The Apartment - Movie Review

A 1960 classic. These are undoubtedly the best. Billy Wilder's classic was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five. A bachelor C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) who works as a clerk in a big insurance company starts lending out his apartment for his bosses who want a quiet one hour rendezvous with their lady friends.

In return they promise him good recommendations and quick promotions. As he quickly rises up the organization, from the 19th floor to the 27th floor literally, he bumps into the boss of personnel who scrutinizes his fast rise. He however knows the truth and blackmails our bachelor to part with the key for his use as well. Unfortunately his lady love is the elevator girl (Shirley Maclaine) that our bachelor fancies. As the bachelor boy tries to shield her, himself and his career, he is depressed, and in a drunken binge picks up some woman in a bar. When he reaches home he finds the elevator girl in his bed with an overdose of sleeping pills inside her. How he saves her, gets his perspective right and how it all ends well is what the apartment is all about. Superb story telling, lovely acting! Jack Lemmon, Frank macMurphy and Shirley MacLaine are perfect in a story that could well be true today. A classic and worth watching more than once.

Thought For The Day - The Management of Expectations

The sudden and untimely suicide of Telugu actor Uday Kiran was painful to hear about. He must have undergone much trauma and depression following his huge success and then the vacuum that followed. It happens often in many spheres - students, employees, love - many of us find the walls closing in on us and see no escape. It is always painful to see young people giving up their lives as they find themselves unable to handle expectations.

For those in creative pursuits, the route is even more perilous because creativity and art being on one hand, the capacity to market oneself and one's potential plays a bigger role in the success one gets. One may be talented but that is not all as we know. One has to translate that into performance. To translate potential into performance, it is absolutely necessary that one has the right guidance, mentors and support systems. Without these, most of us struggle to translate potential into performance or results.

Few are fortunate enough to do that. For the rest of us however, it might be a good idea to manage our expectations based on the results we get. Yes, there will be successes if we work hard and if we look to grow purposefully and with focus. However if the successes dry up, it is time to go back to the process an find out what is wrong. Be is a student, a cricketer, a writer or an actor - the results are a good indicator of what is happening. And if it needs corrective action, it needs to be taken, and fast.

If we need to look at alternatives, at new doors opening, so be it. If it needs a correction of course, based on sound advise and a rebuilding of the basics - finances, results, output, so be it. One must be flexible enough to lower expectations until the results start perking up again. If we have slid from 80% to 30%, it is better to aim for 40% and then rebuild, instead of looking at 80% again and getting stuck. But this time, the rebuilding stage, is when the maximum learning happens. You will learn about the process, about yourself and you will know how to use yourself best.

We are all unique and we have all have a story. For people in the creative arts it is best to be committed to the medium. To act, to write, to direct, to sing - focus on the body of work. Immerse yourself in creating as many pieces of work as you can. Give yourself that timeframe of 20-30 years and keep at it relentlessly. Like an Amitabh or a Woody Allen or a Dev Anand. Stop worrying about a couple of failures - in the end you will be known only for two or three, five or six at best. But to get a good list, you need to make 30 - 50 plus or more. Commit to the work, look to grow, look to express. God has given you a talent, so let that talent flow through you instead of blocking it with doubts and fears. Create, create, create in all forms, all media. Work should keep you busy whether it translates into instant money or not.

The second thing is to stay grounded. To keep the attitude of a learner. To be ready to strip off the past and move. If things work great. If they don't go back, learn, improve and come back. Keep that support system alive, be grateful to those who truly love you and always, always be subservient to the medium that makes you. As Socrates said - we know nothing. We can take that further and say - we are nothing. It is easier to manage our expectations from that space and rebuild.

Life is wonderful. There is always a route, a door that will open. We must be aware and willing to open it and walk into it. When things are not going well, we must go and try those doors. We cannot always expect those doors to come to us. To be gentle with ourselves, to accept life, to learn and to move on, to be grateful mostly to what we have - these then will keep us going in those phases when all seems dark and lost. The night is darkest they say, just before dawn. So hang in there. Tomorrow's a new day!

Travel - Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar in 2004

This is a travelogue I wrote in April 2004 or so, when I first visited Jaipur.

Jaipur
We missed the morning flight to Jaipur because Bobby came late to the airport. He had all the tickets!!

ME and Hawa Mahal

We bought tickets for the next flight and flew to Delhi and then took a Volvo to Jaipur. In Jaipur I went to the Amber fort and spent most of the day there. It's beautiful and very well preserved.

ME at the Jantar Mantar

Over the period of the next few days I went and saw the Hawa Mahal, the Birla Mandir, Jantar Mantar, the old city (a mall, can you believe that?).

Tops at Jantar Mantar

Jaipur was also the place where we saw one of the best pubs ever - lovely interiors, great décor, fine music and food. Wonderful time.

The Birla Mandir

Udaipur

I took the overnight bus from Jaipur to Udaipur. Though the journey was only about 9 hours, the distance being about 370 kms, I got the tickets for a bus that left at 7 p.m. from Jaipur.

View of the Udaipur palace from the boat

Got in and settled myself in one of the front seats and snuggled up for the long journey ahead. The air conditioning was at full blast and we nearly froze to death.

The famous Lake Palace of Udaipur

While 99% of the bus passengers were of the opinion that the AC be shut off there was one nutcase who wanted it on - and we had to suffer it for him! Thankfully I had a tiring day that day, going round the MI Road of Jaipur with my friend Sunil and I dozed off.

Bhatti and I at the Udaipur palace

Udaipur was reached very early in the morning. I was picked up by a couple of officials who took me to the club where I was put up.

Armour - Prithivraj Chauhan

 The first visit of the day was to the Udaipur palace which was well preserved again. I saw the Lake Palace from far and took a boat ride close to it.

The crystal room which had crystal beds, tables, glasses, chairs, and practically everything you could imagine - in crystal - was astounding. Apparently the day the consignment arrived in India the raja who ordered it had died and therefore it was considered inauspicious. It was never used!

We went to the Udaipur lake and I got a sight of the famous canals of Udaipur along the way. At dusk we went to a place where they served traditional Rajasthani food and I was bowled over by it. Rich and heavy. Saw some of their folk dances etc and it was time to catch the night train back. Bhatti was very helpful during my stay there and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Pushkar
Pushkar is considered the holiest lake for the Hindus. It has a Brahma temple where they worship Brahma (unique I believe), an annual camel fair (very famous) and of course the great Pushkar lake where they have an annual period which is considered very holy for Hindus since Pushkar is the place where all the Gods are present. Legend is that the lake was there before creation began and will be there after the world is destroyed. So powerful is it they say that Brahma withdrew its highly potent power for most of the year except for the six days when it is considered to have all its powers back. Story goes that Brahma had a yagna there which was to be attended by all the Gods and that is one of the reason why it is so sacred.

Folk dance on stilts

The lake itself is a rather dirty lake but an amazing thing because it is quite full and is in the middle of the desert. All around it are ghats built by maharajahs of Ajmer like Prithviraj Chauhan, Mughals like Akbar, Aurangazeb, Jehangir and so on and so on. It is set in the middle of mountains. In fact while you travel to Pushkar you get a feel of the desert as the topography changes, you can see sandy stretches, barren lands and arid landscapes. Its like something out of a movie. Anyway I put some water on my head washed my hands and feet and they say it is equivalent to dipping in all the teerthas or whatever. Thus continue my days as the pilgrim.

The Pink Floyd Cafe

Somewhere on the way I saw this - The Pinkfloyd Café - in the middle of the desert.

Ajmer

From there we went on to Ajmer which is 11 lms away where the famous dargah of Moinuddin Chisti (or Gharib Nawaz) is situated. It is a very different place, a narrow street leading upto the dargah filed with beggars and pilgrims. Now this dargah is famous because they say that whatever you ask for is fulfilled here. The Chisti, a Sufi saint, came from Persia when he was 52 and settled down there and died when he was 97. He came during the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan (the raja of Ajmer) and Akbar. The most famous story is that Akbar asked him for a son because he never had one and after meeting the saint his wish was fulfilled. Apparently Akbar walked all the way from Agra to Ajmer when his wish was fulfilled.

Puppet Show

I bought the traditional chadar and offered it, prayed for an expansion of my consciousness. Thought of you as well and prayed for a happy life for you where all your desires are fulfilled as well. The place is managed by some white robed muslims called khadims. Now when the saint came from Persia he was accompanied by a relative of his spiritual guru and that person took care of the Chisti’s every need. He was known as the original khadim and these current day khadims are all his descendants. They manage the show and are the only ones who are allowed inside the tomb area. It was a fine experience and I enjoyed the peace of that place.

I somehow attracted all the beggars in the area and they kept on begging me. I was struck by one really cute kid who kept on begging from me right from the time I left the dargak to the car which was almost a kilometer away. She was so cute and was smiling and even making fun of the faces I made (aise muh nahin banana baba, baba tumhara bhala karega..) and all other beggars went except her. For some reason she would not beg from the others. When I finally got into the car she still was there at the window, smiling, her eyes full of mischief and love, and I could feel some major connection there with that small girl. I finally gave her ten bucks and she gave me one dazzling smile and one baba tumhara bhala karega or whatever and vanished into those streets. That was a experience I will not forget just as the smile that our young sixteen yesr old khadim gave us when I wished him a good life while leaving.

Jaipur again
We reached Jaipur by five that evening after a fine dhaba wala meal with tanddor rotis, missi rotis, dal and paneer. The Sardarji who owned that Qualis was a fine and speedy driver. After some freshening up at the hotel I decided that I must drop Agra because it was already getting to be too hectic. After a couple of drinks at the hotel our crowd wanted to check out the discos (yes, jaipur actually has a few discos unlike Hyd which only has pubs). We went to one at 12 which was shut and then went to another five star called Rambagh where they refused entry to stags (obviously). So we went back and slept.

On Sunday we did some late afternoon shopping but the best part of Sunday was the discovery of a restobar called Café Kooba (somewhere near the Vidhan sabha towards Sanchar Bhavan in a street that’s like some residential area) which served some amazing food, has a lovely ambience, great music, terrific graffiti, loads of chilled beer and a fine attitude. Very classy without being too expensive (something like ‘our place’ rates). But whatever you do, its great value for money. Apparently it gets a great crowd every evening and it is managed by a fine gentleman whom we met. On Saturdays it is normally open till 3 or 4 in the morning he said. The veg and non veg platters were outstanding.

I took the 1215 volvo to Delhi. Met a five star chef in the bus who is a consulting chef for hotels etc. Next morning the bus dropped me off at 5 in the morning at Delhi. I had to kill about 6 hours at the airport and waited and waited. Met one non stop nonsense businessman from Hyderabad who was just returning from China who kept me awake with his nonsense. Reached Hyderabad at 2 in the afternoon.

Playing Cricket Again - Another Highlight of 2013

It was wonderful to be able to bowl for 20 minutes without any pain in my shoulder. Ah, it was
 such a fine feeling. Though it was bowling off two steps, the fact that I could do it gave me a huge high! Also enjoyed batting a bit. I liked the focus in the eye. Yes, that's what I'd like to see. The fire is burning and well! The eyes don't lie.

Batting at Girivan





Daksha Sportathon - 2014

Daksha School celebrated its Sportathon on January 4, 2014. Anjali was participating in Yoga, Kung Fu, Aerobics and the March Past.

Daksha Kids Enjoying Themselves - Sheer Joy

As with all Daksha events, preparations were on full scale for a long time. If there is one thing that the kids will take away from here, it is to prepare well for anything which is a great lesson.

The Sportathon Invite depicting many sports on it

We dropped off Anjali at 330 p.m. at the slowly decaying Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reeddy stadium - weeds, fading exterior, narrow gates, old and dull security men. The interiors were fine though. Anyway we were to return at 445 p.m. Anjali warned us to be seated by 445 p.m. and not to take any pictures because a 'popular' photographer and videographer was coming along! Of course, teacher said so. Its amazing to see the awe they have of their teachers (and well deserved too from the snippets she shares).

All set to go

The yoga presentation really brought tears to many eyes as expressed by one grandparent later. Something about the seriousness with which the young tots performed such complicated asanas so well just touched a chord. They were brilliant - disciplined, focused and picture perfect. Anjali was in row one so it was easy to see her do her asanas.

Pleasing to the eye

The younger children presented many other environment related races - 'Duck Race' by Play Group, 'Race to Plant a Tree' by Nursery Chicks, 'Children are Here to Rock' by PPI Diamonds, 'It's My World' by Nursery Ponies and 'I Promise to Keep It Clean' Race, 'Aerobics' by PPI Emeralds, 'Race to Save Fuel' by Nursery Kittens, 'Kung Fu' presentation, 'Aerobics' by Sapphires, 'Let's Save Water Race' by Nursery Joeys, 'Unity In Nature' in Aerobics by PPI Rubies, 'No Plastic Race' by Nursery Cubs, 'Unity in Sports', 'Jai Ho' and March Past. It was great fun to see them laugh, compete and enjoy themselves.


Stylish!

The aerobics were brilliantly choreographed and executed. Midway through one program the power went off - unusual for such a huge stadium - for half and hour.

A colorful presentation

Everyone sat quietly in their place, the kids especially so. But Anita has this self-assured energy that indicates that everything is under control and everyone relaxes immediately - parents, children, staff. She's like MSD that way. For half an hour there was no light, no PA system but it was brilliantly handled without a word being spoken.

Race to save the environment

Once we started the show was all energy again. The Kung Fu presentation got everyone clapping and going wow. It was cute as hell as they showed off all that they learnt in their black Kung Fu clothes. In the aerobics Anjali's group did a version of Jai Ho which was again brilliantly choreographed and executed where the kids formed a DAKSHA in the end.

The D and A of Daksha formed - Anjali in the middle of the A

Annual Report and March past and then we were gone. It was almost 9 p.m. but the energy levels were still high. Anjali put up a confident and strong show and as promised I treated her to ice cream. Anita's annual report mentioned that in a couple of years she would move the school to a place where they have their own ground and the announcement was met with much cheer.

Another neat presentation

The sharing from parents was brilliant and brought much happiness as they spoke from their heart. Whether about the preparation of Daksha for these events, the care they take with the children, or even the character shown by the children during the power outage, were all valid and deserving points. The support teams were all introduced and they got a round of applause as well - deservedly.

Well done Anita and team. Radhika, Kamakshi, Chandana, Sunita, Shakuntala, Smita are some of the teachers I know. But here's to everyone who was involved in the making of the Sportathon. It was such a joy to be there.

Double Indemnity - Movie Review

Old black and white stuff. But gripping. I could not get away from the sceen for too long. Insurance salesman hits on the attractive wife of a client. She plants the idea of taking an accident insurance for her old husband. He suspects her intentions rightly and leaves. But the idea develops in his mind - there's a girl and there's easy money - and he comes with a plan where the accident could get them more insurance under a double indemnity clause - in some circumstances insurance companies pay double. It's well executed but the sharp claims manager of the insurance company smells a rat. Why did the old man not claim insurance cover on a broken leg? Did he not know that he was covered?

The good part about movies of those days was that people were people, with their weaknesses and weak moments. 'Double Indemnity' shows all the sides of human nature - the insurance salesman who gets caught in a momentary lapse of reason and kills to set right his wrong, the hard hearted wife who falls in love at the very last moment and dies as a result of it and the hard nosed claims manager who ferrets out the truth. Can you get bored in this movie? No. Can you watch it again? Yes. Based on a novel by the same name 'Double Indemnity' is good old story telling with loads of dialogue. Liked it.

Lost In Translation - Movie Review

Nice subtle love story by Sofia Coppola. Name ring a bell? Francis Ford Coppola made Godfather. I read about her. She comes from a family of high achievers. Anyway a fading Hollywood actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is in Tokyo to promote Suntori whisky - a big 2 million dollar deal. He has no clue what's happening with all the Japanese happening around. He bumps into a newly married young woman Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) who is also in the same hotel, staying with her photographer husband. The two find the new culture, the loneliness hard to cope with and one fine day bump into one another at the bar.

What builds is a beautiful relationship with no expectation, simple pure fun of communicating, of being together. They watch TV late at night together, go to pubs and bars, meet some whacky friends etc. When its time to go and Bill Murray finds himself in bed with a club singer, one sees the tension in the air when Scarlett Johansson realizes that he slept with her. That despite knowing that there is nothing said or unsaid in their relationship. Beautifully shown. And when Bill leaves one feels the tug in the heart because there is still something incomplete. One is so glad that he sees her figure in the crowd from his taxi, goes, hugs and kisses her before he leaves. Ah, closure! Lovely. Slow, but nice if you're the sensitive type.