Remakes - A Retrograde Step?

It has not been a great year for Bollywood and Kollywood so far. Newyork and Ayan have been the only ones raking in the cash registers at box-office. There was the much hyped Warner Bros Chandni Chowk to China early in January. The fact that WB put an embargo on their Hollywood movies being remade abroad made sure that CC2C got more than its share of limelight. But the movie was a damp squib. Then there was Anurag Kashyap's DevD and Gulaal, the latter being critically acclaimed, but the bottomline was both were flops.Formula based Akki tried something different with Tasveer 9X11, but result was no different. Then there was this 3 month embargo due to distributors-producers trade-off. This is where the title of this post gains significance.

9 out of 10 in Tamil Nadu will agree that Deva is copy cat raised to the power n. But then, Bollywood has Anu malik who is copy cat raised to the power n, where n tends to infinity. After the 3 month break, Bollywood's revival was supposed to be brought about by star studded Kambakht Ishq. Till, the press digs the guy behind the camera's mouth endlessly, no one would ever get to know that this was a remake of Kollywood's Pammal K Sambandham. Kambakht Ishq however was customized to cater to the glitz and glamour associated with a typical Bollywood movie. Disappointment is an understatement. Then you had this movie featuring homely Amrita Rao sporting a bikini. The title of the movie brought about a furore over copyright issues. Again, it needed some googling to find out that this was a remake of Velli Thirai which is a remake in itself. The movie sank without a trace. Ghajini, a remake featuring the same director could not be camouflaged as a genuine Bollywood creation. Same goes for the most recent Wanted which raises some interesting questions in my mind. How will Vijay's same dirty shirt fit Salman Khan? Do they transliterate the dialogues when remaking? Some dialogues in the movie reminded me of a mail forward wherein Chinese ended up making some weird signboards while transliterating into English. So, this film 'Wanted' had same director and hence it wasn't possible to hide the fact that it was remake of a remake. Bollywood has had some successful remakes too, the most recent being 'Bhool Bhulaiya' which arguably catapulted Akshay kumar to stardom. The verdict is much of the remakes in Hindi that we have come to know through the horse's mouth or through our own inquisitive instincts point that they have met with mixed success, atleast for 2009.

Now, let us move to Kollywood. I'm just back from Unnai pol oruvan, a remake of Bollywood's original idea "A Wednesday". The movie has been customized beautifully for tamil audience. The idea has been borrowed, not the dialogues and locations. I believe remakes can still be done some justice if the idea can be taken as core and build the body around it to suit the local audience, bring in extra effects through music, art work, camera or editing. I've not seen that happening in most of Bollywood remakes involving another crew though it is not actually right to generalize completely. Let us say for 2009 movies, this is true for Bollywood. I admit I've still not seen Wednesday, but the remake is well made that until someone else tells me it is a remake I wouldn't have known it. Thankfully, in Kollywood, it easily reaches the audience that the movie is a remake. It doesn't take a investigation to find it out.

I've heard my Northie friends being wonderstruck with the mad fan following Southies have for their reel image heroes. I've seen enough fun being made of Southern heroes. While their taunts are not completely unjustified, there have been a good number of hindi movies which have still bombed due to non-acceptance of audience. Ek Hasina Thi, Gulaal are just a couple that instantly come to my mind. It did surprise me to hear that Singh is Kingg was the biggest grossing movie of all time in Bollywood till Ghajini broke the record. Why is it that still success in Bollywood is defined by those formula based films? Exceptions to these are far and few like Ddil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. Bollywood offers more room for experimentation but the success rate of the varieties that it throws has been pretty poor compared to Kollywood where an unknown entities like Eeram, Chennai-28, Naadodigal are attracting a huge audience across the state. I would not like to conclude that Bollywood's story tellers and directors are lesser mortals. It's just the difference in mind set, the cine divide between North and South, I believe brings in this change in behaviour.

Surrounded by Chaos

Following multiple mosquito bites in a official guest house, we fled away to a place 77 kms away though we very well knew that we had to travel 154 kms (77*2) daily. However damage was done and this mosquito attack, and food quality took its toll on yours truly. I somehow managed to get myself packed to home



I was guided on the wrong path due to wrong diagnosis by a homeopath, then went to a novice doctor who is just 2 years elder to me. Then I was told that it was Amoebiasis aka food poisoning.I had no other option but to continue with alopathy though I am not a firm fan of it. However, my body temperature was not under my control. I go in hot sun and I feel like Johnny, The Human Torch of Fantastic Four. I get inside AC and felt like Sub-zero of Mortal Kombat. This was very annoying and I even tried to get myself baked in hot sun and see if I was sweating. The experiment was a complete failure. The doctor then suggested me to get hospitalized so that he could study this body temperature fluctuation. Long needles were plugged into my left wrist and bottles of glucose and lot of injections went in for two days. In the course of my hospitalization, the temperature fluctuation was attributed to a national epidemic, Malaria. My blood report taken a week before this discovery shows that I have no malaria symptoms. Apparently, the parasite takes six months to show itself in blood tests till which it remains hidden. Thankfully, this was detected by the doctor early. And this I believe makes this a national epidemic. The fact that there are 4 different parasites causing this disease makes it even more difficult to diagnose.Again, my doctor gave a wonder injection, kill-all-parasites type due to which finally my body temperature came back under control but not before undergoing 3-4 nights of terrible shivering.



The real chaos was seen only during my recovery period. News of Swine Flu spreading deaths across the country. The way these news channels portray it makes it look like Lord Yama has come down on an onsite assignment titled "Mass Mukthi Project (MMP)" through this virus. In hindsight, I couldn't agree more with my colleague's observation on Sun TV. "Hundreds die daily of TB, Pneumonia, Cancer, etc. Why do you people bother only about Swine Flu?"





I read on Sunday magazine about situation in Mumbai where public run for cover when one sneezes on road. I don't know when Mumbaikars started giving equal importance to terrorist attack and a person's sneeze. It sounds terrible. For a couple of days, I was skeptical and would scramble for my handkerchief to close my nostrils. That was due to my low immunity post malaria. I see people with these masks and am only reminded of Mortal Kombat characters more than Swine Flu.





I also see a general trend in these deaths caused so far. The victims have been small kids or old men or those who have had some troubled medical history. Till we maintain clean habits, I guess we should be okay. But the same can't be guaranteed for others we interact with. I've had to miss 2-3 weddings (even at this moment am missing one) and have missed the opportunity to catch up with some college mates. But this is a situation wherein I am helpless. Till my immunity levels reach the old level, I just can't afford to take a risk with outside people, especially those who have crossed ocean to reach these shores. And I'm very pessimistic about the thoroughness of Swine Flu tests taken at our airports. Right now, it feels like I'm a jailed bird but like Arnold says in Terminator-2 "I'll be back" :-)

End of the trendsetter

June 26, 2009 saw so many shell shocked fans across the world and British fans especially would be wondering as to their unfulfilled wish of getting to see MJ's farewell concert. I thought I would chip in with some memory recall again and how I got to know MJ's gems, almost one at a time each.

In the late 1990s, it would have been hard for any schoolboy in any remote part of the country with a penchant for current affairs to not be aware of MJ.In the era of DD-1 and DD-2 (only if u have a 50 feet long Antenna and keep adjusting it) the occasional international news and small snippets was the major source of information on MJ.'Bad','Beat it' were some of the earliest ones that I got a sneak preview of.

As someone not acquainted to English music as a school kid, my first encounter with a MJ song on cassette was for academic reasons. 'We are the world' was listed as listening items to do in our class IX English text book. Anne Dorothy ma'm had a tough time in finding the song cassette in the small town Dindigul and in fact, it was my friend Nisthar, a hard core MJ fan,who came to her rescue.The cassette was meant to promote brotherly relations between US and Africa or something on those lines. Nisthar,again wanted me to get him cassettes of album 'Dangerous' when I was going to US in my summer vacation in Class X. Unfortunately, I wasn't focused enough and failed to get even one.

The biggest consignment of MJ songs arrived when I was in BITS, Pilani. The place expanded my musical quotient to include a vast range and the expansion started with the usual Backstreet boys and MJ. I had to cajole mum into getting Rs. 125 every time to get the albums 'Bad' and 'History Part-I'. I used to keep running the cassettes throughout the day. It still were those days where there was no computer in our house. So no wiki, no googling to get more information on the songs. Still, the two cassettes were not an exhaustive collection. Interface 01, management festival and we got to see Rocket and another guy dance for 'Smooth Criminal'. The rocking performance led to a frantic search for the song by guys and through the Arbits club or some way, we got hold of it. Bhavan's nite performance by Udaykanth for the ageless song 'They don't really care about us' got guys on the search for that too. And here came in our whizzkid, computer's all-in-all, limitless library, Eli, who got the whole load of songs on his computer. We got them written to cassette (still mp3 players, ipod were not in) and started running them endlessly.

In between, we also got hang of videos of MJ songs, again from Eli. Black or White, Smooth Criminal, Beat it, Thriller were some of the best music videos I've seen. The coordination, rhythm, passion that MJ alone can bring on screen makes one see them again and again. Even people with two left feet (like me) will feel like shaking a leg for these videos.

The man has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late. For someone,who made a fortune with his voice earlier, the man died with uncleared debts. He may have done things contrary to what he was preaching through his songs. However, the fact remains that he has stirred creative thoughts in people and has inspired a whole generation of artists.

As we pass through the highway of life, we come across several milestones, signboards, pitstops and motels. We may not remember most of the places where we take a brief stop at. We would pay significant attention to the milestone and remember the content on it, like how far a place is, we may not necessarily remember the milestone physically. However, in the rear mirror of our car, for some distance, we can still look at the milestone for some distance. Why I brought up this was an honest attempt to equate the milestone to the King of Pop and the contents of the stone to be his work. Though, MJ may not be amongst us anymore, he will live through his music. Salute Michael Jackson!!!

The power of recall

This is not going to be my usual long post. I was just wondering about the composition of my playlist.

Kitni Baatain from Lakshya
Is it that I try to recreate the same situation as that of Karan Shergill's in the movie? Hrithik has proved a point to people who had written him off for his ignorance and lack of focus in life including his girl. However, now he has problems in expressing his pent up emotions to her in the battlegrounds of Ladakh. "Yedho yedho ondru" and "Udhaya udhaya" also are based on the same raga as this one, but this one by Shankar Ehsaan Loy with Hariharan's magical voice stands out. I bet others would also agree with me on this song being the one that will stand the test of time. With 5 years since the movie released, I guess it already has.

Kaise Mujhe from Ghajini
My post on the songs countdown gave this one position #4. But it has grown on me. I don't know whether it has to do with the movie being one of my all time favourites, or because it features Asin or some personal emotions from inside me peeping out, I listen to this song atleast 5 times a day. And it includes any version of instrumental floating on Youtube. There is a version by a 8 year old kid who apparently played this one by just hearing the tune on the piano, great talent, all of us should see how much Rahman is inspiring future generations. Coming back to the song, the instrumental at the end of the song is good enough to retain interest for anyone listening for the first time. Research is still on to find if film songs based on the same raga as this exist. Investigation points to Malhaar with "Kadhali Kadhali" from Avvai Shanmugi and "Thoum tharayil" from Star being the prime suspects.

Baatain by Fuzon
It's sad that this supremely talented band broke up just after touching heights of glory with their first album Saagar. The entire album is just a treat and is good enough to get the listener interested in fusion genre. While google and youtube searches may yield Sagar, Tere Bina and Khamaj as results, this one is fusion at its best, guitar and Shafqat's brilliant vocals complement one another beautifully. The song is based on Raga Aiman. The band has two more songs based on this, but it will not look like repetitive stuff, such is the beauty of each composition. From tamil films, "Yamunai Aatrile" from Thalapathi is based on Aiman.

The kind of recall power these songs have recreates the situation I was in when I got spellbound listening to these for the first time. I don't know how it works for others. I seem to have a big problem with my memory. I seem to remember all things, stronger the recall, older the events are. It's like a trash can that has only 'in' and no 'out'. Adding to this malfunction is the fact that almost all of my friends, invariably fail to match up to even 50% of my retention capacity. Long live the one who said "Key to Happiness is Bad memory" :)

Apart from having a strong recall, what made me obsessed with these 3 songs? Is it because I can kind of relate to the feelings the song is trying to portray, is it because of the technical brilliance, is it because of my unflinching devotion to the composer or singer? I guess the answer is a mix of everything. I would certainly like to know how my friends give an explanation for why certain songs leave them possessed.

Before concluding, an idea struck me. How about giving similar posts in short bursts from now on?

The Curse of Measurement

Dictionary says the following:Measurement - A standard of dimension; a fixed unit of quantity or extent; an extent or quantity in the fractions or multiples of which anything is estimated and stated; hence, a rule by which anything is adjusted or judged.

Why do we have to measure things? Reference, simplification, Continuous improvement, Obsession with the concept itself, maybe. This evaluation, examination system, results and the ensuing ecstasy or agony have all made me wonder how much we have been infected by this syndrome. I find measurement to be an intriguing exercise though most of the time measurement is a simple activity made to make our lives better.

The background as to why I had to focus on this word 'Measurement' though stems from the headline making historic moment of Roger Federer lifting the French Open title last week to complete a Grand Slam, making media and almost all citizens of Mother Earth call him as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT, what a weird acronym). Federer joins the likes of Perry, Laver, Agassi in the elite club of Grand Slam winners. All had won it under different conditions. When Laver played, there was not three different surfaces. He won two in junior level, If I got them right. Fred Perry played in an era when full trousers on court were the in-thing and computers still occupied a full godown.When Laver had played, the technique of racquets was not as advanced as it is today. Someone like Agassi had a second life in 1998. His looks, attitude everything underwent a change before and after this period. The kind of video technology available wherein you can watch the movements of an opponent from all angles closely before facing him on court was definitely not as great in Agassi's time as it is now.More importantly, our life span will not cover all time for us to make a statement like GOAT. In the last 15 years or so, in any sport, the kind of dominance Federer has shown (20 successive Grand Slam semis) can only at best be matched by Michael Schumacher's ruthlessness in blazing circuits worldwide. This time period, where people like me have grown up, watching Sachins take over from Kapils, Samprases take over from Edbergs, Ronaldos take over from Romarios, Woods taking over form Nicklauses, I don't believe anyone else has displayed this level of consistency. So, I can only compare in this time and say he is the best I've seen.

This drives me back to the question of measurement. Can someone devise a mechanism to quantitatively 'judge' who indeed is the Greatest of All?What purpose does it serve other than satisfying someone's obsession with #1, inflating someone's ego?I feel all these claims are born out of Euphoria and have no logical footing.
I have a feeling that this concept of ranks were designed, one for simplification and two for an objective and fair evaluation aiding in continuous improvement. I feel that this purpose is not being met. I'm taking off on a tangent now far away from Federer and away from objective assessment as to what is happening due to too much emphasis on ranks and outcome.

I am a standard racehorse having been through the gruelling Education system till Post Graduation in India (whoever said tough getting admits abroad need not look CAT for the toughest examination in terms of odds of conversion[1:400]) would like to start with my HR professor's take on grade system. You pick the creamiest of cream from the 3000 who pass JEE. Over a lakh students write JEE while only 3000 odd get eligible for final admission into various IITs. You conduct 3 or 4 tests for one subject and segregate students into A,B,C. What's the point? Aren't they good enough if they have come through these acid tests? Aren't they supposed to be at same level? Can't you bring them all to the same level through some practical experiences like projects and team work exercises? This professor of mine, was quite passionate. Maybe it has rubbed off on me. But, having been through this ring of fire aka grading system since time immemorial, I'm tired of this rat race where to even be in the place as you are you have to keep running and your learning quotient is zilch since your focus is on keeping your territory intact. For instance, I have two final exams the next day, am lazy/ time constrained/whatever and have to choose between say Microeconomics wherein I've good interest but my marks so far aren't that good and despite my best efforts, I may only get a 'B'. The other course, where I know nothing (corporate finance fits in right), but somehow am in a good position because I managed to get some step marks miraculously due to some crazy partial marks scheme of my professor. I know how to get marks in corporate finance but not corporate finance itself. I love Microeconomics but in the heat of the moment in exam hall, I pick some wrong option and get my results screwed up. Where will I decide to put in my precious commodity, time? Obviously, it would be in the corporate finance which would add an extra 0.33 to my overall grade vis-a-vis Micro-Economics. Any rational thinking brain would go for this alternative. So is this what our education system has managed to give to us? Why can't someone excel in something he feels he is good at? We have lakhs of engineers, many of whom chose to be BE ;)due to the follow-the-herd mentality. Employability numbers of engineers in our country is pathetic though. Is this what our education system wants, An imbalanced portfolio of degrees?Having seen 4 suicides in my two years in the nation's #1 engineering institution, it only makes me wonder, does our education system deserve so much attention? News of kids committing suicide after disappointing results in 12th is not new. Education is only meant to expand our horizon, not let us press the self destructing button. such students, their parents are definitely at fault for trying to equate their wards to a guindy racehorse. But, the system is at fault too. Once upon a time, we used to be the drivers of innovation, Ramanuja, Aryabhatta, civilization flourished here when other developed nations of today had no street lights. However, the best Indian minds of today prefer to go to those foreign lands because it gives them the freedom, power, triggers their imagination and helps them do what they want.Maybe recession has managed to bring them back to their homeland. Any form of evaluation should ultimately enable all students come to the same level and using this stick policy of exams won't help the cause. It stifles creativity and makes us machinistic.

The issue of correcting the individual obsession with measurement is hard to achieve. However, reforms in the education system will be a start for that. Vocational training, projects, team building exercise, sound language skills, Indian and Foreign, these are what will help these kids when they grow up do the job effectively, not James Clark Maxwell and when he invented magnetic field, er whatever. :)

As to the question of whether Fed is GOAT, the statements should be pardoned off as made in Euphoria as any record stands to be broken sometime in future. All bit by the measurement bug or analytical thinkers, kindly switch off your brains to accept such overwhelming statements or try and come up with a scale to help decide who indeed is the best. As for me, I only pray Fed makes some record which will stand till my lifetime atleast. ;)

Winds of Change

Roles and routines have changed; Targets and ambitions have been revised; Material world and mortal people have changed; It has been a month and day since I passed out of this second heaven on earth - IIT Kanpur. Out here in the corporate jungle, more than finding your own way out, you see that each one is bent upon getting the better of one another. Competition is always welcome, but the kind of competition in college, amidst some odd incidents, I witnessed fair play, innocence and a friendly exchange of wits and beats too at times. Here, it is anything but that. Beg, borrow, steal, do anything to be on top of the pack. The outcome of competition here can have a massive impact, positive or negative.

Let me rewind back to June 2007. I was desperate to get into some B-school, despite being in a easy-to-manage-load kind of work, despite having got some real gems as friends. I even felt awkward making some of them cry on my sojourn to academia. Before coming back to present where now I feel like being at the receiving end, I will want to bridge this time period with my memories in IITK. Flowers, stretches of greenery, common people who though were financially poor were rich in heart. All in retrospect, me only got nightmares about deadly roads when going to report for first day.

I went into this place, Kanpur 1994 km away from my dear hometown. I was very wary of company lying in wait for me there. Somehow I was circumspect with people above Vindhyas. I decided to stay away from company initially and be in touch with all my dear friends back home through phone or chat. It took a couple of Biharis to get me to talk into joining their group for academic reasons. Honest first reaction, I was wondering "With whom have I made an alliance?". Over time, I came to know that these guys who befriended me were not really what they were being labelled as. I found I shared common traits with them like being passionate in whatever they do. That passion doesn't look genuine till you stand for something, take a stance. Though it made them emotionally explosive at times, I took that anger to be a stamp of character(In my mother tongue, there is a saying where there is anger, there is character). The common threading got us real close. Going to classes, movies just night before exams, jogging in front of Girls' hostel, tennis courts, singing together in IME night, late night canteen, gen bakar, Antaragni bravado, live shows, Auli, tales of everyone's nose cuts and failed Romeo attempts, serious fights on placements, eat-outs, pulling legs of class girls and some extra ordinary guys, working together for Consilium, DC++, I can go on and on, bottom line is "MISS YOU GUYS". I also had a fairly comfortable routine unlike typical B-school wherein I could use my spare time constructively like in internet (FYI, IITK alone consumes 3% of Country's Internet bandwidth I read). So who will let this luxury pass? Youtube, orkut and gchat kept me busy between classes or rather classes kept me busy between these ;). I should also say special thanks to couple of my close but long distance friends who were there with me through my happiness and sorrow, all through this wonderful journey in Kanpur.

We were from different regions, religion, caste, age groups, family background and still managed to find a common platform wherein all our differences went away on leave. So many guys had worked in higher roles before coming here. Still their egos never got the better of them. Despite bitter fights, at the end of the day they counted to nothing and didn't transform to grudges (exceptions may be there though). Contrast this with this new life in an AC cubicle (minus all sort of physical activity of course). Your own relative or best friend may turn out to be your folly. Stakes are high and real here. What if in a cock fight, the owner of the defeated cock has to be beheaded? Silly game turns serious, right? That's how it is. I can't help but think that it has only gotten worse after my 2 year sabbatical. When I was upset with this "win-at-all-costs" system, I had some solace that I could get back to academic life and find some peace. There is no such alternative anymore (er, no PhD for me please :)).There is no room for unadulterated affection in the world am in now. There is no room for me to turn my back on this world and move somewhere else now. I HAVE to adapt. I NEED to come to terms with the fact that everything is manufactured here; smile, a nice idea for pretty girls coming late to office to please their angry bosses, put 'maska' to get promoted (gender neutral idea, u see ;)). Exceptions can be there. Your best friend in Engineering may get bit by the corporate way of doing things and may seem like having transformed from 'merciful angel' to 'mercenary'. A pre-conceived 'bad colleague' in office may turn out to be your port of call in case of danger. In fact I was fortunate to find some really fortunate exceptions in my last job before IITK beckoned.

In my UG too, I had lots of friends who went separate ways after college. However, those incidents never really impacted me as I was used to getting on and off with people and was moving around like nomad due to my dad's transferable job. I've seen UG friends rise above me faster in career ladder, earn 10 times more than me, settle abroad, succeed in their love, get married to a nice life partner. The first wave of transformation in my network's social and professional roles hardly had an impact on me as I marched on mindlessly and endlessly trying to know some place in corporate jungle where I belonged at that time.

Present day, after 2 years and back to corporate life, I would say I'm better prepared to take up the challenges corporate life may throw at me. After all, I should make world believe that I have some take aways from my business administration degree, right?

There are two sides to a coin; On the one hand, these well wishing friends I talked about earlier made me feel great about myself and I also got used to the new role of working really seriously for wellness of others. Historically, I was this self centered person with a mind-your-business approach. The other side of coin was it made me vulnerable emotionally due to my bondage with these friends. I used to be arrogantly proud of my emotional numbness. Professionally, I may have come better equipped. Personal level, am still in the process of applying the same learnings to make me insulated emotionally. However, I have not been successful at it so far. Sometimes, I feel like standing alone on an isolated Island; you have only your shadow for company. I see a role reversal to the one I mentioned earlier in 2007 now. I'm very concerned about my ability to withstand this second wave of transformation. Winds of change have been blowing around me all through my life. It feels like I've managed to hold firm for this long without much damage. But am viewing the upcoming one with trepidation and am carefully preparing myself for more sweeping changes which may come along.

Travelogue or Travelong?

I wouldn't mind calling up all my close friends and tell them about my adventures atop the mountains at height exceeding 10000 feet. But they say "a picture says a thousand words". So employing a combination of bursts of these '1000 words' and some 'wordy' words, let me pen down my experiences in the latest trip with my dearest friends at IITK. And it is going to be really really long. But, I can say that reading it won't be completely a waste of time.

Obstacles

No, not the ones we faced on the roads while travelling, but those even before we set foot to Lucknow. There were some villains in between like rescheduled project presentations,non-changeable class timings and NDTV's news coverage reporting heavy snowfall in Mussoorie, resulting in my parents pressing the panic button and call me in between the journey and express their concerns. After somehow overcoming these, we could complete what would be one of the most exciting rides in my life.

16:00 Hrs, Feb 11, 2009

After praying to our favourite Gods and waving bye to reluctant friends who were staying back, We started off to Lucknow on this posh Toyota Innova to catch our train to Haridwar at 8:15 PM.We reached Lucknow by 7 PM. But our taste buds wouldn't settle for anything less than Moti Mahal's food. The hotel was 3 km away and in going and coming back in the heavy traffic, we scraped into the station just in time. And UP's notorious train announcement system and jittery me forgetting the ticket in the Innova while getting down made for a chaotic buildup to the wonderful train called "Janata express".Coach S6 had passengers of S1, there were virtually no coach numbers on any of the compartments. Wait, I still haven't mentioned where we were going to. The reason, after managing to find our coach, our itinerary underwent a major revision. We had planned for Uttarkashi and places around it for trekking, etc. But a local of Uttarakhand region suggested Auli for it was supposedly one of the finest ski spots in Asia. So much for my general knowledge, I thought. Other 5 began to ponder as well about the itinerary. So, with a muddled up plan, we landed in Haridwar on Thursday morning.

Thursday, Feb 12, 2009

I vaguely remember visiting the Holy city of Haridwar 17 years ago. We didn't wait longer in Haridwar and took an auto to Rishikesh as it was the point from where the routes split to all the places that were doing a merry-go-around in our thoughts. A word has to be mentioned about this auto driver whose laughter would frighten a laughing hyena. We crossed the ganges at different points and made our way through the road passing through Rajaji park to Rishikesh.

After a brief stop in Rishikesh to get ourselves freshened up, we went searching for taxis to go till Uttarkashi/Auli. And here too, all cab companies were in support for a trip to Auli, could have been with a business motive as Auli is 10 hours away from Rishikesh while Uttarkashi is only 6 hours. We wanted to club a visit to Mussoorie with a trip to Auli. However, the bottleneck came when we realized that we had little time than we had thought earlier. Why? Vehicles are not allowed to ply on hilly roads after sunset. So, when we decided to go to Auli after having this mouth watering Rajasthani Thali, we were too late for Joshimath, Auli's base camp that day. Plus, guys weren't in favour of Mussoorie as by the time we would reach, it would have been sunset there too. So, after a lot of cajoling, I accepted their idea of wandering around in Rishikesh like so many foreign-wannabe-babajis.

First stop was Lakshman Jhoola. We made our way to the temple seeing different businesses like Yoga teaching training, rafting, safari, camping, etc. Also, the western version of Gayatri mantra greeted us throughout the way. It was all fascinating to hear and see.



We then set down to the shore nearby where we sat on the rocks enjoying every pixel of scenery around us. Suddenly, we realized that water level was rising and Ganga was gaining in speed. And in a couple of minutes after we came to the top, the rock these guys were sitting on was covered under water. So, we went searching for another shore and landed on this spot supposed to be Romance corner for foreigners. But, we barged in just like that. From this spot, we could spot the magnificent Ram Jhoola and Ganga's rapids.



As we got back to our hotel, we got a glimpse of sun setting on a beautiful pink background with Ganga mayya giving company to the sky's bright colours waiting to get aboard the coach to adventure on the Himalayas.



Friday, Feb 13, 2009

The human alarm clock, yours truly, was the only person who was working to be ready for a 6:30 AM start with the rest of the gang being supremely confident that Indian stretchable time would prevail.Our driver, one of the best I've seen, was actually on time. So we left at 7:15 AM. Nature must have a special touch when it comes to lighting mornings and twilights. If Rishikesh, last evening was a sight to frame, a treasure of scenic beauties were in store on this tortuous terrain.Have a look at this.



We stopped at Kaudiyala for breakfast. Enroute to this place, we could see sun slowly waking from its slumber and casting its penetrating rays on the gargantuan mountains, Ganga speeding on its course, rafters struggling to stay afloat under Ganga's Godspeed, thatched roof camps on calm sides of the river, it was just breathtaking.

Post breakfast, backseat boys in the Qualis found it tough with curves abound every 50 metres. We zig-zagged our way to Devprayag and Rudraprayag. The former is the point where Bhagirathi from Gangotri and alaknanda from Badrinath merge to form Ganga.We were going to Joshimath, weren't we and qualis decided to follow Alaknanda all the way till 44 kms away from Badrinath. Rudraprayag is the place where Alaknanda and Mandakini river meet. Have a look at these below:





After a modest lunch near Rudraprayag, we started off to greater heights, crossing Karanprayag, Nandaprayag, Chamoli on our way to Joshimath. on our way, the snow mountains kept getting bigger and bigger.The child in all of us was getting excited and could hardly wait. But damn the corporations, NTPC has a hydro plant at such a height.And the route that we had to traverse to reach Joshimath, look below:





The beauty was, throughout this journey, the river was accompanying us, no matter what the height was. On friday evening, we accidentally tripped on Sankaracharya temple, guys wanted to go back to room since they were in shoes, still somehow, something dragged us into the cave of Thotakacharya where we had a miracle in wait. Badrinath's spatik was lying there. It is practice in off season for the spatik to stay in Joshimath and go back to Badrinath by road when season starts. So, despite Badrinath being closed at this time of the year, we managed to get Darshan. It was just an amazing feeling to experience.

Saturday, Feb 14, 2009

All the baba boys, who prefer to be peaceful got up early for the ropeway to Auli. Though some adventurous spirits wanted to bike the 14 km stretch, some sense prevailed and we decided to board Asia's longest (4.15 km) and highest ropecar (11502 feet).We had 25 minutes before ropeway to visit Narasingh temple and have breakfast and as we hurried into the temple, aarthi started. It all went like clockwork. The speciality of this temple is that it happens to be the first stop for all devotees bound for Badrinath. So getting the darshan in the manner in which we did was another wonderful feeling to experience.



On a separate note, few metres away from this temple, the deadly abyss aka road to Badrinath was visible.It maybe only 44 kms, but it surely looks like a point-to-point ticket to hell when one looks downward.



So, we came to this ropecar loading point and in the course of the 22 minute journey, we could see how beautiful the world, indescribable and beyond anyone's imagination.There was Nandadevi peak hiding under the clouds. Snow filled woods on one side, cliff tips covered with ice on the edge under which it is a free fall of 11000 feet on the other side, it was like a snow blanket spread on vast landscapes stretching till infinity...









The above picture was us trekking to the woods and beyond in trying to find a mandir next to which was the natural ski range. The construction of artificial ski in lowe level for SAF games is in full progress. Till then, skiing happens in higher heights and we ran out of time and steam halfway through the search and returned to Joshimath.



So, we rushed back from ropecar station to board our qualis back to Haridwar. We had to put a stop in between on saturday night and we picked Srinagar, a calm town saddled between mountains.

Sunday, Feb 15, 2009

Departing from Srinagar at 7 AM, we reached Haridwar at 11:30 AM. Throughout the stretch, there were sights of a beautiful sunrise and also foggy roads hampering vehicle movement; Contrasting scenarios on way to Haridwar. And Ganga was running rapid fast in ground level Haridwar. One slip, and the corpse will be deposited in Bay of Bengal. We cautiously took a holy dip and got to the station after a sumptuous lunch.



It was not a picture perfect journey. There has to be some balancing element. Once Akbar posed a question to Birbal to make a line look smaller without rubbing it off or cutting the page which had the line. What did Birbal do? He drew another line near the smaller line which was much bigger. If my onward journey was sickening, what did UP railway board do to make me feel better about that journey? Present an even worse experience in the Link Express bound to Allahabad.No comestible food, lighting less coaches, disturbed sleep, 10 people sitting in place designated for 6 and so on...

However, I would discount it as a minor aberration in an otherwise memorable experience. Divine interception, adrenaline rush, peace, visual treat, religious satisfaction, this trip was feeding all my senses in abundance. And the region, uttarkhand is a treasure chest of tourist spots. Trekking, wild life, peaks, lakes, water sport, temples, flowers, etc. My friends, you should all consider visiting this region once atleast. You won't regret it...

(In tune with theme of My Alien Territory, this wasn't my idea for a post, so this post is dedicated to the friend who floated this idea, to my close friends who would have liked to have been there, but couldn't,to all my IITK friends who accompanied me on this wonderful journey and all enablers who facilitated a safe trip)

The Curious case of Slumdog Millionaire

Woo! That looks like a perfect cross breed of two completely different movies which together account for 23 oscar nominations.However, the opinions surrounding the movie that has attracted as many detesters as much as lovers in India will be my focal point.

Two sides of a coin

There is a sizeable section of the society which feels that the movie is showcasing the plight of a chunk of the country's population to mint millions. It is not tune with India's new age image of the next super power in wait. Think of a mixture of imagination cum reality mixed in Jodha Akbar leading to Rajput uproar and subsequent ban of the movie in theatres. So, if someone is trying to make a movie based on theme which is not (or) has not been so uncommon in our country, one can understand the resistance from people who have been priding themselves on the new image of our country.If one looks at the statistics such as Human Development Index (127/177), poor Child malnutrition rates, etc., the argument wouldn't have risen in the first place. Even for the so called foreign investment, that has put us more prominently on the world map, India's rank in terms of friendliness of procedures to grant approval ranks pretty low. The process has lot of approvals and hassles involved. It is one thing about being patriotic and staunchly defending your motherland. Acting in denial is a completely different story. Just because we see the brighter side of moon doesn't rule out existence of a dark side. Wait, I'm not here to take sides about being pragmatic or euphoric. This is just a riposte to so many posts floating around.

I don't know what pre-conceived notions the mud slingers had before seeing the movie. I, for one, went with a completely blank mind, expecting to see another host after Amitabh and Shahrukh hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati.That's all I had information about before I saw it (mine was a small screen experience, so I can understand all unhappy souls who had shelled heavy amounts expecting to see a Van Gogh artistry come to life in a motion picture).

Maybe,a hard dose of reality?

I would like to draw some instances which still have relevance in the new age India. Hindu-Muslim Strife still holds. I read atleast one article in editorial in a week about this. Remember, Mani Ratnam received death threats and stones were pelted at his house after release of Bombay.That's the treatment India's ace director got. This movie, though short, did feature a small scene wherein a Muslim ghetto is demolished by Hindu activists.

The movie supposedly begins in the late '80s wherein kids still used to go gaga over Amitabh Bachchan and when they become teenagers, there is also mention about Shahrukh Khan in the movie.

I feel, that people have a right to feel aggrieved about showcasing that period when it was still seen as land of snake charmers and as a nation mired in financial trouble and which subsequently had to open up its economy.I also empathize with people who feel what's the need for a foreigner to come and show the dark side of India in bright daylight? However, does our risk averse approach help us make movies out of this world? Do our directors have the resources and proficiency in them to direct Brad Pitt and make an out-of-this-world movie like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"? In fact, we have such a rich mythology and our country is a motley of different cultures. Take this, it's been ages since a mythological movie was released on our famous epics, such as Ramayana or Mahabharata. Especially when there are studies mentioning that Mahabharata war was the birth place for nuclear weaponry, wouldn't it make an interesting story for a movie? Hope Mani Ratnam's Ashokvana serves the purpose. Also, treatment meted out to Mani Ratnam post Bombay means we will never get to see daring and indigenous projects on burning issues. Contrary to this, Michael Moore could make Fahreinheit 911 in U.S. Frost/Nixon is a full length documentary movie on how a playful media anchor managed to get Nixon to confess on Watergate scandal. Can some film maker come forward and make a movie on Bofors scandal (still congress till May 2009 atleast)? Will someone have the guts to make a movie on the Shankara Mutt fiasco that happened in 2004, for instance? Will someone have the courage to make a movie on Godhra incident and also put up a disclaimer saying 'based on a true story'?



Marketing - Job well done

One thing these makers of Slumdog Millionaire did was to garner good publicity for the movie. Danny Boyle, is a well known name in UK and U.S., having directed Trainspotting (features a similar scene wherein a guy jumps into a latrine commode, yuck) and sci-fi movie 28 days later. Asian base was covered with A.R.Rahman (Remember Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Maestro is no longer stranger in China). If you want a South American touch, this one looks like the cousin of City of God, a brazilian movie. It was marketed as a feel-good movie as how being positive can turn life around and help regain lost love for a slumdog. Cliched theme it maybe to us, but still formula movies work in Bollywood and I think all those who claim to be fans of Rajnikanth or Shahrukh Khan can have no right to demean this movie as being run-off-the mill stuff. The movie was marketed as a much needed change giving hope and optimism to a world shrouded in negativity and chaos. Take this for instance, Ford CEO is earning $1 a month salary. I read in yesterday's economic times about 'Riches to Rag', the issue being that Obama's first move apart from restriction on H1B visas has been to cap salaries of top executives in U.S corporations.The ingenious financial instruments of Lehman, which were supposed to be fail proof and yielding perpetual returns like a Kalpa Vriksha tree, failed miserably...Sometimes, we want to see something that we can't do or something we wish to see in real life in reel world. I am sure, the timing of release of Slumdog Millionaire, which had the reverse theme of 'Rags to Riches' and which had already generated the desire amongst the audience worldwide, courtesy, its marketing effects, led to its success. I guess the film started before Lehman crisis struck. So, it looks like even the film unit wasn't expecting the movie to become such a big hit.This effect seems to have had a say in Oscar panel's nomination list too.

Worth so many nominations?

I was quite impressed with the screenplay of Simon Beaufoy and Rahman's background score. Intertwining 3 different time slices and coordinating them in a sequence is not something that has been tried many times before this with so much effect.

The songs are definitely not Rahman's best. Ada, Ghajini, Yuvvraaj, Jodha Akbar all fare much better. In fact I read that Jai Ho could not be accommodated in Yuvvraaj and was dangling around till it was fitted in at the end of Slumdog millionaire. A nomination for 'Jai Ho' sounds terrible to me. In fact, I haven't listened to it fully even once. 'O Saya' sounds peppy and energizing, but it kind of again reminds of 'City of God', the picturization included.

The background score is quite brilliant.Whenever,the movie slows down,Rahman pitches in to retain audience interest. Again, less of innovation, more of proper packaging. He had only 15 days to finish the score.'Liquid Dance' reminds me of 'Rangeela theme'. 'Dreams on Fire' is western version of 'Netru illadha maatram'.Few originals like 'Mausam and Escape' and 'Paper Planes' are worth mentioning. Didn't Rahman do the same in Bombay Dreams also? I feel it as a vindication of my faith that all these originals were good enough for oscar nomination by themselves. Let the base be the same, just remaster it. We should all be proud that our own musician can just remaster some of his old works, that were made for us, and present it to the global audience. We have got the first sample of something that is reaching the world after a decade.The feeling itself is pretty different.



All analyses and justification apart, I didn't expect 10 oscar nominations. Golden globe wins and Screen Actor Guild wins have also swung the balance in Slumdog's favour. I feel Golden globe nominations reflected what it truly deserved. After that, it has been 'Halo effect' all along. I feel Slumdog stands a real chance in Adapted Screenplay and Music Written. However, Benjamin Button was too excellent and it will be a close contest. Music written, I feel Rahman will triumph over Alexander Desplat. Benjamin Button's score was much in tune with the movie, sober.

Winners don't take it all - Bigger Picture

Oscar wins always don't go to the deserving. Who can digest John Nash aka Russell Crowe being overlooked for Denzel Washington for best actor in 2003? There are a lot of behind the scene incidents, like a press ruckus in this instance.



Towards determining a proper marketing mix, apart from studying consumer behaviour, there is a need to study macroeconomic factors at work and also competitor behaviour. I'm not sure about how good all competitors are and whether the panel did a comprehensive competitor study, but macroeconomic factors such as struggling economies, political tensions, terror attacks, cultural policing have all played a part in different parts of the world receiving warmly what is a typical movie story. Having said that, it's reel after all and I would suggest all movie lovers to sit back and enjoy whatever part they like and appreciate the finer aspects of the movie, if they can.As Indians, we know who we are, what we have crossed to be where we are today, and I don't think one movie is going to throw us back to the stone age or change the world's perceptions of new age India. In fact, any supposed criticism should be acted upon in a positive way to eliminate it.

Is the door 'slam'med shut?

This post comes in the aftermath of a pulsating Australian Open final.On this backdrop, I would like to dwell on the burden of expectations and the curse that strikes the leaders time and again.

He usually does, but it was horror sight for me to see Federer breaking down after collecting Runner-up plate.This wasn't like Wimbledon final when Federer had to make ground by winning sets 3 and 4. Federer was in control in the first 4 sets at some point or the other. Nadal fought for every point and with every stunning winner he delivered to save a break point, he gained in confidence. Whereas Federer, despite winning set-4 had no momentum going into the 5th. It was a meek surrender in last set. School boy stuff...

Every fan wants to know what's running in Fed's brain and I'm no exception.

Is he still failing to acknowledge the fact that he has to share the limelight with another emerging talent and is he being stubborn in refusing to adapt his style of play to conditions when Nadal is opponent?

I have heard Fed say #1 rank doesnt matter. He was kind of defensive after losing last set 6-0 in French open final saying he has blanked Nadal before. Basking in past glory doesn't suit a champion.

Giving Nadal his due would only help Fed prepare himself, raise his game level, use his brains to devise pre-emptive tactics to get the better of Nadal rather than press the panic button or give up mid-way.

Is he still trying to deliver every shot with the intention of proving he is superior to Nadal?

Some extravagant shots he tried when he was 2 break points ahead were horrendous like the cross court backhand top spin shot which hit the net more than it went in.And no excuses for double faulting when Nadal is at set point.

Is the expectation level getting to him?

Could be. All former greats had tipped him for #14 in Melbourne. However, having handled things well till Wimbledon 2008, this doesn't look a convincing reason for his poor output.

Is age taking its toll on him?

Fed's record in 5 setters is 13-12. So, yes, this could be a reason.Also he is at the wrong side of 25. It did have a say in Wimbledon final. However, here I felt, fatigue's role was less. In fact in last set, he had rallied with Nadal with both hitting back to each other before Fed powers one past Nadal's reach. At that point, I felt, wow, this is his best chance to improve his 5 setter record.

Is Wimbledon loss telling on him?

This I feel is the root cause of all misery. It was adding insult to injury that was suffered after being blanked in French open final. It has hit the Leo's ego so bad that he wants to do something different, that extra bit he wants to try to put one across Nadal. Nadal benefited immensely due to this. His game play was simple, keep hitting to Fed's weaker back hand. Nadal did his basics right. Fed went for colour over correctness, power over precision to assert his technical supremacy or whatever. Nadal used the drop shot twice before Fed used even once. And Nadal was standing much much behind the baseline than Fed and still did it. What took Fed so long to use the drop shot? Nadal never volleyed from the net. He won't, he is not good at it and he didn't have to, given Fed's pathetic shot selection. Whenever Nadal came close to the net, Fed had the option to lob the ball over. Be it any athletic player,running backwards, turning and hitting it inside the court will require more reaction time. However, those cross court passes were the villain again. Had it been any opponent other than Nadal, Fed would have done these right at the right time.

What Next?

I just hope Fed takes some time off the game, maybe engage in more involving off field work like UNICEF, skip some ATP tours, basically free his mind.He needs to believe Nadal is beatable, but he needs to acknowledge him as a genuine contender to the throne than act in plain denial and exhibit negative vibes. Other than these I see no reason for the jitters he showed in 5th set.

Fickle media

Recently, I had an argument with a friend of mine who claimed that Shahrukh Khan is "The International Superstar". Though I had differences with the title that was being attributed to, I still don't belittle any of his achievements. I just want stuff like Swades and Chak De more often from SRK. That's the only complaint against him. SRK has been under spotlight for more than a decade. He has been enchanting so many Indians around the globe and despite being criticised and lauded by different sections of the society, he has handled the media quite well.

Coming back to Fed, I wonder how it must be for him to come under the scanner after Wimbledon loss and this loss (Media widely claimed that he is back after US Open title) despite having won 13 slams. I don't know when the so called Fed fans started following him. Do you become fan of a player who is winning consistently at that time period and is also hot on current form? Or is there some philosophy on the basis of which you become a fan of a celebrity or a player? I certainly base my tennis player loyalty (atleast in Men's ;)) on technical capabilities and ability to be pleasing on the eye.In fact my obsession with Fed began when he toppled my all time favorite of mine, Sampras in Wimbledon 2001 pre-quarterfinals.

Bandwagon effect or True fan loyalty?

How many Nadal fans can claim to have followed him ever since he made his debut 6 years ago? I find that people find it convenient to side with the current form than class. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Wait, wait, I'm not taking anything away from Nadal. He is a perfect sportsman, the challenge he used when Fed had run out of his in a set is a glowing example. Off field, the way he consoled Fed is a sight to see indeed. His mental strength is a great source of motivation for many youngsters, am sure. However, still it will take more than these to win loyalty of so many Fed fans.

Why still hopeful about "#14 Roger that"?

Nadal missed Australian Open 2 years ago due to injury. The work ethic he is following right now can't be continued forever. There have been promising players who were unstoppable once, but they took one serious knock and then had their career development disrupted temporarily or permanently. Brazil's Ronaldo after a career threatening knee injury in 1999 is an example. Nadal is adapting fast to different surfaces, he is improving his range of shots. Heartening indeed. However, these are all employed less. Still the ruthless muscle power yields maximum returns. I would like Nadal to show more guile. I would like him to age wisely using more of brain than brawn. As of now, his brute force has only left me feel like how I would after seeing a horror movie. Chill down the spine!!!Will all supposedly Nadal fans be happy to see the current version and expect him to be the same after 5 years as well? He could fade away unable to expand his game play to match with increasing age. This may look like I'm talking in plain denial, Unable to swallow Fed's repeated failures, disbelief at seeing Fed being usurped so convincingly from his position. I do have past instances where seemingly infallible cam crashing down to earth in no time. Arsenal's 49 match unbeaten streak came to an end abruptly though they looked unstoppable till match #49.It could not go on when you use the same core of 14 players for more than a year and half. Even machines need yearly maintanance. Ferrari's complete dominance in 2004 and 2005 was checked by bringing in rules to promote competitiveness. Fatigue and injuries will eventually take a toll on Nadal if he continues motoring on like this. Who knows, like F1, tennis balls maybe made lighter to promote more serve and volley (suggested by a friend, and I hope such a thing happens to revitalize a dying art). And something on these lines would surely happen, am confident and it could mean that it is too early to write him off and Fed still stands a chance. Maybe, enroute to a slam trophy, he could put one over Nadal or someone else may do him a favour. But I'm highly optimistic about him emulating Pistol Pete.Maybe it could be his final swansong too as I don't expect Fed's fitness levels to cooperate so beautifully like that of Andre Agassi after 30 years.

Grand Slam - Threatening legendary status

Fed may or may not win the French Open and make the grand slam.True, it adds lot of glitter and glamour, the honour of a grand slam. What if he doesn't? Does this make Edberg, Sampras, Becker and Fed lesser mortals?Sampras' 14 slam achievement doesn't lose its gloss due to it. Edberg still remains as the greatest serve and volley player of all time. He happens to be Fed's role model too. Why is it that achievements of these great men are forgotten and only voids are being looked at with microscope?

Is all this fame and favourite tag worth it all?

My dad used to say "If you just pass your exam, no one will pester you to score more as they know that this is what you are capable of. If you are scoring 95/100, they will urge you to put in more to reach 100 or complain about you missing out on 5 marks. if you are used to scoring 100/100 in each test and get 99/100, you are written off as complacent". In the business world, so called leading companies have had to constantly reinvent itself with ingenious strategies to stay ahead of competition. But how long? Is there a limit to human mind's ability to invent (for the good, am not talking about Lehman type inventions which have thrown the whole world economy into a chaos)? Is being a leader actually worth it considering the hard work needed to maintain it? Doesn't winning get boring after sometime? Is winning a curse? Questions linger on.