The Invictus

well this personality test is really something!! upon my urging, my S-I-L tried it..so far fine, but when the result came out, it suggested that this sweet little girl is actually a tyrant. It also went on to say that she shud positively stay away from learning german (something on the lines of Hitler, i suppose)... now, sadly for her, she speaks german quite fluently.........:-)

Personality test...


Thanks to Sri, I took the TheSpark's famous Personality Test and this is what I am..Interesting...

Thullz, thanks for the piece on "Nostalgia"...I myself was contemplating writing on this...reading urs has got me all motivated to do so right away!:-)

Some of my most nostalgic memories (surely most of you people will share them in common):

#1. All-day cricket matches in the Hot summer sun. Cork ball, no less!
#2. Getting the usual reprimand from Mom for #1 above (playing in the sun & getting tanned. Racism anybody?)
#3. Climbing up trees (Note1:Mangoes & Tamarind in particular) (Note2: Always the nasty neighbour's), and stealing mangoes.
#4. Facing the music from mom - after the neighbour's complain and convince, yet again, how much of a menace I was to the neighborhood:-)
#5. Revenge! Leading the pack of friends (Anil, chandru, Seenu, Raju, Raghu, Hari etc) to the terrace of the complaining neighbor's house to change the direction of the TV antenna (remember DD of the yore?). Right in the middle of "Chitrahar" or "Hum Log" or "Barrister Vinod" or the Sunday evening movie (Mithun's "Pyar Juktha Nahin"?)
#6. Summer vacations - visit to my ancestral village. and coming back rich (getting gifts from all relatives!!):-)
#7. Reading every single issue of "The Sportstar" magazine - of course when it was still Rs. 1.50 per copy! Cutting out all color photos of Kapil / Vijay Amritraj...
#8. Big Fun bubble gum!!! Collecting those "runs" or the "puzzles" in the inside wrap of the gum...and of course, trading them with ur friends!
#9. Steam engine trains. And their whistles.
#10. Hating girls! Time when a boy wud be treated as an outcaste or a disgrace if he even so much as speaks to any girl (other than someone's sister, of course).
#11. Eating "Baraf ka golas" in summer!!! And never falling sick!


Hmmmmm...*sigh*...so much gor then. And so much for now. Au revoir!

One more addition to my infrequent indulgences....

Yesterday I bought the movie "Guide" - yes, the old 1966 Hindi movie starring the very suave Dev Anand Saab& the beautiful Waheeda Rehman...Just saw it on the shelf and on an impulse bought it...Came back home and put it in to watch it...Am convinced - yet again - that this is one movie that must surely rank as one of the BEST-est movies ever made in India..A true classic..Saw this movie for the 2nd or 3rd time, but after a long hiatus of more than 10 years (atleast.cud be more)..In a way, the first time i was seeing this movie as an adult! and man, was i impressed or what?! Thought i'll post this blog on my movie review - albeit about 40 years late!:-)

It is said - and truely so - that movies based on novels almost always do not do justice to the novel. Here's one movie which not only did justice to the original novel by R K Narayan, but exceeded it.

Some of the scenes that really stood out: A despondent and rejected-by-husband Rosy (Waheeda) breaking into a soulful song and dance ("Kaanto se Keench ke ye aanchal...Aaj phir jeene ki tammanna hain") with a new found freedom..so fresh...so beautiful...and so much of life...The same Rosy who 5 minutes earlier was trying to kill herself in despair was now dancing and teasing Raju (Dev-Saab) on the edge of the precipice...It was almost as if she was mocking death and challenging it..with the confidence of..LIFE! Terrific!

SD Burman saab never sounded this good!!!!! And the lyrics - oh so beautiful and meaningful..For all of us bred on the lyrics of "Main to bhel puri khaa raha tha" or "Tu tu tu tu tu tara" etc, this is a lesson on how lyrics used to be written once upon a time...The picturisation of the songs, the music, and the ;lyrics that expressed the emotions and put in context the situation the protagonist was facing - BRILLIANT! For the first time (I think) and surely for the last time (Definitely), there were two songs back-to-back: "Saiyyan Be-imaan"&"Kya se kya ho gaya"...it's really dialogue in poetry between Rosy & Raju....The two songs aptly bringing out how the two saw things as...

I cud go on and on, but I think the best way to really appreciate the movie is to watch it. And see for yourself. This was how movies were made once-upon-a-time. Which also reminds us - the 80s, 90s + generation - about the man called "Vijay Anand"..the genius of a director...Yes, the same legend whose death recently did not even merit more than a mention on any of the TV channels. The man who made Guide.

Just back from a business trip to Bangkok & Beijing! A trip that was a little bit enjoyable, and a lot tiresome! Spent 1 night and 1 day in Bangkok, before flying out to Beijing. Spent exactly one 24-hours day in Beijing, before leaving back for Singapore...

Given the short stay and the purpose of my visit (work, remember?!), cudnt see much of these places...But, then, i must say i managed to see whatever maximum i cud in that time...
In Bangkok, I saw the Grand Palace (where the king still stays), and the oh-so-beautiful Emerald Buddha Temple - Thailand's most important Temple...This temple is like no other I have seen - back in India or anywhere else...Its breathtakingly beautiful with stunning colors - glass, gold, emerald and all kinds of colorful items decking the walls!

Beijing was Brrrrrrr--Cold!!! Just managed to see the Tiananman Square (and the various monuments around it - albeit from the outside)..Tiananman Sq. is this wide open space where people - lots of people - come for a walk or to fly a kite! I also met quite a few college-going youngsters who come there for a specific reason: To practise their spoken English! Yes, these guys come there so that they can speak to English-speaking foreigners, and get a chance to practise / improve their own English-speaking skills!! Some of the guys / gals I spoke to told me that these days unless they learn to speak English, they dont get jobs...and English language "colleges" are opening up left, right & centre (or shud it be "Left-of-centre" in a communist China?!)...And thats not the end - Most bof these people infact add a "Christian / English" name to their original chinese names! e.g. "Biao Zhao" becomes "Bob Zhao", and you are expected to call him "Just call me Bob"!

Makes me wonder...in India, we dont make too much out of English..Well, its a Language and an important one at that...So we learn, so we speak..thats about it...we dont read too much into it..Its a norm, not a differentiator...but in China - its a big differentiator...This in Beijing, the capital city of China..You can imagine what the situation could be in the rest of China.....

Been caught up in a time-wrap...haven't been able to post for such a loooong time....let's see now, my last post was....#$%$15 days ago (26/02)...now a lot happened in the interim: the best of this list, of course, being my 5-day trip to India! Despite all efforts from my India-based boss to screw up my trip, i can now safely say that this was one of the best times i have had in the last few months...Going back home - to my love (coincidentally, she also happens to be my wife) and family and spending those 5 days will now ensure that I survive for a few more months in this alien land!

Today's been a dull day at work..nothing much to crow about...been browsing thru my old mails...REAL old mails...from the time when I was still a student, a part of a close-knit bunch of co-students who shared 2 years of life doing similar things, living in the same hostel, hanging out with each other, and seeing each other (for good or bad) the same faces....reading thru' all those mails - didnt realise how nostalgic I had become or how time flew.....thoughts that lead to more thoughts....associations - some good, some not-so-good, all memorable.....different place and time....the late nite discussions on such arcane topics as have been never discussed again....the late nite canteen gossips...."Daaru" (of course!)...songs in the corridors of the hostel....thoughts that then lead to the day when we graduated out of the b-school, and had to go in search of our individual calling, separate ways.....reminds me again of all those long-lost and forgotten songs...."Purani jeans aur guitar....mohalle ki vo chchat, aur mere yaar"..Reality fades away to a quiet death, as memories come alive. Long live memories!

Signing off.