Last day of the Year : 2012

Congratulations to one and all as we did make it to the end of this year without facing world annihilation!!! Now that I/we have got this far might as well spend sometime jotting down my thoughts on the year that will soon be filed away under the label 'bygone'.

In more ways than 2012, was a revelation to me more so on the personal front than anything else. My belief that my world is a combination of a String theory with a mix of the Chaos theory has only strengthened. The String theory not from the physics perspective but more so from the perspective that we are all mere puppets connected to 'Strings'. One yank of the String here and things shake up causing a puppet at the far end to make a move which it seldom expects to make- that is how I bring the Chaos theory into the mix.

I have always been on the look out for newer life experiences expecting each one to teach me something new and make me a better individual. 2012 has been replete in such life experiences and I thank this year for that. Of course more than anything else this year I have felt the need for friends and I am proud to say that they have been steadfast and I am thankful to them. I do wish I will also be able to return the favor if called upon in the future, which I am hoping will not be anytime soon for their own well-being.

Now that I have got the heavy stuff out of the way here are a few other things which I would like to brag about and I few I wouldn't:

1. Completed the GR reading challenge of reading 50 books in the year
2. Blogged regularly. A total of 45 including this one is no mean feat 
3. Didn't totally suck at Fantasy Football. Atleast didn't end up 12th in the league of 12 :) 
4. Went to the gym for 2 days in the entire year. Spending a total of 35 mins overall
5. Did not puke but cried thanks to too much of alcohol. Dont want a repeat of that ever. :X
6. Frequent trips to Austin made that my second home in the US.
7. Am successfully staying alone and commuting in the bus as I go about my daily business in Des Moines
8. Didn't visit India in 2012. Plan on doing it in the first half of the next year.
9. Arsenal is still battling for the 4th spot in the EPL, like every year.
10. The Patriots will win the Super Bowl this year.

No new year resolutions for 2013. I would be more than satisfied if I could continue in the same vain for next year. Nothing more, nothing less!

Wish you all a Happy New Year! Be safe and God Bless!

2012 Reading Challenge - 50/50 :)

Yay!!! Its still only Christmas eve and I have finally laid down my 50th read of the year 2012. Here is me patting myself on the back for the achievement :) .

Highlights of what I read this year :

• Harry Potter - All 7 books and yes for the very first time. Better late than never :)
•  Jack Reacher - 7 of them Lee Child novels. The first 6 and then jumped to the 9th only because I wanted to prime myself for the Tom Cruise flick. Though now I am not sure I will even watch it considering the lukewarm reception it is getting in the face of The Hobbit. Also I am highly critical about the casting of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher
•  Read quite a few freebies out of Amazon. Yeah the ones which cost you exactly $0.00. Also fell prey to the marketing strategy where the first novel of a series is free and then the second and third are priced. Folks buy the remaining two as they are hooked onto the story thanks to the first and want to finish the series just for closure sakes. Case in point - The Mind Readers series by Lori Brighton.
•  Was introduced to the concept of the novella. Something which is not as elaborate as a novel but also not as short as a short-story. Eg : The Wool series, a set of 5 sci-fi novellas based in a post apocalyptic world. Also Legion by Brandon Sanderson
•  Special mention to Neil Gaiman and the magic I got to read in Stardust and Anansi Boys.  

There were also a few failure along the way. Could not make head or tail of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and gave up within the first 80 pages. Finally watched the movie and consoled myself. The Cloud Atlas and Joseph Anton, similarly were started and left mid way. Those will be tried again at a later point in time. Same applies to Vikram Chandra's 'Sacred Games'.

As Dr. Seuss puts it - Be Awesome, be a book-nut! Happy Reading!!!

26 Acts of Kindness

Yesterday evening as I was standing at the bus stop near Walmart, a girl approached me and handed me a envelope, wished me a Merry Christmas and walked away. The envelope from the looks of it had a card and some quarters. A random act of kindness I thought, which sure did bring a smile to my face, until I got home and opened it. This is what it contained apart from the quarters:

 

#26Acts is a campaign to do one act of kindness in memory of each person murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I was a part of that anonymous girl's 26 Acts of Kindness, and I feel blessed that I was a part of it. 

As she wrote in her card : Please be kind to others!

Check out this link for some more info: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/20/167713372/newtown-shootings-inspire-26-acts-of-kindness-campaign

End(?) of the World?

The world didn't end. Not that I was doing a J-Lo-esque 'Waiting for tonight' number, counting down to 12/21/2012 0000hrs. But even then, it didn't end.

The very first time I realized that this was in all probability going to be a hoax was when I checked that the day in question was a Friday. We all know how the working populace just craves long weekends. So who ever started this pop 'End of the World' hype was/is planning for a very long weekend indeed. I am very sure that the Mayans did not really subscribe to the theory of weekends let alone long weekends, for Mother Nature never rests – would be their credo!!!

I have confessed many times to my near and dear ones that I remember birthdays, anniversaries etc, but in my pursuit of happiness, I just don't realize that those particular birthdays, those particular anniversaries are upon us until well after the day is ripe and almost near its end. Something similar happened to me with this whole 'End of the World' hoopla. I knew for sure it was 21^st Dec 2012, but I only realized that when I walked to my office and had the wittiest of them throw a 'Hey, you feeling safe today?' line at me, of course followed by a booming self-appreciating laugh. Ohh yes, FB was of help but then it doesn't really help when majority of friends are in a different time zone. It just complicates matters.

So the day continues to unravel as the 'end of the world' propaganda silently makes way to the 'Waking up to a New Conscience' mantra which seems to soothe most of us. I guess I will have to sign a couple of online petitions before I am permitted to experience this newer, higher conscience though.

Wish you a Merry Christmas as I plan to gulp all those 'End of the World' specials which downtown Des Moines has to offer!!!

How Free Freedom is?

The recent arrest and subsequent release of two girls over the FB post pertaining to Bal Thackeray's death has once again brought to the fore the argument of how free should freedom really be?

While there are many that argue that a simple FB post should not warrant an arrest I for one would like to examine what actually transpired and put forth a balanced opinion. I must say that my opinion has been shaped by a number of articles which I read about this.

Was the Sena functionary wrong in lodging the complaint?  Now there are reports that there were some earlier misgivings between the Sena functionary who lodged the complaint and the family of one of girls involved and that this act was to settle previous scores, looking from a legal point of view I don't think there is anything stopping anybody from approaching the police if he/she feels aggrieved.

Once the complaint is filed, it is upto the police to take the requisite action. There have been cases, where the police have been pressured to act in a certain way by various groups and there is every reason to believe that the same would have been the case here. My research led me to an article which pointed out that each police station has access to certain law officers, whose job is to interpret the laws for the police and help them out in exactly such sticky situations. It so transpired that here the police officers in charge did not sought the assistance and went ahead with the arrests prompting the public outrage. The fact that Shiv Sainiks vandalized the hospital of one of the relatives involved colored the entire situation in a different hue.

The police instead of doing what it did, could have very well used discretion and acted intermediary between the parties and looked for an out of the books apology and settled the matter amicably. There is no way to know if this was tried, however no statements regarding this have come out.

 It is about time we start taking the electronic media, specifically the electronic social media seriously. The impact of this medium has already been felt in the Arab Spring. Just as we are bound by etiquettes in our daily verbal interactions, we would also need to employ etiquettes in our mannerisms on the social media. "Where is the freedom of expression in that?" you will say. If you think about this a bit more there is no country guaranteeing absolute freedom for the simple reason that as individuals we are all different and words have this incredible ability to deliver different meanings under different circumstances.

Do I sound like an advocate of censorship? These things are separated by such fine lines. No doubt 'utopia' is only an idea!!! J

The Curious Case of a 'Smart'phone

There is a reason why we are referred to as smartphones and it has got nothing to do with the humans who use us or even the apps which are available in the myriad appstores for us. There is something much more than that within us and it is that which makes us truly 'smart'!!! Humans don't really know that as yet and to tell you frankly it is better that way. There are some things which are better shielded from them so that they continue on their merry ways in 'wonderland'.

Now that you have got me talking let me narrate this case, a curious case if I may add which took place with me not too long ago. The more I think of it, the more I feel that it is not only a case or an incident but a fable. You know the stories which have a moral at the end of it only if you can see it for yourself.

Our fable begins in that place which can be both bright and murky at the same time – in the human mind!

Anuj was a happy boy, contented with the life he had carved for himself. While people around him flashed and waved their latest gizmos, he was happy changing the stations on his Sirius XM, more often than not stopping on the 'Chill Station'. Thus was his demeanor – chilled, until one fine day as it happens in most of the fables an idea hit him. The idea seemed so innocuous to start with that he had to go through with it. There was simply no downside and the upside was he was to end up with a 'smart'phone!!!

So off he went onto Craigslist and bought himself a 'smart'phone to set things rolling. He made sure before buying the phone that it was working as expected. Rishi, the guy who sold him that phone seemed a decent enough bloke. The next step was acquiring the SIM card, which was shipped without much delay by Walmart. Though the SIM had to be cut to be converted into a micro SIM to fit the latest smartphone, Anuj had no problem doing that. Ohh and yeah, and as if to get a pat on his back, Anuj did verify that the SIM he received was working fine by using his friend's cellphone. Now it is a different thing that even this charade was not easily accomplished, but then that is the thing with Anuj, there is nothing like a simple thing, each and everything has to be convoluted into something so complex that as time passes it is converted to a memory worth remembering!

  When he put the newly created micro SIM into his new smartphone, he was greeted with a message 'Not registered on network'. Without batting an eyelid, Anuj took Walmart to task and they 'meekly' agreed to ship another SIM. In a few days, the new SIM arrived. It was cut and put in the smartphone, again the same message was encountered. This time Walmart got the drift and said that the issue was not with the SIM but with the phone!!!! – Strike 1

Commonsense at this time, and I am sure you would agree, would have dictated that Anuj get in touch with Rishi and sort the matter out with him. But then if he would have done that we would not have had the fable in the first place, right??!! Anuj trusting his gut schedules a same day buy and sell on Craigslist. Sells the 'faulty' smartphone and with that money buys another smartphone. The sell comes crashing down within no time, as the guy who buys the 'faulty' smartphone comes to know the bug the moment he puts his SIM in the smartphone. Poor Anuj, who set out to just get one 'smart'phone, ends up with two and none of them any better!!!

If there is one thing you would have realized by now about Anuj is that he is never the one to back off from a challenge. 'If life gives me lemons, I will make lemon sherbet out of it' – is his motto and true to this, Anuj puts up the 'faulty' cellphone up for sale again. You ask why doesn't Anuj try and contact Rishi this time? Well, in his pursuit of having his Gmail inbox neat and tidy, Anuj by now had deleted all emails which would have given him the contact information needed to get in touch with Rishi!!! – Strike 2

I think at this time God wanted Anuj to realize that he is not the only one unfortunate soul on this planet and as luck would have it, Jonathan, whom Anuj dubbed as the 'Nigerian Ninja' without an iota of malice, took the bait and offered to buy the 'faulty' smartphone. Ofcourse this smartphone was not advertised as 'faulty' the way I am doing in quotes as I write this fable. But the Ninja was not to be fooled, within hours he saw through the ruse and wanted the trade reversed. Anuj tried his now famous 'cold shoulder' treatment, but the Ninja was not to be denied. He went on a spree of what Anuj terms to be threatening emails and as is the case when it comes to submissiveness - the desi relented!!! – Strike 3 and Anuj was out!!!!

I am sure you guys want to know more. You want to know answers to the obvious questions, as to what happened to the 'faulty' smartphone after that. Was Anuj finally able to get rid of it? Or has he resigned himself to the fact that this is the limit of 'smart'ness he will ever want to go to in his life?

You might very well argue that there has to be a happy ending to this tale? As I jot this down, I see that Anuj's other 'smart'phone is working fine and that he also has a phone number to go with it. If that is not a happy ending then what is!!!??

Now that the fable has ended I will go back to my 'Airplane' mode. There is only so much a 'faulty' smartphone can do I guess.

Novels to Movies to Me!!!

Watched the Life of Pi today. Another movie which has been adapted from a best-selling, award winning novel. If you ask me to describe the movie in a single word, then the word I choose would be 'spectacle'. But this post is not about the movie, so I will stop myself here and change track.

Each time I walk out of a movie theater after watching such a movie (an adaption of a bestseller), I try to relate to whatever I saw on the screen with the images I drew up whilst I was reading the novel and each time I come away feeling a bit wanting when it comes to the depiction on the screen. I understand that when it comes to the medium of the cinema, you are actually surrendering your senses to the creative whims of the director and his crew and even after knowing this I watch the next adaption hoping that the views (images) which will be shown on the screen will blow me away. It is synonymous to the fact that each time I head to a 3D movie I go in with a hope that at least this movie will be an out an out 3D experience.

Quite contrary to this is the event where I read the novel after watching the movie. The prime example of this is the LOTR trilogy. After giving up multiple times on LOTR-1 (The Fellowship of the Ring), due to time constraints, yes there was a time in my life where time was of essence more so in my PL's :), I finally shelved the book until the first movie released. After watching the movie, with renewed interest I took up the first book and as I rifled through the pages, I couldn't but stop the images I had seen in the movie flashing right across my mind. I even tried re-reading passages, trying to conjure up an alternate setting, but it was just not possible. Alternately, for the remaining 2 parts, I had read the book before-hand and had my own set of imaginations to pit against what was going to be shown on the big screen. However the faces of the characters forever remained the same as that of the actors I had seen in the first part of the movie, which I couldn't help.

There has to be a very simple psychological reasoning for this I am sure. Even a fancy name coined for this exact phenomenon which I write about here. Just because I do not want to take home images of locales which somebody else has thought off, I think I will be reading the books before watching their 'soon to be made into' major motion pictures.

Note for Tom Cruise fans: If at all you like watching Tom Cruise (let me confess that I do), we are going to see him next in JACK REACHER. Jack Reacher is a character developed by the author Lee Child. Pick any Jack Reacher novel and you will understand why Tom Cruise is just not an ideal pick to play Jack Reacher. Even if that be I am going to watch the movie. But just something for you to think about if at all you do end up reading Lee Child ever :) I dig Lee Child!!!

Let me leave you with an image I bumped into about how hollywood converts novels into movies. Not that I subscribe to this view per se but its funny nonetheless.

P.S: Now Tom Cruise is out defending his selection as Jack Reacher :P
http://music.yahoo.com/news/tom-cruise-defends-role-jack-reacher-031110277--finance.html

Balasaheb Thackeray (1926-2012)

Mumbai will never be the same again...Maharashtra will never be the same again, for He is no more. A one man army, the man with the iron fist, epithets galore.

(this picture says a lot. That vacant space to the right just behind Balasaheb was where not long ago Raj was. In what will be the next chapter of the Sena, it only remains to be a seen how much Raj's absence will hurt the organisation)

Balasaheb Thackeray changed the political landscape of the state. A cartoonist who rose to power on the skills of oratory, organisation and above all fearlessness, he arguably was running Mumbai like his personal fiefdom. Not many have held such sway over popular sentiment in a single region of the country. 

There are theories that Balasaheb was helped in the early days of his politicking by the Congress who used him to break the hold the Communists had on the mill trade unions in Mumbai. Vasantrao Naik and later Vasantdada Patil used the newly formed Sena to scotch the growth of the Communist party and the political advantage thus gained helped build the Sena as we know it. The 'sons of the soils' campaign was what catapulted Balasaheb into the limelight and cemented him as a leader of the masses.  Studies at the time showed how Marathi-speaking people were not getting jobs due to migrants and their cause was taken up by the Sena. The ire was against the South Indians to begin with, referred derogatorily to as the 'lungiwalas'. Balasaheb quickly became the messiah of the Marathi speaking fraternity what with the festering roits on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute.

As Balasaheb and the Shiv Sena grew from strength to strength, they became an alternative to the hegemony of the Congress at Mumbai. Shiv Sena aligned with the BJP and is now there longest standing ally, however in an attempt to also be nationally relevant the Shiv Sena shed its Marathi image to some extent and adopted a more Hindu nationalist ideology. However the sum total of all this was that the BJP Shiv Sena combine wrested power in the assembly elections in 1995. Balasaheb did not take up any post in the government and famously stated that he had the 'remote control' to the government. Years later, though not so openly Sonia Gandhi was to do the same at the helm of the Central Government. But such was Balasaheb, never mincing any words, calling a spade a spade while himself wielding an axe!!!

His charisma attracted thousands to his rallies. In a recent interview with Arnab Goswami, he said that his father always told him to make a speech that would appeal to the heart more than the head. Balasaheb did just that, he did not play with emotions but he brought them out. 

However I respect Balasaheb there is one qualm which I will harbor. I still feel that his decision to hand over the reins of the Sena to his son Uddhav over his nephew Raj was a mistake. Uddhav lacks his father's demeanor which Raj so effortlessly embodies. The splitting up of the Sena and the subsequent formation of the MNS is only splitting up the Sena votes and is benefitting the Cong-NCP combine. Will Raj in the near future align his forces with the BJP-Sena combine to keep the Cong-NCP away from power in Mumbai remains to be seen. Parting off Raj did seem to affect Balasaheb, whenever asked he always said that he would be more than happy to have Raj back. Frankly speaking after blaming Congress for years to be a 'Gandhi family' controlled party, by selecting Uddhav over Raj, Balasaheb ended up doing the same. 

Balasaheb in jest remarked in Saamna not long ago that sadly he doesnt have the 'remote control' to his age :). Whether Balasaheb's passing on will galvanise the Sena or further weaken it, is a question which only time can answer. With Balasaheb's passing an era in Maharashtra's politics has ended. Whether anybody else will ever rise to the same heights again in Maharashtra is a question better left unanswered!

The GR Reading Challenge and the Fight to the finish!!!

At the start of 2012 I took to GoodReads (GR) in a big way - stacking up my 'Read' book-shelf, rating books, connecting with people on GR and in general just getting used to idea of connecting with people via books. I have always liked to read. Infact 'books n booze' has been my advice to all those forlorn souls as well. It did work for me more than once if may I add so it could work for you. If it doesn't, you would atleast end up reading – a good thing after all.

My inclination to GR was also fueled by the fact that I got a dump of more than 900+ books from Sayantan for my Kindle. So I no longer had to worry about from where my next book was coming. I just had to browse through the Kindle and pick any book which caught my fancy. In the midst of all this I signed up for the GR Reading Challenge 2012.

The GR Reading Challenge 2012 is a challenge you set for yourself that before 2012 (or any year for that matter) draws to a close I would have read 'X' number of books. Thinking highly of myself and in a very jolly mood I put up a figure of 50. Roughly speaking just a book a week and I was good. Naively I thought to myself that this seems to be one challenge, one resolution that I would definitely complete with ease.

The first 8 days of November 2012 have already gone by and my GR Reading Challenge 2012 gadget stares at me with a 'You have read 33 books towards your goal of 50 books'. As if this is not enough, the widget also tells me that at my present rate I am 9 books (19%) behind!!! Now it sure looks like a challenge.

So what is the gameplan? You ask. Here it is:

1)      Get time…READ.

2)      The Classics can wait…looking for page-turners.

3)      Kindle Singles costing $0.00 and under 200pgs are a God sent.

4)      No I am not going to stoop so low as to re-read the 'Hardy Boys' and 'Nancy Drew' J Even readers have ethics!!!

5)      Switch to audibles. I actually tried one and it was free and worth just 2 hours. Didn't like the entire experience as such but atleast it added a book towards my challenge.

You might think that this is not way how reading is supposed to be. But believe me reading with your adrenaline pumping is a totally different experience!!!

Ohh yeah no Thanksgiving getaways and year end bashes for me either. Working towards a much bigger goal you see \m/

Majestic at Madjeski - Reading 5 - Arsenal 7 !!!

The mid-week game against Reading was a no-brainer for me. I was more focussed on the weekend Man Utd game. You know the facing off with RVP, the hoopla with the referees and all. So when I over-confidently shot off a prediction email talking about an 'easy-peasy' 0-2 win for the Gunners, little did I know what a show the Gunners were gonna put up tonight (UK time).

I logged onto the live feed to follow the match and continued with my work. Yeah I was at office and thanks to the epic game I really had a long day at work ;) 

20 mins on, I forgot about the live feed until a friend's email saying '3-0 in reading's favour so much for a capital one cup run'. I am stunned. Frantically I refresh the feed only to see that 17mins later we are a whole 4-0 down. Really did I have to refresh the feed!!! 

I understand that it is only a Cup game and that it is a grooming ground for our young gunners, but 4 goals down inside of 20mins is blasphemy!!! When I send out an email asking whether this game is being played on an XBOX or PS3, I get a reply saying that if it would have been, even then Arsenal would have won as there is a bias towards 'stronger' teams. Following this I get a sinking feeling which I am sure every Arsenal fan has had quite a few times in the past so many trophy-less years. I give up hope when just at the stroke of half time Theo pulls one back as the as the score reads 4-1.

I make a comment then which by the end of the game the Gunners strip off its sarcasm and make it sound like a prophecy : "Arsene still has a chance to glorify the character of the team. We just need to get 5 goals and ofcourse stop further damage!!!" 

I can only imagine what the dressing room would have been like at half-time. We were not staring at a defeat but if the score would have remained the same it was humiliation. It might be only a Cup game but for Arsene its a philosophy which he has adhered to steadfastly. The philosophy of using this competition as a training ground for new talent as well as for rotation. He has faced massive criticism especially in the wake of the 'trophyless' seasons to show intent where ever possible, but he has not budged. If the score wouldnt have changed I am sure it would have dented his confidence in the young wards and given munition to his detractors. I am not sure if that is what the youngsters wearing the Arsenal colors realized but they took the field in the second half trying to pull this one back.

Giroud was introduced just after half time. Not to forget he got his first Arsenal goal in this competition last time around against Coventry and mid way through the second half he scored. The score read 4-2. Eisfield came on for Frimpong and I was again positive. Eisfeld had a great preseason and is one to watch out for. As the clock showed 89 mins and frankly speaking I had given up, Kos fires in a third. Bloody hell the score reads 4-3 and I dont want it to end this way. Memories of the AC Milan game came back when we were there but not quite. 

Then it happened. I dont know how or why but Jenkinson got the ball inside the Reading goal literally on the last second of the added injury time. It can be argued as to how the referee allowed play till the fag end of the added time, but then I would say it was 'divine' intervention and nothing else. At the end of regulation time the score was all squared up. They had pulled this one back. But the drama was far from over.

13 mins into the first period of extra time, Arsenal scored through the most unlikely source. No, it was not a OG from a Reading player but it was our very own Moroccan 'striker' Chamakh. The fact that Chamakh got one past the goalkeeper was indication enough that God was on our side today and we were gonna win this one way or the other!!! Even now it was not a cake-walk. In the first few minutes of the second period of extra time, Reading got one through only to level the score at 5-5. Penalties now seemed a reality and that sinking feeling returned to me. Penalties are unfair, for the simple reason that far too many times, I have seen teams who deserved to win, lose on penalties.

Finally and be-fittingly so, Theo broke the dead-lock in the last minute of extra time, yes it was that close and the score read 5-6. It was now well and truly in the bag, but the gel-haired boy Chamakh, scored another one just to be sure and the match ended 5-7 in Arsenal's favour. 

It was a roller-coaster even while I was following it on the live-feed. I must have refreshed the feed countless times in those dying minutes. Ofcourse on the chat I was being appraised of what was transpiring. This one sure is an Arsenal Classic in the post 'Invincibles' era. 

There will be many changes before the weekend Man Utd game, but a win like this goes a lot deeper than just the playing squad!!!

As the Arsenal.com match report says: Winning, losing it and winning again was very, very, very special!!!!

The Sardars in My Life: A Tribute to the Flop Show

The part of India from which I hail there are not many Sardars. When I say Sardar, I mean the turban wearing ones. I still remember how my father narrated to me the fact that it had taken him all of 21+ years of his life to even lay eyes on one and that to, when he be-friended a Sardar pursuing a degree in English literature, he couldn't hold back his curiosity and enquire as to why his friend had not been in the Army!!! Ofcourse no offense was meant and needless to say none was taken and the Sardar as you would have guessed laughed it off with a twinkle in his eye!!!

In my life however cosmopolitan I may proclaim to be, I must confess that I never really got around being buddies with Sardars. Well I can say there were 2-3 at school and maybe 1 at work back in Pune, but thats all. Now I find it weird that I couldn't get around making friends with some of the friendliest folks in India and I will definitely say it was a lack of opportunity more than anything else. To this day I fondly remember my father enquiring if there were any Sardars at the engg collg I attended and to this day I remember just seeing one on campus and he too was in the Masters program. 

All the above blabbering apart, I did grow up watching quite a few Sardars in my lifetime. Notable among those being : Navjot Singh Sindhu, Harbhajan Singh, Sunny Deol (his characther in Border ;)) and last but not the least Jaspal Bhatti. 

Well I must say that Jaspal Bhatti remains the first Sardar whom I saw and remember seeing on TV. It had to be 1990-91 and I was visiting my uncle in Ahmedabad for Diwali. On his black-n-white TV I remember coming face to face with this guy. I was too young to appreciate his satire at that point in time (I was only 6-7 yrs old then) but then his image has stayed with me since. I think the fact that his show was called Flop Show was one reason why I remembered the name and got around seeing it again when I was old enough to understand. Since then I have run and rerun every episode of that epic show.

Flop Show arguably still remains the only satirical show to be run on Indian television. Even the gamut of cable channels which invaded the TV soon after could not deliver a single satirical show in my knowledge and for that I salute the genius of Jaspal Bhatti.

His death in a road mishap was both sudden and most unfortunate. However he has been more than immortalized in our minds and hearts!!! Jaspal Bhatti you were the first friend I made from across the CRT of our TV. RIP!!!

As an afterthought I still feel that he will have a satirical joke to crack through his garlanded photo hanging up on the wall. You will be missed!!!

P.S : Aadi's tribute : http://skewed-random-thoughtlessness.blogspot.com/2012/10/flop-showflop-show.html

Here...There...Everywhere - A Oct 2012 Story

The October of this year has been all over the place, or if I would have been Mr Obama and you Mr Romney in the last presidential debate I would have said : The October of this year has been 'all over the map'!!!

What else can you expect from a month which started off by boarding the AA flight back to Des Moines from Austin? A week after that I went to watch a NFL game - KC Chiefs v/s Baltimore Ravens. I know the Chiefs suck and that I prefer the Patriots to the Ravens when it comes to the AFC, but then for purely logistical reasons this was the game to watch. Keep in mind that Kansas City is a 3hr drive from Des Moines. I did have this inkling that somehow the Chiefs would sneak past the Ravens but then let me leave it at that. The fans gave the Chiefs QB more than an earful not to mention the cheers he got when he left the field injured which later was labelled inhuman both by the players and reporters alike. Though what exactly was I doing at that moment I cannot recollect as I write this but in all probability I would not have cheered :) It was a game of FG's which the Ravens won and I narrowly missed seeing two TD's. The first TD attempt was fumbled by the Chief's QB as he tried to rush to the endzone and the second was pulled back after a flag was thrown on the play. It is an entirely different matter that on the field I was not able to make sense what the flag was all about, neither did I pursue it later. All said and done, it was surely a good experience. One I would want to do again albiet on a bigger stage, say a Pats v/s Jets or a Packers game.

A week later I was off to San Diego on a self proclaimed long weekend. I took leave from work on the Monday. Though later I had to run my mouth dry trying to explain to quite a few folks the rationale behind me spending 3 days visiting a single city I must say I had a great time. Thanks to the 3 days the trip was unhurried and relaxing in the true sense. For once I shunned the Indian inside me and didnt rush to see those 6 places I had marked as must see in half a day!!! Must mention that the San Diego Sea World was awesome and so were the beaches of Mission Bay, Conorado and La Jolla.

By now I was enjoying the whole 'being on the run' thing and so I planned to spend a weekend with friends down in Minneapolis. It was more of visiting them than seeing the place, though I did get quite a few good clicks at Fort Snelling (which was closed for the season) and Minnehaha Falls (which was awesome but for the falls, which I couldn't locate). Had great home cooked food and a lot of old office gossip to make the visit memorable. Apart from that the Jefferson Lines bus which I took both to and fro impressed me to no end. The on-time performance for a 6 hr journey was impeccable. I surely will travel with them again in the near future.

This weekend is the last weekend of this month and I am thankful that I am going to be home. Somebody has to do the laundry and what about the Sunday NFL games which I have missing, not to mention that I am yet to get a win in my fantasy league but hell I do enjoy it!!!

The upside of the travelling has been the pics on FB, the mega points I gathered on 4sq all this in the social media sense. The downside : the feeling that I should this more often :P

905 days too early!!!

This post is early, way too early. Well to be precise it is exactly 905 days early, but I think it has to be said now like all other things in my life which I have said not when they were supposed to be said but when I wanted them to be said. Some turned out for the good, some could have turned out a lot worse but didn’t whereas a major chuck just didn’t matter to anyone or anything.

It has been years since I came off the ‘coming of age’ phase of my life and I do feel a bit disappointed that it had to come to this but then I guess I am getting into the ‘growing old’ phase of my life and let me tell you finding that first gray hair on my head has nothing to do with it.

For quite a few months I feel this change in mean, its weird, but I feel the sense of responsibility creeping into me - be it doing things that need to be done on time, like taking out the garbage, worrying about from where my next meal is going to come – my own kitchen or a burger place, and the best of them all, the nagging dilemma that will a 6inch suffice or should I order the footlong?

I thought the metabolic manifestation of the growing old phenomenon would be more or less connected only to my appetite, but this past week I realized much to my discomfort that it has quickly engulfed my ‘fluid’ intake as well. The days when I went on binges are well and truly in the past. The time has come when I will be ‘holding my drink’ for more than monetary considerations. Two days to get out of an hangover that too when the second day involved sleeping for 14hours straight is not at all something I would want to repeat add to that a small incident where I just started crying for no apparent reason and I cut a really embarrassing figure. So the next time you see me cradling that beer bottle for a moment longer than you expected me to then just let me be!!!

I am not sure what I will be like at the end of the 905^th day from today. But atleast now I am sure that the journey has definitely begun.

P.S: 905 days from today the date will read 26th March 2015, I would be 30 years old then!!!

Journey and the Destination

What does it really mean when somebody says that 'I like visiting new places (destination)!!!'? Visiting new places is not an isolated event. It is more than anything else the end of a much longer process which typically starts pretty early in time. So will it not be bizarre when that same person emphatically adds, 'but I just hate travelling (journey)!!!' Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Wouldn't you agree?

The adage 'Its not the destination but the journey that matters' doesn't really hold true for a typical tourist. The journey for him is just a necessary evil. The tourist breaks his head to achieve that fine balance between the travel cost and the travel time so that he gets to his destination cheaper and faster. The journey for him doesn't begin from the moment he steps out of his house with his travel bag but only after he checks in his hotel room in the city which he is visiting.

Each time I board a bus or an airplane to get to a new city I see people already getting cozy and ready to catch up on sleep. They are all trying to save up on time which they will be spending with glee at the destination. There are hardly any who really are interested to peek outside the window and experience the journey. It is as if the 'tourists' are like cattle in a pen being herded to an open field only to be let loose once they reach that field.

Even I am one of the typical 'tourist', but off late I have been making a conscious effort to enjoy the journey as well. I have decided, not to cram too many things both in my travelling bag and in my 'to see' list. I have decided to give me enough time to make that 'connection' so that I can walk a bit slow between terminals and not worry about missing my flights. I have decided to spend that much more time in downtown just gazing around buildings and shops which are not really on any tourist map but are very much there to be seen. The most important of it all, I have decided make that unscheduled stop in the city, totally unrelated and sit down many on the side walk or a park bench and just feel the wind in my face. Of course none of this will be seen on FB but then this is something just for me anyways!!!

All this because when I get back home from my travels I do not want to feel tired but refreshed and ready to take on the world in my office-space!!! J All this because at the end of it all I want to feel 'journeyed'!!!

So Far So Good – Arsenal PL 2012/13 first 3 games

As we head into the international break (here are our players away on international duty - http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/44830/international-watch-gunners-away-on-duty) and where I personally don't bother about the football but fret about injuries which might hit our players, I think I am pretty satisfied with the way the first 3 games have played out at the start of the season this time around.

After a draw each at home against Sunderland and away at Stoke which I must mention were both clean sheets, I was getting a bit jittery. With 3 players all new to the rigors of the PL I did know they would take time to get going but then there was also a thought at the back of my mind as to what if even one of them turns out into a Chamakh!!! In all this negativity as to how Arsenal have already started missing RVP and whether or not Song's exit has also hit the team hard, what we forgot to check on was the two clean sheets and all this in the absence of Sagna in the back four as well.

The third game was a reason to make merry. An away game at the Kop is always difficult and add to that the fact that everybody is looking ever too closely at the 3 new recruits.

At the end of the game, the scoreline read 2-0 in favor of the visitors. Both Poldi and Cazorla got their names on the score sheet. Diaby was a revelation. And another clean sheet!!! Apart from taking home all 3 points we took with us a lot of positivity heading into the international break. So a DDW this season as compared to a DLL last season at this same point with the defense leaking 10 goals already.  Well the opponents haven't been the same but then the back 4 has been reassuring at this point atleast.

After the international break we host Southampton at home (Theo against his boyhood club!!!), followed by a visit to France to take on Montpellier in the CL followed by a stern test at the Eastlands. I am hoping that Giroud finds his touch against his old club if not against Southampton. The game against Man City will be particularly difficult considering that we will be travelling from the mid-week game. Lets see how the team holds up for that.

I would have loved to see some transfer activity on the last day of the transfer window. Ofcourse we weren't going to see the same traffic as last season, but I thought we should have got M'Villa. But then as they say the Professor knows best!!!!

Alone under the roof - Des Moines

Been a little more than 2 weeks since I moved into Des Moines and I can very well say that I have settled into Des Moines. Settling in a new city is intricately related to the  moving into a more permanent accommodation (leased property), knowing where the nearest WalMart store lies and also knowing where the nearest coffee and donut shop is. I have located this trinity in the Des Moines area and feel pretty proud of myself.

The leased property (for 6 months) is in downtown and though the balcony faces the opposite side of where 'real' downtown lies, the fact that it is on the 16th floor does give some solace to the soul atleast in the summer. WalMart is located around 5 miles from my residence, and even though I do not have a car at my disposal it is right on the bus route which offers me free rides due to my professional affiliations :) . The coffee shop is bang in front of my office building and boasts of an all veg menu (how uncanny is that) apart from the ambience which reminds me of roots, rock, reggae and a lot of hippieness. You can get a low down on the coffee shop here: http://www.ritualcafedsmiowa.com/index.html

Apart from that staying alone is a bit of a bummer if you ask me. Like I was discussing with a friend of mine who was held up without any decent company in Tokyo for 3 weeks - how on the very first day he was happy that he would be staying alone and accordingly stacked up his refrigerator with the local beer along with quite a supply of the local hard liquor only to realize a week later that when it comes to drinking its not only your capacity for alcohol but the company which matters. Actually even I had/am having a similar experience. It makes more sense to grab a pint at the nearest watering hole than stacking the rack at home. Considering all this, I guess my respect for 'Devdas' and all the other 'lonely' drunkards has shot sky high. Sorry to say I cant do it guys and been distraught has nothing to do with it. The same logic fits very well to smoking. I mean stand alone around that smoker's station makes no sense atleast to me. I would rather kill the urge than bore myself just cos I go to have that fag. So all and all this 'alone-living' thing is kinda 'a positive'.

With no one really to speak to once I get back from office, I am kind of depending on the phone and the social networking to help me do away with the 'aloneness'. Again not complaining. Guess what, I have ended up making a plan for each month (atleast for the next 3 months) to get out of Des Moines :). Sept it is Austin, Oct it will be San Diego and November it will be Atlanta.

Pretty swell yeah!!!

P.S: I wanted to title the post - Alone but Happy but then I am aware of what 'synthetic happiness' is all about :)

Get ...Set...Checked in..

This is what I bumped into on Twitter and I have no reason to deny the fact that this is exactly what I do in 2012. The picture talks about food, but then my endeavors are not always limited only to food.

Over a period of time it has almost been a ritual for me to check in on 4sq whenever I visit any place. I have had to face the ire of quite a few friends due to the fact that instead of settling in my seat and looking over the menu, more often than not I am frantic to get that 4sq 'check in' done. I must confess that there are times when I do feel that it is a burden but then it 'has to be done'!!! I am not boasting to be a mayor of 100 places on 4sq or something but I guess my 4sq usage is pretty respectable. Now if those points which you earn on 4sq would somehow translate to money or even better discounts I would be more than happy :)

4sq does have some offers on select establishments but the money back offers are mostly on AMEX cards and I don't have any. I have redeemed only one offer till date using 4sq and that was the FREE SALSA and CHIPS at Chillis. I know its trivial but then I sure was excited :)

The most invaluable thing about checking in on 4sq which I have found are the tips which other users have left. So if you end up in an alien city visiting a restaurant which you picked randomly you at least have those tips to help you order what is the best thing available there. Let me tell you those tips have not really let me down.

So the sum total of the blog is that if you see my check in on 4sq in the future don't be getting hyper on my 'showing off' skills but try it yourself.

P.S: 'The Little Bird' (she blogs here: http://night-flier.blogspot.com/) is coming down to the US for a 'little' over a month and has voiced her desire to give me a run for my 'check ins' on 4sq. Well I have got my travel calendar sorted out girl and it says at least Kansas and Austin to begin with in the near future.

Name on the Back : Gooner Pride : Survey results

I absolutely adore percentages for the simple reason that they hide the actual sample size and effectively bring about a sense of purpose to whatever you are reporting :)

Now that I am coming out with the survey results my previous statement seems to be in a negative light and potrays that the sample size of the survey barely made the double digits. Both no and yes. No to the pessimism and yes to the sample size. The email to Arseblog didnt really get noticed, guess I have to do better than this to be the Rebecca Black of Gunner forums ;) I am taking heart from the facts that almost everybody whom I wanted to respond did respond. Guess I do have a small circle of Gooners around me..LOL that doesn't really bother me.

Cutting the crap and getting right to it:

1)  The Arsenal player from the current squad (2012-13) who's name you would want on the back of your Arsenal Jersey?

Wilshere---------50%

Cazorla----------12.5%

Vermaelen------12.5%

Podolski---------12.5%

Fabregas(??)----12.5%

Really not surprised to see Jacky boy right up there. Fans already see him playing all his club football at Arsenal elevating him to legend status alongside the other Arsenal greats. The fact that he was given the famed squad number 10 only underscores that. Looking forward to his comeback to club colors. He is sorely missed till then no doubt

Cazorla made it purely on what he did against Sunderland the other day, I think :)

Somebody actually mentioned Fab. Not sure if it was sarcastic or the individual really sees Fab as still the part of the squad. Well for the fan Fab is still as much a Gooner as a Barca player.

2) The Arsenal player from the all-time Arsenal player list (1886-2011) who's name you would want on the back of your Arsenal Jersey?

Henry---------75%

Bergkamp---12.5%

Viera---------12.5%

Looking at the responses, I felt 'duhh!!!'. I was thinking to myself, 'really you had to ask that question!!!??' I am not saying anymore on this :)

P.S:

I was goggling for an hour trying to find an Irish bar or any bar in the Des Moines area which airs EPL matches. The search results were not encouraging at all until I bumped into this : http://www.arsenalamerica.com/2009/09/04/hello-from-the-des-moines-area-gooners/. This was like a Mardi Gras for an exhibitionist ;) (hope that analogy worked). So I got onto it and sent out an email to their 'branch manager' only to be slapped back by Gmail for sending stuff to an invalid mail id much to my chagrin.

For a moment there I had my hopes really high about being in Des Moines. Damn!!!!

Anyways its the visit to Stoke this weekend. COYG!!!!

Name on the Back : Gooner Pride - A Survey

In victory or defeat we wear our jersey with pride!!! It is this very passion that we all Gooners share for Arsenal which has prompted me to come up with a survey (link at the end of the write-up) for all my fellow Gooners. 

We are the best judge of everything which goes on the football pitch for the simple reason that whatever happens out there in the middle affects us. We lose our sleep over that offside decision which might have changed the game for us. We get into endless arguments trying to fathom what the defender was thinking when he decided to make that ill fated back pass to the goal-keeper.

It is this passion which in my opinion makes us the best judge of the footballer who wears the colors of our club. We don't keep our feelings whether positive or negative to ourselves, we broadcast them so that they are heard, so that the footballers know what the fan thinks about him. We do that at worst by booing a player on pitch or at best by wearing his name and number on our backs!!!

I think that wearing a player's name on our backs is one of best ways many of us find to adore the player. Unfortunately not all players retire playing for the same club. Some move on with grace while a few (whom I now hate) cash in on the opportunity and move to 'greener' pastures. While a few are just not good enough to stay. When any of this happens we take a hard look at that battle-worn jersey we bought long ago and either worship that name on the back or outright hate that name on the back. Seldom there is a middle ground for us. For we are the Gooners.

The survey has only 2 questions (my worst time on the survey was 5 seconds) which in my amateur opinion will bring out the two Arsenal players one from the current squad (2012-13) and the other from the all time Arsenal player list (1886-2011) who the Gooners adore, salute, idolize.

I don't doubt your wisdom. Come on you Gooners!

Link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8KL9J8Y

Game 1 - Arsenal V/s Sunderland 0 - 0 08/18

I woke up at 10:45am EST today. With the kick-off scheduled at 10:00am EST, I was already kicking myself for missing the very first 45 mins of the season considering how badly I was looking forward to the EPL. The thing to note is that it was not the alarm which woke me (that was long past anyways) but a simple notification tone of a Whatsapp msg from a friend ruing about how dull the first half was!!! Now atleast I know what wakes me up better.

This is what I saw in the second half:

One way traffic all the way till the final whistle except for a couple of times wherein both the substituted forwards for Sunderland - Saha and Elmohamady got a touch to the ball. Expect Saha who was ambling near the half line all 10 Sunderland players where at the back defending each and every second. At any given time there were 2-3 Sunderland shirts converging on the ball be it with Gervinho, Cazorla, Vermelean, Arshavin, Diaby, Jenkinson or who did I miss yes Walcott. The question of shutting out Poldi or later Giroud never arose as they just had to find the net which they missed with menacing regularity.

To tell you the truth I was not expecting the kind of defensive discipline which Sunderland exhibited today. But then you can say that the Arsenal offense was not upto the mark. Well, Cazorla had a good game. His trickery was at his best considering that Sunderland were gonna be happy with a point and the fact that he is just setting out in the EPL. He did create chances weaving through those ever present Sunderland bodies until Poldi or Giroud hit them wide.

Gervinho showed an amazing work rate. I saw that he was ready to back track a long way just to get the ball. Gervinho was everywhere? I have no doubt that more than once I saw him on the right side as well. Towards the end for that corner in the final seconds, I did see him in a bit of discomfort. Hope its not the hamstring and only a case of cramps with the work he put in today.

Walcott atleast in the second half didnt have much to show for. The kind of game Sunderland ran, didnt afford him much space anyways. He did win a free kick which Poldi sadly kicked over the net.

I have never been impressed with Diaby. He always seems to me as a wannabe (never give up) Viera. Neither does he have the talent nor the gumption to be that. Today with the Sunderland defence hell bent of just choking the Arsenal players, he looked hap hazard. More than once he was looking like a lost farmer at a village fair. Would have Song dont better? I dont really want to go down that path. He was substituted by Ramsey in the last 20 mins or so. Ramsey seemed to be a bit better prompting me to think that I would have been wise to start with him instead.

Jenkinson impressed me I must say. Part of it could be because I haven't seen much of him and that his defensive capabilities were not called upon in this game, but atleast he was ready to get up there and make a pass/cross or two. He did try a shot on goal as well. I guess apart from Szcz it was only Per Mer for Arsenal who didnt really cross the line into the opposing half.

Ashravin got a look in the last 15mins when Walcott was substituted. He did show his trademark turns for a bit but didn't quite seem to make the impact. Gibbs looked sharp what with his overlaps with Gervinho but then again couldn't get a telling pass. He did well with winning possession of the ball though but again was not tested that much defensively.

TV5 did make a few runs upfront but things didnt really pan out. He was contend to be on the half line trying to change the side of play from right to left. Didnt see much of Arteta but then that was the nature of the game what with Sunderland not letting up the relentless pressure even for a second.

Finally we come to the new boys up front. Poldi and Giroud could have had dream starts to their stints at Arsenal. Even in the heavy traffic, Cazorla and Gervinho were providing good service in the box but unfortunately they couldnt make it count. Poldi over-ran that deft Gervinho touch which was right in front of goal and Giroud missed a sitter at the end of the Cazorla assist at the fag end. I was half hoping for a Arteta long shot to make a difference but the way Sunderland were stacked up there was not much space anyways.

First game without RVP and we end up scoreless. Caught wanting in the final third and in front of goal.  Already the commentators have started asking the question, "Is Arsenal missing RVP?" I would say not yet. Still the first game of the season. Heartening to see Cazorla getting into the groove right away. Guess we can cut Poldi and Giroud some slack atleast this week.

Next week we are away to Stoke. Delap long throw ins will be back. Hoping that Bould's zonal marking holds up against the set pieces and both Poldi and Giroud find the back of the net!!!

COYG!!!

P.S: Elsewhere Swansea got 5 past QPR.Remember Man Utd off loaded Ji Sung Park to QPR in the off season. Fulham also got 5 past Norwich. They did that without Dempsey who, litsen to this, 'refused' to play because he wants to move to a bigger club.
I think the upset of the first week of games (though we still have games to be played tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday) is Liverpool who went down 3-0 to West Brom with Agger ending up with a red card as well. A twitter user had this to say about Saurez who missed two chances in the first half when the scores were even - 'Saurez has the game of Messi but the finishing of Heskey!!!'

Choose your future. Choose LIFE!!!

RVP: He's gone. We'll get over it

So its done!!! Arsenal have accepted terms with Man. United for RVP. The deal is worth $24million. Ofcourse I am not aware how much United will be paying RVP but I am sure it will be close to the highest salaries being currently paid in the league.

Curious as it may seem, I dont feel hard done by RVP at all (http://adducelebrity.blogspot.com/2012/07/van-persie-situat.html) . Maybe it is because being a Gooner I have now been used to this phenomenon, what with the experiences of Nasir and Adebayor. RVP displayed some calm when he said that the his contract talks and any gossip related to that will have to wait till the Euros were done, but post the Euros and ofcourse the horror show of his team it was all downhill. The immaturity of his comments then made it clear in my mind that Arsenal will be better offloading him. Coming off perhaps the best season he had with the Gunners and with a year's contract left now was the time to make money off him. Arsene Wegner made the right call in my honest opinion.

I have not really understood the rationale behind keeping the transfer window open for two weeks after the season begins. Each time any player transfer saga unfolds and enter the last week before the start of the season I cannot forget the Lescott move to Man City. Moyes was in no mood to let go Lescott and rejects offers worth $15mil and $18mil from City. Ofcourse there was a lot of love lose between the player and club on that. All that culminated in a poor show on the opening day of the season when Arsenal drubbed Everton 6-1 with Moyes blaming Lescott's 'poor attitude' and consequently dropping him until he was sold off to City. To that effect when Arsene said that he would want to  get done with RVP before the season starts one way or the other was very reassuring. You dont want that 'poor attitude' on the pitch especially in Gunner jersey. I am not saying it would have come to that but then there was a possibility.

What Arsenal achieved last season was in major part RVP's doing. He could have very well stayed on finished his career here which is at best 2-3 years. But the fact remains that the RVP has always been an injury-risk. Infact the last season was his only season with the Gunners where he played 25 or more games. So considering all this I still think Arsene did good.

With RVP gone we have 2 new strikers for the season. Podolski is proven I would say at the international stage, whereas Giroud is just getting to know the ropes. Not a bad deal really. There were folks who wanted to hold onto RVP for this season so that he could be something of a guide for the new signings, but then its not worth $24million.

Lets see how fit RVP can remain this season with Man.United. Here's another opinion on the deal http://sports.yahoo.com/news/manchester-united-deal-arsenal-robin-van-persie-could-214800560.html

For now as Arseblog puts it: He's gone. We'll get over it.

Playing catch up..

I just got off a call with a school friend with whom I spoke after a gap of 8 years or so. It is his birthday today. Of course it was Facebook which pointed that out to me but the fact remains that I did end up calling him and wishing him. He was off to work so the call was brief, 5mins and 45 secs to be precise, but the rapture I felt within that small time was inexplicable. I could understand that the feeling was mutual and I could sense that.

After the call I was simply sitting, drawing breath and wondering. Wondering what exactly happened to my life in this timespan that I pretty much got disconnected with probably the very first set of friends I ever made in my life. I dont have a definite answer to that.

Do people slowly fall off until one fine day it just strikes you, "Hey where is this guy? I dont see him around, wonder what he is up to these days??".  Or is it just about your priorities at any given point in time?

You are not entirely wrong to think that I have too much time to kill. In fact I am thankful that I got this time to sit back and let this run through me!

I think I will label it 'Playing catch up'. Nostalgia is too cliched an emotion/term to ride on anyways!!!

I have already shot off FB messages to a few school friends. I am sure gonna use those minutes on my India calling card and guess what, that image up there is the most appropriate for this post :)

The Dark Knight Rises...I am cool now!!

This is a follow up blog to my earlier blog on the same movie where I had pointed out a few things which didn't really work for me. Here's the link to the earlier blog incase you missed it: 

http://adducelebrity.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-why-oh-why.html

Quite a few of my friends (including one Anon.) came to my rescue on reading the earlier blog and helped me straighten out a few things for which I am really thankful. Apart from the comments which you guys left, I also got into lengthy chats (discussions) with a few (read two) of my friends on my movie and literally that is all I have been doing the last two days. You will say that this guy has a hell lot of time to spare, but yes you are quite correct and the earlier occasion where I spent this much time after watching a movie has to be Inception. Isn't it a sweet coincidence that even that was a Nolan creation!!! 

So finally I agree that Bruce Wayne did get the auto pilot corrected six months back and the Bat with the nuke hanging had a perfectly working autopilot on board. Now it a different matter that I am not utterly convinced that Bruce Wayne could have corrected the auto pilot all by himself, for I have my reservations about the technical skills of Bruce. Never before have we been shown that Bruce Wayne likes to tinker with technology and I again for the umpteenth time get recluse in a certain Tony Stark whom you very well know as the Iron Man. However I am ready to forgo that trivial detail for the ending which I have now been enlightened about doing the rounds on different fan forums on the internet. Here it goes:

Bruce Wayne fixed the autopilot. The Batman didn't employ the autopilot and went on with the Bat and yes the nuke attached to it up over the ocean. The simple reason for this which I am ready to digest being that the Batman did not want to leave the fate of Gotham city on some goddamn autopilot. The autopilot has been likened to the rope which the prisoners used to get out of the pit however remember that Bruce Wayne got out without the aid of the rope because it was his fate to say Gotham city on his own. In the same vein towards the ending of the movie Batman used no autopilot and went out on his own because that is what he wanted to do. 

So did the Batman/Bruce Wayne die? Well yes he did. And that is what he wanted to do. He wanted to let everybody understand that now there is no Batman to save you, so each one has to be the Batman in his/her own right. Remember, 'There is a Batman in each one of us'!!!

Its fine till here. How do they explain Alfred seeing Bruce Wayne in Florence? Well Alfred is dreaming or should I say hallucinating in his grief. Alfred has always pictured Bruce that way and so when Bruce is dead it is but natural for Alfred to imagine that. Note that Alfred never talks about with whom specifically he wanted to see Bruce other than merely mentioning that his companion would be his wife, or should I say a lady. Likewise, Alfred does see a lady with Bruce who does look like like Selena Kyle but should I point out that Alfred never sees her face, goes it follows its Bruce he has always wanted to see there and so he does.

Am I a Batman fan you might ask, what with finding solace with an ending where the Batman eventually dies? I wouldn't answer that question but I would most certainly say that this explanation of the ending fits my bill and I must say rounds off the experience of yet another Nolan movie for me!!!

Here's were I got what I got from:

http://www.filmending.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-ending-analyzed.html

 http://mihirfadnavis.blogspot.in/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-plot-holes.html

May the Bat be with you!!! ;)

P.S: Hope the Anon. identifies himself this time around :)

P.S.S: I mean the Batman when I say Bat and not the copter :P

The Dark Knight Rises!!?? Why?? Oh Why??

Finally after a week's delay and under some trepidation I did watch the concluding movie of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy and let me tell you I didn't really get it. I am not trying to go against the tide here, but the fact remains that I didn't really get it.

I am not a comic aficionado, however with whatever little knowledge I possess Batman is the most endearing of all the superheroes. He is not an alien with super natural powers like Superman, neither is he a born genius with a brash attitude like Iron man. Keep the flashy toys aside and on the outside Bruce Wayne seems to be a person just like you and me, battling not only the bad guys tormenting Gotham but also fighting the demons within and trying to get over his numerous tragedies. Batman never single handedly saves the day. Is it as he puts it, "Anyone can be a hero" and it is this inclusiveness which draws me towards him. It is this vulnerability that maybe he might fail or lets say die trying to save the city which makes me look up to the Batman.

'The Dark Knight Rises' didn't work for me. It somehow didn't make sense. No, I am not talking about the sheer brilliance of the cinematography or the special effects employed. In the next few paragraphs I will be enumerating just why this didn't work for me. I hope that my friends who I am aware are Nolan fans and who absolutely dig the Batman can come to my rescue and help me see the light.

The Masked Men:

I have never understood the logic as to why Nolan would change Bale's voice once he dons the Bat-suit. The Batman's voice is downright guttural that at least I have had difficulties in picking up what he says all along. I am not sure if it is this handicap which hampers Batman from giving out monologues. If you notice all that he says is abrupt. At least I felt on quite a few occasions that he wanted to say much more but simply couldn't thanks to the nature of the Bat-suit. It seems to be a speech impediment that anything else. In his verbal encounters with the Catwoman he is woefully short of wit or should I say speech.

Add Bane to the mixture and now you have two masked men on screen talking in rasping, guttural voices which many times I found hard to decipher. I was half hoping that the film will come to my rescue by providing subtitles but to no avail. Bane tone is understandable as the mask is a device which is supposed to keep pain at bay, I am ready to understand that the injuries he suffered may have changed the way he speaks and that the mask also alters it but subtitles would have helped the audience appreciate it a bit more. As for the Batman's voice, I have not been able to find a plausible reason.

Bane v/s Batman

So who is the real villain of the movie, Bane or Ms Tate? Tate's only villainous act for the entire movie apart from stabbing Batman once and maybe sleeping with Bruce Wayne is confusing the audience as to where Bruce Wayne's heart lies. If you ask me, I wouldn't have wanted the Catwoman to be tied down with love. Wasn't it the love-hate relationship between the two which was the recurring themes of the comics where the Catwoman was also featured?

For all the likeliness I am considering Bane to be the villain in the movie. Isn't it amazing the both the hero and his nemesis have woefully less screen time? It is only twice that the two are face to face and the fist fights which ensue are well what can I say not imaginative at all. I mean Sherlock Holmes got into much better fistfights I daresay. 

To top it all, the twist in the climax, reduces Bane from an all powerful nemesis to an accomplice a number two. Not cool I say!!! Also the prison doctor (who talks in the foreign tongue) talks about the kid that escaped but fails to mention that it was a girl. I mean isn't it worth mentioning that it was not only a child but a girl child who did it? Another thing amazes me is that the prison doctor mentions about the protector but curiously Bruce Wayne does not press further to know who the protector might have been. The subtitles would have also helped here rather than having another character translate stuff. It would have been perfectly believable for the Batman to understand the foreign tongue. Isn't he trained by the Ra's al Ghul?

The Nuke and Bruce Wayne

Batman picks up the nuke with the Bat (the chopper which he flies and which doesn't have autopilot) and flies it off to the horizon where it blasts and the city is safe again. Wouldn't it have been more promising for Batman go up in space and let the nuke explode there? Do I hear you say that he isn't Superman to do that feat or that the nuke was a small one with a blast radius of 6 miles? Whatever be the reason I somehow found it lame for the Batman to carry the nuke far off and then have it blast out there over the horizon. Remember a certain Abhishek Bachchan doing the same shit in a Bollywood movie named 'Dus' and how you laughed about it!!! Well this is no different, isn't it??

As if this was not enough, the legend didn't end there. Through different scenes in the post-Bane Gotham we are led to believe that Bruce Wayne isn't dead. It all culminates with Alfred acknowledging Bruce sitting with the Catwoman in a cafe in Florence which he frequents during his summer vacation. So what am I to believe that the nuke got Batman but Bruce lives? Also that shot where Fox discovers that the autopilot was fixed, I didn't really understand. When they check the tag are they sitting in another Bat? Or the Bat which the Batman flew on that ill fated flight had the auto pilot corrected before hand? That was all confusing and outright unbelievable. 

I did start talking about the above points with the folks with whom I watched the movie, but they brushed it aside saying that its only a movie. My retort I am sure most of you will understand, "When its Christopher Nolan its not only a movie"!!!!

I rest my case!!!!