Here's To You Kaka!

It was June 13, 2006...when Brazil played Croatia in the first round of the Football Worldcup in Berlin. As a one FIFA-old toddler, I knew just the newspaper-heroes in each team (Being 2-FIFA old hasn't changed that really!)...and Kaka was one of them. Had never seen him play for Milan, didn't recollect him from FIFA 2002 even (apparently he played just 1-2 games against sidey nations...and missed out on the finals when Scolari decided to send him as a Sub coz the refree didn't see him wave from the stands!)....but he was one of the cutest players I had ever seen :D...innocent, boyish looks...Boy-Next-Door...that's all he was as far as I was concerned!(much to the disgust of my bro who could be heard muttering "Girls" with the greatest disdain :D)

But then he scored....it was a long range goal... he caressed the ball into the net with his left foot...it was a beauty....and I was certain I loved him after that!

2 years have gone by... since I first saw him score ... and am glad he got the Ballon d'Or!!

Definitely deserves it more than Christiano...who despite his dream run this time...will remain in my black books for what he did to Rooney in the last World Cup .... Though he is still one of my heroes in Man U... little complicated...

Silent Night...

It's 3:30 a.m. ... and I have just returned from a not-so-fruitful attempt at finishing a term project with a team mate who was as interested in it as I am(read...not at all)...especially after having overeaten at a cheesy heaven, where we had all gone for a friend's bday treat. It's cold...amazingly cold...and after a good meal all you want to do is crash!

Anyhow, what made me want to blog at this unearthly hour was my short walk from the computer center to my room...it was the most beautiful ever!

It is frigid...the temperature is around 4-6 degrees celsius...and the cold hits you as you try to hurry over to the nearest shelter (read under a thick bundled quilt in my hostel room!)...and then you look up...and find a clear sky, with billions of stars shining down at you...and for the next few moments...you forget the cold.

It is gorgeous!! You have to see it...feel it...to believe it. The campus is quiet....except some distant hum of buses/trucks doing their job...not a soul in sight...nothing except you and thousands of jewels in the sky...you can make out the Orion from its distinctive belt...and hundreds of other shapes...if you only stand still for a while...

The sky is clear...means it is chillier than ever...no cloud cover to warm the place down...but at that moment...you don't care...you feel one with the world...

But the moment passes by...you start shivering again...yearning for your cozy bed awaiting you..and you move on...promising the shimmering sky that you will be back tomorrow...

The Rainmaker

I have been told that I have an active imagination...which is good I guess...except all I use it for is to lose myself in whatever movie I watch or book I read(fiction mind you, hard to lose yourself in Fixed Income Securities and RBI manuals).

The Rainmaker got me today. I hereby declare myself a fan of Francis Ford Capollo and Matt Damon (Big surprise huh?) unto death. I don't care if the two have screwed up in other movies (have they?) or plan to do so in the future...I love them for the heart and soul they put into this one. Books are usually better...is what I have experienced...but I haven't read any Grishams...so no clue.

Justice...it is a highly abused term. Every time I hear this word, screams of "Kanoon andha hai" reverbrate in my head ( too many dramatic moments in too many dramatic movies). Real life cases that have gained notoriety over my 22 years have left me disillusioned and caused me to lose faith in atleast the Indian judicial system (Ok...I'll cut out on the drama...to be fair to them...maybe we never hear about the "justice served and man hanged on time cases"...sigh...sensationalism sells).

Coming back to the movie...the sharp execution...the characters brought to life by amazing actors...it was breathtaking! Matt Damon...his eyes...that teared up just enough at the right places...his boyish innocence along with that look of sheer determination...the fumbling of a newbie lawyer...and then collecting himself and going ahead with it...learning on the job...it wasn't overdone one bit...that would have killed it. He was perfect...

And so was Danny De Vito...as the faithful sidekick-cum-valuable teacher! All of them actually!
Loved the "Good", loved to hate the "Bad", even the "Ugly" (The "judge" who died...and the boy's father... it was amazing...when he's shown going to his "comfort zone"..the car surrounded by cats...with a drink in that brown paper bag...it forces you to wonder...and realize...that the old man wasn't always a good for nothing drunkard...he just couldn't deal with the fact that he might lose his son, and was distancing himself from him in the only possible way he knew...when matt Damon wraps up his son's photograph in a brown bag and gives it to him on his funeral...it is heartwrenching)

And you know what else I liked about it...for once...they didn't portray the protagonist as a superhuman. There wasn't any "grey"...it was all black and white. If you stand up for something...you go all the way...If you don't think you can handle it...back off and do what you can do best...without "sacrificing" your love and your life. Make a difference in the best possible way in the given circumstances. That's what Rudy did when he quit his practice and went and settled with the love of his life, teaching what he loved most...he didn't compromise on anything...his personal life...or his profession...

Famous last lines......"Every lawyer, in every case, crosses a line he didn't mean to cross. It just happens. And if you cross it enough times, it disappears forever. Then you're nothing but a lawyer joke. Just another shark in the dirty water."

Just made me wonder what lines I had crossed so many times that it didn't matter anymore...sooo didn't like the answer.

Yellow Yellow Dirty Fellow?

I may have broken a million laws with that title, but let me make it clear...I'm no racist.

But there was a ridiculous article recently about how "politically correct" nursery rhymes are doing the rounds..."3 Visually Challenged Mice", "Ba Ba Green Sheep" (all nauseous people should be protesting anyday against this one) and what not.

I mean, do we really have to do this and introduce kids to the whole idea of racism? It's like telling children to steer clear of drugs, booze and sex when they are 5 years old, thus getting them all the more interested in facts that can easily wait for atleast 10 more years (I'm old fashioned..).

The Brits especially are getting increasingly conscious of what they say lest they find themselves targetted by some hardline groups in the increasingly multi-cultural society that they are living in. I can imagine the torture the school teachers must be going through talking about:

• Colourful sheep to respect the sensibilities of the non-white, African-origin people
• An intact London Bridge so as to not cause panic attacks
• How "Polly Put the Kettle on" under adult supervision
• How Little Bo-Peep should have been in school rather than rearing the sheep
• How "Little Boy Blue" stereotypes "men" with "blue" in this metrosexual world
• How Mary's Little Lamb might have led to animal rights issues
• And how Georgie-Porgie should have been sent for juvenile detention for eve teasing

It sounds ridiculous and crazy! Can't babies sing along a few sweet songs without tearing them apart with dumb analysis!

And how come all the wrong rhymes make it into the rule books, and no one says anything against "Rock a Bye Baby"...one of the most evil rhymes written ever...whoever puts a baby in a cradle on a tree top, and talks about the bough breaking?! A maniac for sure!

Bas!!!!

Have had one helluva busy day today! After the party last night, draggin myself out of bed at 9:30 was bad enough...had to go to college to get my Degree and certificates and the reimbursement...ran from pillar to post, but the work got done!

Got back just in time for some lunch ( and some d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. :D Bhelpuri from college!!! It is THE most amazing thing!)....and then had SIX HOURS straight of KILLING lectures! If there's one thing this college will teach us, it will be how to behave yourself when you are a hair's breadth away from having a mental breakdown. The guys who came were good ( not too sure bout the first one coz watched a movie right through the first lecture :P), but the second one (who spoke for four hours!), talked sense in fits and start. But most unfortunately, he loved the sound of his voice. At the end of the first 2 hours, when we couldn't bear the thought of listening to him anymore, and BEGGED for a break....he said, "Itni Jaldi? Abhi toh main warm up hi hua hun"...We were out of gas...took a break and came back ( out of sheer insanity!) for a second round of 3rd degree torture.

With still one hour to go, I began to concentrate hard at the projection screen, trying to burn a hole through it (Alas! I'm no Superwoman! :( )...didn't work out despite trying for ages...so gave up and started flipping through the newspaper discreetly...but everytime he looked at me...the paper used to be above table level at weird angles...till he finally told me to shut it.
Must have thought I'm bonkers...what with my intro in which I told him I wanted to learn about cross-cultural fruits ( meant to say hybrid ones !).

The day has FINALLY come to an end! Will watch the rest of "Rainmaker"...Oh I LOVE Matt Damon!

CHeerio!!

We like to Party :)

IIFT came alive once again!! Parties do that to us...ALWAYS :)

Symposiums/exams/fests...we are usually the dullest lot...rather the "we-don't-care" sorts ( given this time's Fest rocked after aaagggeeesss!)...the junta is NEVER enthused about anything....except parties and in a very different way ..placements :D

Tonite the "Lateral" candidates gave a treat on the occassion of having got jobs, and IIFT rocked once again!

The non-dancers danced in an alcohol-fuelled cheer....smokers lit up in joy at the strains of "sutta", the teetollars like us kicked and jumped around...if you make a fool of yourself...you can always say you were drunk :P

It is one of the last parties here....and God knows I'm going to miss this place like anything!!! The parties...the people...the bonhomie...damn it...even the drunk ones! They get drunk and silly...but in a very harmless sort of way!

Turning in now with very sore legs and a sorer throat...it's back to the grind tomorrow ( 3 friggin classes of the same subject)...but the fun I had today will pull me through :)

A.R.Rehman is God!

Among all my depressive posts earlier on in my other blog...I forgot to mention THE most awesome experience I'd had lately!! Got to see A.R.Rehman in concert!!!!!!!

The venue was like 15 odd km from where I live...so even though I love the man...I had no intentions of going. Fever 104 had been advertising about it for daaaaaayyyysssss....and I never bothered to listen...till....my mum called up to say that Dad had got hold of passes (worth 5000 bucks...we got them for free :D)...and there was no looking back ever since!!

The day dawned...can't remember the date...6:00pm we were on our way to THE concert in Raja Garden Grounds! As we went from pillar to post looking for Gate No. 2 ... I suddenly declared I wanted to go pee...much to the consternation of my parents.

Discovered a BPCL petrolpump close to "our" Gate, just to be told by a nice old gentleman that the loo was overflowing with...umm....never mind...too bad...I decided to exercise some bladder control and not think about water for the rest of the concert!

Once in...and having fought for our seats (DIlliwaalas love to "reserve" seats for their mamas, chachas, taus etc etc)...we finally settled down to what promised to be the most amazing concert ever!

It was Rehman Live in Delhi for the first time!!! And my First Concert of this scale ever!!!! It was electrifyingly awesome!!

It began...with Chitra singing...till the curtains rose...and there was Rehman...in all his finery...and that voice to die for....I got goosebumps BIG time....and it was nothing to do with the winter chill.

And so the show went on....with classics from Bombay, Roja, Rang De Basanti...and some South Indian movie which I could not follow...but loved the music anyways! Joining Rehman were Hariharan, Chitra, Kailash Kher, some Rajasthani dude, Naresh Iyer (the man who sang "Roobaroo") , some more South Indian singers,Sadhana Sargam and Neeti Mohan ( Channel V's Band Aasma was her claim to fame...she was singing less and trying to seduce more...a major put off).

The music was mindblowing to say the least! In between Sivamani took over! The man never ceases to amaze me!!

Even the winner of the Fever 104 Sing With Rehman Contest performed and was damn good and damn confident!! Had I been thrust on stage in front of sooo many people, they would have been carrying me away on a stretcher!

Anyways...the concert came to an end earlier than I would have liked! But Rehman made it unforgettable with his "Maa Tujhe Salaam". My bro who was at home studying for some exam...heard it through the cell :D I love technology :D

It was one helluva experience...Go Rehman!!!!!!!!

It's a Newwwwwwwwww Blog :)

Thought I'll restrict my agonizings and vague ramblings to my other blog...and and start afresh with some day to day things in here :)...You can take the person out of blogspot...but can't take the blogger out of the person :D

So here I go once again!!!

Cheers!