February 19, 2007

Movie review

I watched the movie "Deja Vu" on Friday with a couple of my friends. It was fine till the point where they start talking about time and space travel. It reminded me of the movie "The Lakehouse" starring Sandra Bullock and Keanau Reeves.

Anyways I really couldn't believe that part when Denzel Washington comes back even though they showed like he dies. It felt like although he traveled back in time and dies, he is still living in the present. I just wish the last 20 mins could have been made a little more sensible. Also sometime in the middle of the movie, I completely lost interest because there were a lot of unnecessary scenes.

On the whole, it was OK.

Now I have to write about the movie "The Departed". It was mind blowing and the entire cast has put in their heart and soul into the movie. Jack Nicholson has proved yet again as to why he is simply the best! I personally thought that after a real long time Leonardo has done a fantastic job. I have been wanting to watch the movie "Bloodline".. Shall write about it once I watch it.

If you haven't seen The Departed, you are missing a very good movie.. Watch it when you get the chance..

February 16, 2007

Chennai shocked me (Part 2)

Here are some of the good things about Chennai:

There are so many shopping malls, restaurants, movie halls, clubs etc. I went to this new place "Citi Center". It was very nice. It looked like a smaller version of the malls here. There is a lot of parking space and well organized.

I went for walking in the Anna Nagar tower for about 5 days at 5.30 AM. I noticed the changes, there were lights, the walkway was clean and no homeless people sleeping in the park. I remember how this place used to be some 5 years back...Great improvement to how it was before and how it is now.

I also had a chance to go on the ECR road as well as on the Old Mahabalipuram road (OMR). ECR is still the same, a few more restaurants, but OMR has a lot of IT companies and apartments. There is a lot of construction activity going on, more buildings and they have also widened the road a little.

A lot of people like the new Chennai but i still prefer the old one.. It was safer, more clean and less people!

February 14, 2007

Chennai shocked me

I was in India a month back and was amazed at the way the Chennai and Chennaites have changed.

A lot of vehicles on the road and totally unmanaged and indisciplined traffic. People don't stop at Red lights, they don't use the indicators to turn, they don't care about the pedestrians... What has happened to us?

I went shopping and got a couple of pants. I thought the bill was going to be around Rs.2000. But when I got the bill, I had a heart attack.. Rs.3000 for 2 pants = $70 for 2 pants??
I felt that the prices of salwars and silk skirts were a daylight robbery.. Agreed due to the "IT boon" people are earning a lot of money, but I don't think that they MINT money in TCS or Wipro.. or do they?

I kept wondering as to how the middle class people are surviving with this kind of high prices? Even food has become so expensive.

Now lets focus on the teenage girls and guys, they seemed to be so westernized that I actually had a "cultural shock" visiting India. South India is supposedly more conservative than the north.. God save the kids' parents.. I went to Coffee day in Numgambakkam and was taken aback by the way the girls were dressed up and the things they were talking about. My friend told me that all this has become very common in Chennai..

Are we changing too fast? It just feels like 'peer pressure' is the IN thing!

February 11, 2007

A video about Call Centers in India

This is a very funny video. Shows the true development in India's economy.. No denial that there are a lot of people investing in IT but call centers seem to be the most popular of all..


February 10, 2007

Swing Dance!

I was introduced by my roommate to Swing dance last night.. About 6 of us went for this dance session. We had loads and loads of fun..

Although none of us knew anything about Swing dancing, the people over there were kind enough to help us learn the steps. All of us started dancing. I kinda liked it a lot.

I have decided to go for it next week also.. Something new is always interesting ;)

February 9, 2007

India today!

I am sure most of us have read or listened to the Grasshopper and Ant story. I got an email about the Modern Story.. This story talks about the current state of India, mentality of people and how the government runs. Everybody is so self-centered that they refuse to see or believe in morals.

Nobody can change India and Indians overnight. This has to be done by the people. Self-realization is the key and it is going to take another 20 - 30 years for things to change. No denial that India is doing great when compared to how it was some 30 years back. But India can do a lot better if people are not so corrupt and are concerned about others and are honest to themselves and to others.

Anyways, here is the story!

OLD VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.


MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter and reservation for Grasshoppers in the private sector industries.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India .

*No offense to anybody who was mentioned in the story.*