Just another blog?

A Different type of 'Ghandi' joke

2006-03-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

It all started with a humbling message on MSN saying that my blog was a lot of fun. This was particularly pleasing as just a week ago, a 'friend' had made a joke about me being one of those 'bloggers'. That friend, it came to light, had gone through every one of my posts dutifully before doing the decent thing of commenting about it. Whatever dude!

Anyway, this person who was appreciative, gave me the link to this other blog - http://sidin.blogspot.com

Hilarious! Very funny! I was actually laughing out loud! I did not of course stop with reading the blog.

Odd things catch my eye - there was a link to this wonderful (sarcastic) article at http://history.eserver.org/ghandi-nobody-knows.txt as one of his 'must reads'. I decided not to judge the blogger on this though.

The article was wonderful because it so defines objective thinking - by showing what is not. As a fierce free-thinker, and a consequent free-speaker, and as a further consequence, an open-minded listener, I decided to give the article a fair hearing. I did make it half way through. No doubt a neo-imperialist Jew in America feels pissed at the beatification of Gandhi, but this guy was just wrong-in-the-head.

By blogging about it, may be I am unnecessarily giving publicity to such bull shit, but I doubt anyone would get far with it. I was finding it hard to point my finger though as to what was specifically wrong with this guy. That he hates the Hindu peoples (and their Muslim brethren) and their non-existent values and the country that symbolises that humbuggery which is India is so obvious that it was almost pointless for him to back himself with 'analysis'. But, to pass off a drunken rant as an intellectual historical analysis is pushing the limit. To refer to himself as impartial was criminal!

Here is a sample of his 'objectivity' - "I cannot imagine an impartial person studying the subject without concluding that concern for Indian religious minorities was one of the principal reasons Britain stayed in India as long as it did." How fucking patronising!

Look at this one for a first hand sampling of distorting historic incidents to suit one's preconceived interpretation - "when Gandhi's wife lay dying of pneumonia and British doctors insisted that a shot of penicillin would save her, Gandhi refused to have this alien medicine injected in her body and simply let her die. (It must be noted that when Gandhi contracted malaria shortly afterward he accepted for himself the alien medicine quinine, and that when he had appendicitis he allowed British doctors to perform on him the alien outrage of an appendectomy.)"

Firstly, Gandhi did not refuse the treatment but his wife did, and not for being alien (could have been an added incentive though!). It was because penicillin was a fungal product and for an orthodox Gujju it was equivalent to meat. Gandhi had no qualms about alien medicine, in fact he was a medical corps cadet during the Boer War.

Gandhi was not perfect, in fact, we dont claim he is the tenth incarnation of Vishnu or the like. And India stands guilty of pushing his image to boost its credibility as a nation, but that is only as unfair as the West considering itself the safeguard of freedoms and civilization, based on circumstantial evidence that it had been the first to develop modern free institutions. A nation has no duty to be consistent to its beliefs, and for this prick to pass India's caste system as proof that India is not a moral nation is as stupid as saying that slavery disproves America's tradition of liberty. (Actually, it does but thats not the point.)

Gandhi was not perfect, but he was the closest big name we got to being perfect in the twentieth century. Not because he showed us the best way of living, but as a person, he was awe-inspiring and humbling. And I hate some bugger telling me why he thinks Gandhi is over-rated.

By the way, the Sidin guy is hilariously funny. Did I say that before?

Rang de Basanti!!

2006-03-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

RdB is impressive, refreshingly different - it could be mainly Rahman's music which was almost path-breaking. But, though it overwhelmed the other aspects of the movie, the movie in it self was rather a unique product.

Acting was of a high quality - Aamir was extra-ordinary, but you come to expect it from him. Since Lagaan, his penchant for perfection has been obvious. But, there were other stand-out performers too - particularly Atul Kulkarni and Sharman Joshi.

Siddharth was the best though. Of course, this has been his trademark character since Boys and Ayutha Ezhuthu, nevertheless his comfort for the role is awesome.

The second half and particularly latter part suffered from the endemic problems in many Indian movies - too much happens, and the care and detail that was shown for the earlier half is suddenly conspicous by its absence later.

Nevertheless, it is a top-notch movie. I would rate it as good as AE was, though they have different core audience. Some sweet moments -

1. The picturisation during the songs was cool, but 'Rang de Basanti' was great.

2. The Radio jockey announcing that they will take a break to play a song, and having 'Roobaro' was Ha Ha funny. But, then there were many such funny moments in the movie (like the one where drunk Aamir talks about 'pissing in the present')

3. What surprised me was how they got the whole bunch of kids to react before the camera with just the right amount of over-reacting and just the right amount of rhetoric. It looked real and that is a great great piece of direction.

This time around, The Oscars will be eagerly awaited

2006-02-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

The Oscars have never meant anything great to me. Except a couple of times. In the days of DD, when I heard 'Thevar Magan' was nominated, I was hoping to hear from someone if it did win (Thevar Magan was only sent to the Oscars).

Then, 'Lagaan' made the nominations list and one Sunday morning I sat and watched the whole show. Only to almost not notice that in a fraction of a second, Lagaan was announced, it lost and was forgotten. The Oscars did not make sense - I realised it did not mean anything to me. Not because Lagaan did not win - 'No man's Land' which eventually won was a way better movie.

Since then, I have grown up to appreciate the English-language movie industry wholesomely - and I no longer waste my mental energy for example contrasting English and Tamil movie industries. I treat them as two different art-forms, and if we still insist on comparing, Hollywood is a millenium ahead. They make crap too but their above-average ones, and particularly their best, define excellence in human performance.

Now, I can appreciate a lot of movies in a great depth - mainly because I have seen lots more now. I was pleasantly shocked when I could notice Spielberg's genius in the form of lighting effects in 'Munich'. And I am still able to enjoy movies without getting too artsy! All movies dont have to be great, some can just be fun.

This year's Oscars interest me greatly. Jon Stewart will be the highlight - he is an awesome entertainer.

Of course, there are some brilliant movies, nominees and the general quality of produce from Hollywood is up a few notches. I have still not seen them all - particularly, am yet to overcome my 'homophobia' to go and watch 'Brokeback ...'

Despite that I am going to have a little fun predicting the awards. Of course, I dont care who the Academy actually awards - this is just how it would have happened in my world. I may/may not award movies that I have not watched (which I will mark with an asterisk).

only some of the awards ....

Actor in a Leading Role - David Strathairn, Good Night & Good Luck* I have great expectations for this movie, and in keeping with that I will give Strathairn the award.

Actor in a Supporting Role - Matt Dillon, Crash Supposedly, William Hurt just appears for fifteen mins in 'A History of Violence' - it would be interesting to see him win though!

Actress in a Leading Role - Charlize Theron, North Country Havent seen any of these movies, but I would be OK with anyone but Judi Dench. Come on, stop this obsession with the mountains and other things that ancient.

Actress in a Supporting Role - Rachel Weisz, Constant Gardner She must have been good - I have read quite a bit on her performance. Plus, I love her greatly.

Animated Feature - Wallace and Gromit 'Cos this will be the only one I will watch.

Art Direction - King Kong Between it and Harry Potter (the nominees I have seen), it wins
hands down. But, Memoirs might just win it in real life.

Directing - Munich Come on! Let us give Spielberg some more credit for the movie. Some scenes may have been over-done, but it was reasonably intelligent entertainer. And well directed!

Music (Score) - Got to hear them all first. Not Munich definitely - not at all original.

Music (Song) - In the Deep, Crash. I know I enjoyed it, but don't remember it! Who cares, you can question my decisions!

Best Picture - Crash I recently read an article that rubbished the movie. I agree with the article's points and yet I give it the best picture. Thats how much I like it.

Visual Effects - Tie between King Kong and War of the Worlds Both had problems - King Kong had unnecessary variety of mysterious characters. But, the tribal village and the high sea scenes were spectacular. War of the Worlds had a masterly touch but failed with the all too familiar picturising of the aliens.

Writing: Adapted Screenplay - Munich Just classy. PLO and 'ETA' in the same safe-house was the high point.

Writing: Original Screenplay - Crash. Slightly more classy than even Munich. Irony was just overflowing. Dialogues were fabulous.

Free Speech and e-Speech

2006-02-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

My supervisor Vincent is not in today!

I had mistaken his 'Tees and Bermuda' attire and his liberal, friendly European-ness for a blank-check to come late (not to mention the continuously cheerful 'Good Mornings' every time I tested the waters by coming late). Then yesterday in his equally cheerful, friendly, Belgian accent he told me that "one-hour late was not nice" - he added "maybe you can make it up by staying in after hours, but coming on-time is preferable." (please remember the Belge accent while reading it).

I meekly told him something about three buses missing me when in fact I had chased the first bus that refused to take me in till the next bus stop and got in (I was impressed by my own tenacity!)

Now when I came in 'only' fifteen mins late today to show my apologetic attitude, he is not in! Am I disappointed? Nay! I started with a great willingness to get started on work on my own
immediately, but what with Jeremy on the HPLC machine, it was fate telling me to do something else. I still dint give up and tried some research papers, sleeping in the 'Break-out Area' (BTI-talk for pantry!) and some free 'make-it-urself' coffee. I eventually settled on blogs and all the holy stuff that accompanies them. Before I got started on this post, I was busy leaving 'longer-than-the-post' comments on other blogs and even emailed a couple of friends for their blog URLs (Google Blog Search failed me). Particular motivation was provided by my own abysmal, 'as-usual-long' blog entry yesterday - the one with NUS and Chemistry in its title!

Of course, the inserted picture is mis-guiding, but thats only to make this entry a bit more
colourful and also to may be invite some 'e-Jihad' (To believers: I am honestly kidding here - I
would be wrecked by any hacking as I am quite un-savvy with computers, viruses and stuff!). Nevertheless, this whole topic of Islam, Cartoons and Free Speech is going to make one long article on my other blog.

Considering the length of anything that I type - even my name is quite long if you notice - I
have decided to channelize some energy in the near future into my other blog
(brahminical.blogspot.com). Having already decreed that its very mission is to be long-winded, it will probably save me from defacing this blog (I actually liked my early articles here, and what people thought of it). Let me make clear that whatever we claim in our mission statements, the ultimate purpose of a blog is to seek attention, and occasionally some approval.

It might be a bit 'loser'ly, but I have always been an unabashed conversationalist in the real world (as against the e-world), however 'infamous' my conversations' are. In fact I know that deep down those who make fun of my love to talk actually like what I got to say (please dont correct me if I am wrong!). In fact, one guy while in the middle of doing the 'hip' thing of making fun of my long stories, referred to me as the 'Seinfeld of NTU'. Now, is that a compliment or what?

My previous blog-post had turned out bad (did I say that once before? I am sorry, I lose track sometimes!) but I am quite satisfied with what I have here. In fact I had even taken a break for lunch (where my colleagues seemed to enjoy my theories on the languages of the world!) half-way through this post. A comment would be welcome though.

Like my supervisor would say, " That wut bi gut!"

NUS Blood Donation, Chemistry and other such things

2006-02-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

Note: Am experimenting on a blog entry variety that assumes everyone who reads knows everything I know - will be fun to see how much people understand.

1) NUS Blood Donation

Had joined my colleagues to participate in a blood donation drive in NUS, partly because it was time since I last did it anyway and partly because it was a nice opportunity to cut a few hours from work (the rigours of which is part II of this blog entry).

NUS - have been there many times. First when my bro was a student. That was when I made up my mind that I was coming to Singapore to study come what may. Many more times since I came to Singapore, albeit a NTU student already.

Today it struck me how I felt so bad that I dint study there. Especially since the reasons why I chose the other university were completely applicable in NUS. Especially since the reason I rejected NUS was because they had not offered me the scholarship before NTU's 'we need you badly' offer. Especially since it looked a place far more representative of those aspects of Singapore that I prefer - far more liberal people, better aesthetics, access to city, and a good bioengineering school!

I started taking comfort from the fact that PGP needed a paint and the toilets were not as clean as NTU's - in fact as Jagdish said, 'NTU's toilets are clean to a fault, the cleanest in the world'. Will rigorously try for the Singapore exchange program in my final year. That way I would have seen both unis and that would remove all the uneasiness in my mind.

BTW the blood donation went well!

2) Chemistry

My IA work is now hitting hard - here I am in charge of experiments to be designed and done as I please. The lab is a nice place but it is kinda overwhelming when I have to deal with both glass jars and bench solutions on one hand and 'High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (SEC) coupled with Static Light Scattering, UV Spectrometer and RI detector (with computer softwares)' on the other hand.

At one point I needed to make a simple buffer solution of Citric Acid and Sodium Citrate (pH 5.5). Only to find out that I dint remember the equations not that they helped when I got them. Citric Acid is a multi-protic acid with all three pKa values close by. No clear points of inflexion and no way to blindly use Henderson-Hasselbach equation.

Now thats the kind of challenge that Vikram Balasubramanian, International Chem Olympiad Silver Medalist would have loved and cracked. Instead, I meekly inserted a pH meter once in a while and kept adding NaOH till I got to 5.5 (5.52 actually). At one point I actually choked when I heard the word 'equivalence point' - I got nostalgic about those days when words like this were my staple diet, and scared about now where I cant figure out how to deal with them.

Academia is a hard world - especially there is no coming back if you left its shores once.

3) Other such things

Had a horrible debating session yesterday. I almost wanted to cry and give up - surprising self-realisation that I gave a shit about how good I was at this thing.

After three years of this shit, I still dont know how to structure a speech, pick a clear coherent winning stance. Especially when it was supposed to be a 'Juniors' vs 'Seniors' debate. The Juniors got rave reviews for an 'awesome case' and 'great speeches'. Sushil even managed to see strategy in what they said - good for them!

But, he squarely put the blame on me. He said I screwed up! Amber's average speech was seen now in the light of having to repair the self-destruct effects of my speech. My reply - was flatly rejected as 'new-matter reply'. Amber was even credited for making fun of my bad speech as damage control (he says he did no such thing and I know that).

The sad thing is most of what was said about my speeches was true - and I felt quite good when I actually gave them. Scary! Talk about hoping to win an international tournament in the next few months!!

Suffer the Intellectuals - Note

2006-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

http://boards.charlierose.com/board/topic.asp?pg=1&ti=16148&ri=267394

It has an online version of the article I mentioned in my previous post. May not be the whole version I think.

Suffer the Intellectuals

2006-01-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

That's the name of an article by Owen Harries - maybe it is because I am not that well read, this struck me as one of the best pieces of intelligent non-fiction writing. The central theme of the article is the concept that how most intellectuals who are too caught up in the present and with ideologies that they have already subscribed to often predict very wrongly.

There is a whole range of bewildering such events in the near-past, including the end of wars around 1910, the demise of capitalism after the Great Depression, the victory of the Soviet in the Cold War and not-so-long-ago 'The End of History' by Fukuyama! He gives insights into why well-meaning intelligent individuals do this borrowing ideas from George Orwell and common sense.

What struck a chord with me was one paragraph where he points out about more often than not intellectuals are (in the real world) useless who hardly do things on the ground. And how they treat people like Eisenhower (who actually planned and executed the Normandy landing) as if they were idiots.

Even under intoxication, I will no longer refer to myself as an intellectual (or aspiring one) - now it sounds like a damning label. The article was published first in 'The American Interest' and is not available online. It also appeared in the last few pages of The Straits Times on the 27th January, 2006.

Do tell me if you can find an online copy.

PS - Refrain reading anything from Jeff Jacoby (writes for IHT, Boston Globe). If you need convincing, try http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/26/opinion/edjacoby.php

Also, this guy Howard W French's http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/15/news/letter.php though I must concede he is better at politico-economic matters. This one is just plain rubbish. Not that I have seen Memoirs or that I disagree with his facts.

Truly Random Post

2006-01-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

1. Am still on my coffee abstinence effort - quite proud of it. But, dont expect it to last much longer.

2. Something mysteriously wrong with my finances. I suddenly feel I have too little money for a guy - who does not have alcohol/tobacco expenses, does not say colour his hair! or even spend on the more costly food items made of meat ( being a veggie!). I dint go back to India as often as some of my friends, nor buy any fancy electronics or Ikea products!

I have one of the lowest bank balances - that too despite my computer being funded by my brother. Bloody banks! Excepting a check on one mysterious transaction, I think all I can do is control spending from now one. BTW I truly dont knw how to get back to budgetting my expenses from now on.

This sudden finance curiosities sparked due to an inferiority complex regarding my IA paycheck - there is a 1400 $pm, a couple of 1300s, a few 1000s and many many 800s and 750s. I am a measly 540 $ - just because I had no good companies on my internship list! AAW! Life sucks.

3. Interesting incidents during my IA travelling -

-> Child walking holding mom's hand says something excitedly while I am out of range. Then I hear mom saying, " But, you cant escape it dear! Everyone has to grow up!".

-> Have you heard that particular SMRT announcement in Mandarin that goes "Jou Jou JOU" in the end? Or something like that? That day as I was (like always) pondering what it could mean there were a couple of Singaporean Chinese females who started laughing as they heard it. Then they made fun of it (I think - they spoke in Chinese after that!). But I am positive it was about the announcement because one of the girls mimicked it before starting to laugh wildly! Interesting language eh?

From a Mad Mad Man - IA Blues

2006-01-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

It is my fourth day of Industrial Attachment - just came back from lunch break! On top of this wonderfully horribly phase of depression that I am going through (I'd like to think it is a phase - its going to end rite?) I am in a research institute that is so not connected to my major beyond the fact that they both share a 'Bio' in their names.

The last time I was an 'academic' was in school when I thoroughly enjoyed the experience - the madness of knowledge, I used to call it. But, I have lost the touch to do any significant academic work. Definitely not if I dont have a passion for the subject matter.

Reading research papers seems a horrible way to spend time. So much that I am eagerly looking forward to the day when I will be asked to do a lab rat's work of filling thousands of cuvettes and taking readings (My friendly Belgian Ph.D. studying supervisor promises it will be early Feb).

So many things going in my head - so many scary thoughts and scary realisations. But, atleast most people here are decent. But, I am so self-obsessed right now, my social skills have taken a hit too!

Plus, the lack of coffee! After the doctor advised me to avoid that brown golden stuff for a couple of weeks, I have surprisingly managed to hold on to the challenge till now (my personal deadline - Friday). But, my brain tells me that a shot of coffee is likely to give me some cheer and improve my spirits. But, unfortunately I know thats not going to solve my problems. Not until my screwed up mental processes are fixed!

Freakonomics

2006-01-11T00:33:00.000-08:00

This is probably the 'easiest' non-fiction book I have read. Definitely give it a try. Exploring crazy ideas and crazy questions is quite a fun job and unless you do it really well, you cant make a living out of it. So, obviously Steven Lewitt must be a cool economist.

Though the article on 'Why do Drug-Dealers Still Live with their Moms' was had a nice starting point and well written, it was not as quirky as I thought it would be originally- the reason I took up the book in the first place.

Some interesting things said in the book -

1) Legalisation of abortion seems to have downed violent crime significantly in the US! If you are not squeamish about 'killing foetuses' (which changes the stats!) that is.

2) Most of the damage (or good) that your parents could do to you is before they start their parenting! In fact, the name they give you kind of summarises the effect they end up having!

3) Sumo wrestlers fix matches - and do you know the story of how teachers cheat?

Happy New Year?

2006-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

I dont believe that dates carry anything special with them - Jan 1, May 19, Oct 21 - how does it matter? I have even had occasions where I forgot it was my birthday! But, I 'hoped upon hope hopen' that 2006 start auspiciously - cos 2005 sucked truly! Unfortunately, havent got any signs that it is going to be different this year - infact Jan 1 2006 was quite a nightmare.

I spent New Year's eve and mid-night in a super-dooper crowded Esplanade. The fireworks were brilliant and I felt good that finally I used my camera's photo-video capacities, but still dont have the accessories to upload onto the computer. I was with my family; considering how rarely we have been together over the last few years, this should have been a good thing. But, I was surprisingly disappointed that I was not in Ireland waiting for the Break Night of the WUDC. Ofcourse, better debaters than me who represented NTU did not break as I found out later! Only makes it worse.

2005 was bad - no, I did not lose a limb, or all my earthly property to a fire, or get embroiled in a civil war situation. But, this was the year when I lost my confidence and self-esteem repeatedly (and am yet to find it fully!).

I am leaving rest of my rambling to myself.

Will upload photos and videos once I 'ave the equipment.

Aaru - Surprisingly good!

2005-12-27T03:14:00.000-08:00

(Sorry if you are not a Tamil movie afficionado)

Tell me if you have heard this story before - the protagonist is a loyal right-hand man to a powerful Dada. Tough and extremely good at what he does, but he has a conscience. Hence, has limits to how he operates and things he would not do. At some point, he becomes an inconvenience rather than a help to the Dada who decides to dispose of him. The hero waking up to this fact, not only gets away but also promises to avenge the death of his friends. From then on, it is about how he gets his revenge while still sticking to his principles. Ofcourse you have! This (and a hundred variants) is the standard masala thriller plot and Aaru (means Six, and is the nick-name of the hero) is no different.

But, I enjoyed it - more than I did Ghilli (nick-name of the hero!) and as much as I did Saami (again, nickname of the hero!). The difference is basically in the way the movie is handled and the attention to detail in the script and the plot. It is the first street gang movie with a description of the organisation and operation of these gangs - their day-to-day existence - much like any average industry.

The dialogues show great integrity - they are realistic and still get the traditional impact that will get a theatre-crowd in Madras going. The slum and its people (the spokes in the industry's wheel) has been picturised in a down-to-earth manner. Even better is showing through the movie the balance between the police, gangs, the public and politics. Any effort at rationalising the violence or lawless behaviour is pragmatic and not overly-sentimental.

Even the action scenes are not just run-of-the-mill machete fights, but intelligently designed - particularly surprising was making sure that glass specks stick to Surya's (the hero) hand if he breaks a bottle!

Surya is arguably the best actor in tinseltown today, this movie mixes his earlier characters from 'Mounam Pesiyathe' (Silence Spoke) and 'Pithamagan' (Noble Son). Trisha (lead female) is just a good luck charm like in every other gangster movie. But, her role - as a sim-card saleswoman - is very symbolic of how cell-phones have changed the Indian social landscape, the movie has shown this changed reality (with constant inclusions of police turning their phones to silent during encounters, tracking cell-phone signals, changing sim-cards to avoid detection, etc).

Vadivelu's comedy is typical of the movie - though it is traditional in its attempt to include trivia and public messages in the comedy scenes, a sophistication in the way the same is done is found. Particularly, the symbiosis between the four South Indian cultures and specifically, movie industries (particularly Tamil and Telugu) is discussed with comfort and puts a smile on your faces. The best one was the cost-benefit analysis of a car-burglary that suggests that everyone stands to benefit from it.

The disappointment of course was the music - too standard, and the sequences too similar to Ghilli. Lyrics an improvement though - again typifying the new professional approach to an age-old story. Director Hari might not be as bad as I thought he was.

Life of Pi - well-written, sweet and disturbing!

2005-12-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

I got this book as a 'Christmas gift'. I had heard a lot about it over the years and its story-line was amusing, not to mention that it tingled my patriotic nerves to know that it had an Indian boy as the protagonist (and no Indian author!). Finally, I got to read it - I finished at, more or less, one go, though I should concede I was way too jobless - the only breaks were when my mom offered something to eat!

The book is quite good, written in an amazingly simple style with the capacity to convey so many of those 'great truths' that we know, but never can express. The most fascinating thing about the writing was how a Canadian author had somehow gotten into the head of a South-Indian vegetarian school-going boy - his tastes and views and perceptions matched either mine or what I knew was common. At one point in time I was wondering if Pi Patel was in many aspects .... me.

Though I read most of the first half of the book purely following the aesthetics of the writing, I got involved in the story after the ship-wreck. Towards the end, it suddenly started disturbing me - it was no longer the objective narrative of an ordinary boy in extra-ordinary circumstances. I had to re-read many passages to understand what was being said during those hallucinatory phases that Pi was having when he became blind! Adding to my trauma was my firm view at that point that Pi Patel was a real person, and that book was merely an artistic biography. I am still not sure if Yann Martel's 'Author's Note' is also fictitious.

For giving me a true shock that I never saw coming I should applaud the author - I usually pride myself in my ability to see through surprise endings!

Some of the ideas in the book are pretty interesting -

1) "I have heard nearly as much nonsense about zoos as I have about God and religion. Well-meaning but misinformed people think animals in the wild are 'happy' because they are 'free' ... " - The whole part where he disses zoo-haters without losing objectivity is well-written.

2) The most dangerous animal is Animalus anthropomorphicus - any animal seen through human eyes.

3) The whole section on why he is a 'Hindu' because he was born one is brilliant - I always wanted to express that idea without having to feel apologetic or having to argue the superiority and inclusiveness of Hindu philosophies; Yann has given me some ideas now! In fact, all his passages on religiosity are awesome - especially why he hates agnostics but is OK with atheists!

A must read.

Prolonging the Agony

2005-12-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I came to accept the possibility that my Industrial Attachment is going to be crap - I knew that even when I had a look at my first list. But, what I sincerely hope for right now is for the whole bloody process of choosing one to get over.

Merck need not have suddenly brightened my chances of a good IA by first offering a project and then suddenly deciding not to give any internships at all! Now, all that has resulted in is that my IA selection process is going to go on for another couple of weeks (atleast!)

I should be grateful to OPA to refer to the next round of selections as 'Phase-II (extended)' instead of a more derogatory 'Phase-III' - but otherwise their incompetence and bureaucratic procedures are killing me.

The worst side-effect of this mess is probably going to be the cancellation of my family trip to Penang, KL and Langkawi - my next round interview is very likely to co-incide with that trip. Considering that I am the only one without a holiday this winter, I deserved atleast that!

Adding an aspirin to this ulcer, my grades are woeful and this time I can't even take the blame!

Is this the end for Ganguly?

2005-12-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

(Apologies to those who dont follow cricket!)

Is it the end of Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Calcutta, the Maharaja of Bengal, the Lord of the Off-Side?

Ganguly has been in horrendous form for years now, and yet his overall stats look stupendous. He is still in the top ten of all-time greats in one-day cricket and has quite a handy test record. And as a captain, the greatest India has had!

But, he had to go. Cold logic meant that the selectors had to drop him to blood a few youngsters. The possibility that the Indian selectors might have stumbled upon this 'right' decision purely as a political move is still very likely.

That the hypocritical tabloids (like TimesofIndia) which were baying for his blood sometime back are now crying foul is nauseating.

When in form, Ganguly is a better batsman to watch than Lara, Tendulkar and Gilchrist. No doubts there. But, it looks highly unlikely he can get there anymore. He says he will fight - but age is not on his side.

He was definitely a far better one-day player, a naturally attacking player, and India's one day side does not need him anymore. It was only right that an aging (though solid) Test middle-order now needs to bring in Yuvraj and Kaif so that they can become the Tendulkars, and Dravids of tomorrow (and hopefully dont share Ganguly's fate in the end!).

Tendulkar and Ganguly - the opening duo - were probably the most exhilarating comrade-in-arms that ever existed. His ability to non-chalantly and effortlessly hit sixes that match Hayden's in audacity and Afridi's in distance is legendary. What would we not do to see those cover-drives that only he in the whole game could play. Fielders never mattered - the ball always went past them.

He had been worked out - They knew the short ball in the ribs would perplex him, width outside the off-stump would make him lose his patience, and he could no longer charge down to the spinners (which to me was the biggest shock!).

Funny - it seems like we have a replacement for him .. not in Yuvraj or Raina - they are their own men. But, maybe in Pathan. Pathan, in his new-role as a batsman, plays Gangulyesque shots.

He had to go. But, lets agree - he was one of the very best that the game ever saw. Good Bye.

Or maybe, he will make a come-back??

Majaa - Fun and Fight

2005-12-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

(Sorry if you are not a Tamil movie afficionado)

Finally an average Tamil movie that is enjoyable. The shaming thing though is that it had to be directed by a Malayalee. In fact, the Malayalees are the new hope for the film industry in Chennai. All the heroines nowadays are from there - including Asin, the heroine of this one. All the side-roles in this movie are Malayalees.

The good thing about Asin though is that she is not merely the pretty face (which some of our other leading ladies dont even have), but also acts! Acts quite well in fact.

All Vikrams are good actors (ahem!) and ever since Sethu, Vikram has progressively become better. His excellent performance in Anniyan (means Stranger, Alien or Foreigner) is appreciated in this movie in one of those sublime messages incorporated in the dialogues.

Manivannan and Pasupathi, along with Vikram, are quite a lot of Majaa (means Fun). I dont know what role Director Shafi played in the scripting of the dialogues, but they were quite well done. An attention to detail, a realistic simplicity paralleling Kamal's movies is found in this movie's dialogues. I enjoyed the movie.

MRT rides, the Pakistani view and Indian restaurants

2005-12-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

MRT Rides in Singapore are long - thats quite a surprise because the whole place is bloody only a couple of miles long! Anyway, atleast those rides I take are pretty long what with NTU in the remotest corner of this small island.

These rides are particularly long because Singaporeans are socially dull - no offence meant - I mean they cant strike up a decent conversation or get into a fight. I have been in 3-day long train journeys in India, and I usually come out with sore throats because of the amount of talking we did in those rides with our fellow passengers. Singaporeans just stand there as if they are doing sentry duty, or texting away, or reading invariably some stupid tabloid article on an European foot-baller! Excepting ofcourse ... you know - the Indians, who cant keep their volumes low either over the phone or while talking to their mates.

So, today I was pleased to hear this conversation in Hindi - I cant quite call it overhearing cos they were so loud! Over time I figured out from the conversation, that it was a couple of Pakistanis and a poor Tamil dude. I say poor because these two Pakistanis were arguing about Indians and their perceptions about Pakistanis, and when they disagreed they would ask the Tam guy for the inside opinion. But, ofcourse, if Tamil guy refutes one Pakistani's viewpoint, he immediately would conclude that the Tamilian was too South Indian! Hence, incapable of giving a representative opinion of the Indian view-point!

These were the conclusions I inferred by the team the train pulled up in Boon-Lay.
1) Supposedly, Pakistanis know a lot about India (Yea rite! Cos you are Indian too - effectively!)
2) Supposedly, Indians don't know enough about Pakistan (Particularly the South Indians!)
3) South Indians are not quite Indians because ... hmm .... they are not from the north - you know the place that is close to Pakistan?
4) Knowing about Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan (who is a Nepali BTW) means they know India!

Good Lord!

PS - A side observation was made today: Indian restaurants (even the costly ones with sophisticated clientele) are noisy, and thats part of the reason why the ambience is inviting for the diners! What better way to have a private time than when you know for a fact that whatever you say is going to be drowned in the noise around you!

TODAY - I must learn to keep my writings short

2005-12-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

It is bad enough that I am one of those unfortunate souls still stuck in Singapore, not going back home to enjoy the holidays - It is worse that I am staying here not because I have 'work', but because my Industrial Attachment application process is right in the middle of the holidays!

But, it is 'the worst' being the only person among my friends who still does not know where his IA is going to be - the list is coming (finally!) tomorrow. In the last couple of days, atleast a 1000 people have asked me one of the following questions - "What are u doing in Singapore, still?" or "Where is your IA dude?" or the most painful "Has your IA started? Is that y you are here?" - that has spoilt my day. It is atleast comforting that I know almost 1000 people who enquire about my 'well-being'.

Today was a particularly weird day - I woke up around 12 when my friend called me for tennis. Two hours of tennis with a racquet that is meant for 'under-14 year olds' (with a label that says 'JUNIOR') was surprisingly still fun. Since then it has been weird-er.

First I dutifully followed the Ind-SL test match - not on TV, but reading online commentary and listening to the god-awful audio commentary. Atleast, Kumble took a few wickets in the end. Then I spent some effort trying to read-up about Singapore's community clubs for an essay competition that (out of sheer joblessness and for the massive prize money) I am going to enter. Not surprisingly, Google is not that useful when you really need something!

Then I decided to watch the latest episodes of Joey and Apprentice, following it up with TV programmes that I have never tried before - some were really funny.

Family Guy lived up to its reputation, American Dad was decent, Simpsons (my first time ever!) was OK but not as good as everyone seems to think, but I liked 'My name is Earl' most. Guess, now I will have to follow these religiously next week onwards.

Guess what I did after that? I am updating my new blog - the one that I started yesterday out of equally painful boredom.

Damn - why did I not come up with a clearer extension (For explanation, email vikram.bala@gmail.com - I am jobless enough to respond!)

My New Blog

2005-12-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

At the height of boredom (there are useful ways to spend my time - I am just not exercising those options), I have decided to start a second blog - a more normal one.

I will leave all my 'bore-you-to-death' full length musings to my other blog and this will have the more conventional 'you know what happened today?' and 'I liked the New Harry Potter movie. Especially the French babes' blog.

I am very disappointed though with blogspot and its features. For a simpleton like me, it is not easy to find out how to have that column of favourite links on the side. I somehow managed to.

Now, I am busy finding out other friends' blogs so that I can link them up - envy those lucky few?