Friday, December 11, 2009
badal rahein hain hum yahaan
Thursday, November 19, 2009
His Master's Voice
Thursday, November 12, 2009
In the Wi.Si.Ni.Ty
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Can & Able
Monday, November 09, 2009
the return of the pungent
Take a bow, Archer
Times of India: You are an ardent cricket fan. With the advent of Twenty20, many cricketers have questioned the viability of Test cricket. Comment.Jeffrey Archer: Twenty20 has nothing to do with cricket. Cricket is a test match, where V V S Laxman and Rahul Dravid are facing the Australians in an impossible position, and a day later they win the match. That’s cricket.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
how I derived the Paa theme music ringtone
- Internet Explorer (not my choice of browser but works in this case, I am not sure of the RealPlayer add on for other browsers)
- RealPlayer v. 11 (helps download any .flv video including the YouTube ones)
- Switch Sound File Converter (a freeware)
- Windows Movie Maker (ships as a default)
- Apple iTunes (optional; for high quality AAC)
- I opened the webpage on Internet Explorer.
- I clicked the "my videos" section. A small video started playing.
- On the top right hand corner of the player, a small RealPlayer feature prompted me to download this video.
- I downloaded the video in its .flv format.
- I relocated the video from the RealPlayer library to the desktop for easy access.
- I opened the Switch Sound File Converter, added this .flv video, and converted it to an .mp3 file
- I opened the Windows Movie Maker, imported the .mp3 file, dragged it to the audio timeline. It is important for the beginning of the file to coincide with the beginning of the timeline.
- I played the audio file, made sure what the start and the end points of my desired ringtone would be. I did not care for any dialogue part.
- I clipped the beginning sequence (that occurs before the start point) and the tail sequence (that occurs after the end point).
- I played the left over clip. This was the raw file I wanted.
- I dragged the clip to "zero" of the audio timeline.
- I published the clip as an audio file. It was saved in its default .wma format.
- I opened the Switch Sound File Converter, added the .wma file and converted it to a .mp3 file (230KB).
- I added this .mp3 file to the Apple iTunes software, and created an AAC version. The file was now saved in a .mp4 format (326KB).
- I transferred the .mp3 file to my cellphone via Bluetooth.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
test'icular strength,
No, not at all. I'm focusing totally now on Test-match cricket, and I think the Indian team is moving forward where there are a lot of youngsters who have come up and done well in the one-day format, and that's the way to progress.
For me, representing the country is a great moment and I would give up anything to represent my country. Test-match cricket is really special to me because as a kid I always dreamt of playing for India in Test matches. I take a lot of pride in representing the country and always will do.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
one shepherd takes away another
For all he has done in making watching cricket a pleasurable exercise with his authority, and own quirks, the most noticeable being the famous "double jig" at every Nelson in cricket, he deserves rest now.
........................................................Rest In Peace, David Shepherd
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Medley Melody
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Moonlighting
akashe jyotsna
moonlight in the sky
phuler pathe chita baagher gayer karam
on the forest trail the scent of the leopard
hridoy amar horin jano
my heart is like deer
ratrer ei niraboder bhetor, kondike cholechi?
in the silence of this night, which way am I going?
rupali paatar chaya amar shorire
the silvery shadow of leaves on my body
kothao kono horin neyi
no more deer anywhere
aar joto door jaayee, kaashter moton banka chaand
as far as I go I see the moon bent like a sickle
shesh shonale horin, shorsho khete niyeche jano
cutting the last golden deer-grain
taar par dhire dhire dube jaache
then sinking slowly
shata shata mrigedaar choker ghumer andhokaarer bhetor
into the darkness of all the sleep In the eyes of a hundred does
...................................................... ..............Jibonanda Dass
I would like to go to my grave with this.
dedicated to Lakshmi Narayanan
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
gr'apple with jobs' loss
Friday, September 11, 2009
Ford Escort
apostrophe catastrophe
Friday, September 04, 2009
zoom baraabar zoom
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Names Dropped
- "O Saathi Re" (Tassaduq Hussain, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara 2006)
- "Sundari Kannaal Oru Saedhi" (Santosh Sivan, G.Venkateswaran, Mani Ratnam Thalapathy 1991)
- "Pehla Nasha" (Najeeb Khan, Nasir Hussain, Mansoor Khan Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar 1992)
- "Nagarjuna Akkineni and niece chase" (S. Gopal Reddy, Venkat Akkineni, Ram Gopal Varma Shiva 1989)
- "Bombay cops' clean up" (Gerard Hooper-Mazhar Kamran, Bharat Shah, Ram Gopal Varma Satya 1998)
- "Imtiaz Ghavate chase" (Natarajan "Nutty" Subramaniam, Arindam Mitra, Anurag Kashyap Black Friday 2007)
- "O Saaya-cops chase slum kids" (Anthony Dod Mantle, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire 2008)
- Vishal Bhardwaj (assorted)
- Mani Ratnam (assorted)
- Farhan Akhtar (assorted)
- Ashutosh Gowariker (assorted)
- Mani Ratnam (assorted)
- Farhan Akhtar (assorted)
- Loveleen Bains and Arjun Bhasin (Declan Quinn, Caroline Baron, Mira Nair Monsoon Wedding 2001)
- Anaita Shroff Adajania (Jehangir Chowdhury, assorted, Homi Adajania Being Cyrus 2005)
- Arjun Bhasin (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Chaitanya Rao (Ravi K Chandran, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Kannathil Muthamittal 2002)
- Dolly Ahluwalia (Tassaduq Hussain, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara 2006) Bhanu Athaiyya (Mahesh Aney, Ronnie Screwvala-Ashutosh Gowariker, A.R.Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker Swades 2004)
- Sameer Chanda (Santosh Sivan, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Iruvar 1997)
- Sabu Cyril (Ravi K Chandran, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Kannathil Muthamittal 2002)
- Nitin Desai (Tassaduq Hussain, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara 2006)
- Suzanne Caplan Merwanji (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Sabu Cyril (Ravi K Chandran, G.Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rahman, Mani Ratnam Ayutha Ezhuthu/Yuva 2004)
- Osh Bhabani and Adhuna Bhabani (Jehangir Chowdhury, assorted, Homi Adajania Being Cyrus 2005)
- Avan Contractor and Adhuna Bhabani Akhtar (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani Farhan Akhtar Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Madras Talkies (Ravi K Chandran, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Kannathil Muthamittal 2002)
- Dil Se (Santosh Sivan, Shekhar Kapur-Ram Gopal Varma-Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rahman, Mani Ratnam 1998)
- Guru (Rajeev Menon, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rahman, Mani Ratnam 2007)
- Rang De Basanti (Binod Pradhan, Ronnie Screwvala-Rakeysh Mehra, A.R.Rahman, Rakeysh Mehra 2006)
- Dil Chahta Hai (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Farhan Akhtar 2001)
- Swades (Mahesh Aney, Ronnie Screwvala-Ashutosh Gowariker, A.R.Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker 2004)
- Soul of Jungle/Racing the Jungle (Sandeep Chowta, Jungle 2000)
- Aayo Re (A.R.Rahman, Swades 2004)
- Latika's Theme (A.R.Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire 2008)
- Dil Chahta Hai (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Bombay Theme (A.R.Rahman, Bombay 1995)
- Vikram Dharma (Ravi K Chandran, G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Kannathil Muthamittal 2002)
- Amin Ghani (Vijay Arora, Bharat Shah, Ram Gopal Varma Jungle 2000)
- Shyam Kaushal (Anthony Dod Mantle, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire 2008)
- "Radha Kaise Na Jale" (Javed Akhtar, Anil Mehta, Aamir Khan-Jhamu Sughand, A.R. Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker Lagaan 2001)
- "Kaminey" (Gulzar, Tassaduq Hussain, Ronnie Screwvala, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal Bhardwaj Kaminey 2009)
- "Do Kadam Aur Sahi" ( Javed Akhtar, Santosh Sivan, Reima Husain, A.R.Rahman, M.F. Hussain Meenaxi 2004)
- "Beedi Jalailey" (Gulzar, Tassaduq Hussain, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara 2006)
- "Lukka Chuppi, Ru-Ba-Ru" (Prasoon Joshi, Binod Pradhan, Ronnie Screwvala-Rakeysh Mehra, A.R.Rahman, Rakeysh Mehra Rang De Basanti 2006)
- "Killing of Indore Singh" (Tassaduq Hussain, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara 2006)
- "Duniya Ki Sabse Chhoti Prem Kahaani" (Santosh Sivan, Shekhar Kapur-Ram Gopal Varma-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Dil Se 1998)
- "Chaiyya Chaiyya" (Santosh Sivan, Shekhar Kapur-Ram Gopal Varma-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Dil Se 1998)
- "Train Robbery" (P.C. Sreeram, G.Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Thiruda Thiruda 1993)
- "Pre-climax and Climax" (S. Gopal Reddy, K.L.Narayana-S. Gopal Reddy, Ram Gopal Varma Kshana Kshanam 1991)
- Sarfarosh (Vikas Sivaraman, John Mathew Matthan, Jatin Lalit, John Mathew Matthan 1999)
- Satya (Gerard Hooper-Mazhar Kamran, Bharat Shah, Ram Gopal Varma 1998)
- Alaipayuthey (P.C.Sreeram, G.Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rahman, Mani Ratnam 2000)
- Rang De Basanti (Binod Pradhan, Ronnie Screwvala-Rakeysh Mehra, A.R.Rahman, Rakeysh Mehra 2006)
- Ayutha Ezhuthu/Yuva (Ravi K Chandran, G.Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rahman, Mani Ratnam 2004)
- Yash Chopra-Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films)
- Ronnie Screwvala-Deven Khote-Zarine Mehta (UTV)
- Ritesh Sidhwani-Farhan Akhtar (Excel Entertainment)
- G. Srinivasan-Mani Ratnam (Madras Talkies)
- Ashutosh Gowariker (AGPPL) Aamir Khan (Aamir Khan Productions)
- Ilaiyaraja (S. Gopal Reddy, Venkat Akkineni, Ram Gopal Varma Shiva 1989)
- A.R.Rahman (Santosh Sivan, Shekhar Kapur-Ram Gopal Varma-Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam Dil Se 1998)
- Shantanu Moitra (Natarajan "Nutty" Subramaniam, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra Ekalavya 2007)
- Sandeep Chowta (Gerard Hooper-Mazhar Kamran, Bharat Shah, Ram Gopal Varma Satya 1998)
- A.R.Rahman (Mahesh Aney, Ronnie Screwvala-Ashutosh Gowariker, A.R.Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker Swades 2004)
- Blood Brothers (Vishal Bhardwaj, Mira Nair 2007)
- Positive (Farhan Akhtar, Mira Nair 2007)
- Prarambha (Santosh Sivan, Mira Nair 2007)
- Nikhil Advani (Anil Mehta, Yash Johar-Karan Johar, Nikhil Advani Kal Ho Naa Ho 2003)
- Farhan Akhtar (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Farah Khan (Manikandan, Shahrukh Khan-Gauri Khan, Farah Khan Main Hoon Na 2004)
- Himeish Reshammiya (assorted)
- Shankar Mahadevan (assorted)
- A.R.Rahman (assorted)
- Ab Tak Chhappan (Vishal Sinha, Ram Gopal Varma, Shimit Amin 2004)
- Company (Hemant Chaturvedi, Ashwini Dutt-Boney Kapoor, Ram Gopal Varma 2002)
- Hyderabad Blues (Madhu Ambat/Vijay Kumar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Nagesh Kukunoor 1998)
- Maqbool (Hemant Chaturvedi, Bobby Bedi, Vishal Bhardwaj 2003)
- Swades (Mahesh Aney, Ronnie Screwvala-Ashutosh Gowariker, Ashutosh Gowariker 2004)
- Shiva (S. Gopal Reddy, Venkat Akkineni, Ram Gopal Varma Shiva 1989)
- A Wednesday (Fuwad Khan, Ronnie Screwvala, Neeraj Pandey 2008)
- Ab Tak Chhappan (Vishal Sinha, Ram Gopal Varma, Shimit Amin 2004)
- "Bol Na Halke Halke" (Ayananka Bose, Yash Chopra-Aditya Chopra, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Shaad Ali Jhoom Barabar Jhoom 2007)
- "Ya Rabba" (Piyush Shah, Mukesh Talreja, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Nikhil Advani Salaam-E-Ishq 2007)
- "Ek Lau" (Alphonse Roy, Ronnie Screwvala, Amit Trivedi Aamir 2008)
- "Tanhayee" (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar Dil Chahta Hai 2001)
- Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (Virendra Saini, Vikram Mehrotra, Jatin-Lalit, Kundan Shah 1993)
- Lagaan (Anil Mehta, Aamir Khan-Jhamu Sughand, A.R. Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker 2001)
- Satya (Gerard Hooper-Mazhar Kamran, Bharat Shah, Vishal Bhardwaj, Ram Gopal Varma 1998)
- Kuruthhipunal/Drohi (P.C.Sreeram, Charu Haasan-Kamal Haasan, Mahesh, P.C.Sreeram 1995)
- Thevar Magan (P.C.Sreeram, Kamal Haasan, Ilaiyaraja, Bharathan 1992)
- Kal Ho Naa Ho (Anil Mehta, Yash Johar-Karan Johar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Nikhil Advani 2003)
- Dil Chahta Hai (Ravi K Chandran, Pravin Talreja-Javed Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Farhan Akhtar 2001)
- Lage Raho Munnabhai (C.K.Muraleedharan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Shantanu Moitra, Rajkumar Hirani 2006)
- Rang De Basanti (Binod Pradhan, Ronnie Screwvala-Rakeysh Mehra, A.R.Rahman, Rakeysh Mehra 2006)
- Sarfarosh (Vikas Sivaraman, John Mathew Matthan, Jatin Lalit, John Mathew Matthan 1999)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
moon moon seen
Sunday, August 09, 2009
dreams galore
1) I am flying high in the air and almost when I am about to hit the roof I go plummeting in an instant glide, then out of fear of hitting the electric wires, I go up again.
2) I am on this huge huge elevator(lift) that is of the size of an entire floor. I step onto it in the last moment and then it goes down, a scary scary free falling lift. Remember, it is of the size of an entire floor.
3) I am on a platform and running hard to catch a fast moving train never to hop onto it.
The sheer regularity of these amazes me.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Golden Lotus
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Current Contraceptive
If there is electricity in every village then people will watch TV till late night and then fall asleep. They won't get a chance to produce children. When there is no electricity there is nothing else to do but produce babies.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
fake identity or identity crisis or surreal identity?
........
. ....... jiska bhi chehra cheela, andar se aur nikla.........masoom sa kabootar naacha toh mor* nikla
Kambakkht Gulzar, Kambakkht Vishal
..............................................Meri aarzoo kaminee..............................................Mere khwaab bhi kaminey..............................................Ek dil se dosti thi..............................................Yeh huzoor bhi kaminey
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Bucket List
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Alliterative Imtiaz!
"... ghatni hi thi yeh bhi ghatna, ghat'the ghat'the lo yeh ghat gayi..."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Star Bucking trend
So when movie channels started airing "making-of" videos in the mid to late 90s, cinema, in a small way,was slowly but surely ripped of its sheen. Everything was laid bare and naked, to its minimum and darn, nothing was left to imagination. It made a good fodder for the cynics who smugly declared "ah, we said so." A Batman of the early 90s was so different from its recent sibling, The Dark Knight of '08 which many reckon has been the best to have happened to man since sliced bread. Why? Apart from every other aspect, the recent installment has been one people have had most access to, and everything that has to be known has already been damning the very notion of mystery, and damning the idea that stars should remain where they are.
Cut to present and on a slightly different note, this place looks so Indianized, at least to levels that are perceptible, that nothing is a fantasy land anymore. You name a place here, and even before you spell its name, an Indian restaurant would have opened somewhere, or someone would have clicked a snap in front of New York Stock Exchange, or Golden Gate Bridge. May be the overfamiliarity with this place; the system, the pattern, the roads, the exits is the spoilsport. So I shudder at the thought of bumping into a Hanks or a Depp the next time I drive out of that swanky eat-out in downtown L.A., find a Carrey when I turn my head sideways in anticipation of a green light at a traffic island or worse, a Jolie on that famililar trip to Memphis! No exaggeration, I wouldn't want to be caught dead discussing pappu, pulusu, licking my fingers to glory all the while having Spielberg in the vicinity, if not the next table on my next visit to California.
Somewhere you start wondering if this is the same place that lodged the stars that adorned the silver screen when the lights were dimmed in Sangeet theatre, Hyderabad.
an apple of one's eye,
(Readers' discretion advised; Unsuitable for minors, and couth, may contain North Indian familial expletives)
What do you call an Apple's version of an Apple fanboy?
Mac-ka-lal
What do you call a Microsoft's version of an Apple fanboy?
Mac-ka-lowda
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
david littered, man!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
social circus
As yet, at least.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Saraswati Putra, Bhala!
So when you want
zesty, feisty quality in your life, you have Sunidhi Chauhan.
faux sexy wailing, haazir hai Kunal Ganjawalla
the male, higher-higher-pitched version of Sunidhi Chauhan with added diamond-like quality that just cuts through... Krishna Kumar Menon (KK)
a star like quality that will put galaxies to shame, take Sonu Nigam
sincerity, energy, honesty, so what if RAW, please meet A R Rahman
to communicate pathos, sincerity, again so what if RAW, make way for Ilayaraja
saccharine sweet to the point of inducing diabetes, there is always Chitra
someone to traverse the spectrum from an infant to a girl all the way to a woman, welcome S. Janaki
someone to traverse the spectrum from an infant to a girl all the way to a woman, north of Vindhyas, welcome Asha Bhonsle
invoke Gods, mountains, call only Anuradha Paudwal
devotional, call Anuradha Paudwal and Gulshan Kumar
divine, Lata Mangeshkar
saucy, sassy, cheeky, chicken-tikka masala, croaky & froggy, irreverent, arrogant (so what if it makes you want donate truck loads of lozenges), don't do anything; just close your eyes, and pronto! Anu Malik
to revisit the all the good things of your childhood, say "Sadhna Sargam"
fun, frolic added to romantic numbers, go to Mahalaxmi Iyer
somebody, when you find none, think of Alka Yagnik
to touch a chord of the masses faster than the speed of light, send an SMS to Himesh Reshammiya
to insult your enemies, love guilt pleasures, R. P. Patnaik door nahin
to "hear" a smile, please call Udit Narayan
to test the speaker quality of your avante-garde music set up, particularly Bass, head straight to Amitabh Bachchan
to drink without getting drunk, pesh hai Hariharan
to be literally jolted of blues, slumber, so what if transient, go to Sukhwinder Singh
seriousness, sincerity, character go to Kavita Krishnamurthy nee Subramaniam
to learn Malayalam through Hindi, go down south to Yesudas.
to feel good about yourself, about everything around, C/O Rekha Bhardwaj & Vishal Bhardwaj
most of the qualities mentioned above, dial 9823156147/ 9842351706 to reach Shankar Mahadevan
because for all the above and everything else there is an
S P Balasubrahmanyam
(May he live longer than is destined to)
Thursday, June 04, 2009
in camera
1) Next time when you click a good looking snap, please don't touch it, retouch it, touch it up, Photoshop it. Don't let the moment get eclipsed by tech tools. I know to each his own but still try! Remember you promised!
2) It gets a little serious here. Promise me if you come across a very beautiful picture clicked by someone, you will not, repeat after me, you will not ask the photographer, "what camera is it?" "which model?", "no wonder, it is good!". Okay? Mummy promise. This is applicable even when the picture is not up to your standards. Either way you are insulting the photographer.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
bing'o !
Rafe Needleman echoes the same thought in the last few lines of his gush post, well almost.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Manly Frame
Mohanlal's Anandan calls on Nasser's Anna Durai at the latter's residence when he is down with fever.
Anna politely rejects Anandan's monetary token to the party at this stage.
"The party doesn't need your money; Reach the common man. Votes will pile up automatically."
:)
Iruvar (1997)
film grab courtesy: madras talkies
classified!
Why does a particular community act super frugal to the point of being stingy? Why does one race listen to only a particular type of music, or endorse a certain clothing fashion? Why does one group have to always act and sound intellectual, almost warranting pseudo-intellectual masturbations? Why is one group always loud mouths while the other is fool infested? When behaviors, attitudes become social tags or ID cards without a word being spoken, you know there is a room for worry. If you take any group/community/entity/strata and I hate to say this, its behavior will not be far from the image it has created, or that has been attributed. 99 out of 100 times. My heart goes out to all those who inspite of being a mole minority are consciously or unconsciously a part of a silent movement to break these stereotypes.
John Cloud in the latest issue of the Time (June 1, 2009) addresses a slightly related topic with more insight and well, cushions it with some research findings.
The following piece of work is credited to John Cloud and Time magazine, and I have only scanned the article for the sake of more readership. The copyright is duly acknowledged.
(click on the image for a bigger view)
As for me, I belong to all those demographics to which not-so-friendly qualities are ascribed, and on my part I try to be away from them. As Cloud would have liked it, I have not internalized them! :)
But I am also increasingly forced to believe in the adage that not without a reason do stereotypes exist, and that indeed is a scary thought.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Picture...Perfect
courtesy: Columbia Pictures, Phedon Papamichael
Gardner with his teary eyed face, erupting in absolute joy in a sea of undulating faces, and with his self worth intact, stands tall
literally and figuratively.