Life in a Line

"Don't treat people the way you'd want them to treat you. Treat them the way they deserve to be treated. Be nice to the nice, and...."

Life in a Line

"If you like something about someone, tell them. It makes their life a little better."

Murphy's Travel Laws

1. No flight ever leaves on time unless you are running late and need the delay to make the flight.
2. If you are running late for a flight, it will depart from the farthest gate within the terminal.
3. If you arrive very early for a flight, it inevitably will be delayed.
4. Flights never leave from Gate #1 at any terminal in the world.
5. If you must work on your flight, you will experience turbulence as soon as you touch pen to paper.
6. If you are assigned a middle seat, you can determine who has the seats on the aisle and the window while you are still in the boarding area. Just look for the two largest passengers.
7. Only passengers seated in window seats ever have to get up to go to the lavatory.
8. The crying baby on board your flight is always seated next to you.
9. The best-looking woman on your flight is never seated next to you.
10. The less carry-on luggage space available on an aircraft, the more carry-on luggage passengers will bring aboard.

Life in a LIne

"Ninety-percent of the people in the world are after money. The rest are after those who have it."

Life in a Line

"Women don't want to hear what you think. They want to hear what they think, in a deeper voice."

NEW FEATURE!!!!

Hey guys!!!! I'm adding a new feature to my blog. It's called 'Life in a line'. Let's understand what it's about.

Every once in a while, I'll be posting a one-liner about my observation or thought about some aspect of life or the other. This thought would be based on my personal experience. It could also be based on what I've seen, heard or read.

The best part is that,YOU, the reader, can give YOUR feedback on that thought. It's something like a 'thought for the day' that all of us have experienced in school. Except here, you get to give your own views on it. Sounds great, doesn't it? I thought so...

Disclaimer: Anything I write here is my own personal opinion. It is not intended to offend any person or community. If, in the rare case, one does get offended, though I hope that never happens, he/she can write a comment indicating so, and shove it up their ass.

CATastrophe!

It came, it saw and it screwed me! Yes, I’m talking about CAT, the mother of all entrance exams….at least in India. I was one of the whopping 2.6 lakh people who took it this year and I finally know what all the fuss is about.

I had heard stories about CAT and how some people went into a trance preparing for it, how some passed out in the exam hall during the test, and how some actually committed suicide after the results. As frightening as some of those stories may be, they never seemed to bother me much. Not because I was very confident, NO SIR! It was simply because I never took it all that seriously, and my score would surely prove that.

God only knows why I enrolled in PT for coaching, since I hardly attended any classes. The attendance register at the Center Point branch is testimonial to that fact. But yes, the mock tests conducted by PT, or PracCats as they call them, did help me a lot. They helped me develop useful strategies and build a good amount of confidence, which is a great help in exams of this order. I did reasonably well in those tests, notching up percentiles between 90 and 98. So I was up for the actual thing. Not that I had IIMs in mind or anything but thought I could get a decent enough score.

Verbal Ability had been my forte with DS playing the supporting role. Quant? What’s that???? Never mind….So obviously I was banking on VA and DS to get me that decent enough score I talked about earlier. But fate had something else in mind. VA was pretty tough and I had to really rack my brains to arrive at some sort of a conclusion regarding the answers.

The great thing about CAT is that not only does it test your knowledge but also your intuitive ability. I mean the options in some of the questions look so similar that the only way one can figure out the right answer is through sheer instincts.

Anyway, at the end of it all I was rather confident about my performance. I felt that maybe I would manage to get that decent enough score after all that I’ve been harping on, and travelled back home a satisfied man…..until I checked my score online. Damn the Internet! The score was far from being decent…in fact it was pretty obscene.

But no worries….one day, I can proudly tell my grandchildren that I was there, that I held my nerve and fought it out, that I survived the grueling two and half hours...I can tell them what all the fuss is about.

Om Shambles Om ?

Just returned from what was an absolute joke of a movie. An utterly preposterous, anachronistic, and nonchalantly shameless piece of celluloid junk called Om Shanti Om. It’s almost as if it was made with the intention of ridiculing the intellect of the Indian movie-goer. At the end of the 2 hour 47 minute (which actually felt much longer) farce, I just wondered – “Hang on a second! Did the entire team of Om Shanti Om just pull a really bad prank on me?” Maybe they did.

After having seen her on the receiving end of some really scathing reviews for Main Hoon Na, I expected Farah Khan to realize that film-making isn’t quite her métier, and that she should stick to what she does best - choreography. But she clearly doesn’t believe in the expression, once bitten twice shy. She boldly decided to make another one and somehow managed to convince her close and seemingly intelligent friend, Mr. Shahrukh Khan, to fund it, albeit under his better half’s name. So in went the dough, mixed with typical bollywood masala, a bizarre script, loads of razzmatazz, some really crappy acting, every imaginable cliché, and oodles of hype. The final product – A dazzling fiasco!!!

However, the film did have a few positives that merit a mention. The music, for instance, was really enchanting. I’ve been humming the ‘Ajab si’ number ever since I got out of the theatre. The sets of the film were really lavish, the use of CGI was remarkable and the choreography, as you’d expect, was indeed, very beautiful. But, all this, doesn’t even come close to the sight of the drop-dead-gorgeous Deepika Padukone, splashed across the big silver screen. Boy, if ever there was a divine beauty, it’s her. I feel she’s got huge potential and if handled well, can go on to make it really big in the industry. And when I say, big, I mean Superstar big.

On that positive note, I’ll sign off, and go to sleep. Have got a date with Deepika Padukone later tonight….

The Phantom of the Opera - The film

The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Joel Shumacher, who has made movies like Batman Forever and Lost Boys, is a film adaptation of the blockbuster stage musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It ranks right up there on my list of favorite films, and is going to remain there for some time to come.

There are a number of reasons why I rate this particular movie so highly. First of all, its screenplay, which is really the heart of the film, is based on a very poignant and moving tale of a girl who has to choose between her unseen musical trainer and her childhood boyfriend. The conflict in her mind about whether to devote her life to the suave musical genius The Phantom or to be with Raoul, her childhood sweetheart and the patron of the opera where she performs, makes for very interesting viewing. It’s true that there is the existence of the clichéd love triangle but it is documented and portrayed in a never- seen-before way, compelling the audience to feel for each character.

Secondly, the movie boasts of some of the most outstanding special effects ever seen. This is the most expensive private film ever made and it is amazing that without the backing of any major studio, the film has been able to come up with such breathtaking special effects usually associated with huge Hollywood Blockbusters.

Thirdly, the film looks awesome. Its lush and magnificent sets and costumes will leave you crying for more. The grandeur of the musical has been taken to another level and the cinematography deserves a lot of laurels. All in all, the film is a treat to the eye which is why I never get tired of seeing it.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the music of the movie is the real hero. Music plays a vital role in enhancing the overall feel of any movie and this movie is testimonial to that fact. The music of the Phantom is critically acclaimed as Lloyd Webber’s best and it’s heartening that a large chunk of the score of the stage musical has been kept intact in the movie, albeit a few changes here and there. The performers have done a commendable job, especially Gerard Butler, who has really proven to be the quintessential Phantom. Emmy Rossum has sung beautifully as Christine, and her voice, although lacking in range compared to Sarah Brightman, is far more soothing. I’ve been listening to the Phantom music album for over a year and feels as liberating as ever. I’m sure even non-opera fans will absolutely adore the music that this cult classic has to offer.

Well, I can go on praising the music forever but bearing in mind the preciousness of the time of all the readers, I’d like to end my heretofore long winding review by saying that The Phantom of the Opera is a must watch for any movie buff whether one likes opera or not, for Its charm transcends all barriers. So get a copy NOW, and immerse yourself in the Music of the Night….

A humble beginning

Well...allow me make it very clear right at the onset that this is no ordinary blog. In fact, it's anything but ordinary. Although the term ordinary is relative, I can safely say that, this blog is far from being one, for it sets a benchmark;a point of reference, and goes on to defy what has come to be known, and blatantly glorified, as The Theory of Relativity.

This theory, which has existed for ages now, in my humble, yet significant opinion, is guilty of robbing any given entity of its inherent and in several cases, inimitable character. Therefore, to say that the extraordinariness of an entity, in this case a blog, is subject to one's definition and understanding of the term, would be doing terrible injustice to both the blog and it's author.

Let us, as wise and judicious men and women, not perpetrate this monstrous crime, and treat this blog the way it is meant to be treated - as an extraordinary one.

May God Bless us all