with these two pleasant surprises in tow, I started reading the book. As you might have read in many a places and many a reviews, the book is in 7 chapters / parts, each talking about the secrets of Shiva.

It is a 200 page book (with half the pages in pictures, so practically 100 pages of reading) and I thought reading this would be a pretty quick thing. I was to be proved wrong pretty soon. After every few pages, one has to take a pause. Stop and think about what one has just read. The mental machinery starts moving and all that you have heard, read, believed all your life is brought into focus and you now have a 'better' understanding of things as they are explained and not just left for you to accept without questioning.

In the first chapter, which unravels the secret of Shiva's form as a 'Shiva Linga', the narrative talks about the 'Pillar of Fire' incident where Shiva tells Vishnu, "You are humble enough to accept limitations. You are not intimidated by the uncertainty or afraid of ignorance. You are in the process of becoming God."

Think about it. Don't we humans possess similar characteristics? Aren't we ourselves in the process of becoming Gods … (although we have probably just started J). While reading this, I started thinking about the short book 'God's Debris' by Scott Adams where he proposes that we humans are God's Debris … the result of God destroying himself in a cosmic explosion (which we consider as Big Bang) and we are in the process of re-assembly … forming God gradually from the billions and billions of bits and pieces.

We also often hear people say "God is within You" … Are these then different ways of expressing the same concept?

Besides the concepts of form and factor, this chapter and the whole book in general, is all about Symbolism. The Shiva Linga, a form representing the human phallus, is the symbol used to depict Shiva. And it is not the only one. The author points out that Hindu Mythology is full of symbolisms (which I am sure is a common thread in the various Devdutt Pattanaik authored books).

Yet another interesting fact which is brought out is that although there is a human form representation of Shiva (ash covered, animal skin clad, living in the mountains), this form is never worshipped. It is the Linga 'form' of Shiva that is worshipped.

Each chapter looks at Shiva and the 'concept' of his being a god through various symbols and representations - Lingeshwara, Bhairava, Shankara, Bholenath, Ganesha, Murugan, Nataraja. The concepts engulf Shiva's form, nature, dance, his interaction with Vishnu and Brahma, significance of his wife Parvati/Shakti and his sons Ganesh and Murugan … Shiva is sum total of all of them and not just an individual. They complete him, complement him and represent him.

Reading this book is a contrast to those like Scott Adams "God's Debris" (a head spinner) … God's Debris challenges stuff you have never imagined challenging and shakes up your beliefs and understand. Devdutt's book 'explains' symbolism in mythology and helps you understand your beliefs … things which you had accepted blindly without questioning. This book is a good help to the scientifically inclined who would sometimes feel that our mythology is probably nothing but fantastic / fantasy stories which are pretty much unbelievable and don't carry much sense. (Yes Yes .. there are some youths around who indeed think like that). Devdutt's book would help them a lot.

We grow up learning about our Gods from our parents and then our teachers. Nowadays, of course there are plenty of mythological TV serials to give the kids a pretty biased and often glamorous perception of our Gods.

These books explain our beliefs and help us in our understanding of our gods (more specifically, the concept of Gods). Some 'learned people' might fear that in doing so, the books try to de-glorify Gods resulting in the modern youth questioning Godliness and pitting Gods against science and scientific proofs.

I would say, by explaining the concepts surrounding Gods, these books give the modern youth the precise understanding they need. It presents God in a way that is more acceptable to them. The books attempt to explain the 'representation' of God and not God themselves. Once you read this book, you don't go about questioning why Shiva is depicted as an individual who lives in the mountains, has 3 eyes, considered the destroyer, has a son with an elephant head who rides a mouse, represented as a Linga and so on. Youth begins to see these as symbols which are put together in an attempt to explain and represent the vas t concept of Shiva, the God.

We begin to appreciate the nuances of the concept of God (as defined by our religion) and we begin to appreciate them even more; b'cos now it is not just blind faith but a deeper understanding of the entire concept of Godliness.

If you are comfortable to put logic and religion/gods in the same thought process; leave Devdutt Pattanaik alone. He does not write for you.

And yes. Remember, i had mentioned pictures being a surprise in the book. They are important as well. A lot is explained through various pictures of Shiva's representations.

Disclaimer & FYI – This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda . Participate now to get free books!

Incidentally, I saw the promos of (yet another) TV serial based on Shiva. God knows what they will do to the young impressionable minds. I have not been convinced by the recent mythological TV serials. The Ramayan (original DD version) and Mahabharat (original DD version) were pretty good. There was one on Shiva by Dhiraj Kumar which was pretty decent. After that, things sort of went downhill.

Table Hockey

2011-12-19T13:32:00.001+05:30

Have you played this ? I had seen this earlier in some movie and in the gaming zones of malls but never quite tried my hand at it.

Recently, I got a chance to play and it was addictive. It was so much fun and entertaining and engrossing.
Time just flew by and it got pretty exciting. I am sure if and when I see this again somewhere, I am sure to play this !!
The pain in my shoulders and arms after the evening on Table Hockey was worth it !

My ‘bad’ experience with Kingfisher Airlines

2011-12-17T01:55:00.001+05:30

I travelled by Kingfisher for a change on the Dubai-Mumbai circuit. I have travelled Emirates, Jet, Indian Airlines etc earlier and this was probably my first experience (or maybe second) with the King. And it was NOT a good one.

I was disappointed by the Food.

I was very disappointed by the In-flight entertainments system.

Of course, IA was no better but one doesn't really expect too much from IA. But Kingfisher is supposed to be Good. Why then have important things like food and in-flight entertainment been ignored?

The food also left much to be desired. Quality as well as Quantity, both were not adequate. Food across the different airlines is pretty standardized in terms of the components etc though the quality varies widely. The king fell flat on the first step itself. The tray gave me a feeling that some things were missing and after having dinner, I felt dissatisfied J

Thankfully, a bad in-flight entertainment only meant that I could spend the time reading. I think I read 2 Feluda stories during my Dubai-Mumbai flight. This is good news for me so I am not really complaining but nevertheless, I expected Kingfisher to have better quality entertainment.

They just had one fixed hindi movie and another english movie and probably some english and hindi serial going on. You could only choose out of this 4 and there was no option to fwd, rewind, pause etc ... if u missed something .. u missed it. I thought that fixed options in-flight entertainment was a last century thing !! But the King clearly still reigns in the past.

The King is definitely not going to be seen as a King for long if it not going to get its basics right !!

BTW ....... While coming back to India, I had already finished off Feluda by then and the crew asked me to switch off my tablet (which I could have used to read) ... Luckily, Pyaar Ka Punchnama was one of the options (the other was Band Baaja Baarat and there was no english movie or hindi serial option) and i took it. Boy ! I enjoyed the movie. Saving grace for the trip.

Feluda … Completed !

2011-12-16T01:49:00.000+05:30

I completed the Volume 2 of Feluda stories yesterday.

There is a sense of satisfaction.

A big fat volume read and enjoyed.

All the waiting and travel time put to some very good use.

चित्त शांत ! मन प्रसन !

Literally and loosely translated as "Conscious self at peace … Heart pleased"

Reading Feluda is like Travelling

2011-12-12T20:50:00.001+05:30

I am currently on a Marathon Reading spree of Feluda ... targetting to complete practically the entire volume of Feluda stories (about 15 in total) within a span of 20 days spread across Nov-Dec ... (and reading some other stuff also in between)

Feluda stories are not only entertaining from the story point of view but they give you more than a story. They take you around.

Reading Feluda stories is like doing 'Bharat Bhraman' … touring the country with each case taking Feluda and his companions to a different city / town in India and then later even abroad; and you, the reader, tag along as a co-passenger on the tour of the new city.

It's a delight to read about those places in the middle of the story. Satyajit Ray ensures that through the Feluda stories, readers get a chance to experience exotic and different places. Ray talks about the place and its beauty. He gets the reader interested in places (be it Jaisalmer, Banaras, Haridwar, Darjeeling or Hong Kong & London).

Feluda must have created a yearning of travel in a lot many young minds. Tourism department should promote Feluda amongst the youngsters of today. They would surely be inspired to visit these and many other places of India.

Being pleased with simple stuff

2011-12-11T18:28:00.001+05:30

Received this short story as email forward and I felt like posting it here

------------------------------------------------

There was once a wise man who lived simply. His spartan food habits reflected this. He had a friend who, being a sycophant of the king, lived in great luxury. One day this friend called on the wise man while he was eating.

Looking at the food, the friend said, "My friend, if you can please the king like me, you will be free from this wretched food."

The wise man smiled and replied, "My friend, if you can be pleased with this simple food, you can be free from the wretched job of pleasing the king."

-- Anonymous

-------------------------------------------------

In a very few words, the story relates a significantly crucial facet of life. We spend our lives running after money (working our ass off or in some cases taking the corrupt path of amassing wealth) so that we can enjoy the so-called luxuries of life which constitute dining in expensive restaurants, living in expensive houses, owning expensive gadgets, travelling in expensive cars / planes etc and shopping extravagantly on expensive branded stuff.

Things which are not really necessary to life … not even necessary for happiness

BUT we attach 'happiness' to them and forever remain unhappy!

Might sound a bit philosophical but do give it a minute's thought !!

November Reading - Part 2

2011-12-10T05:21:00.000+05:30

Feluda Marathon ahead … 8 Feluda stories back-to-back …

Lugged around the heavy big fat Feluda Volume and read at every opportunity I got. Not having read Feluda in past several months, I was determined not only to read but also try and attempt to FINISH the entire Feluda Series by Dec 31^st 2011 … that's about 750 pages of small print while reading other stuff also.

6. Feluda: The Mysterious Tenant

A case where Feluda discovers the real culprit of the crime, which is a murder incidently BUT does not reveal his identity to others - The murderer eventually meets his death

Also there is the case of a smaller crime of theft which is also solved by Feluda BUT again the culprit is not handed over to the police but asked to return the stolen object.

7. Feluda: The Criminals of Kathmandu

The case of the look-alikes

A man comes to Feluda seeking his help about a person who looks like him and has been using his identity and doing mischief. The case of the stolen identity takes a deadly turn when a murder occurs and the cast and crew of the story moves to Nepal. Feluda is obliged to follow and hence the story moves to Nepal; where Feluda is up against an old adversary who makes a re-appearance.

8. Feluda: Napoleon's Letter

A bird goes missing from its cage and a child requests Feluda to look into it. Feluda is first amused and then gets serious about this childish thing. He knows its more serious than it seems.

Then a murder is committed and a letter written by Napoleon (and hence having antique value) is stolen … the plot gets murkier and feluda has to tie all the strings together to find out what exactly happened.

And yes, even after muder and the theft … attempted burglary continues with the child's room being searched …

9. Feluda: Tintoretto's Jesus

A rare painting by a famous painter … the discovery of the painter's name would make it priceless and also the target for antique buyers and other anti-social elements.

Well, the painting gets stolen and Feluda has to trace to the roots of the painting and the owner of the painting to find out the painter and the value of the painting and also all those who knew about the painter and the true value of the painting.

As the story moves on, a fake painting is discovered and then another fake J

The story also takes Feluda and his companions to Hong Kong !!

10. Feluda: The Gold Coins of Jehangir

A gold coin (one from a set of 12) is stolen and Feluda is asked to investigate. The only problem is that it was stolen a year ago and the suspects are guests of the client and he does not want to humiliate them by talking about the theft.

Feluda managed to catch the thief and even save the client from the second attempt at robbery wherein not just another coin but the entire set was the target.

11. Feluda: Crime in Kedarnath

A jewel owned by a person devoid of materialistic life becomes the centre of the story. The person with the jewel is to be traced and protected while Feluda's tried to dodge the other interested parties.

And yes, in the whole process Feluda manages to unite Jatayu with his long lost uncle !!

12. Feluda: The Acharya Murder Case

A person attached to a theatre, responsible for its rise to fame, begins to get attractive offers from other theatre groups. He is not keen on leaving due to his loyalty to the theatre and the offers begin to turn nasty with veiled threats and finally MURDER.

Feluda gets involved and discovers that there is more than one crime here.

13. Feluda: The Case of the Apsara Theatre

Another story which had an element of theatre in it

An actor begins to get threatening warning letters and then subsequently disappears.

Feluda begins investigation since the man had come to him for help and Feluda had simply advised him to be careful. Feluda felt obliged to solve his disappearance/murder case.

Menwhile. The actor is replaced by another one who also begins to receive threats in similar fashion and ultimately resulting in murder.

Yet another replacement actor is brought into the role.

And Feluda solves the murder case finally with startling results and discoveries about the murders as well as the culprit.

---------

Well… that was the Feluda Marathon of November end. I plan to finish off Feluda once and for all before year end. I am sure I will not sustain the enthusiasm of carrying the big fat Feluda volume around.

Also, on the reading list for early next month is the "7 Secrets of Shiva" by Devdutt Pattanaik that I received from BlogAdda for review. I was looking forward to this book since I have heard a lot of good things about Devdutt Pattanaik from my close friend whose advise I always take on reading matters.

Series Completion Score (as of 30^th Nov 2011):

Three Investigators 21 out of 35

Feluda 27 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 38 out of 56

Total 86 out of 126

November Reading - Part 1

2011-12-10T04:23:00.001+05:30

A couple of trips to Pune and also a trip to Dubai for 2 week in this month; meant that I had an increase in Travel time which boosts my reading. Reading score for this month's is a fabulous 13 !!

Started off with regulars - Sherlock Holmes and Three Investigators and also picked up a novel by James Patterson.

BUT the highlight of the month was the 'Return of Feluda' .. I read a total of 8 Feluda Stories to break of jinx of 'no Feluda' since several months ... it was like a Feluda Marathon at the end of the month.

Just FYI - November Reading post is in 2 parts. First part will talk about non-Feluda reading whereas the part 2 will focus on entirely Feluda reads.

1. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Six Napoleons by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The story has a culprit who goes about breaking (or to put it in a better word … smashing) plaster busts of the great Napoleon. And in due course, even commit a murder. Sherlock is able to see what no one else does and he finds the culprit as well as reaches the bottom of the mystery buried deep inside the busts.

I have often drawn parallels between Sherlock Holmes stories and the ones of the Three Investigators … here is another example. Even in 3I, there was a story where plaster busts were involved and their smashing was an integral part of the story.

More Interesting Parallels … There are stories in both series where tunnels are dug across the street from one house to another building holding a treasure / bank. Both have dealt with cases of the dog which did not bark and hence providing the most significant clue to the mystery at hand.

2. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Three Students by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story had 2 specialties; one related to Sherlock and the other related to Me.

Sherlock is involved to mediate in a case that cannot be made public. It involves a reputed university and 3 of its students. A 'student level crime' is committed and the culprit needs to be caught over-night. Sherlock nails the culprit without even meeting him and gains a confession out of him as well as from his unwilling confederate. The story displays Sherlock's unerring line of reason based on his acute observations.

Now coming to Me. It was special for me because in spite of my poor memory, I remembered almost exactly all the details of the story (mind you … all the details). Considering the fact that I would have read the story at least 15-20 years ago; it is nothing less than a miracle for me that I remember all the details.

3. The Three Investigators & the Secret of the Haunted MIrror by M V Carrey

This one was a pretty interesting one where a mirror (actually the Mirror Frame) becomes the centre of a mystery which leads to first a buyer for the mirror followed by a thief and then of course the ghost of a dead magician appearing in the mirror. This story then turns from mysterious to criminal and a boy is kidnapped !! The mystery having its roots in the tale of a famous magician from one country and the tale of a political upheaval in another; with the current mystery's resolution having a country's political future at stake !! WOAH !!!

And as with all stories … all's well that ends well !!

4. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Often while reading, we assume the meaning of the words we don't understand. When I read the title of the story and started reading it; I assumed that the 'golder pince-nez' was probably a piece of jewellery with a precious stone. As the story progressed and Sherlock applied his methods; i realised that the pince-nez is actually a pair of spectacles with the side pieces missing. They are placed/pinched on the nose and you might have seen them in some period fims showing british era of 1800/1900's !!!

The key highlight of the story was Sherlock giving the physical description of a lady merely by looking at her 'pince-nez'. Pretty amazing!! The spectacles provide him with further deductions which lead him to catch the culprit in an almost magical fashion … which seems pretty logical once he has explained it (but magical otherwise J)

The pince-nez incident made me realize how many times I might have misunderstood some words /objects etc during stories and how I would have visualized this completely differently. For example; in a famous novel series, I had assumed a character to be female only to realize that it was a male character when a movie was made on the novel stories. I read some part of the book again trying to figure out how I could have made such a blunder. Wasn't that character ever referred to as he/she in the story … was it always by his/her name??? Strange !!

5. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

Picked this one out of the blue and it turned out to a nice light read

As usual, we have kids who have magical powers they don't know about and begin to discover. The brother sister duo are arrested by the 'police' and they are thrown into a 'hospital' from where they escape and end up in shadowland - a world of spirits and 'half-lights' - and after escaping from there … live in a large mall-like departmental store along with hundreds of other kids who are 'wanted' by the 'N.O.' … the New Order, which wants to control the world.

And then there are Prophecies … in a world of magic, wizards and witches, how can a story not have a prophecy J This one has not one or two but several; more than half a dozen.

It is written well and I liked it. There was a sort of Robert Ludlum quality to it. Several anti-climactic moments … where a sentiment is expressed in a very short sentence; which serves as a pause … a time where is push your head back and look up from the words and process what you just read and felt (yes, felt) often accompanied with a smile on your face. I liked Robert Ludlum writing for their thrill factor as well as the writing style where he would often end a scene with a few words which would punctuate your reading flow and give u a chance to smile and absorb what you had read.

For some serious readers, this novel might seem kid-stuff and childish … nevertheless ... I enjoyed it !!

BUT … the story ended abruptly. This looks like it might just end up being a looong series (I guess trilogies will go out of fashion after the runaway success of the likes of Harry Potter). This series does have potential to go into more than a trilogy. I have found the further episode to the story and will probably read it next month.

Well … part one ends here. Will talk about the 8 Feluda stories that I read in the next blog post

Series Completion Score (as of 25^th Nov 2011):

Three Investigators 21 out of 35

Feluda 19 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 38 out of 56

Total 78 out of 126

Sharp Mind and Fiery Tongue

2011-12-10T04:03:00.001+05:30

Strange title you might wonder. Well, this post is about an incident where my 'so called' sharp mind came to my rescue and my fiery tongue helped me create an impression of a life time. They actually helped me not only in getting out of a sticky situation but coming out with flying colours

(Warning: Long blog post ahead)

The incident dates back to my Engineering days. Those 4 years were pretty awesome.

I used to participate in school drama events but somehow during junior college years I did not get chance to do it. In engineering, I took the chance again to be on stage. I participated in the class skit for our annual function and it was a great experience.

Well, the incident is related to my performance on-stage and how a dreaded situation worked to my advantage because of some quick on-the-feet thinking and a few timely words J

I don't really have a good memory so I always had the challenge of remembering my dialogues on stage. But, I would work out a way of having the script with me on stage to aid me J In one of the plays, I was playing a detective so I carried a small diary with me throughout the play where I was supposed to be scribbling all my notes and findings; whereas in reality it was in this diary that I wrote all my dialogues and I would refer it from time to time to prompt myself.

For the skit in this incident, I was playing a TV anchor and it would have looked pretty odd to carry anything in my hand. SO … I suggested a twist in the story right at the beginning so as to accommodate a writing pad with dialogues in my hand and that too after informing the audience that I was carrying my dialogues with me J

The twist was like this … I was to be "pushed" on stage and then the spot light would shine on me while I blabbered about being rudely woken up from sleep and being given the script at the last minute to anchor the TV show since the designated anchor was absconding. This served multiple purposes … introduced me on stage in a most dramatic way, introduced me a TV anchor and introduced the setting as that of a TV studio and a TV show … which otherwise would have required a boring narrative J AND it solved my biggest problem. I could now carry my script with me an even look into it AND make mistakes … and all would be seen as a performance and not a weakness …. VOILA !!

BUT ... Life has endless twists and it never fails to surprise !!

We were doing our final rehearsals for the skit on day of the program and then we left from our college and went to the venue. Just 15 minutes before going on stage, in the green room while I was getting my make-up done; I wanted to look up on a particular dialogue and to my horrors I realized that the script was missing.

Dramatically I could have thought that it was a conspiracy by the other class to bring me down since they might have known that a missing script would cripple my performance BUT real life is not that dramatic you know. I had simply forgotten my script in college at practice site. Wooops !

This sent shivers down everybody on the team since all of them knew what the loss of my script meant … and since I was the central character of the play (the TV anchor role was the like the 'sootradhar' and narrator who introduced the different components and performances of the TV show. I was the one who would hold the entire play together and conclude the play …. ).

In this moment of panic, I reassured the team and started scribbling any and everything that I could remember. I did manage to jot down most of the bullet points for almost 75-80% of the play but did not have time to write down the bullet points of the climax since it was time to go on stage (I was the opening batsmen after all).

I got ready, picked up the 'so called' script pages and stodd in position for being pushed on stage. The push came and I went on stage half falling and started off …

I guess my appearance on stage (being pushed) and me screaming and shouting at the people who pushed me on stage helped a lot in captivating the audience. You don't see such dramatic entry often on stage followed by the actor talking to people on stage rather than addressing the audience.

All went well till the documented script … and then I had to improvise.

Also, we had not been able to figure out a dramatic climax to our play so we had chalked up a rather mild close which had satisfied none of our team members but then we had no alternatives.

The missing script gave me a chance to improvise. Between the scenes, I worked with our 'director' and suggested that at the point where 'my bullet point script' ends, I will start shouting about a missing script and someone from backstage will shout that the 'channel' has shut down and the owners have run away and so has the producer of the show. I will then say a few dialogues about my payment not being made and then we can bring the curtains down. The director agreed that this would be 'dramatic' enough for want of a better ending !

What actually happened was totally different.

The play continued well. All the performances were good and there was a lot of clapping an cheering going on.

I came to the point where the script ran out and starting saying my dialogues and …. Stumbled !

Not physically but metaphorically and verbally.

I became silent b'cos I did not know what to say next (I was speaking faster than I could think the next dialogue) and I froze in front of a crowd of 100+

And then it happened … a guy from the audience said "Abe Bhool gaya kya" ('Have you forgotten?')

This is where my sharp mind kicked in violently and I said "Kya karoo yaar, TV Anchor hoon. Script ke bina kuch bolta hi nahin hoon" (What can I do buddy. I am a TV anchor and don't say anything without a script). There was a momentary silence followed by a huge round of clapping and cheering. I could feel the entire atmosphere reverberating with the sound of claps and cheers.

As the sound subsided, I continued with some other dialogues and brought the delivery of my dialogues to a close. In a typical presenter / narrator fashion, I bowed and the curtains were about to close in when a guy from other class (competing play) gave a shout from the back "Chal jaa jaa .. ab ghar jaa. Flop Show"!!

AND I flipped. I signaled the curtains closing to be stopped and they started going back. I had already begun to walk towards the wing, so I stopped and looking in the general direction of the source of that comment, I started to speak again and came back to centre stage. I did hear someone from backstage say 'Ab yeh kya kar raha hain' …

I spoke for the next 3 minutes.

Loudly, passionately, directly, straight from the heart, no dialogues, just plain words coming out

I spoke looking at the section of the audience from where the comment had come. I spoke about how we should be encouraging each other and supporting each other rather than booing people out and pulling them down to ourselves go up. I talked about sportsman spirit and how winning was about doing better than others rather than wishing/ensuring that other's performance was somehow worse than your own. I talked about winning attitude and competing with the world rather than fighting with each other. I talked about how we should help each other excel rather than worry about our ranks and small gains.

It was totally unexpected and unplanned. I myself don't really remember all that was said and unfortunately we did not have any recording of the play (there were no digicam's around at that time so no chance of having anyone shoot a video of that).

But it came straight from the heart and everyone listened with absolutely pin drop silence (which I could 'hear' whenever I paused between dialogues giving the audience a few seconds to absorb what I was saying).

I did make a dramatic close to this 3-4 minutes dialogue marathon by raising my hands to the heavens and asking the audience a question and repeating it 3-4 times. Some thing on the lines of "Kab tak aisa hi chalta rahega? aakhair kab tak? Aakhir kab tak?"

And then it happened … a few claps started and then the hall again reverberated with the clapping and cheering from the crowd. And then a few guys got up and cheered for our class and then some more followed and then some more … in a matter of a minute, the entire audience was standing (barring the first few row of professors and of course a section of the audience belonging to the competing class.

I can never forget that day and time and that moment standing there and absorbing all the positive energy out there. I felt elated at having accomplished something that was pretty unimaginable for me.

As I came down from the stage and went to the seats reserved for the team at the back of the hall .. I walked the entire way with students coming from seats and shaking hands with me, patting my back and congratulating me for the 'performance'. Some of our seniors even did impromptu bow and congratulated me for 'hitting back' at the comment in a fantastic manner.

I must have shook hands with over a 100 people and must have been patted on my shoulder a countless times. People would recognize me in college for a long time to come.

This singular incident is the most memorable of my engineering life. That evening the positive energy and confidence inside me was boosted a thousand times and it has helped me ever since. I remember that event not because of my sharp mind or fiery tongue that brought me name and fame in college.

When I think about the event, I am filled all over again with a similar super positivity and supreme confidence that I experience that day. Imagine being appreciated by a huge crowd and personally ebing congratulated by 100. That was a BIG Boost I got and I can fortunately relive it in my memories.

Whenever I feel down and out, I think of that event and I am back in the game again. The memory of that night wipes out all traces of hopelessness or down-n-out feelings which come with troubled times of speed-breakers in life.

So that's about that one incident of life where my sharp mind and fiery tongue got me out of a sticky situation!! I wrote this blog post inspired by the KFC fiery grilled contest on Indiblogger.in … Thanks to them, I have managed to document and record one of the most exhilarating events of my life. Now I can go back to that moment more often by simply visiting my own blog and reading about it. Thanks again.

People and Things

2011-12-10T02:46:00.001+05:30

Separated at Birth :)

2011-12-06T15:30:00.000+05:30

Ever since I saw the program Veer Shivaji ... i have been thinking about posting this

Finally, leaving laziness aside, i googled for the images and put them on a slide and here you go ...

Indian TV actor Paras Arora (Veer Shivaji fame) and Hollywood Actor Shia LeBeouf (Transformer and Indiana Jones fame) ... separated at birth !!

Inception - Movie within a Movie

2011-12-04T10:43:00.002+05:30

Feluda Marathon

2011-11-30T21:13:00.001+05:30

10 days ago I wrote about the trouble with reading feluda. Well, the post ignited something in me and I picked up Feluda.

Travel time on daily basis increased thereafter and there was some waiting time at airport as well as bad in-flight entertainment system in the Kingfisher flight I took ... All this helped me Read Read Read Feluda in the past 10 days.

I have read more than 7-8 stories spanning more than 350 pages of the book ... thats about half book !!

I am feeling much better now ... Feluda's reading score had been stagnating for quite some time. I almost felt guilty for not reading it.

Now that it has seen a reading spike, I feel much better

Attachments

2011-11-26T13:22:00.002+05:30

Big Fat Feluda in Small Print

2011-11-21T20:24:00.001+05:30

Its been some time since I have read any Feluda story; the primary reason being the small size print in the big fat volume I have. I don't really mind the size of the volume (it is pretty thick at about 1000+ pages); it is the print size that is the problem.

I read during my travel times … car, bus, train, flight, airport waiting etc … and the small print size is too much of a strain on the eyes. Larger print sizes are bearable (although not great for eyes).

This singular factor has negatively impacted my reading score on Feluda … And I don't know how to improve it either. Reading while being stationary does not seem to be a possibility since there are so many other things to do and there isn't really any leisure time at hand. Only traval time to spare.

Wish the pages of the book gave the same feature as the tablets (iPad/galaxy tab etc) … pinch and increase the font size J

What's UP?

2011-11-14T22:59:00.001+05:30

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'up'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list,

but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends.

And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning.

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.

When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for a while, things dry UP

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so it is time to shut UP!

Now it's UP to you what you do with this email.

And of course, how can we forget the ever so popular "What's UP?"

or its newer version "wassUP?"

Understand rather than Misunderstand

2011-11-11T10:54:00.001+05:30

(came as an email forward, found it interesting, so sharing ... )

A drunk man who smelled like beer sat down on a subway next to a priest. The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.

After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, 'Say Father, what causes arthritis?'

The priest replies, 'My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath.'

The drunk muttered in response, 'Well, I'll be damned. He then returned to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. 'I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?'

The drunk answered, 'I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does.'

Moral of the story : Make sure you understand the question before offering the answer

2 Extra Hours !!

2011-11-08T17:35:00.002+05:30

Well … the guys at HUL claim that the new Surf Excel Matic is smart enough to get rid of stains while your clothes are inside your washing machine, so you don't have to spend your precious time doing it seperately.

So … the million-dollar (or lets say the lakh-rupee) question is "If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it?"

2 extra hours would give u a 26 hour day and a 13 hour clock face ! Wouldn’t that be weird ?? or more than that …wouldn’t that be ‘unlucky’ ?? Having to stare at a 13 hour clock face every day … ???

2 hours … 120 minutes … 7200 seconds … looks significant enough!!

Right ?? So how would I spend it?

Now that's a very interesting question which sets me thinking and even makes me nostalgic … (something that hasn't happened for a couple of days … eh … I am referring to 'nostalgic' not 'thinking')

Reminds me of my MBA days when We (Nikhil and I) conceptualized the first fully online business games event of India and found that even the 24 hours we had were not enough. We spent sleepless nights (and dozing lecture times) for almost 4 months before we launched the event (MastishK) which ultimately turned out to be hugely successful (thanks to the efforts of a 30 member strong team of MBA students). We also created the world's first B-School / MBA comic character Arbit Choudhury and release about 20 comic strips around the event. I remember those times and wonder, if I had 2 additional hours every day in those days, we could have accomplished so much more (or at least once in a while got some good night's sleep).

Nostalgia also reminds me of my Engineering days … specifically the exam days when we had to study a semester worth of studies in a matter of 2 weeks and any additional hour would have been god-sent … what to talk of 2 additional hours a day J I am sure I would have managed at least 2% more J

Well … enough of nostalgia ... lets look at the present !!!

Arbit Choudhury - If I had 2 hours more every day, I would be able to devote more time to creating the Arbit Choudhury comics and would have increased the frequency of new comic release from once a fortnight to once a week. Just the 2 hours from 'one day' every week would mean more comics and more smiles spread across the globe J

Reading - I have been a voracious reader since early childhood and my reading levels / score has gone up and down over the years as other things took priority and I got busy with studies and work. I read extensively during my school days devouring 2-3 books every week; while in college / engineering / MBA; other books took priority and my fiction reading score went down. It picked up again but I started on self development books and the likes. Then came the corporate life and reading again took a dip.

A few years ago, I realized that this was practically the only hobby I had and my only escape from 'reality' … so I decided to get back to reading and have been reading pretty regularly and voraciously ever since maintaining my reading record on monthly basis on my blog too. BUT, work hampers my reading (currently engaged with 3 different clients and other responsibilities which make me travel, it is difficult to read).

2 extra hours would a BIG BOON for my reading. There is soooo much to read and so little time. 2 hours would be enough to complete a small 100-120 page novel; a week would be enough to complete a 500-700 page novel (NO, I won't use all of extra 2-hours in reading alone, there are other things too). These 2 additional hours every day would enable me to read at least 4 more novels / books every month beside the short stories and novels which I am already reading. I would love to see my reading graph rise to a higher level J

Family - Besides my reading, the extra time would also mean I can spend some more time with my parents and brother. It seems like ages I have spent some 'so called quality time' with my bro chatting about general things in life. Its been a long time since I spent time with mom-n-dad talking about family affairs and about planning a getaway. The additional 2 hours would at least give me a few minutes every day to make that happen (although the fact of the matter is that one doesn't need extra minutes and hours to do this, all it takes is the inner will to go ahead and do it. No matter, how busy one is; one can still find 5 minutes to spend with family and indulge in small talk).

Friends - While I write this, I also realize that I haven't been 'really in touch' with my numerous friends from over the years and the common excuse is actually that I don't get time. If I did have 2 extra hours, I would begin by spending 5 minutes every day writing / calling up a friend whom I haven't contacted for some time. Touching base with friends without the excuse of an occasion like a birthday, diwali, new year can be pretty awkward but pleasant thing. Awkward because we no longer call on friends and acquaintances 'just like that' unless we have some work with them. Pleasant because … (can this really be explained?) … touching base with friends is always pleasant. Hearing their voice and feeling their smiles in their voice. But again, we don't really need the extra 2 hours daily to do this. All it takes is a will to do it. But definately, if I had 2 more hours a day, it would give me some extra time in hand to spend some time with my best friend.

(So ... to spend more time with Friends and Family .. one does not really need extra 2 hours per day … it can be done even without them but if we indeed had the 2 hours … it would help :)

Writing/Blogging - Extra 2 hours would definitely allow and enable me to write more on my blog. So many thoughts and ideas and observations remain in my notes and never make it to my blog bcos of paucity of time. Had I the extra time, I wouldn't be surprised to find a minimum of one meaningful blog post every day rather than the not-so-great score of single digit every month that I now have (but of course, there are some months with double digit scores too).

The 2 additional hours would help me write at least 2 more blog posts a week and hopefully … just hopefully … in the long run … inspire me and enable me to write the book/novel that I soooo wish to write someday ! (that's part of the 'things I wish to do before I die' list)

Biz Talk - And yes, before I forget. I am an entrepreneur at heart and with time and increase in office work pressure, I have not been able to give my 'that side of brain' any time to think and explore and discuss with another entrep friend of mine. With 2 more hours every day, I could probably have a once-in-a-week meeting with him over coffee discussing business ideas (provided he also had the luxury of the 2-extra-hours-a-day)
Last but definitely NOT the least (in fact, very important); If I had 2 extra hours every day, my wife would be extremely happy whose most common complaint is that I don't give her 'enough' time (mind you … 'enough' is a highly vague ambiguous undefined term whose definition changes with time). She would indeed be happy with the extra time I would have and lay her claim on it (as it is she has anyway laid her claim on the iPad/BB which I might win in this contest :)

Just while I was about to post this ... a thought struck me ... If I do manage to get the eextra 2 hours a day AND If I do win the tablet ... wont the tablet occupy the extra time and I wont be able to do any of the above ..... hmmm .... but then I read the previous paragraph again and realised that my wife wont alllow that to happen. The tablet would not be able to interfere with my extra time .. :)

Addendum: This post also hit another spot of nostalgia. In my school days, I had read several sci-fi novels which had some element of time-warp / space travel where time stretched and compressed. Wish I could lay my hands on some of them now. I would love to read them again. Or even something similar. I really miss my sci-fi reading of school days. (This actually adds one more thing that I could do with the extra hours. Once a week, I could use those extra 2 hours to ‘google’ for some interesting off-beat sci-fi novels and then read them :)

Note: This blog post was inspired by Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart Contest where bloggers are to pen down (or should I say 'key in') their thoughts on ... "If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it?"

Blog Adda !!

2011-11-05T13:42:00.003+05:30

Have been visiting blog adda and have known about it for a long time but only recently got the registration process straightened out for myself. was stuck at the 'activation' level and i had misplaced that email :)

Will register for their Book Reviews program now ... I had recomended it to my friend who already started doing it and I was unable to register myself :)

Now I will ...

October Reading …

2011-11-03T13:30:00.001+05:30

Travel time has increased with weekly travel to Pune and also a trip to Dubai for about 10 days in this month; so this was supposed to give me plenty of travel time to read J but juggling multiple projects and shuttling between 3 cities took its toll on my time and health too, so couldn't really read during my travels. So ultimately the score is lower than expected. But on the brighter side, I read 2 complete novels from different genres; outside my regular stories.

This month I finished off the last of the Genius trilogy and continued reading the regulars (Sherlock Holmes and Three Investigators). I also read a novel which I would classify as 'emotional' stuff. No, it wasn't another emotional novel … on the contrary it was more of a reminder about what life is all about and how we live false lives chasing false dreams (often nothing more than a mirage) and reaching the so-called destination of life completely unsatisfied; wondering what really happened?

Could not read Feluda this month; The trouble is that the font size in the big fat volume is small and is not really very conducive for reading during travel.

1. Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks

Having read Evil Genius and Genius Squad in last 2 months, it was pretty logical to pick up the third part of the trilogy in this month J

The story line was decent and there was once again a nasty surprise coming towards the end of the story. The basic assumption that carries the story for almost 60% of the story timeline is suddenly proved wrong and you are left feeling dizzy, relooking at all the assumptions that you had made along with the story's lead characters and re-evaluate for a fresh perspective. And then again near the end of the story, you feel that the assumptions have to be reset.

At the end of it all, on e is left confused about what exactly happened. I don't like this. A reader should not be left in a lurch. Things have to be explained and closed. Maybe the author wanted to keep her options open about writing another novel in the Genius series. But that does not mean, leaving loose ends in the current story.

2. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of Black Peter by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The story has Sherlock Holmes stabbing furiously at a dead pig (several times, over and over again) to conclude that it was literally impossible for him (and any 'ordinary' able bodied person) to pierce the dead pig (and by that analogy, a human being) through and through with a weapon in a single blow.

This actually helps him narrow down his suspect 'population' to a small group while investigating a murder where a person has been killed in his home with a 'harpoon' put through him and pining him to the wall behind. Gruesome! Sherlock shows his usual flair at detective consulting and solves the mystery concluding with the murderer walking into his home all by himself.

3. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Monster Mountain by William Arden

This one begins with the 3I going for camping with the Bavarian brothers (who also want to meet their cousin) and ending up with a multi pronged mystery.

What begins with a search of a lost key becomes a mystery that involves a so called Monster Mountain and its associated animals (and monsters of course). And of course, it goes without saying that these seemingly dangerous things and animals eventually turn out to be innocent and harmless, while the humans turn out to be the real danger.

4. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Charles Augustus Milverton by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story is not about the solving a crime. It is more about witnessing it.

Sherlock is involved to mediate in a blackmailing situation and the negotiation fails to fruition. At this stage, Sherlock takes the unlawful (but moral) path of breaking into a house and stealing something; only to witness the murder of the person who was at the other end of the negotiation.

Sherlock and Watson quietly walk out of the situation (but not before accomplishing what they had come for). If you are looking for mystery, skip this story. It has none.

5. Tuesdays with Morrie by

As I said earlier, this month saw my departure from regulars and this one was a rather different genre. This one was more of a reminder about what life is all about and how we live false lives chasing false dreams (often nothing more than a mirage) and reaching the so-called destination of life completely unsatisfied; wondering what really happened?

Tuesdays with Morrie was a narrative and story of a sports journalist who begins to rediscover life through his dying professor Morrie, who has himself begun to see life in a new perspective after being diagnosed with a deadly disease which has begun his race to death.

The story moves through several realizations which Morrie has after his new life (under the shadow of death) has begun and how he shares these discoveries with our protagonist; also making him realize that u don't need a reminder from death about these things. These are things that should be taken into account while living … not while dying.

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st Oct 2011):

Three Investigators 20 out of 35

Feluda 19 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 33 out of 56

Total 72 out of 126

Genius Trilogy completed J

our fascination

2011-10-31T16:10:00.000+05:30

Eternal Questions ...

From "What came first –the chicken of the egg?"

To "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

And now to "Why did the 'angry birds' get angry?"

What's with our fascination for the chicken and birds … ???

RIP

2011-10-12T03:46:00.000+05:30

Rest In Peace ...

Mr. iApple & Mr. Golden Ghazal Voice of India !!

Already rested in peace earlier this year .. Mr. Yahoo of India !!

Steve Jobs, Jagjit Singh and Shammi Kapoor ... people who are not forgotten so easily ......

September Reading …

2011-10-06T15:12:00.001+05:30

This month witnessed an increase in travel time to and fro office; this helped me read a bit more. Work load also increased as I was engaged in 3 projects at a time so reading score didn't exactly go through the roof. Once again, it was a mix of the regular 3I, Feluda, Sherlock stories along with a novel and short stories. Reading score was at a satisfactory 15.

Started reading Volume 2 of Feluda and also started another collection of Sherlock Holmes which marks his 'return' after being declared dead in a previous story. I also read the sequel to Evil Genius and finished off reading the short story collection of Jeffrey Archer !!!

1. Feluda: The Mystery of the Secret of the Cemetery by Satyajit Ray

The first story of Volume 2 and I am always happy to pick up the fat volume of Feluda Stories and read through it. The story was complex with several characters under suspicion with practically no one turning out to be what they seem to be expect for our regular trio. Ancient scrolls, misleading illnesses, empty houses, and attacks on people made the story an interesting read.

2. Do Not Pass Go (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

A simple story about a man who escapes from something only to be brought back (almost) into the clutches of the same danger once again after several years … talk of narrow escape.

3. Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks

Having read Evil Genius last month, I decided to take this up. I haven't read a trilogy this year so this could be one.

The story line was decent and there is a nasty surprise coming towards the end of the story. Otherwise, I feel the author was probably forced to change course in the story at some time. Unexpected twist is one thing but to get a twist in the story which almost renders the previous build-up of the story meaningless … that's hard to digest.

Nevertheless, it was a decent effort. I wouldn't rate it very high though. Not bad either.

4. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Empty House by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story marks the return of Sherlock Holmes (back from the dead) after he was 'killed' in the 'Final Problem'. The return is dramatic but the first case is not really worth talking about.

5. Chunnel Vision (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

This one turned out to be an interesting short story … something that creates a suspense that grips u and u keep reading till the end. The story has a story within which is a thriller. But the real twist comes in the last 2 sentences of the story. Really Good one!!

6. Shoeshine Boy (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

I guess I missed something in here. The end of the story was interesting but somehow I did not quite get the joke.

7. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Shrinking House by William Arden

This one was a real good roller coaster with several characters under the shroud of mystery and Jupiter's deductions seemingly falling flat when they seemed to be so close to the truth. In the end, nothing seems to be what it looks like and every character seems to be having a secret.

A twisted tale of a hidden treasure which isn't actually a treasure but invaluable none the less although its value is zilch!!!

8. Not for Sale (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

An interesting story with quite an unexpected end which did not really make too much sense to me; I did not really like it. Felt like the writer forgot to tell me something and the story abruptly ended. Not that I am looking at happy endings, but often there are subtle hints and implied endings which I can easily miss L

9. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Norwood Builder by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A pretty interesting story where our dear Sherlock seems almost stumped and ready to accept defeat

But just then, the criminal tries to play smart by planting 'additional' evidence and thereby leading to his/her own downfall.

10. Trial and Error (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

The first story of the book … read almost the last. A long story of how a man is jailed for a crime he has not committed and then he sets out to commit the crime but it involves the arduous task of finding a man who is for all practical purpose and knowledge 'dead' for the world.

11. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Dancing Men by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story involved cracking a coded text message … the code being written / drawn in the manner of dancing stick-men. The crux of the story lies in how Holmes is able to decode the message and also catches the culprit by actually using the same code to send a message to him; making him come to Holmes himself rather than Holmes needing to go out in search of him.

12. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Phantom Lake by William Arden

13. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

An interesting story but not too much of deduction here. Even Sherlock is unable to comprehend fully the urgency of the situation leading to the abduction of his client almost right in front of him.

14. One Man's Meat (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

This is the 12^th and the last short story from the Twelve Red Herrings series of stories.

A very interesting story with an equally interesting way the story ends. The story has 4 different endings and you have a choice to read any one or all of them. Not all 4 were equally good but it was interesting to read multiple outcomes of the same story line. Makes us realize how our life is shaped by decisions we make as well as things & people that surround us.

15. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It is a crime of abduction and the curious unraveling of the same after a few days of the actual event. Although Sherlock manages to pin-point the 'criminal' in this case, the story and motive behind the crime surprises even him.

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st Aug 2011):

Three Investigators 19 out of 35

Feluda 19 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 31 out of 56

Total 69 out of 126

12 Red Herrings 12 out of 12 (Complete)

August Reading …

2011-09-14T14:51:00.001+05:30

A good month for reading it was … the count is 7 stories … which is a mix of the regular 3I, Feluda and Sherlock stories along with a novel. Finished Volume 1 of Feluda and also completed a collection of Sherlock Holmes story (the last story of which is a mere recording of Sherlock Holmes' death!!)

1. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Nervous Lion by Nick West

From dragons in the last story, we move on to real wild animals. This time the case involves animals in a private animal sanctuary and during the course of the story, the 3 investigators come face-to-face with a lion, panther and a gorilla on 3 different occasions

The story is not much about the nervous lion though it is the reason the 3 boys get involved and begin to explore the nervousness while tripping over one mystery after the other discovering that a host of strange characters are involved in the mystery.

2. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Naval Treaty by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A very confidential and secret document is stolen and the person who is held responsible for the same approaches Sherlock to uncover the mystery after quite some time (since he is himself down with brain fever after the theft and is able to reach Sherlock only after recovery)

An interesting set of circumstances spike Sherlock's interest in the case and he takes it up and solves it with his usual flair. In this particular one, he sits and stares at a room from outside waiting for the culprit to make his move. All he does (before taking up his observation post) is to create conditions that will make the culprit make his move.

3. Feluda: The Mystery of the Secret of the Cemetery by Satyajit Ray

I am nearing the end of the first Feluda Volume (finally). I should have completed it by June though; nevertheless this month should see the closure of Volume 1.

This story involves a cemetery where a person is hurt in a storm and a grave is dug. Feluda begins to dig into history of the city and its people only to discover a person with a colourful history who lived more than 100 years ago. Feluda traces his family tree and finds the 'family members' who live in the city, unknown to each other. Coming back to the grave, an object is (to be) stolen from the grave and Feluda, not only anticipates it, but also takes it on himself to protect it.

3. Feluda: The Mystery of the Secret of the Curse of the Goddess by Satyajit Ray

The last story of the first volume of Feluda, Phew

A twisting turning story where focus keeps shifting between a Tiger which escapes from a circus and a family of strange people headed by an old man who relishes talking in riddles (who eventually dies during the story, leaving behind a riddle/puzzle for Feluda to solve)

Strange thing is while you are reading the story, u almost don't think or read anything that justifies the title of the story. The story keeps winding around things and finally the story of the Tiger and the old man collide.

5. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

This was one of the dozen books I picked up in Dubai 8 months ago. Finally decided to begin something from that lot and Evil Genius happened to have the most interesting title.

I liked this one. Its been some time since I read such stuff. A Genius kid who is being 'trained' in World Domination at an institute designed specifically for that purpose where the subjects being taught are stuff like embezzlement, forgery, disguise, counterfeiting, lying and so on.

The kid discovers himself through the story … finding his evil and good side. There is small twist in the tail of this tale which is interesting. I liked the story and the narrative. Nothing too great but decent enough.

Looking forward to reading the sequel to the story. It's a trilogy.

6. Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is a story where Sherlock Dies! Need I say more … but let me try

There is no mystery n this story. No crime or murder to be solved. Sherlock is closing in on one of the most notorious criminals of this time and the story ends in his death.

7. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Singing Serpent by M. V. Carey

Well …. It wasn't exactly a singling serpent. Yes, there was a kind of serpent involved and there was some kind of a strange singing involved and the two of them were linked with superstition and belief in black-magic. The story also has a character (a girl) who pretty much 'dominates' the trio of investigators. A very interesting character

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st Aug 2011):

Three Investigators 17 out of 35

Feluda 17 out of 35 (Vol. 1 completed)

Sherlock Holmes 26 out of 56 (2 Collections + 2 Long stories completed)

Total 60 out of 126

12 Red Herrings 06 out of 12

Gandhi Topi !!

2011-09-06T03:29:00.001+05:30

I am sure the head gear / head wear / cap above needs no introduction. It is the all-famous Gandhi Topi or the Gandian Cap or any other version of the cap name with the Gandhi name attached it.

I have often wondered 'why so'? And I have wondered so because in the countless images, sketches, photos of Mahatma Gandhi … I have never seen him wearing this 'Gandhi Topi' !!

Strange …

Video Collage of Pics - An experiment

2011-09-04T03:44:00.002+05:30

My First Eid at The Dubai Mall Slideshow: Nisha’s trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates was created by TripAdvisor. See another Dubai slideshow. Take your travel photos and make a slideshow for free.

Opportunity

2011-08-31T17:42:00.000+05:30

Opportunity is missed by most because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work ~ Thomas Edison

FB contests to win :)

2011-08-27T12:22:00.004+05:30

My wife, Nisha, has become very active on FB off-late ... primarily due to the many contests that run on them and the Dubai market which is at the stage of exploiting FB marketing potential to the max.

Here are several FB links where a 'like' will take my wife (and me) one step closer in winning the competition.

Do take out a few minutes to access FB and go click-click-click !!

-------------------------------------------

Contest 1

Step 1 – Click 'Like' button on this page

http://www.facebook.com/dubaimallsguide

Step 2 - Click the 'Like' link below the image

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=162302047181682

Step 3 - Click the 'Like' link below the image

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=163617680383452

-------------------------------------------

Contest 2

Step 1 – Click 'Like' button on this page

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Spaces-Salon-Spa/170772872994624

Step 2 - Click the 'Like' link below my wife's message at the top of the page.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=179637545441490&id=170772872994624

--------------------------------------------

Contest 3

Step 1 - Click 'Like' button on this page

http://www.facebook.com/#!/ProtectiveFashionObject

Step 2 & 3 - Click the 'Like' link below our message at the top of the page at below links

http://www.facebook.com/ProtectiveFashionObject?sk=app_137924262950039&app_data=261

http://www.facebook.com/ProtectiveFashionObject?sk=app_137924262950039&app_data=262

--------------------------------------------

After you have liked the pages/links above, do leave a comment on this blog or my twitter stream ... Thanks !!

Fatal Error !

2011-08-26T02:04:00.000+05:30

Random chatter - Festivals in India

2011-08-20T17:42:00.000+05:30

Several festivals come and go in the second half of the year in India and you see different ways of celebrations in different parts of the country. Celebrations are times when the country turns colorful and there is a lot of joy around. People are generally happy and they talk/meet their friends and relatives on the pretext of wishing them on the occasion. Often, there are people who you talk to only during these occasions wishing over festivals.

Festivals in India are times when people buy new clothes and household things including electronic equipment and vehicles (although past 2 decades has begun to shift this culture and the marketers are slowly changing the culture of festival-buying to anytime-buying)

Festivals add a lot of sound (read noise), color and light to the general atmosphere and everything seems to be highlighted; even people.

Festivals are times when people get a holiday … from work and from educational institutes. These holidays were traditionally utilized for celebrating the festival but the trend now is to take 'vacations' and go to some hill station or even catch a holiday abroad.

If you have read so far and are wondering what am I writing about and what is the whole point I am trying to make… QUIT now

I am not trying to make any point nor trying to put a perspective to anything. This is pure mind chatter translated into words. J

I am simply thinking about all the family-time (with Parents and siblings) I am going to miss during the festivals that i am going to miss in the second half of the year ... away from home.

Yaaaaaahoooooo & Sukoooo Sukooo

2011-08-14T13:50:00.001+05:30

He has been missing from the bollywood scene for quite some time but I am sure he will never leave our memories. For the generation which has grown up watching his movies, he was always a breath of fresh air on the silver screen.

He changed the way we perceive and look and feel about Bollywood songs. From the crazy caper "Yahoooo …. Chahe koi mujhe jungle kahein" … to fun filled & romantic "aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche har zabaan par" & "yeh Chand sa Roshan chehra" to yet another crazy "Aiy Aiy Aiya Sukooo Sukooo J" to the all-out funny-n-mad "Meri Bhainsh ko danda kyon maara" to the romantic "Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyar Tera" to softer romantic number "Deewana hua baadal, saawan ki ghata chaayee" & "Akele Akele Kahan Ja Rahe Ho" and "Dil ke jharokhe main tujhko bithakar" and "ishaaron ishaaron main dil lene wale"… and the list goes on.

I am sure he must have given memorable performances too on the acting front … but I will always remember Shammi for his Songs !!

As he passed away and I saw a message on FB about it … it came as a shock !

(just noticed that inspite of my limited memory, I almost jotted down 10 Shammi Kapoor songs in a matter of few minutes ... and I am sure if I spent a few more minutes, i would list down another set of 10 fantastic songs of SK... )

He is a legend ... albeit a jumping dancing singing one :)

thats the image he will always evoke in my mind ...

A day of extreme variety

2011-08-13T21:51:00.000+05:30

O! What a day it was !

From the sweltering 45 Degrees to the chilling minus 5 degrees.

From the speed boat ride in the open seas to the snow sleigh and tobogganing tyre sliding on snow.

From walking on the HOT sand to wading through waist/chest deep COOL water to sliding and slipping on the COLD snow and flying / parasailing over Dubai Seas !!!

Rode the Bus, Taxi, Metro, Speed Boat, sleigh and even flew with a parachute thingy !!

All in a single day !!!

That is how I celebrated my Wedding Anniversary in May !!!

Celebrated on 14^th May instead of 15^th May … since 14^th was a weekend. (Kept 15^th May much more calm with a walk down the sea side and a dinner at Kamat Restaurant)

The Best Khan of Bollywood !!

2011-08-10T16:25:00.000+05:30

So who do you think is the best 'Khan' of bollywood … Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan …. Well … my choice is a bit hatke !!

For years … or should I say decades, my favorite Khan of Bollywood has been .... Kader Khan !!

Today, while channel surfing, an out-of-the-blue thought struck me and I was reminded of Kader Khan. I realized that it had been a very long time since I had seen him on the silver screen. Decided to google him and find out if he was still around.

Googling told me that his last movie was Umar, some 3-4 years ago and since then he has literally quit Bollywood.

He has been in Dubai since then and he is now into a non-acting profession. He is a teacher. The profession though is not new to him. He was a professor in Mumbai before Bollywood happened and he is content to be back into his old role. Before Bollywood, he used to teach Civil Engineering students at the Saboo Siddik Polytechnic in Mumbai. But now he is teaching languages to Dubai students - Urdu and Arabic. (source)

Having seen in a wide variety of roles since early childhood … as a villain against the likes of Jeetendra in movies like Pataal Bhairavi .. to character roles (especially Father) in several family movies, to the comedy pillar of Govinda-David Dhawan movies … he has literally done it all in Bollywood. If he has quit Bollywood (for whatever reasons), It is a great loss … for Bollywood and for Indians.

I miss him.

(There was another article on the net that I came across; it said he is making a comeback in a TV serial on Sahara One - Source)

Frequent Flyers :)

2011-08-08T08:11:00.001+05:30

(Reader Warning: zOke ahead)

On a busy Friday afternoon, while the passengers are patiently waiting for their flight to begin, two men dressed in Pilots' uniforms walk up the aisle. Both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a guide dog, and the other is tapping his way along the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start up. The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke but none is forthcoming.

The plane moves faster and faster down the runway and the people sitting in the window seats realize they're headed straight for the water at the end of the runway. As it begins to look as though the plane will plough into the water, panicked screams fill the cabin.

At that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air. The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon all retreat into their magazines, secure in the knowledge that the plane is in good hands.

In the cockpit, one of the blind pilots turns to the other and says,

"You know, John, one of these days, they're gonna scream too late and we're all gonna die."

(Got this as an email forward)

Double-Dip Recession

2011-08-07T01:54:00.001+05:30

Hmmm ... so there are talks of a "Double-Dip Recession" now ... with US credit rating being downgraded

What Does Double-Dip Recession Mean?

When gross domestic product (GDP) growth slides back to negative after a quarter or two of positive growth. A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession.

Investopedia explains Double-Dip Recession

The causes for a double-dip recession vary but often include a slowdown in the demand for goods and services because of layoffs and spending cutbacks from the previous downturn.

A double-dip (or even triple-dip) is a worst-case scenario. Fear that the economy will move back into a deeper and longer recession makes recovery even more difficult.

(source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/doublediprecession.asp)

So now it fack to economic and financials 'experts' to be featured day long on the news channels with their 'expert opinions' on the economy !!

July Reading

2011-08-05T23:14:00.001+05:30

An excellent month for reading it was … the count is 18 stories … which is a mix of the regular 3I, Feluda and Sherlock stories along with 2 novels as well as 6 short stories which are part of a 12-story collection. It was a month of reading of different varieties/genres as well as something that doesn't fit any genre at all. It can be readily assigned to the genre "Have your Head spun around" !!

1. Cheap at Half the Price (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

This was a kind of reading test-drive for me. Read the story and decide whether I would read the other 11. The title of the book was interesting. The story turned out to be good and it also gave me a déjà vu feeling as if I had read this story in some form at some other place.

2. Feluda: The Mystery of the Elephant God by Satyajit Ray

A very good one wherein Feluda is pitted against an adversary he is delighted to meet; someone who really challenges his intellect and becomes an adversary to reappear in later stories too. Another interesting aspect of the story was that when the story begins, it talks about a 'Machchli Baba (Fish Saint)' who is called Ebony Baba also because of his smooth and very dark skin.

3. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This particular story involved a treasure hunt kind of mystery for Sherlocks Holmes' to solve. Sherlock unlocks a code which generations from the family never suspected to be a code at all. A butler n the family cracks the code and reached the treasure only to realize that he needs a companion to go about getting the treasure out.

The person dies in the process and Sherlock can only guess what could have happened in the final moments of the person's life. A mystery is solved although the murderer cannot be pin pointed nor located.

4. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Coughing Dragon by Nick West

A dragon is sighted and some dogs go missing. The 3 investigators are requested to investigate. They end up in a cave which leads to another cave which has some very peculiar features. It was an interesting read and although we know that the Dragon cannot be real, it is nice to read the story as it evolves and mysteries are explained … including the missing dogs.

5. Feluda: The Bandits of Bombay by Satyajit Ray

This one was a nice mix with all the makings of a Bollywood Masala Movie … in fact it actually had a movie being made in the story J and that too on the novel written by Jatayu !!

6. Dougie Mortimer's Right Arm (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

I picked up another story from the 12 Red Herrings after reading the "Cheaper at Half the Price" earlier this month. This one was an 'OK' … not very interesting. The element of suspense was there but the climax was not a strong one.

7. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Reigate Puzzle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story has Sherlock making several deductions from a scrap of paper which was torn from a larger note. It barely has 7-8 words and Sherlock draws out not only the deductions but also solves the case. The skill of handwriting analysis comes in handy and becomes the key to unlocking the case.

8. God's Debris by Scott Adams

This one was a real head spinner. I posted an exclusive blog-post on this book alone. It really is a book meant for people who enjoy their brain-matter being spun around in their heads.

9. Timeo Danaos (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

It was a short story about a man who boasts a lot and is ultimately fooled to some extent by another guy. It is sarcastic in the sense that our primary protagonist keeps talking about being an entrepreneur at heart but is fooled by one who really is.

10. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Crooked Man by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

An interesting story with a murder where a strange animal is a companion to the murder. Sherlock uses this usual power of observation, footprint analysis, crime-scene study to make his deductions. Anti-climactic though, the murder turns out to be something else and the case is closed without the murderer (which Sherlock had already identified but not revealed)

11. The Three Investigators & the Mystery of the Flaming Footprints by M V Carrey

The story doesn't really start with the flaming footprints. It starts actually with an interesting character called The Potter who lives in Rocky Beach (and visits the Jones Salvage Yard) at the beginning of the book and then … disappears … while a host of other characters appear in Rocky Beach in and around his house on the very same day. The story takes some twists and turns and there are historical events (almost 400 years old) that influence the mystery. Except for the lack of a romantic angle, the story could have well been considered for a movie too J (this is discussed in the final conversation between Alfred Hitchcock and the 3 boys)

12. An Eye for an Eye (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

This one was another short and interesting one. A lady pleads not-guilty for her husband's murder charge claiming that she was blind and hospitalized at the time of death. The story is about the defense lawyer working out the best possible way to 'save' her in spite of his doubts regarding her innocence.

13. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Resident Patient by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Yet another story where Sherlock is not really successful in catching the culprit as he is a bit late to anticipate the exact crime

But the highlight of the story is not the crime but a small incident right at start of the story. Watson is seated in the room and Sherlock Holmes deduces his entire chain of thoughts by looking at him and his expressions (the movement of his eyebrows and other little expressions that appear on his face).

It is these smaller incidents which dazzles the reader and makes them a fan of Sherlock rather than the cases themselves.

14. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

A long pending novel

It had been on the reading list for quite some time now … almost more than a year and somehow it always managed to slip in priority. I decided to tackle this before another year slipped by.

It was a very good one. It came as a breeze of cool air that smells fresh and refreshes the mind and the soul. It was funny, witty and made me smile while I read it.

15. Feluda: The Mystery of the Walking Dead by Satyajit Ray

This story had a very interesting character who breaks all bonds with Modern life. No electricity in the house, no car, no modern gadgetry or electronic equipment. His house and his life reflect life as it was about 100 years ago … and Feluda is brought into the picture because his son fears that someone wants to kill him. Interesting!

16. You'll Never Live to Regret it (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

17. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This one wasn't as much a detective kind of thing. It served as an introduction to Sherlock's Brother Mycroft who is seemingly far more sharper than Sherlock but at the same time equally far more lazier; which is the reason he is not using his 'skills' as a career. The mystery is not worth talking about.

Interestingly, I did remember a scene of this story where the interpreter is having a conversation with a person and he slips in extra questions without the knowledge of his employer. Mycroft is introduced and his power of deduction is highlighted by his deductions about an individual's profession, marital status, number of children etc just by looking at him.

18. Never Stop on the Motorway (from Twelve Red Herrings) by Jeffrey Archer

Series Completion Score (as of 31^st July 2011):

Three Investigators 15 out of 35

Feluda 13 out of 35

Sherlock Holmes 24 out of 56

12 Red Herrings 06 out of 12

Total 58 out of 138

Noise Pollution

2011-08-04T00:32:00.000+05:30

Alice in Wonderland :(

2011-07-31T15:55:00.001+05:30

I decided some time ago that while I read mystery and thrillers, I would also like to read the classics that we used to read in childhood.

Alice in Wonderland is the first one I picked up.

I also saw the movie last year and felt like reading the simple story all over again. It was fun. I started this and read this while having lunch at office every day.

BUt then something happened and i sudenly got bored.

Was it too childish for me??

Dunno!

So it rests in peace for now. I abandoned it after about 25% and will pick it up maybe later this year or maybe next year or may never...

Dubai Fountain and Om Shanti Om !!

2011-07-22T00:47:00.000+05:30

I have been Dubai for almost 24 months now (16 months in 2008/2009 and 8 months of 2010/2011) and have visited The Dubai Mall (TDM) several times. On every occasion, I have tried NOT to miss the Musical Dubai Fountains. There are 10 minutes musical shows every half hour starting from about 7 PM. So I have seen them so many times and they are fun and often exhilarating to watch.

There is a nice instrumental music and the 100’s of water jets dance to the tunes. It is almost a soothing feeling and the Dubai Fountains are amazing crowd pullers. I have always loved them.

Watching them is a Bliss

BUT Today … it was NOT.

Today … It was amusing. Hilarious. And downright comic.

(Disclaimer: There are absolutely my personal thoughts and I won’t be surprised if no one chooses to agree with me :) …

But the fact is the moment I heard the first note of music, a smile formed in my head (yes .. that is possible). The second note of music (which came after a few seconds pause) made the smile appear on my face although a very measured restricted smile. (Measured and restricted bcos there I was standing in full business suit with my laptop bag slung over my shoulder and an eBook Reader in hand .... smiling at nothing …. People would think I had gone nuts)

By the time the third note rang out through the atmosphere and the fountains erupted, I just couldn’t help the grin on my face. I was simply beaming. And that beaming smile stayed for the full duration of the song.

This was the first time I had heard them play a Bollywood Song to the fountains. No, not just instrumental (as it is always been) but full blown bollywood masala song with lyrics and all.

And in all the glory of blollywood masala, they chose the song from the Shahrukh-Deepika starrer ‘Om Shanti Om’ and the song was …. "Tum Tana Nana ,, Kaise sajna se nain milau”

I wasn’t very sure if they would have synchronized the song and the fountain dance but to my amazement, I found the 100’s of water jets actually dancing perfectly in synch with the music. It was a job done to perfection.

It was a fantastic experience and I left TDM smiling all the way to the Taxi and continued to smile even after. I was so ‘affected’ by the whole experience that I started typing this post on my laptop as soon as I perched myself comfortably in the taxi and typed until I completed it.

So that was my smile filled evening at TDM.

Addendum ....... The Fountains were not the only reason for the evening being a good one. I should not forget to mention the half an hour I spent ‘licking’ Gelato (ice-cream) (yes … licking … not eating … I was indeed licking it off the small tiny spoon for a change) at ‘The Works’ in ‘The Dubai Mall’ … it was a nice experience eating an ice-cream so peacefully at leisure after such a long time and reading an interesting novel on an eBook Reader!!

I am actually looking forward to visiting ‘The Works’ again for another big scoop of their Gelato while I sit back and enjoy the dancing Dubai Fountain (you can actually watch the Dubai Fountain while sitting inside the Works .. although you can’t hear the music) and reading an eBook.

The Green Thing !!

2011-07-21T18:09:00.000+05:30

In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. They were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in a 220 volt energy gobbling machine - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand - me - down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of a cricket pitch. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air conditioning or electric stoves with self cleaning ovens. They didn't have battery operated toys, computers, or telephones.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They used hand operated clippers to trim the shrubs. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

They didn't have the green thing back then.

This came in as an email forward and it has come several times from different sources in past few months. I have invariably read it completely every time I have received it so decided to put it up on the blog so that I can read it whenever I feel, I need a reminder of the Green Thing.

Mis-Match and Team Work

2011-07-20T18:22:00.000+05:30

I am sure you might have seen the following image (a cartoon) ... sometimes used with the caption of 'Team Work' !!

But I am sure you haven't seen this one .... The REAL one ...

Mumbai Spirit and Terrorism

2011-07-16T19:57:00.000+05:30

Came across an article published in DNA authored by FakingNews.com fame Rahul Roushan

It made for some interesting satirical reading on the state of terrorism in India and how Mumbai Spirit becomes a keyword for any and every news item after a terrorist influenced tragedy strikes the city (or for that matter any other city)

Although, personally I feel the Government can't do much to prevent terrorism strikes and bomb blasts since it is simply not possible / feasible to monitor and check each and every person & vehicle visiting each and every part of the city / country. Such a task will require a police force which would be 10% of the country population. PEOPLE in general will have to play police and even then it might not be possible to pin point and stop a guy from visiting an individual from entering a crowded place with a bomb in his bag/vehicle in a peak hour and leave it there.

All the articles which criticize the government for not taking adequate measures to stop terrorism and terrorist attacks don't probably realize the difficulty of the task nor do we have a visibility of the information on how many attacks are actually prevented and foiled by the combined action of our police force, intelligence force and other allied groups.

Yes … we can get paranoid about security as USA does and have absolutely stringent security checks at all airports, train stations, bus depots, inter-state and inter-city highways, temples, major community centres, public festival places and so on …. But then the same set of people or probably new ones will write long emails, blogs, tweets and speeches on how the government is getting paranoid and causing unnecessary inconvenience to the common man while the terrorists go scot free.

So there is need for being slightly practical rather than being critical of the Governments' efforts. Yes, there is a lot more than can be done which our Government and its inefficient machinery are not doing. But we should not expect miracles. Countries with no terrorism problems are not those where the Government is more efficient in this matter, they are simply those in which the terrorists are not interested.

Well … coming to the article which made me write this … I enjoyed reading the article and have nothing against it. I have enjoyed the writings of Rahul for quite some time and look forward to more J The Article here and Faking News website here.

And while you are there … the following article might be of relevant and interesting read

Head Spinning Read !!

2011-07-14T17:11:00.001+05:30

The following is the introduction to a short piece of fiction spanning about 125 small pages. Read it and you might understand why I am sharing this.

This is not a Dilbert book. It contains no humor. I call it a 132-page thought experiment wrapped in a fictional story. I'll explain the thought experiment part later. God's Debris doesn't fit into normal publishing cubbyholes. There is even disagreement about whether the material is fiction or nonfiction. I contend that it is fiction because the characters don't exist. Some people contend that it is nonfiction because the opinions and philosophies of the characters might have lasting impact on the reader. The story contains no violence, no sexual content, and no offensive language. But the ideas expressed by the characters are inappropriate for young minds. People under the age of fourteen should not read it. The target audience for God's Debris is people who enjoy having their brains spun around inside their skulls.

After a certain age most people are uncomfortable with new ideas. That certain age varies by person, but if you're over fifty-five (mentally) you probably won't enjoy this thought experiment. If you're eighty going on thirty-five, you might like it. If you're twenty-three, your odds of liking it are very good. The story's central character has a view about God that you've probably never heard before. If you think you would be offended by a fictional character's untraditional view of God, please don't read this.

The opinions and philosophies expressed by the characters are not my own, except by coincidence in a few spots not worth mentioning. Please don't write me with passionate explanations of why my views are wrong. You won't discover my opinions by reading my fiction.

The central character in God's Debris knows everything. Literally everything. This presented a challenge to me as a writer. When you consider all of the things that can be known, I don't know much. My solution was to create smart-sounding answers using the skeptic's creed: The simplest explanation is usually right.

My experience tells me that in this complicated world the simplest explanation is usually dead wrong. But I've noticed that the simplest explanation usually sounds right and is far more convincing than any complicated explanation could hope to be. That's good enough for my purposes here. The simplest-explanation approach turned out to be more provocative than I expected. The simplest explanations for the Big Questions ended up connecting paths that don't normally get connected. The description of reality in God's Debris isn't true, as far as I know, but it's oddly compelling.

Therein lies the thought experiment: Try to figure out what's wrong with the simplest explanations. The central character states a number of scientific "facts."

Some of his weirdest statements are consistent with what scientists generally believe. Some of what he says is creative baloney designed to sound true. See if you can tell the difference. You might love this thought experiment wrapped in a story. Or you might hate it. But you won't easily get it out of your mind. For maximum enjoyment, share God's Debris with a smart.

So what do you think …. Does that intro sound interesting?

Now that you have read the intro and your interest levels are spiked … here are some excerpts from the book.

God's Free Will (chapter name)

"Does God have free will?" he asked.

"Obviously he does," I said. It was the most confidence I had felt so far in this conversation. "I'll admit there's some ambiguity about whether human beings have free will, but God is omnipotent. Being omnipotent means you can do anything you want. If God didn't have free will, he wouldn't be very omnipotent."

"Indeed. And being omnipotent, God must be able to peer into his own future, to view it in all its perfect detail."

"Yeah, I know. You're going to say that if he sees his own future, then his choices are predetermined. Or, if he can't see the future, then he's not omnipotent."

"Omnipotence is trickier than it seems," he said.

Here is another one ….

Willpower (chapter title)

"You're very fit," the old man observed.

"I work out four times a week."

"When you see an overweight person, what do you think of his willpower?"

"I think he doesn't have much," I said.

"Why do you think that?"

"How hard is it to skip that third bowl of ice cream? I'm in good shape because I exercise and eat right. It's not easy, but I have the willpower. Some people don't."

"If you were starving, could you resist eating?"

"I doubt it. Not for long, anyway."

"But if your belly were full you could resist easily, I assume."

"Sure."

"It sounds as if hunger determines your actions, not so called willpower."

I am sure the above two excerpts spiked ur interest in the book. I had read 'God's Debris' by Scott Adams 5 years ago in 2006. I chanced upon it once again and decided to read it again. It was as head spinning as it had been 5 years ago.