This was then
And this is now
So much has changed in the meanwhile. Or not?
MORE FLICKS
S and I continued on our movie mania in the new year. This weekend we saw 2 new movies -- one which I wanted to see from some time and the other one was totally unexpected.
S and I were at a local grocery store when we accidentally bumped into a Red Box kiosk. We had been contemplating for a while to try it out. So, we start browsing on the movies available for pickup. After rejecting a bunch of unattractive ones and a few already seen, we zeroed in on this one.
This movie is a remake of a 1956 film noir movie. It was gripping from the start and never let the grip loosen. Every sequence kept us interested and the ending was very good. Considering that we had never heard of the movie and picked it out of the blue, it ended to be a very pleasant surprise.
Even though we knew the ending (at a high level), it was the "how" that kept us glued to the sofa. And that is the sign of a very good movie. If a movie has the capacity to hold you interested even when you know the ending, then the director has succeeded in his act.
After the movie, I read more about the movie online. It turned out that this movie has just a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Something must be definitely wrong with the people who rated this movie. From my end though, totally recommended at least for one time viewing.
The second one was something which I wanted to see for some time. Have been hearing from many that this one is hilarious. And it did not disappoint even an ounce. Every minute of the movie ended up cracking us like crazy. Reminded me of my crazy adventures in Mumbai especially Saturday nights when we used to end up wasted at Carter Road near the Sea Face.
Today, coincidentally, I was talking to a friend and found this movie's DVD at her desk. The DVD mentioned in bold -- "KILLER FUNNY". Could not agree any more.
S and I were at a local grocery store when we accidentally bumped into a Red Box kiosk. We had been contemplating for a while to try it out. So, we start browsing on the movies available for pickup. After rejecting a bunch of unattractive ones and a few already seen, we zeroed in on this one.
This movie is a remake of a 1956 film noir movie. It was gripping from the start and never let the grip loosen. Every sequence kept us interested and the ending was very good. Considering that we had never heard of the movie and picked it out of the blue, it ended to be a very pleasant surprise.
After the movie, I read more about the movie online. It turned out that this movie has just a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Something must be definitely wrong with the people who rated this movie. From my end though, totally recommended at least for one time viewing.
The second one was something which I wanted to see for some time. Have been hearing from many that this one is hilarious. And it did not disappoint even an ounce. Every minute of the movie ended up cracking us like crazy. Reminded me of my crazy adventures in Mumbai especially Saturday nights when we used to end up wasted at Carter Road near the Sea Face.
Today, coincidentally, I was talking to a friend and found this movie's DVD at her desk. The DVD mentioned in bold -- "KILLER FUNNY". Could not agree any more.
DIGITALLY ENABLED, MENTALLY DISABLED
S and I were at a birthday party at a friend's place. After the dinner was done, we were all yapping our way to glory when suddenly one of us noticed -- there were 3 kids in the room and there was absolutely no noise.
The kids were playing nicely -- on their respective parents cell phones. All the kids were sitting the same room but there were no toys around. They were not playing with each other, for that matter not even looking at each other. Each one was totally engrossed in their cell phones, playing some game. The parents were more than happy to lend their cell phones to the little ones as long as an hour of yap time was ensured.
Far from our days when meeting cousins or kids of the the same age was good enough a reason to raise hell. Playing outside in the backyard continued until parents threatened to break our legs.
That really reminded me of how much our day to day life is now dependent on the digital instruments. My nephew has very subtly captured it here. Today we have items to do some things which leave me totally stunned --
The kids were playing nicely -- on their respective parents cell phones. All the kids were sitting the same room but there were no toys around. They were not playing with each other, for that matter not even looking at each other. Each one was totally engrossed in their cell phones, playing some game. The parents were more than happy to lend their cell phones to the little ones as long as an hour of yap time was ensured.
Far from our days when meeting cousins or kids of the the same age was good enough a reason to raise hell. Playing outside in the backyard continued until parents threatened to break our legs.
That really reminded me of how much our day to day life is now dependent on the digital instruments. My nephew has very subtly captured it here. Today we have items to do some things which leave me totally stunned --
- Usage of digital toothbrush is one of them. How can one be so tired / bored of brushing their teeth that they need a tool to do that?
- Or for that matter, how many of us remember the route to the friend's new home that we visited a few days back? GPS and Mapquest has reduced the sense of direction to a mere history.
- The art of remembering TO-DO's has been made dispensable by presence of reminders on cell phones and organizers.
- Kids have forgotten what it meant to play like zombies during summer vacations and instead play uno / car racing and cricket online via internet, sitting in the cozy comforts of their rooms.
How ironical that digital inventions that were supposed to make our life better is actually making us dumb and obsolete?
ITS ALL OVER
Its all over now...
Just 6 days after S and I went and met M, I got a call today to inform that cruel fate eventually won over eternal hope. Alls the doctors and deities together could not pull off a miracle.
May P's soul rest in peace. May god give M and her family all the strength at this difficult moment.
Just 6 days after S and I went and met M, I got a call today to inform that cruel fate eventually won over eternal hope. Alls the doctors and deities together could not pull off a miracle.
May P's soul rest in peace. May god give M and her family all the strength at this difficult moment.
BAT UP BOY
Never realized that my last post was actually my 100th post.
Never thought that when I wrote my first post almost 3 1/2 years ago, that this blog will reach 3 figures. Actually, my blogging frequency is going up every year (7 posts in 2006, 18 posts in 2007, 25 posts in 2008 and 44 posts in 2009) and what more, I am really enjoying it. This is already my 4th post in 2010.
Just like we cheer up any batsman from our team when he hits a century, I am cheering up myself today -- BAT UP BOY!!!
Never thought that when I wrote my first post almost 3 1/2 years ago, that this blog will reach 3 figures. Actually, my blogging frequency is going up every year (7 posts in 2006, 18 posts in 2007, 25 posts in 2008 and 44 posts in 2009) and what more, I am really enjoying it. This is already my 4th post in 2010.
Just like we cheer up any batsman from our team when he hits a century, I am cheering up myself today -- BAT UP BOY!!!
AAL IS WELL? Really?
After almost 10 years, I went to a hospital on Sunday. Both S and I are fine by god's grace, we went there to see someone.
The last time I had been to a hospital was in early 2000 when my granny was not well. Every time I used to visit her and see her howling out of pain due to a broken pelvis, my heart used to bleed. I used to come out of the hospital helpless and forlorn.
Since then, the only time I had visited a hospital was to donate blood (twice actually, once to Jayadeva hospital and once to Narayana Hrudralaya) and actually came out satisfied both the times because I had a chance to meet the receipients of my donated blood. One was a IISC scientist and the other one was a farmer.
Other than these 2 chances, I never went to any hospital in the last 10 years. Not to see a newborn, not to see any accident victim or not for any good causes. So, last Sunday, when I had to visit Duke University Medical Center to see someone, I knew that it was not going to be some experience.
M is my colleague and good friend (both of us are Maharashtrians). M's husband P is seriously ill and admitted to Duke. The memories that I have of P are that of a tall, slim and handsome man. He brought a sense of calm to the room by his sheer presence. Always branded a smile which was very contagious. A very nice person to talk too as well. A loving father of a 4 year old son and a 1 year old daughter.
The long walk from the parking lot to the main hospital was unnerving. Took the elevator to the ward where P was admitted. M's father met us outside the ward and gave a pass which I could use to go in. Only 1 visitor is allowed in at a time, so S stayed outside with M's father.
I went in and saw P sleeping calmly. There were a bunch of tubes hooked on to his hand each one administering some sort of medicine which will try to bring his vital functions back to normalcy. His lame body had collapsed on that bed and was cutting a sad figure, entirely different from the smiling face we met first time at their son's birthday.
M saw me and her eyes said everything. She controlled hard not to shed a tear. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping aside the stotra book, which she was reading continuously, she came out of the room where P lay.
I tried to talk abt anything other than P, but was ridiculously short of words. Words deserted me at the most difficult moment. So I asked -- How is he?
Her reply was -- No improvement. Doctors detected a minor infection of pneumonia today. There is minor bleeding from the nose and blood pressure is abnormally high. Because of some medication he had taken, he cannot be operated for another 3 weeks and the doctors are not ready to keep him on the life support system for more than a week.
I just muttered -- keep faith, everything will be alright. Do not lose hope.
S never went inside the ward. I promised all the help that I could, within my limits. Then S and I left the corridor and took the uncomfortably long walk to the parking lot with very heavy feet and even heavier hearts. S was sobbing uncontrollably. We did not speak anything for some time.
I just felt like asking one Q to myself -- Can M try consoling her heart by saying "AAL IS WELL"?
The last time I had been to a hospital was in early 2000 when my granny was not well. Every time I used to visit her and see her howling out of pain due to a broken pelvis, my heart used to bleed. I used to come out of the hospital helpless and forlorn.
Since then, the only time I had visited a hospital was to donate blood (twice actually, once to Jayadeva hospital and once to Narayana Hrudralaya) and actually came out satisfied both the times because I had a chance to meet the receipients of my donated blood. One was a IISC scientist and the other one was a farmer.
Other than these 2 chances, I never went to any hospital in the last 10 years. Not to see a newborn, not to see any accident victim or not for any good causes. So, last Sunday, when I had to visit Duke University Medical Center to see someone, I knew that it was not going to be some experience.
M is my colleague and good friend (both of us are Maharashtrians). M's husband P is seriously ill and admitted to Duke. The memories that I have of P are that of a tall, slim and handsome man. He brought a sense of calm to the room by his sheer presence. Always branded a smile which was very contagious. A very nice person to talk too as well. A loving father of a 4 year old son and a 1 year old daughter.
I went in and saw P sleeping calmly. There were a bunch of tubes hooked on to his hand each one administering some sort of medicine which will try to bring his vital functions back to normalcy. His lame body had collapsed on that bed and was cutting a sad figure, entirely different from the smiling face we met first time at their son's birthday.
M saw me and her eyes said everything. She controlled hard not to shed a tear. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping aside the stotra book, which she was reading continuously, she came out of the room where P lay.
I tried to talk abt anything other than P, but was ridiculously short of words. Words deserted me at the most difficult moment. So I asked -- How is he?
Her reply was -- No improvement. Doctors detected a minor infection of pneumonia today. There is minor bleeding from the nose and blood pressure is abnormally high. Because of some medication he had taken, he cannot be operated for another 3 weeks and the doctors are not ready to keep him on the life support system for more than a week.
I just muttered -- keep faith, everything will be alright. Do not lose hope.
I tried to talk to M's father abt everything other than P and his health. He personified a dam with a wall full of cracks, just about to explode. Just M's presence in that corridor and a very wet handkerchief plugged the leaks.
S never went inside the ward. I promised all the help that I could, within my limits. Then S and I left the corridor and took the uncomfortably long walk to the parking lot with very heavy feet and even heavier hearts. S was sobbing uncontrollably. We did not speak anything for some time.
I just felt like asking one Q to myself -- Can M try consoling her heart by saying "AAL IS WELL"?
WELL SAID - 1
Everyone says religion is flawed. But that is because man is flawed, every one of them. Every one of us, including me.
-- From the movie Angels and Demons.
-- From the movie Angels and Demons.
FLICKS GALORE
Started the new year by watching 4 movies in the first 2 days. To exaggerate it, we saw 4 movies in 26 hours.
On 2nd Jan, we saw Avatar. And it was fully worth it. The graphics, the special effects, sound quality (IMAX) was really worth the cost. Even though we had to sit in the front row (gandhi class as we called it during college days) and ended up with a sore neck and bad headache, it was fully worth it.
Next day, saw De Dana Dan and 8x10 Tasveer in the morning. De Dana Dan was a typical Priyadarshan no-brainer. Not at all in the Hera Pheri class, not at all funny and strictly recommended to stay away from. If there was a negative rating, I would give this movie a negative rating.
8x10 Tasveer was surprisingly a very good movie. The suspense was held back very well until the climax. No one can guess the end although S did guess it partially correctly. Though I am not a big Akshay Kumar fan, I saw this movie only because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was hoping that Nagesh will live up to his standards and he did not disappoint at all. Fully recommended for the mystery buffs. The way the movie reveals a strand of the plot reminded me of Vantage point, another must see IMO.
Last, in the evening, saw Sandra Bullock's Premonition. Very nice movie, keeps the viewer perplexed till the end. You can never figure out what is going on in the movie, until the last 15-20 minutes. S and I loved it.
Nice way to start the year. ;-)
On 2nd Jan, we saw Avatar. And it was fully worth it. The graphics, the special effects, sound quality (IMAX) was really worth the cost. Even though we had to sit in the front row (gandhi class as we called it during college days) and ended up with a sore neck and bad headache, it was fully worth it.
Next day, saw De Dana Dan and 8x10 Tasveer in the morning. De Dana Dan was a typical Priyadarshan no-brainer. Not at all in the Hera Pheri class, not at all funny and strictly recommended to stay away from. If there was a negative rating, I would give this movie a negative rating.
8x10 Tasveer was surprisingly a very good movie. The suspense was held back very well until the climax. No one can guess the end although S did guess it partially correctly. Though I am not a big Akshay Kumar fan, I saw this movie only because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was hoping that Nagesh will live up to his standards and he did not disappoint at all. Fully recommended for the mystery buffs. The way the movie reveals a strand of the plot reminded me of Vantage point, another must see IMO.
Last, in the evening, saw Sandra Bullock's Premonition. Very nice movie, keeps the viewer perplexed till the end. You can never figure out what is going on in the movie, until the last 15-20 minutes. S and I loved it.
Nice way to start the year. ;-)
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