Why is it that a sad ending to a story makes it hit so much harder? Why does that stay with us longer than a sweet little everybody's happy tra la la la ending? What is it in us humans that we prefer tragedy to comedy?
Here, I always think of this movie, Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell (Harold Crick) and Emma Thompson (Karen Eiffel). Harold is a boring IRS agent until he starts hearing an author narrating his life. Turns out Karen is writing a book and somehow her character is an actual person. Harold hears the author narrate his forthcoming death and does all he can to stop her from writing it. (SPOILERS ALERT) He finds Karen and reads the book and he is convinced that he should die in the end because that's just what the book needs. Karen however can't go through with it and changes the ending. A literature professor (played by Dustin Hoffman), who had helped Harold track down the author, reads the book with the changed ending and his verdict to Karen? - "It's ok. It's not bad!" And he can't understand why Karen would change the ending. - Meaning that Harold should have died! It's almost like an unwritten rule. Just look at the classics - how many of them have a sad ending? I don't get the reasoning behind this, but I do know that personally, no matter how much I like to see a happy ending, the ones that don't have that are the ones that remain in memory as classics!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
How Not To Discuss Rates with a Translator
So true .. Hilarious and sad that this is how it is really!
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Die Welle
Just saw this film and found it really good, reminiscent of Lord of the Flies a tad. Though thinking about it, certain aspects are weird - many of the changes that the teacher Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel) makes in his classroom, changes that slowly form the students into a quasi fascist group, are normal school practices here in India. We all wear uniforms to school, raise our hand when we want to say something and stand to give the answer, we never call our teachers by their first name and the desks always face the front of the class. That doesn't make us fascists, only disciplined. The students in the German school in the film are clearly shown as lacking this particular quality and when discipline is introduced through the Project Week experiment, they turn into a group that excludes the other and embraces violence. Komisch!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Boobquake
Hilarious stuff, love the idea. Read the article on how we all survived "Boobquake" ..
But the statement that prompted Jennifer to initiate Boobquake is sadly how many people think. They believe the revealing clothes that women wear is what leads to eve-teasing and rape. The worst comment I heard about a lady who had been raped was "she was asking for it, dressing like that"!!! That just nicely takes away all the blame from the guy - the poor soul can't be expected to control himself if a woman wearing a tank top comes into his line of sight! Life in prison is what rapists should get - then they'll get a damn good taste of being in the victim's shoes.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Virginity Industry
Check out this article: The Virginity industry
Makes me real mad. Sad what society and tradition force women to do in order to "not only change their lives, but quite possibly save it"!
Makes me real mad. Sad what society and tradition force women to do in order to "not only change their lives, but quite possibly save it"!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Random Conversation
On my way home after a day long seminar I had a nice conversation with my rickshaw driver that left me feeling happy. It was just a regular tale of good, hardworking people trying to better their lot in life. But these stories always make me feel glad and (I don't know why and it does seem condescending to say so but) proud of them in a way.
He started the conversation commenting on how the weather today spoke of coming rain, even though the monsoon is two months away. And about how it has become quite hot since the past few days and that it will get even worse. He continued to say how difficult his sons are finding it to study for their exams in this heat and so he has bought them two fans that he lets run throughout the day. The rest of the conversation was centered around the two of them. Both his kids are studying chartered accountancy. Knowledge of that fact really impressed me because anyone who knows rickshaw drivers in India, knows that they are not the most well off and are mostly uneducated. The latter was confirmed to me at a later stage in the conversation. He went on to say that his only dream was for his kids to get an education so that they did not have to drive a rickshaw like him. His kids have apparently always scored high in their exams (88% in the 10th, 86% in BCom) and have even received prizes from their college for their performance. He spoke like a true proud papa, who can see the result of his long years of hard work in front of his eyes. And that was it. The conversation ended there, I had reached my destination. I will probably never meet this man again (and never get to know the exact percentage his sons score in their CA exams :), but I am happy being reminded that such people live in this world.
On a daily basis we are bombarded with news about murder, rape, theft, fraud. It would be nice to hear simple, positive stories once in a while. It's just a pity that they don't sell.
He started the conversation commenting on how the weather today spoke of coming rain, even though the monsoon is two months away. And about how it has become quite hot since the past few days and that it will get even worse. He continued to say how difficult his sons are finding it to study for their exams in this heat and so he has bought them two fans that he lets run throughout the day. The rest of the conversation was centered around the two of them. Both his kids are studying chartered accountancy. Knowledge of that fact really impressed me because anyone who knows rickshaw drivers in India, knows that they are not the most well off and are mostly uneducated. The latter was confirmed to me at a later stage in the conversation. He went on to say that his only dream was for his kids to get an education so that they did not have to drive a rickshaw like him. His kids have apparently always scored high in their exams (88% in the 10th, 86% in BCom) and have even received prizes from their college for their performance. He spoke like a true proud papa, who can see the result of his long years of hard work in front of his eyes. And that was it. The conversation ended there, I had reached my destination. I will probably never meet this man again (and never get to know the exact percentage his sons score in their CA exams :), but I am happy being reminded that such people live in this world.
On a daily basis we are bombarded with news about murder, rape, theft, fraud. It would be nice to hear simple, positive stories once in a while. It's just a pity that they don't sell.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Didn't realise it had been so long
Wow, 8 months and no post. Shocking. Or not actually, considering I know how lazy I am. Am also on Twitter now which is so much easier than blogging, don't you think? Sometimes though the 140 character limit is a problem but it does lead to imaginative editing of the tweet.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Respect
I don't agree with the concept of respect that we have in our society. Old or rather older people expect to be respected purely because of that reason i.e. that they are older, and hence they assume wiser, than you. Now I am of the belief that all people have had certain experiences in life that make them wiser than me - they being 5 or 50 years old! But in an Indian society the older people just expect blind respect and by that I mean blind acceptance for whatever they say - that what they say must be followed no questions asked, that it is gospel! Disagreements are out of the question and if they do come about the younger person must accept the older person's point of view and admit his/her mistake (of existing with a thinking mind??).
Respect needs to be earned no matter your age - by your thoughts and deeds. And if someone disagrees with you that is their point of view. Choose not to associate with them if you don't like the way they think. Or better yet accept a difference in opinion and continue your relationship. But no! Here we have a culture of emotional blackmail. How much can we squeeze out of person? How far can we make them bend by showing them our disapproval? Ask yourself - What all am I doing just because someone else has asked me to do it (for them)? How much freedom do I actually have in my choices and actions? Isn't someone close to me holding their relationship to me hostage insinuating that if I don't behave in a particular way they won't associate with me anymore? And we as an Indian society are so dependent on relationships that we exist for others, never thinking about our own wants/needs. "He's my father, Chacha, Nana, Taya, ... " The list is endless, basically "he/she is my elder and is always right!"
Now I don't like the society that exists (to (perhaps wrongly) generalise) in the Western world, where people just don't care about others, just go on living their own lonely lives. How does one find a middle path between the two?
Respect needs to be earned no matter your age - by your thoughts and deeds. And if someone disagrees with you that is their point of view. Choose not to associate with them if you don't like the way they think. Or better yet accept a difference in opinion and continue your relationship. But no! Here we have a culture of emotional blackmail. How much can we squeeze out of person? How far can we make them bend by showing them our disapproval? Ask yourself - What all am I doing just because someone else has asked me to do it (for them)? How much freedom do I actually have in my choices and actions? Isn't someone close to me holding their relationship to me hostage insinuating that if I don't behave in a particular way they won't associate with me anymore? And we as an Indian society are so dependent on relationships that we exist for others, never thinking about our own wants/needs. "He's my father, Chacha, Nana, Taya, ... " The list is endless, basically "he/she is my elder and is always right!"
Now I don't like the society that exists (to (perhaps wrongly) generalise) in the Western world, where people just don't care about others, just go on living their own lonely lives. How does one find a middle path between the two?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Eerie
It's 3:45 am. I'm sitting with a friend in the garden of her building talking about this and that and then we come upon the topic of her trip to Europe last year. She starts telling me some really eerie stories about this house she stayed at in Madrid and the weird presence in this house. The benches we are sitting on are covered by a tarp (it being monsoon and all) and suddenly I see a weird shadow on the underside of the tarp and on the garden to my left. I don't say anything thinking that my friend can see whatever it is that is making this shadow, she sitting facing me. A second after this thought goes through my head she says, "What the f*** is that???" We jump up and go to where the cars are parked, all the time staring at this odd shadow on the grass. After a minute it disappears. For the life of us we can't make out the source of this shadow. I'm trying to justify it making some story about a tree in the distance and some wind, not even really convincing myself. And then I look up and of all the things I see a lady in white walking towards us!!! Can you believe it?? Of all the things, a lady in white.
Luckily my friend knew who she was. (though we did follow her to figure out what she was doing at 4am walking around. Nothing suspect there.) We both quickly called it a night and headed to our respective homes.
So in the end nothing really to report, though I am going to be sleeping (ha!) with the light on
Luckily my friend knew who she was. (though we did follow her to figure out what she was doing at 4am walking around. Nothing suspect there.) We both quickly called it a night and headed to our respective homes.
So in the end nothing really to report, though I am going to be sleeping (ha!) with the light on
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Dark Knight
OH MY GOD!!! WORDS FAIL ME! A BRILLIANT FILM!
This should be enough to convey my sentiments about the film. But it just isn't. And no matter how much I or anyone else writes it won't be enough. This is one of those rare films that not only lives up to all the pre-release hype but actually manages to surpass it. It just grabs you from the get go. And it has to be seen .. at least a couple of times.
Firstly Heath Ledger - AWESOME! We've seen him in films ranging from 10 Things I Hate About You to Brokeback Mountain but this one here just surpasses it all. What a brilliant job as The Joker. And each scene of his makes you just want to cry and scream out "What a fucking waste!!" No one could have chosen a better swan song.
Aaron Eckhart: I wasn't too sure how to anticipate this character but he pulled it off real well. As the righteous DA and then as Two-Face! A mention due to the make-up guys. Best two face ever!!!
Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine reprising their respective roles have given us just what we expect of these fine actors.
And as love interest Maggie Gyllenhaal plays her part well and without any undue hysterics.
And Christian Bale! I must say it ... He is the best batman ever!! His voice as batman can send shivers down my back. His conflict between Bruce Wayne and Batman never overdone.
Just have to see it again this weekend .. anyone interested??
This should be enough to convey my sentiments about the film. But it just isn't. And no matter how much I or anyone else writes it won't be enough. This is one of those rare films that not only lives up to all the pre-release hype but actually manages to surpass it. It just grabs you from the get go. And it has to be seen .. at least a couple of times.
Firstly Heath Ledger - AWESOME! We've seen him in films ranging from 10 Things I Hate About You to Brokeback Mountain but this one here just surpasses it all. What a brilliant job as The Joker. And each scene of his makes you just want to cry and scream out "What a fucking waste!!" No one could have chosen a better swan song.
Aaron Eckhart: I wasn't too sure how to anticipate this character but he pulled it off real well. As the righteous DA and then as Two-Face! A mention due to the make-up guys. Best two face ever!!!
Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine reprising their respective roles have given us just what we expect of these fine actors.
And as love interest Maggie Gyllenhaal plays her part well and without any undue hysterics.
And Christian Bale! I must say it ... He is the best batman ever!! His voice as batman can send shivers down my back. His conflict between Bruce Wayne and Batman never overdone.
Just have to see it again this weekend .. anyone interested??
Friday, July 04, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Well deserved defeat
A sad and frustrating match. In no way did this match deserve to be a final because hey it wasn't a match at all. The Spaniards played well, they played as a team which is more than I can say about Germany. So disappointing their performance. And taking Lahm off was just stupid. He is a great player who got beaten (well twice in two matches) and he is the one in fact who got Germany into the finals! If anyone needed taking off it was Lehmann. What was he thinking? He very nearly made the same mistake again later in the match. (Isn't hindsight great? Makes you seem quite the expert.)
Oh well! It's over and now I can return to sleeping earlier, at least for when I have to wake up at 6 the next day. And at some point during the week I have to make good on a bet I made and take a friend out to dinner. Damn Germany, you're defeat's costing me. It's tough being a fan!
Oh well! It's over and now I can return to sleeping earlier, at least for when I have to wake up at 6 the next day. And at some point during the week I have to make good on a bet I made and take a friend out to dinner. Damn Germany, you're defeat's costing me. It's tough being a fan!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Whew!
Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! What a match! Not that it was a brilliant football match, at least not on Germany's side, but it was a brilliantly fought one. Turkey on top in the first half, Germany not really attacking but managing to go into half time with a 1-1 draw. Schweinsteiger really pulling it through for Germany. He saved the match for Germany right there.
In the second half we got to see Germany attacking quite a bit more and then ..... the telecast disappears. Talk about bad timing. We miss Klose's header giving Germany a 2-1 lead and get the coverage back just in time to see Senturk score the equaliser. It looked like Turkey had done it again - pulled a last minute goal out of nowhere to save their match.
But then surprise surprise .. Germany pulls a "Turkey" out of its hat. Lahm manages to fire one past Rustu in the 90th minute and Germany wins 3-2. Sweet revenge for Lahm.
Due credit to Turkey. They played their hearts out and if I'm truthful they did at least deserve a shot at extra time .. Turkey was the better side today. But in the end Germany's experience got them through and I for one am overjoyed with this result.
(Don't think I could have lasted out extra time (and maybe penalties) with the telecast disappearing all the time ... Big thanks to BBC Sport for giving me ball by ball coverage)
In the second half we got to see Germany attacking quite a bit more and then ..... the telecast disappears. Talk about bad timing. We miss Klose's header giving Germany a 2-1 lead and get the coverage back just in time to see Senturk score the equaliser. It looked like Turkey had done it again - pulled a last minute goal out of nowhere to save their match.
But then surprise surprise .. Germany pulls a "Turkey" out of its hat. Lahm manages to fire one past Rustu in the 90th minute and Germany wins 3-2. Sweet revenge for Lahm.
Due credit to Turkey. They played their hearts out and if I'm truthful they did at least deserve a shot at extra time .. Turkey was the better side today. But in the end Germany's experience got them through and I for one am overjoyed with this result.
(Don't think I could have lasted out extra time (and maybe penalties) with the telecast disappearing all the time ... Big thanks to BBC Sport for giving me ball by ball coverage)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Poor Čech
Turkey sure sucker-punched the Czech Republic. Talk about it just being your day! 2 goals in two minutes to win a place in the quarter finals and then their goalkeeper being sent off with 3 minutes to go. Nail biting finish and I mean that quite literally.
It's real good fun watching such a match when you're not rooting for any one side. Tomorrow's match, though, is another story altogether. Do or die for Germany, so I'm not going to enjoy that match as much as I did today's. Will be sitting in front of the telly and biting the rest of my nails. Oh well, at least I save on the manicure.
It's real good fun watching such a match when you're not rooting for any one side. Tomorrow's match, though, is another story altogether. Do or die for Germany, so I'm not going to enjoy that match as much as I did today's. Will be sitting in front of the telly and biting the rest of my nails. Oh well, at least I save on the manicure.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Silly Old Bear
Saw "Winnie The Pooh" today. Well, the movie, though I did meet him at Disneyland a month ago. Really friendly guy (or should I say bear?) Coming back to the point - as a kid I saw this movie (on video then (yes I am that old, that I lived through video) a gazillion times. During the holidays we would spread out all the videos and choose which movie to watch that afternoon. The choice always came down to Pooh bear or Alice in Wonderland. No prizes for guessing who won.
So after meeting him last month I went out to buy the DVD (since I don't have a VCR anymore, though the much-used video is still there) and found out that none of the stores in Bombay have the good ol 1977 classic "The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh". Long live Amazon! Got it (and Alice - couldn't leave her out, she did win some of the time) within 2 weeks and saw it this evening with my nephew and niece.
And I must say it was amazing! It hadn't lost any of its magic, the songs were still catchy and I even remembered most of the words. (Patting my back as I type.) And the movie got the much coveted stamp of approval from my nephew and niece - as soon as it was over they said in unison "Again!".
So after meeting him last month I went out to buy the DVD (since I don't have a VCR anymore, though the much-used video is still there) and found out that none of the stores in Bombay have the good ol 1977 classic "The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh". Long live Amazon! Got it (and Alice - couldn't leave her out, she did win some of the time) within 2 weeks and saw it this evening with my nephew and niece.
And I must say it was amazing! It hadn't lost any of its magic, the songs were still catchy and I even remembered most of the words. (Patting my back as I type.) And the movie got the much coveted stamp of approval from my nephew and niece - as soon as it was over they said in unison "Again!".
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