amalgam

I am not a big fan of the movie ' Black '. I think the true inspirational story of Anne Sullivan-Helen Keller was turned into a overtly dramatized average movie. I have never understood the mind of Sanjay Leela Bansali. A director of a movie is primarily a story-teller. I wonder if Bansali ever tries to tell a story. He directs his movies as if he is trying to paint a sequence of paintings. It's possible he uses the colors as metaphors. It's possible! Only I don't see it. And I wonder how many do if there are any.  Anyways, seems like, so distracted was I while viewing it that I missed one gem that was embedded in the movie. The song 'Mausam ki adla badli mein' sung by Gayatri Iyer , almost flawlessly. Now, I am not a music expert by any standard but as a listener I do consider this song as one of the best compositions of the last decade. It's crafted to near perfection, if not to perfection. The composition is haunting, the rendition mesmerizing a...

The last few months have been very difficult. Almost everyday, I have looked back to the past and have wondered about the major decisions I made in my life and how they have maneuvered my life and brought me to my present. Almost everyday, I am reminded of last stanza of the poem; The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I am not sure if the roads I took were the ones less traveled, but the last stanza haunts me always. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. T WO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to w...

A week back I got myself wired to the world. It took the service provider two months to bring in the broadband connection to my home. The last couple of months have been a lousy ride as a customer, marked by plenty of rude exchanges with the agent and customer care executives. Unfortunately, no other service provider has the broadband infrastructure in my colony. So, I had no other option but to bear with the poor service provided. With the world just a click away, I find my T.V consuming less energy these days. And thats just one of the things. It has, substantially, changed the way I spend my time at home. Earlier, I would flip over a book if I found it difficult to go to bed. Today they gather dust on my self. But now, I log in and surf the net. Or, type in a post for my blog. Which is what I am doing now.

I was a tad nervous before meeting her for the first time. As I had feared, it didn’t go as well as I had planned. Just as the guard at the apartment had informed me, she knocked my door that afternoon. I hate bargaining. But I still do it because I hate more when I feel cheated. So once I mentioned what I expect from her, the bargaining ordeal began. She quoted four hundred. For a single man, who leaves in a one room flat, I thought that amount was astronomical. We had a few exchanges. It so happens that I either turn rude or I turn meek when any bargain process turns lengthy. To her dismay I turned rude. But to my satisfaction I sealed the deal for rupees two hundred and fifty.

It amazing how a healthy body takes a lot of things for granted. The golgappas from the road side vendor, along with the mouth watering ‘pani’ is taken for granted that they are germs free. Unfortunately, the one that I had during the weekend prior to Diwali wasn’t. The virus took a week to announce it’s presence in my body. Jayant and his wife Vandana had invited me for dinner on the occasion of Diwali. I was served mutton. To my surprise, I didn’t get excited at the salivating prospect of having a non-vegetarian meal. On the contrary I felt nauseated. My reaction should not reflect Vandana’s cooking abilities. In fact, after having lot of meals prepared by Vandana my verdict is that she a fantastic cook. That made me realize that there was nothing wrong with the meal itself but with me. I ate very little and preferred the vegetarian items on the menu. I got up the next day with constipation and fatigue. Alarmingly, my urine had a dark yellow color to it. I still wonder why I ignore...

To create something is not easy. I say that after a month of trying. My mind and heart was working full time to post another item on this page. But I have been unsuccessful in writing anything remotely readable. I am completely disappointed with myself. I was of the opinion that I was good with words; good in analyzing situations and that I had loads of opinion on a lot of matters. Last month happened to erase all misconceptions I had about myself. Like always, after I am bitten by truth, I am in the mood to rationalize.

The day started like any other. Coming out of the daily twelve hour hibernation has always been difficult for me. The moment eyes open I shut them back. The thought of coming in contact with freezing water make me shiver in my cozy quilt. Meeting deadlines on a daily basis is no incentive to be out of bed. In fact the burden of pending work can keep me glued to the bed for hours. In short I just don’t want to start the day. Today, being Sunday I know I don’t need to meet deadlines. In fact I can skip work altogether. As for the pending work, it can stay pending another day. Now, that’s an encouraging thought! However, the freezing water is scary enough to keep me lingering in my bed. I am tempted to skip everything that requires me to use water. I decide to succumb to the temptation. Now, I am prepared to get out of bed.