The First Few Steps

This is interesting. Among the things that I decided to take full ownership was losing weight, say about 5-7 kilos in 30 days. I started dutifully by going to cricket practice which I figured was a good way to exercise and so it was. Enjoyable, fun and a good workout. But then, after a couple of days I realized that Coach was making the other kids do some drills which were important and that cut down on net time. After two consecutive days of doing nothing, I decided that there was no point going all the way, have a chai and return without any exercise. It felt a little hopeless. Now what? I hung on to my intention by a thin thread.

Options Open Up
Today, I decided to go for a walk instead. Despite all plans and alarms, I got out of bed with great reluctance, and then made it to the KBR Park with even greater reluctance. The only thought I held in my head was, even if it just for 15 minutes, go to the ground. Slow down, but don't stop.

New Thoughts, Small Improvements
And so it was that I started the walk with thoughts that I would hang on for 15 minutes and return. And then, an idea came into my head. How about jogging for 25 meters at a time. Nothing big, just a slow 25 meter job and then walk. So I started a slow jog for 25 meters, took a break, another 25 meters, and so on. In a short while, I was enjoying these small 25 meter jogs so much that I completed the entire 6 kms without realizing it. My morning plan ended much better than I had planned because I was not planning on any sort of jogging etc for a while. Very satisfying indeed!

Go Give Yourself A Chance
Looking back I think that those first few steps helped. Also the fact that I decided to go to the park. Go to the ground. Take two steps and then see what happens.

It applies to anything in life I guess. Go to the selections, to the auditions, send the proposal to the publishers, meet those people you need to meet. If it all looks too daunting, at least, take the first step, go there and hang around in the auditorium to begin with. You never know where it may lead to next.

Yatra - Movie

Watched 'Yatra' starring Nana Patekar, Rekha and Deepti Naval and directed by Gautam Ghose. Looked like an interesting bunch of people so I picked up the CD. No more picking up movies on star cast. This is the third time I got fooled in 3 days. The last two were Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge where I trusted Ajay Devgan, Konkona Sena and Paresh Rawal, then Karthik Calling Karthik with Farhan Akhthar and Deepika, and now this.

Yatra is the story of a an award winning writer Dashrath Joglekar who has just won the prestigious Sahitya Award sponsored by a steel company. Joglekar has a deliriously happy family, wife Deepti Naval who loves collecting turtle toys, a mom who has opinions on the free market system, a concerned daughter and a drum beating son with the name, Yaman, whom you want to strangle. No points for guessing but with a family like this Dashrath is constantly in a state of inebriation. Dashrath also speaks in 35 rpm, repeats everything twice and laughs wildly in every dialogue, which I think adds to the length of the film by about 30 minutes.

Dashrath is a heart patient and is constantly reminded by his family to take medicines and stuff. He believes that his wife is his sorbitrate and when he says that in a moment of passion, the old couple get turned on by all this talk of sorbitrates and heart attacks and decide to french kiss one another. This is not nice to watch but somehow they do it, God knows why.

Anyway post sordid sorbitrate episode, Dashrath takes the train to Delhi despite being offered a flight ticket by one Ms. Sen, his hostess in Delhi. He meets an aspiring film director on the train and they discuss the tale of his award winning novel 'Janaza'. Drink upon drink, Dashrath narrates the tale of Lajwanti played by Rekha, a danseuse, brought from Varanasi to Adilabad by a local landlord. How the landlord exploits her and how one Satish alias Dashrath saves her and how she ends up in Hyderabad's red light area follows. Makes one wonder if she was better off by herself in Adilabad but then different strokes for different people. Dashrath, then, is married of course and is a master ji as well with supportive wife and mom and young children. For all those who are getting ideas Dashrath and Lajwanti share only their passion for music. Now back on the train journey where this story is being narrated by Dasharth, the young film director wants to make a movie and Dashrath agrees.

At Delhi Dashrath recieves his award, gets drunk and promptly scoots off to Lajwanti in Hyderabad. Lajwanti's Man Friday Salim is happier than her to see him, making the audience wonder why? After the initial awkwardness Lajwanti goes off to do some jhatkas on some modern numbers like 'Kabhi Aar, kabhi paar..' to her new, young clientele, comes back and makes hot mirchi bajjis for Dashrath, and arranges an old style dance for him with an orchestra comprising of casual labourers. Dasharth drinks and drinks, offers her his Sahitya Award, and in a moment of tenderness, has a heart attack. Sadly, Lajwanti is not tested for sorbitrate like effects.

The rest of the movie is quickly spent on disposing the stiff in an almirah which consist mainly of the plan of throwing it around, the family trying to find out his whereabouts after the award function, the Delhi police tracing him to the airport and Sorbitrate hunting down Lajwanti, c/o Mehendi galli to track Dashrath who is heading off God knows where in the inside of an almirah that is loaded on a mini truck being held up by four orchestra members.

Thus ends Yatra.

Karthik Calling Karthik

Watched this movie 'Karthik Calling Karthik' last night on video and wondered what was wrong with these guys. Did the director forget his twist or did he get to the end hoping that something would turn up? I am certain that the director had no clue what happens in the end until he got there.

Anyway, it's about a loser Karthik played by Farhan Akhthar, who dwells in a fine place by any standards, forget losers, and gets bullied by everyone especially his obnoxious boss Ram Kapoor who does everything illegal under the Sun - from selling illegal lands for 80 crores (which dimwit would buy illegal lands for 80 crores I wonder) to having affairs without wife knowing. Karthik also writes countless mails (but does not send them; he only saves them as drafts) to the good looking Ms. Smiley eyes, Deepika Padukone, a big time architect who specializes in having relationships with all the losers in the world. If it is not married men who look like confirmed wife beaters, it is completely deranged characters she falls in love with, proving once agin that good looking women make bad choices especially when it comes to men. But to her credit she is not one to be kept down and she hops merrily from one relationship to another within a few days, open to late night binges at pubs and sleepovers with 'unsafe' boys.

Now, the twist in the tale. Hold your breath. Karthik, who does not own a mobile phone due to scientifically proven reasons, gets calls on his new landline from another Karthik at exactly 5 in the morning telling him how to resurrect his life. This Karthik knows everything about loser Karthik, including the color of his socks and how long he has worn them - almost like he is living under this chap's clothes. Loser Karthik suddenly changes over with his new information - changes clothes, muscles his boss into giving him a promotion (when he actually got sacked just last week), gets the babe, gets the money and gets to sing songs, go to discos, drink wine, sleep with good looking women etc. I have to say this, but the chemistry between the loser Karthik and Shonali urf Shona is colder than a dead fish.

Then something unsavoury happens and the loser Karthik offends winner Karthik who does not like this and loser gets chewed. Job goes, babe goes, money goes, car goes, petrol goes, clothes goes...everything that can go goes.

The audience also gets chewed by the end of it. Dead older brothers, sudden getaways to Cochin, female psychiatrists who pay him visits at 5 in the morning to check his story, a new version of incognito where even he does not know where he is and what he is and who he is thanks to a pair of really really dark glasses, there are more twists here. The only thing in favour of the director is that the end is so obvious that you double think and tell yourself that it can't be so obvious. I mean you can predict the final twist twenty minutes into the story!!

Moral of the story: The director reaffirms one thing - never listen to the woman when things are going well in your life. You'll get chewed! Also, I did not tell you the end because I do want you to see it. I don't want to be part of a small select club that has seen this movie - I'd rather be part of a big club.

Interview by Yreach on IPL

An Interview
Here is the link to an interview by YReach on the IPL phenomenon

http://www.yreach.com/movie/interview-mr-hari-mohan.html

I have no clue what happens with this interview and what the viewership is, but I wish Yreach well. This is a first of its kind interview for me for the web media so that is one thing out of my comfort zone.


Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge
Watched a movie called 'Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge' starring Ajay Devgan, Konkona Sen and Paresh Rawal. No laughs for me despite it being a comedy. Ajay Devgan should give up comedy, just not his style. Also wonder what Konkona is doing in this movie. Paresh Rawal is the saving grace but still it's a bit hard on the viewers.

Books. Movies etc

Completed reading 'A Summer in Paris' by Abha Davesar finally. I bought the book at a Meet-the-Author event organized by Akshara Book Store at an Art Gallery in Domalguda, Hyderabad some years ago. Abha is also an artist and her paintings and sketches were on exhibition and sale as well. If I remember right, she read parts of her book Babyji, in which there are no names for characters. I found the idea quite mindboggling - well worth a try for experimentation if you have publishers backing you. I remember asking her if it was difficult writing it like that and she said she had absolutely no doubts about the process. I was pretty impressed.

I went to pick up her books. I asked her which one of the three novels she'd recommend, and she suggested 'A Summer in Paris'. I remember reading a review of this book and got a signed copy from her. I never got down to reading it until now though.

A Summer in Paris
Abha writes well but leaves me with a feeling that she can write better if the subjects challenged her more. The story of 'A Summer in Paris' failed to connect to me. It is the story of Prem Rustam, a 75 year old Nobel prize winner for literature (and all other prizes that famous writers can get) and his wanting (or wondering is he could) to bed a younger woman. He meets young twenty something Maya at an online dating site; she is a huge fan of his and has read all his works, is single, sexually active with a string of lovers. After a while in the virtual space, they meet in the physical space and - nothing happens. They meet in museums, exhibitions, music concerts and show off how much they know about art, food etc but get nowhere in terms of physical proximity. On and on it goes, as we understand why Rustam is like that; because of his incestuous relationship with his sister and his constant worry (or pride) that his nephew could actually be his own son. Something that I as a reader could not care less but something if I was Rustam would surely have a gut feel about.
I found the romance insipid. I found the sex unfeeling, cold and aged. I also find this constant reference to incestuous sex by Indian authors (Abha, Arundhati Roy and Rak Kamal Jha) worrisome - is this something that happens on a large scale in India? How come I have not heard so much about it? Or is it that only these big writers are privy to this information? Or is it that publishers find these themes very interesting and saleable? I skimmed through the last fifty or so pages without any remorse, just enough to figure out what's happening, and got out of the book. The diaries that the old man had supposedly written about sex 'for himself' and gifted to Maya could have been more interesting and honest, than all this. Someone like Anita Nair could have exploited such a theme more honestly and daringly.


Taken - Liam Neeson
Watched 'Taken' starring Liam Neeson on Star Movies last night. Great action viewing for me. I did not ever look at Liam Neeson as an action hero and was pleasantly surprised to see his stunt sequences looking so good, so quick that I just about registered what happened. I like the screenplay which was so taut that except for one moment in which my cynical mind thought 'ok, so where are we heading from here', it kept me hooked for every single moment.

Neeson, an ex-American agent with one of those agencies, has 'some very special skills'. Currently out of the force, he works part time with a security force for a high profile singer. He also has a broken marriage, and a daughter out of that marriage who he loves and wants to bind with. The daughter, a 17 year old, wants to go to Paris on art appreciation tour with her friend rather wild friend Amanda, and needs his signature to permit her going out of the country. Though uncomfortable (I know the world), he signs after some pressure from his ex-wife and daughter with conditions that she call him after she lands, call every night etc. Of course he finds out far too late that she is actually going on a trip to follow U2 across Europe. Anyway, the girl gets kidnapped soon after arrival and just about gives enough information over the phone to her father to set him off in search of her. How he tracks her down in the window of 96 hours before she can completely disappear in the women trafficking ring is what the rest of the story is about.
Enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Sir Chris Bonington

I went to a talk organized by LEPRA Society, an NGO in the area of facilitating healthcare to the leprosy, HIV, Malaria affected. Radhika Rajamani invited me over and told me that the talk was by Sir Chris Bonington. Sir Chris had scaled the Everest once, led many mountaineering expeditions to the Everest and other peaks across the world. I went to ASCI at the appointed time, 530 in the evening with Shobha. Ramaraju was already there in a hall packed to capacity. The talk was just about to begin.

Sir Chris Bonington is now 75 years old. He looks very fit, walks easily and has a serene air about him. An air of someone who has seen enough of life. Of someone who know several secrets. His talk 'Stay Active, Stay Young' lasted about an hour. He led us through a slide show of his many expeditions, his colleagues, peaks, ranges, his family, his home, the University of Lancaster of which he was Chancellor. As he recounted his experiences with an easy flow he casually dropped a few wonderful thoughts that I tried to make a mental note of.

Sympathize With The Mountains
'To be a good climber one must be one with the mountains...must sympathize with the mountains'. So true of anything. I wish all these people who FIGHT terror, FIGHT illiteracy, FIGHT HIV/leprosy also understand these words and become more sympathetic.

On Environment
'One must leave it as it has been, leave as few traces as you can and respect the mountain ranges for what they are...One must respect the environment one is in'.

On Leadership
'Leadership is not about achieving everything yourself...it is about facilitating the achievement of the goal by the team...'

On Leadership and Democracy
'A good leader is aware of the consensus of the team... he does not impose his thought on the team...I believed in leading by democracy.'

On Satisfaction
'It is not about the Everest or a smaller peak...the satisfaction at having achieved what you set out to achieve is the same...'

Know When to Give Up
'A good climber knows when to turn back...you cannot be obsessed with climbing the peak that you lose your life. You can always come back later.'

Motto While Climbing
'It was important for me to be alive...'

How To Stay Active
'One must have a passion in life...whatever it is...and then one can choose the level of competency one wants to achieve and work at that...but it is absolutely necessary that one has a passion for something.'

On Fear
'Fear is a warning that you have to be careful...never go on a mountaineering expedition with someone who has no fear...he will get you killed.'

On Team Bonding
'I believe that a walk in the woods is a better for team bonding than sitting in the office...try it.'

And so many more. Sir Chris Bonington, CBE, thank you!

Summer Sounds

There's a koel that sings with deep passion and full throatedly outside my window on all summer mornings. There's a banana vendor who goes 'mauz mauz' selling fresh chitewale mauz on his push cart, more polite and better mannered than his cousins on the main road. There's the sound of a water tanker backing abrasively into some driveway to offload water into a dried up sump surrounded by anxious house owners. There's the raddiwala trying to get us to sell him old newspapers and he has a very irritating quality about the way he yells 'Paper, paper'; he has stopped now and continues to scream loudly. I know because the voice is not fading away anymore. Should I get up and yell at him as well?

There's the sound of someone sweeping their front yard, or perhaps its the sweepers cleaning up the colony roads. The people are up, come on man. Hmmm, there's the suppressed sound of a crackling fire of some dried up leaves being burnt. And there's the sound of leaves rustling and falling off trees at the slightest breeze. There is a distant clattering sound of some tools; perhaps the workmen digging up our colony roads again. Was that the sound of a drop of sweat hitting the ground?

A pressure cooker goes off somewhere signalling that maybe idlis are on their way. An almost inaudible sound of a small bell tinkling informs us that someone is at the morning prayers. The refreshing sound of water being splashed on some plants soothes. The clatter of dishes in the backyard confirms the arrival of the maid. The fan whirs on relentlessly, a tired sound to it. Somewhere an air conditioner is chugging along manfully, making sudden, startled sounds once in a while. An irritating sound of water dripping from some pipe or tap beats a torturous drum inside my head. And then the small tinkle of a spoon against a glass - limejuice being made? Or is it the slosh of buttermilk being mixed? Cool, refreshing.

There's someone talking on the mobile phone, whispering and smiling. The plants whimper at the end of the day. The dog is silent and hardly moves. Cats look on in a hostile manner and find the most unusual places to rest, in flower beds, under flower beds, over window sills. The postman comes a little earlier than normal wheezing away the heat and the burden. The fruit vendors sit surrounded by their colorful watermelons, grapes, mangoes, pineapples, bananas, mosambi and act like they could not care less if you bought them or not. The young school kids on vacation are scouring the roads for places to play and entertain themselves, murmuring to themselves.

The heat buzzes on all day. The rain smothers this constant buzzing. Sleep shuts out all noises as I drift into a space where there are no seasons, no sounds, cool and comfortable. Summer, drowsy summer.