denouement

Childhood was a blur, we were too busy living it, to watch it go past. High school was over at 15, PUC at 17 and college at 21.We knew that the end was never a clear line but a hazy transition; but for those of us in the early to mid twenties, the line was this week. 

Through these 23 years, classmates changed,friends changed, girl friends changed, postal addresses changed, jobs changed; the only things that remained a constant were our heroes.

A large part of my childhood was spent obsessing over Michael Schumacher. I still remember the 1994/5 seasons better than anything I learnt in the 4 years of engineering. For more than a decade, I religiously took control of the TV every race weekend and my family had to tolerate the the sound of the engines screeching and a son who never agreed to turn the volume down. A lot of things changed in F1 over the years- teams changed, drivers changed- but the one thing that remained constant was Michael. Champions came and went, but they all had to beat Michael to be champion. It all ended on the 22nd of October 2006, with Schumacher retiring from the sport. A significant part of my life was suddenly over. 

Thankfully, I had a saviour. As the 96 cricket world cup neared, all my friends in school discussed was  this weird sport called cricket. I was the outcast in my school, who spoke of the weirder sport called Formula 1. All this changed the day I watched Sachin make the Kenyan bowlers look like a bunch of school boys in India's opening match of the world cup. I was hooked. Suddenly I had a plethora of heroes to choose from. There was Sachin's batting, Azhar's spectacular fielding and Kumble's relentless bowling. But the deluge was yet to come.

Lord's 1996- India found two of the greatest cricketers of our generation. For the ensuing half a decade, there were two kinds of cricket fans in the country- the ones who admired Dravid for his hard work and the ones who watched in awe as Ganguly stepped out of the crease to the left arm spinners. From Ganguly's divine shots on the off side to Dravid's unbreachable defense, we dissected and discussed everything, everyday.

We were spoilt. Our heroes blinded us with their brilliance(Taunton 99) , worked miracles(Kolkata 01) and conquered enemy fortresses(Perth 08).  Through all the tumultuous years of adolescence, we found refuge in these performances and for a moment, the quandaries of everyday life seemed irrelevant. They were our heroes- who we could always count on to bring us cheer.

After this week, we'll never see Jumbo terrorise batsmen or watch Dada cart spinners out of the ground.

I guess this means we've grown up.

Through the celluloid #3: TV decrypted

1994- NBC discovered the holy grail of Television entertainment- FRIENDS.
Sure there was Seinfeld- that was just the genius of one man, The Wonder Years and Doogie Howser were genuinely innovative ideas, they have made their way into pop culture, and there will never be another one like it.
With FRIENDS, NBC had discovered the 'formula' which, with minor modifications could spawn an entire generation of sitcoms and dramas portraying the twists and turns in the 'everyday' lives of 'ordinary' people. The same formula has been adopted by other television networks, resulting in a slew of serials like How i met your mother, The OC, The Gilmore girls (OK slightly different), Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, Big bang theory, Life as we know it, Private Practice, Coupling, Joey!!!, Jack & Jill and even Desperate housewives!!!
The quintessential contemporary TV series consists of the following:

1. A seemingly ordinary bunch of people( preferably an equal number of male and female characters )
2. Relationships between characters, i.e.,
   
3. A successful relationship
   
4. A dysfunctional relationship.- Very Important
   
5. A fantastic house or apartment even though none of them make much money and probably could not afford a place like that with all their money put together- I don't think anyone would pay money to watch people live in a crappy place
   
6. Although the characters work hard to make it in 'the real world', there is always a safety net Eg. Gilmore Girls, FRIENDS (Monica and Rachel's parents), The OC
   
7. And if there are no rich parents, a mysterious source of money paying for daily expenditures Eg: Joey in FRIENDS, most of the characters of Gilmore Girls
   
8. A family member of one of the characters, casually mentioned some time and introduced in the last episode of some season Eg: Lexy Grey in Grey's Anatomy
9. A rich, charming, attractive and seemingly harmless sex magnet- Barney, Joey, Mark Sloan
   
10. And most importantly, a drunken mistake- At least once in a season

But the biggest common denominator in all these is that none of them even vaguely resemble reality. If they did, I guess we wouldn't have to watch it on TV, we'd just have to look around.

P.S. Thanks Chodan

Through the celluloid #2: I want to believe

The second edition of the X-Files. Chris Carter's come back.
I finished watching it 5 minutes back.
A sci fi movie, without a 'end of the world' scenario is a serious waste of time. A plot about a missing FBI agent is far too weak to keep the audience captivated for more than the first 10 minutes of the movie. Especially when the person goes missing within the first 3 minutes of the movie and does not give a chance for the audience to form any sort of bonds with the abductee. Well, as one would expect, after quitting the FBI, Dana Scully is a practising doctor, and Mulder is crazy man, who lives far away from civilization, in a deserted house, with a room plastered with news paper clippings.
The movie certainly tries to have a sense of humour. I particularly liked the scene out side Amnda Peet's office, which has a line of framed US presidents' photos. The camera zooms into Dubya and the back ground music starts playing the spooky X files theme.
Apart from the psychic gay paedophilic priest, the film definitely lacks a supernatural theme. The love story between Dana and Fox has been given no time to develop what so ever.

The absolutely horrendous posters did not deter me. I waited for almost a year. I wanted to believe. Now, I only believe that there is only room for improvement.

My rating 2/5.
The first point is because I love the X-Files. And the second is because Gillian Anderson looks even more gorgeous than before.

.

They said 10th standard was the most important year in your life, if you did well, your life was made
They said doing well in the CET was crucial, if you did well, your life was made
They said getting into a good college was important, if you did well, your life was made
They said placements decided everything, if you did well, your life was made

They were naive.

Serendipitous Metamorphosis of the Unsuspecting Motorist

After a year of treacherous motoring in Bangalore, I've discerned that every person on the road will go through the 5 distinct phases of the Bengalooru experience-
0. Gestation
There are only 2 reasons why an innocent human being will subject oneself to the insidious roads of the city. 1. The long harboured dream to own a bike, to tame the road (ya right!!!) , to feel the adrenaline rush, to see the speedometer cross the elusive 99kmph mark. Or because one has decided to take one's fate into one's own hands and no longer be a victim of the vicious auto rickshaw Mafia that runs amok in the city. Either way, we take the plunge. Thereby entering the first phase-
1. Newbie
Really easy to spot- has no idea what the gear he is in, the helmet visor is always up, and is that annoying guy on the road who has an angry mob behind him honking to kill. And finally, is that guy who stops for the red light at 6 in the morning, watching the rest of the vehicles zip past him, almost hitting his rear.
2. The adolescent
Thinks he knows what gear he is in and is that psychopath who almost crashed into you last evening.
3. Been there done that
Has had his share of falls and accidents. The bike has a few scratches, wont kill the pillion if the bike is soiled by the mud on the pillion's shoes. Still knows a thing or two about traffic rules.
4. 'Institutionalised'
The true Bengaloorean- Thinks the footpath was constructed so that she/he can zoom past the rest of the idiots who are patiently waiting on the road for the signal to go green. Firmly believes that there should be no space between your headlights and the tail lights of the vehicle in front. Has no idea what the pairs of orange lights on either side of the head/tail light are there for. Knows very well about the horn. Can ride on the first gear for exceptionally long periods of time. Some times has a helmet on and is sometimes found jumping over the divider. And most importantly, can see behind his head.

'Believe what you want. These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. After long enough, you get so you depend on 'em. That's "institutionalized."'- Red, The Shawshank Redemption

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."
Greg Anderson quotes (American best-selling author and founder of the American Wellness Project., b.1964)

Obviously Greg's destination was not via Bengalooru :)

Through the celluloid #1 - The X-Files- Fight the future

After a long hiatus from blogging (and after several drafts) I've finally worked up the courage to write again.
Beginning today will be a series on my thoughts about movies both old and new, and what better to start with than the one movie for which I have had to wait for 10 years to watch.
The X -Files , released in 1998- starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny- was a collage of the entire X-Files concept. It had all the constituents of a trite Sci-Fi thriller- a deadly virus, ugly aliens (MIB is probably the only movies which showed pretty aliens), a love story that could have been, an end of the world scenario,but with the added X-Files flavour-a government conspiracy, aliens with no guns or protective force fields, and an FBI agent whose job is to investigate unexplained phenomena but not solve the mystery.
Keeping up with the standards set by the widely popular TV series, the movie brings with it all the neat packaging that had become a trademark of the TV series. The posters are absolutely mind blowing, the taglines are brilliant and although the Mark Snow Theme song is played only once it sets the tone for the movie.
The film starts with a teenage boy in Texas getting infected with an alien virus, when he accidentally falls into an underground cave. The virus, which has been lying dormant in the underground caverns suddenly comes out of hibernation and starts to evolve. And its up to Scully and Mulder to get to the bottom of it.
Although the movies drags for a few minutes, there are plenty of scenes which sends you "wow", like the one where Mulder is chasing the tanker and he reaches a T junction and has to discern if the tanker went right or left, Mulder being the sceptic he is chooses to go straight instead of following the road- the back ground score when he does so is incredible (the hair at the back of my neck were standing up as I watched this). Gillian Anderson looks absolutely adorable in the movie, actually she looks just like the person you would want with you when you go chasing after aliens:).
To summarise, I loved the movie.
I would give it 3.5/5 . (Not a 4+ movie, after all, its what you expect to see when you see the title X-files)
The sequel, "I want to believe" releases on July 25. I hope its a 4+ movie.
Either way, I'm sure I'll love it.

The Wonder Years

Today were the first round of 'layoffs' in the country. Of course the company did not call it that. They preferred to call them 'resignations'. They were just 'asked' to look for jobs else where.
The last few years have been characterized by an excess of jobs. I graduated from a class, where on an average, people had at least two job offers. Believe it!!! because I still can't. We grew up in an atmosphere of optimism. We witnessed the Dot Com boom (we were too busy studying in 2001/2002 to notice the bubble burst.) We witnessed the stock markets march from 2500 in 2003 to dizzying heights of 20,000. We expected pay hikes every year, irrespective of our performance- they were called industry corrections.
These were without doubt, The Wonder Years.
Currently, oil prices at at a record high. Food prices have never been higher. Metals - gold prices -are at their highest ever. There is a massive credit crunch. The full extent of losses from the sub prime mortgage fiasco in the US are yet to be fathomed.
Looks like the worlds biggest customer has run out of credit.
To use Alan Greenspan's words, this is "stagflation", a combination of economic stagnation and inflation. If we have ever had the chance to prove ourself, this would be it. The wonder years are over. We are on the threshold of our first recession . It was the housing boom that saved us when the dot com bubble burst. Who's going to save us now?

07

1. Brakes don't always work (especially on MG road)
2. Never keep spectacles on beds
3. Optimism never killed anyone (Well, maybe not never)
4. The passenger next to you is never pretty (more often than not its a drunk, who conveniently uses your shoulder as head support)
5. Water Heaters (geezer) sometimes burst (VC's scream of horror will haunt me forever)
6. Bangalore roads never fail to surprise
7. When all else fails ... hmm... I still don't know what to do
8. I don't remember much of what happened since 06 (must be congenital)
9. Blog posts tend to get shorter as time goes by

Guess there wasn't much I learned from 07 :)

The Ten Commandments of wooing

1. Thou shall be as peppy as a peppy girl on crack
2. Thou shall learn subtle ways to scream out loud, announce thy intentions and tattoo them on the forehead of the one being wooed
3. Thou shall always offer a ride home (or better, ask for a ride home)
4. Thou shall develop a sudden interest in playing the guitar, or dance or breeding venomous reptiles or whatever interests the one being wooed
5. Thou shall never pay a direct compliment
6. Thou shall frequently use the phrases "get lost", "go to hell" and "ya right!", always with a suggestive smile and a sparkle in the eyes
7. Thou shall learn to type faster using a T9 dictionary than the 'qwerty' key board
8. Thou shall swallow the last vestiges of of one's pride, self respect and dignity and forget that one ever had any traces of these
9. Thou shall erase the words disappointment, frustration, grief and pain from one's vocabulary ( and one's dictionary)
10. Thou shall persevere, thou shall persevere, thou shall persevere

P.S. The author has had no success with these, but wishes the readers the very best.
Good luck and godspeed

Shades

Society is based on values, rules and assumptions. Like any system, society uses these tenets to continue functioning.
Values which tell us whats is right, rules which make us do the right thing and the assumption that the previous two have been formulated keeping in mind the best interests of society and the individual, the assumption being the most significant of the three.
As children we are trained to follow them and hence, fit into society. There is no ambiguity. There is right and there is wrong.
If only it was this simple. Unfortunately there is more. Unfortunately there is that enigmatic 'Grey'.
The 'grey', is not wrong, but does that make it right? The line was clear, till we learnt to push and contort it, till we learnt to go over it, without stepping over it.
Would you stop doing something 'grey', if it gave you great joy and happiness, yet did not do any immediate tangible harm, if it only created an atmosphere congenial for the 'black'? How far would you push the line? Would you keep doing it till rebuked?
The kid in us never would. But somewhere along the line, the kid grew up. The kid grew up the moment he realized, black and white are just shades of grey.