I can get a book for a discounted price if I shop online.
I will have to shell out more if I go physically to the same store to buy it.
Why?
Do they hate having customers walking around their store? Or are they incentivizing online purchase so they can shut shop and eventually be online-only?
OK, I have a thing for personally going to a store and picking up a book. Why should I be penalized for that?
Makes no sense to me.
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Alice in the Wonderland is here. Burton + Depp -> Now that's a combination.
Rubbing hands in gleeful anticipation.
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Movies:
A Brief Encounter
It's a Wonderful Life
To Kill a Mocking Bird (again)
Books:
Dork - Sidin Vayukut
Notes From a Small Island - Bill Bryson
The Last Mughal - William Dalrymple
The Argumentative Indian - Amartya Sen
Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama
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Jack: I expected you to figure that out.
Jill: I did. But I had to ask.
Jack smiles sadly at her, knowing the words before she spoke them.
Jill: Couldn't leave any stone unturned before giving up. Can't sleep otherwise.
Towards the end of the trailer there is a shot where Auro looks up, says Paa and then lets a shy ha-ha escape his mouth. Thats it. It was in those 3 seconds that Balki sold me the film. I fell for it and booked the first available tickets.
Balki got the childhood part bang-on. Auro is endearing because he is just what you'd expect a 12 year old to be. Progeria, the medical condition that Auro suffers from is just incidental and as explained by Balki himself, was used as an excuse for the role-reversal of father and son.
So Auro is a happy and much loved kid, surrounded by people whose treatment of him is not coloured by his condition. And this allows him to be a regular, confused, little-spoilt, witty, popular at school, awkward kid about to step into his teens. What fun afterall, is a kid who can't throw a good tantrum!
The kids at school are potrayed as uniformly accomodating and loving of Auro. Yes, all of us are aware that kids in school can be really cruel. But it is quite charming of the film to retain this innocence.
There are unnecessary subplots like Abhishek's rant against the media that just doesn't work. And I found the movie a little slow. But what lingers in one's mind after stepping out of the theatre is the good stuff.
1) Amitabh as Auro.
There is just nobody else like him and I doubt there will ever be. His persona and acting prowess aside, the man inspires awe just for having retained the hunger and drive fit for a 20 year old, after all these years. He has such magnificient roles written for him, especially in his second innings - Mohabbatien (if for nothing, atleast for being his big comeback), Sarkar, Nishabd, Cheeni Kum, Black and now Paa. Each time he essays a superb role, I am entertained yes, but I also feel very happy for him. The guy must be having the time of his life. To have somebody say that of you, and after a career spanning decades and seeing dizzying heights of stardom - is so rich and wonderful. What a Man!
2) Vidya as Auro's mom and Arundathi Naag as Vidya' mom.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Vidya tells her mother about her pregnancy. I also liked the little details like how Vidya always sits in the same little corner in her veranda whenever she is troubled. And she looks absolutely stunning in the movie.
3) Auro's best friend Vishnu.
His frustrations about his father, studies and everything else. The kid is totally adorable. Vishnu's character gives some of the most funny moments in the movie.
4) The Gum Sum Gum tune in the movie - trademark Ilayaraaja.
A timesonline article on how Federer wanted this victory so much and so badly, that his desire almost destroyed him. Today's was not the same Federer who looked a bundle of nerves in the semi final. This one kept his cool and are we glad he did or what!
There are things we lesser mortals will never understand - like how he must have felt when after claiming the title he stood in attention (to the Swiss anthem being played out) and tears rolled out. It must be nice to want something so badly.
There were champions earlier too ofcourse, but only a choicest few inspire poetry, no?
Robin Lustig ponders over a question whose importance can hardly be over-stated.
“Who decides when a group of people who want to break away from the country of which they are a part can do so? If Kosovo, why not Tibet? If Abkhazia, why not Chechnya?”
One person’s terrorist is another's freedom fighter. And indeed who is it that decides what history shall call them?
Relevant, and more so today, when the 25-30 year long civil war in SriLanka looks like it’s headed towards a climax.
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Just yesterday I looked at this piece and wondered if Pakistan would disintegrate and fall completely to Taliban in near future. And this ran a chill down my spine today. Many analysts do not rule out the above possibility and the kind of time lines they are talking about are scary to say the least.
6 months to one year?!!! Damn!
International community shudders at the thought of Taliban being in control of Pakistan. I read somewhere that part of the scare is that we just don’t know what to expect. Because the world has not yet seen a nuclear-armed nation, fail.
Are we over reacting? Are we falling prey to our obsession with doomsday predictions?
Musharaff was ousted because of enormous public outrage against him. It worked.
Pak’s has been a relatively open, moderate and modern if you will, society compared to other Islamic nations. Will the people choose to reject the Taliban? Will it work? Is that a realistic, even if distant, possibility?
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Here is a spirited Dawn editorial saying -
"The uproar is understandable but should it really come as a surprise that Sufi Mohammad and his band of barbarians are opposed to all that we hold dear? Of course not".
and
"And one is wrong if one thinks this can’t happen in Pakistan. It can and it will unless we strike a decisive blow for the silent majority."
This is an excerpt from a comment on Rashmi’s blog.
“all they have is a job.. bread and butter thing. This fancy word career makes them think that they need to derive meaning from what they do. The whole reason for frustration in working class is this, suddenly out of the blue, they have been asked to look for meaning in what they do . In 80’s we all were typists & clerks, now we are IT engineers, Financial analyst etc. and that’s about it .The world changed & its demand for flavor of services changed and we are just satisfying it, in exchange to our bread & butter and now EMIs . Work was never a play …it was a drag and everybody knew it & said it so, enter 90s and the bluff of career entered. When everything was right perspective people would work, come out of office & play .The boundary was clear, precise uncomplicated. No body questioned why you are happy despite just being a clerk, a steno, a teacher? Comparative happiness is the disease...”
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It is generally accepted that it is ok to laugh at our previous self – that peeks at us from the old diary pages.
It’s ok to brush him aside, feeling smug and all grown-up.
What if you find a stranger there?
Some one whose foresight puts you to shame.
What do you tell yourself except – Oh Dear!
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When you can’t summon the strength from within,
It helps to look at the commandment on the wall.
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Anyone out there who is voting tomorrow and hasn’t made up his/her mind yet and is open to suggestions?
I say this to you my dear – veela gurthu ke vote veddam!
