Happy Father's Day

I have never been too fond of these commercialized 'days'. Valentines day, Mother's day, Father's day, and whatever have you days. For some reason i could not understand why you needed one day, out of the countless others to celebrate a particular relationship. I always believed that this was a trick by the mighty greetings card makers to help us make them rich.

On a more serious note, as i have grown older I have begun appreciating my relationship with my parents. Every day brings in a realization that i am what i am because of them. Every move of theirs, every decision has been weighed keeping us in mind.

On the eve of Father's day, as we sat down to enjoy our evening drink, our discussion eventually moved towards father son relationship. My brother and I had gifted dad a bottle of scotch, and we too were eager to try out the new brand. As the scotch poured in and we warmed up, the discussion eventually warmed up to which was dad's most favoured Scotch. We always knew he had a special corner for JW and Ballantine's. We did not know the story of why there was this special corner.

Conversations are always boosted by alcohol, irrespective of who it is that is making the conversation. My dad told us of the time when he was working in Iran, and his dad came visiting  from India in July 1978. My grand dad had got my father a bottle 15 yr old Ballantine's. Grandpa passed away in Oct the same year, while my father was still in Iran. The day my dad got the news, he sat up all night, drinking Ballantine's and crying.  He was just 28, and confused. Grandpa had always sheltered dad from the hardships of life, making sure that his children  never got bitter about life for the want of money.

So Ballantine's has a bitter sweet memories for my dad.

I remember, when I was 10 years old, Dad used to drop me to the school bus stop every morning at 6 45 am. That was his job, and he wouldn't share it with anyone. Not even my mother. He always had a trick up his sleeve on the way to the bus stop. How to mentally calculate the square roots, cube roots, memories multiplication tables, and what not. My father is a math wiz, and i wish i had paid more attention then.

As i grew older, his measure  of advise also grew up with me. From how to mend a puncture to how to nurse a broken heart, Dad has always been with me. Always. Distance has never been an issue, nor has money. He would always have a kind word for me and my brother.

Another thing my dad has in abundance is jokes. Yes, he can crack one joke per minute. Just when we begin to think that we have heard all of his jokes, comes another one. You just can't stop him. Who the hell wants to anyway!

Over time as our jobs have taken us to different cities, we speak less often, sometimes not for days. Our relationship has also changed to a 'love -hate- don't give me advise all the time- dad what should i do now' kinda status. We rarely agree on the same things, but thankfully mom rules. And things balance out.

My dad is my hero. And I am sure each one of us think the same.

There is nothing i wont do for my dad, no sacrifice too big that i won't make for him.

I love you dad. I always have, and I always will.

It's raining outside now. I think, I will make a cup of tea, and wake my dad.

Review : Raajneeti

Raajneeti = Raaj + Neeti; literally meaning 'methods of the state'.

Raajneeti, is not for the common man. And it is not by the common man.

Prakash Jha's latest Bollywood offering, Raajneeti, has very crudely depicted what power does to, and for people. It is the story of raw and absolute power, being used in multitude of ways, to achieve a multitude of purposes.

A power packed cast, a credible director under the cap, but for me, Raajneeti failed to deliver. The plot isn't anything we haven't seen, what with a mishmash of violence, love, betrayal and guilt. Political power is handed down generations, as a family heirloom. Alliances are forged to keep the power and the seats within the family, mutiny is squashed, and opposition is simply eliminated.

One could see traces of The Godfather throughout the movie. The household Patriarch being incapacitated at a prime moment, the angry testosterone fuelled elder son (Arjun Rampal) being felled, the younger son (Ranbir Kapoor) coming to the family rescue, and the classic Puzo car bomb modus operandi. These are just some of the scenes that i care to remember, long enough to finish this review.

Faithful comparisons have been made with the Mahabharata, and rightly so. Dhritrashtra, incapable of guiding his kingdom anymore, unknowing sparks a family feud. The Kauravas (Manoj Bajpai, Ajay Devgan) versus the Pandavas (Arjun Rampal, Ranbeer Kapoor) aided by the guru (Nana Patekar).

Frankly speaking,  Prakash Jha was not able to do complete justice to the cast he had at his disposal! I mean, Arjun Rampal had more screen time than Ajay Devgan! Aww, come one, this one is a no brainer. Naseeruddin Shah literally graced the movie with his presence.  And why was Katrina Kaif even considered for this movie? She can't act, or deliver dialogues, or do anything but look extremely gorgeous. Her role certainly did not demand it! Especially since there were no "look-I-am-a-phoren-barbie' scenes.

Ajay Devgan was completely wasted, and it makes me wonder why did he even sign up for such a puny role in the first place! We remember Ajay Devgan for the likes of Gangajal, Company and Omkara for crying out loud!

Arjun Rampal was acting as if he was on the ramp. He needs to drop the accent, and not try so hard.  I would have loved to see Kay Kay Menon, or even Irfan Khan do this role. Now that would have been something.

Nana Patekar, was the usual superb self. Carrying out the role of the family Guru with unmatched class, Nana, gave us what we paid for. A great performance.

Ranbeer Kapoor has proved again that he is certainly a chip of the old block. He switched easily between playing the prodigal son, the ruthless king maker and the lover. This boy is here to stay, and maybe Arjun Rampal could take a few lessons from him.

But, but, the movie belonged to Manoj Bajpai. Simply, and totally. Coming back after a hiatus of god only knows how many years, Manoj literally put the screen on fire. Playing the wronged son, Manoj flawless executed the part of the agitated, angry and out for revenge man! His dialogue delivery was effortless and flawless. A performance that deserves a standing ovation.

Ms. Kaif's acting does not merit any words. She needs to get some serious acting lesson, and some lessons in expression. She was blank faced most of the time.

I will go for 6 on 10 for this Rajneeti. I am deducting 2 points from the score for straight away for starring Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif, and other points for not doing justice to Ajay Devgan.

Social Media - Too Intrusive?

Chances are, all of you reading this post, and the ones not reading this post, have a Twitter Account, live on FB, are FourSquared, cannot Digg enough, and have been redirected here by chance.
Well, the last part is good for me.

I read a really interesting and 'soon to be true scenario' article yesterday on Techcrunch -"Location 2012: Death Of The Information Silos". What this article did, was introduce me to a whole lot of Social  Media apps that I had not heard of before. "Siri". "tungle.me", "Plancast", and some more.

Well, as it is I have a tough time managing my existing Twitter, Facebook (ok this I manage well), and as you could say, this blog. So after reading the post above, i suddenly felt very pre historic. May be I am.

Honestly, I am not comfortable sharing so much of my information online. Why would i want the world to know where I am at all times, courtesy 4Sq, and doing at all times, thanks to Twitter. Yeah, yeah you could argue that eventually you are the boss of you, and you can 'share' only that which you want to. But still, how does Four Sq really help me? If i want recommendations for a restaurant, I will CALL up and ask those dependable foodies I am friends with in the real world.

But I have friends who will swear by these apps.

"XYZABC checked in here" . "XYZABC unlocked the so and so batch at someplace!". Honestly, why would i care?

Mind you, this is not a Foursquare bashing on anything, since I have only a limited view of the usefulness of the app itself, and whatever I have i largely based on my personal experience.

My single question is: "How does it help me?".

I have also noticed, that thanks to FB, my conversations with most of my friends, has become very limited. I mostly know what is happening in their lives, thanks to their status updates, and they know what is happening in mine. So what do i talk to them about? Thankfully, there are some frinds who have not caught the bug yet, but i figure its just a matter of time.

Again, this is not FB bashing or anything. Infact, I am addicted to FB myself. :)

Hypocratic? Probably.

For now, i am refusing to all into the information over exposure trap laid out for me.

Let's see how long I last.

Till then.

P:S: Will someone Digg me?
P:S:S: Can i reshare a post, like a re tweet or something? :)

Go Goa!