Goodbye 2009

It’s the time of the year, as the Earth completes another journey around the Sun, when the annual reviews are done. So getting into the spirit of things I decided to pause and think about the year that went by from my eyes. I know I am a bit early but I don’t expect anything earth-shattering/life-changing to happen in the next five days. So here is what 2009 was for me.
For me the year began in the most pathetic fashion. No running water at the flat. Had to carry buckets full of water to my 14th floor flat for the first few days of the year. And it ends with me flying off to be home (the real one). [All is well that ends well :)]

The Lousiest Birthday Ever - Worked in office till 11 in the night. Then missed my own officially organised birthday party (memorable for all the wrong reasons).
Now for a confession. I did not make any train journey the entire year. I know it sounds a bit weird for someone who has stayed throughout the year in Mumbai but that is the truth. Flights for going outside Mumbai and bus/taxi for traveling within. The Thane Creek has become a sort of marker which I crossed very rarely.
Destination added to my travel map – Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. My first trip south and it was an official trip with the entire stay lasting seven hours. The first impression was of the lush green paddy fields everywhere. It was also the day I saw both Arabian Sea & Bay of Bengal, a so called trans-sub-continental journey and back as I call it.
New things in life – Online gaming (Mafia Wars, Famville). The online gaming was there earlier but not to such an extent as now. I am also officially addicted to Twitter. Orkut has taken a back seat. This blog completed a century of posts. There are more and more means of staying in touch but the effort seems to be decreasing. Existence seems to be becoming more virtual and less real. I have a classmate from school whom I haven’t seen in nearly 10 years now. We are friends on Facebook and are both hooked onto Farmville. We send each other presents; help out in each others’ virtual farms but apart from this don’t have any other interactions.
Most Poignant Comment – “How did people pass time in office when they did not have internet connected PCs at their desk?” – “They talked”.
Looking back at 2009, I can’t really find any positive to take from it. My bank balance grew a bit but the place became lonelier. More people seem to be disappearing from the life then getting in. Close friends are drifting away. And the worst feeling of all is I am unable to visualize any targets for myself. It’s the empty horizon syndrome, as I call it. Too many existential questions keep coming up (“Main Kya Hoon”; the song from Love Aaj Kal is the one which sums up the situation best)
So with this I bid farewell to 2009, (a year hardly worth remembering; a total waste in my opinion).

Things to be done in 2010

• Watch an IPL match
• Try the random bus travel on a 20 rupees holiday ticket (Thought about doing it but never got around to doing it)
• Travel in a train
• Visit at least one new place (and not for an official trip)
• Read more (This year was limited to Shantaram, 2 States, The Lost Symbol)

And finally wishing everyone a Happy 2010

Avatar - The Experience

Finally we have a movie which is able to surpass the pre-release hype that it has created. The pre-release hype was expected. This was the first James Cameron directed film in 12 years. And with his last one being Titanic the expectations were bound to be high. Once the movie opened the reviews were uniformly fabulous. Haven’t actually read a bad review or met anyone who hasn’t been impressed by the film.
I saw it in 3D (my first such experience) and have to say, the reviews were not wrong. They said that you don’t watch Avatar but actually experience it. And the experience was simply mind blowing. You have to see to believe the world that James Cameron has created in Avatar. The film is a sort of mix of “Matrix” with “Lord of the Rings” and then something more.
The story at its heart is simple. Humans have found that a planet called “Pandora” has an energy giving mineral “unobtanium”. To be able to mine it they go ahead and destroy the planet’s residents the Na’vi, a peace loving community who believe that the entire planet with all its life forms is interconnected in a network they call Ey’wa (sounds similar to the Gaia concept of Earth). Humans being humans try to forcefully grab the mineral destroying the homes of Na’vi who then fight back aided in their fight by some humans.
Overall the story is basic and quite predictable but it’s the presentation and the packaging which is awesome. The seemingly magical world of Pandora comes alive from the director’s imagination. And that’s the highlight of the film. However the story also touches just the right emotions.
The humans’ assault on Pandora has a real parallel with the US invasion of Iraq & Afghanistan. One of the characters actually uses the term “Shock and Awe”. Also shows that human greed is the biggest threat to any eco-system (parallel with the Copenhagen Climate Summit).
The aliens are shown to be different from humans but in a beautiful way unlike most film depictions which are disgusting (e.g. District 9). And for a change the audience actually has its sympathies for the aliens rather than humans in this war. Actually in Avatar it’s the humans who are the aliens to Pandora.
And finally for the film’s presentation which is the real highlight. The world of Pandora comes alive with its people, plants & animals. Avatar uses technology unlike any seen before. The use of CGI & live action gets so merged that after some time you forget which one you have watched. And backing up all this wizardry is a simple emotional story.
Overall, I’ll say it again. Avatar is not meant to be watched, it’s meant to be experienced.

Where Has My Life Gone?

How Do I Get My Life Back? This was the question I had raised a couple of posts ago. Well still waiting to receive an answer to that. In the interim got an e-mail with this poem. Thought it captured my life pretty well. So sharing it here. I have no idea of who the original writer is but that person has summarised it beautifully.

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life

How it changed from a maverick college life to strict professional life…...

How tiny pocket money changed to huge monthly paychecks

but then why it gives lesss happiness….

How a few local denim jeans changed to new branded wardrobe

but then why there are less people to use them

How a single plate of samosa changed to a full Pizza or burger

But then why there is less hunger…..

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life

How it changed…..

How a bike always in reserve changed to bike always on

but then why there are less places to go on……

How a small coffee shop changed to cafe coffee day

but then why its feels like shop is far away…..

How a limited prepaid card changed to postpaid package

but then why there are less calls & more messages……

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life

How it changed…...

How a general class journey changed to Flight journey

But then why there are less vacations for enjoyment….

How a old assembled desktop changed to new branded laptop

but then why there is less time to put it on……….

How a small bunch of friends changed to office mate

But then why we always feel lonely n miss those college frnz.….

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life

How it changed….. How it changed……..

"Road Kya Tere Baap Ki Hai"

Nice anecdote... would like to believe that it is true.

It is said that once Russi Mody was on an official trip to (the then) Bombay. Even though it was a Sunday morning, Russi had to visit Bombay House, the Corporate Head Quarters of the Tata Group. Russi was driving a Mercedes himself as it was a Sunday and there was very little traffic and also it was the chauffeur's day off. Russi was wearing simple shorts and a T shirt.

Knowing that he would take just a few minutes to finish his work in Bombay House and that it was a non-working day in the business district with very low traffic, he decided to take liberties to park his Merc in an other-wise no parking zone. A conscientious traffic cop noticed all this and he immediately rushed to Russi who had started sauntering towards the Bombay House entrance.

In a gruff voice the Pandu Havaldar asked Russi. "Kyun bhidu, baap kaa sadak samajh kay rakha hai kya?"

Russi very non-chalantly replied: "Haan kuchh aisa hi hai. Aapko English padhna aata hai kya?"

Then he gently held the Pandu's arm and walked him to the kerbside and pointed to the metal signage of the road. He asked the cop "Kya Likha Hai?"

The cop said "Sir Homi Mody Street". A mischievously smiling Russi discloses"Woh Mera Baap Tha".

Russi was allowed to leave his car parked in the "No Parking" Zone that Sunday morning.

Ramblings of a Bored Mind

How do I get my life back?

Sunday Afternoon... was trying to take a nice nap and this question pops up in my head. God only knows from where but it did come up. And the nice nap went for a toss. So got out of attempting to sleep mode. Switched on the laptop. Tried to distract myself. But fertilizing other people's crops on Farmville or doing a few jobs can only take up a tiny amount of time. Nothing on Orkut or Mails. So back to the question. Opened Twitter, decided against putting it there. So turned to the slightly older fashioned blogger. Felt like writing (or rather rambling) it out. After all I am not even sure if any one would read this. But if anyone does your helpful comments would be highly appreciated.

Till then I list out my options

• Watch Big Bang Theory
• Go Out & watch Kurbaan, but friends's reviews are bad, so not too sure about that
• Watch England-South Africa ODI
• Random TV
• Random Movie

Not too many options here :(

20 years of a Legend

The whole of India seems to be rejoicing over the fact that Sachin Tendulkar has completed 20 years in international cricket. Television, Newspapers, Internet, he is here, there & everywhere. And well, to be honest, he definitely deserves all the adulation being showered on him. Twenty years is a pretty long time. An article began with the question "What were you doing on 15th Novemebr, 1989?" The answer - I was in junior school (Std. 2 to be precise) at the grand old age of six and a half years and I have no idea what I did that day. Twenty years down the line here I am doing background analysis for billion dollar decisions now (:P). So life has changed quite a bit. I guess the only constant has been the love for the game of cricket and Sachin is the only Indian player from that era who is still active.

I have already written about the legend of Sachin Tendulkar in this blog, so dont need to recount his achievements again. However one more memory can be added here, the 175 vs Australia in Hyderabad in another losing cause. It was heartbreaking.

Hoping he continues on till the 2011 World Cup. With the World Cup held aloft in his home turf at Wankhede, that would be the perfect way to retire.

Obama & Nobel

Sometime during the afternoon today got the news that Mr. Barack Obama, President of the Untied States has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. My first reaction was that this must be some kind of hoax or prank. The news had come on the igoogle news feed. Immediately checked up various news sites ibnlive, timesofindia, bbc etc. Everywhere on the top with the breaking news ticker on was the same headline, Obama gets Nobel Peace Prize. Soon disbelief changed to amazement. I mean for all his qualifications and achievements till date what exactly has Mr. Obama done to deserve the Nobel Peace prize?

By becoming the first non-white President of the United States he has achieved something really big. He is a pretty educated and qualified man, no doubts about that. And an extremely good orator. His administration has provided the stimulus package to boost the recession affected economy, a national health bill which met quite some resistance, a policy for disarmament (with an Iran-Israel conflict likely, am not too sure if that is working), policy on climate change. All of these things have one common recurring theme. They are still policies. The world has not been disarmed of the nuclear weapons, there is no agreement on climate, economy is still down though showing signs of coming up. So giving a Nobel peace prize at the current juncture seems to me like an award in advance. Nothing concrete has happened as yet for this award to mean anything. I agree with most commentators that this is an award too soon.

P.S. The cut-off date for the nominations was February 1st. Mr. Obama was sworn in January last week. So Mr. Obama must be a superhuman to have done all these within 10 days of coming to office.

P.P.S. A nice comment - Obama gets Nobel Peace Prize three hours after he bombs the moon

Indian Television: 50 Golden Years

Date: 15th September, 1959

Event: Launch of Television transmission in India.

Doordarshan is born.

Saw a nice documentary showing the 50 year journey made by television in India. As the timeline progressed it brought back lots of memories of the shows which I used to watch as a kid. Here is a list of those TV memories.

Ramayan (Ravan's laughter actually scared me in those days :P); Mahabharat; Surabhi (my all time favorite); Byomkesh Bakshi; Circus (dont remember much of Fauji); Discovery of India; Mulla Naseeruddin; malgudi Days; Mungerilal, Mr.Yogi, Karamchand; Turning Point; India Quiz; World of Sports; the still running Chitrahaar & Rangoli; the daily afternoon soaps (Shanti, Swabhimaan, Junoon), Dekh Bhai Dekh; the English serials (Yes Minister, Bodyline), Oshin (Japanese serial in English), Space City Sigma (a sci-fi program); No Kidding, Chhutti Chhutti (during summer holidays), the cartoons - Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck, Tom & Jerry; Pingu; Jungle Book (with its famous song - chaddi pahan ke phool khila hai); Vikram Betaal, Meri Aawaaz Suno (the singing contest); Current Affairs programs - The World This Week & Parakh & many many more.

Those were pprobably the golden days of Indian television. Very few but very good shows which are still memorable unlike today when TV watching has become more channel surfing than any viewing particular program. Would be nice to go back to that era.

150 years of oil industry

Pic: Drake's Well & Edwin Drake

The Date: 27th August, 1859

The Place: Titusville, Pennysylvania, USA

The Man: Edwin Drake

The Event: Oil struck at a depth of 69 feet. The first ever producing oil well is drilled leading to the birth of the oil industry.

This has to be one on the most impotant discoveries in the history of mankind. Without this natural energy resource, the entire industrial revolution and the technological advancement of the past one and a half centuries would not have taken place. Just imagine a world without oil. We would probably still have been living in the middle ages. The discovery of underground crude oil reserves would surely rank alongside mankind's greatest discoveries, like fire, agriculture, the wheel, written language etc. And over the last 150 years it has been the one industry with the maximum impact on the geopolitics and the global economy.

As the indutry celebrates 150 years of its existence, I salute the man who made it all possible. Col. Edwin Drake, hats off to you sir. After all that single discovery of you has had a very powerful impact on what I am today.

The Ashes

The most important cricketing contest of 2009 is over. We had the T20 World Cup & Champions Trophy will be underway soon. But the Ashes was the most eagerly awaited contest of them all. The end result: England beat Australia 2-1 to retain the Ashes (somehow I tend to forget the 5-0 thrashing given by Australia in 2006-07).

"When we were bad we were awful, but when we were good we managed to be just good enough" These words by English captain Andrew Strauss gave the best possible description of the series. Unlike the 2005 series which was faught between two great teams full of great players this time it was played between two average teams. Players like Trescothick, Vaughan, Simon Jones, Hayden, Langer, Martyn, McGrath, Gilchrist & Warne were really missed this time around. Even Pietersen, Harmison & Flintoff were not as good as they were in 2005. But still this was a great series to watch for the neutral viewers like me (though with an English bias).

This series was full of some great moments. The Jimmy-Monty last wicket stand to save the Cardiff Test (which proved the most decisive in the end), Flintoff's destructive spell at Lords, Broad's spell in the first innings at Oval, the batting of Clarke, North & Strauss throughout the series, Phil Hughes announcing on Twitter that he had been dropped before the team was officially announced, the dramas of the keepers' injuries, Haddin getting replaced by Manou after the toss at Edgbaston (this after I had named him as my trump player in the Cricinfo fantasy league), Prior's injury delaying the toss at Leeds, calls to get Ramprakash/Trescothick to shore up the faltering England batting for the final test, end of Anderson's awesome non-duck record, Trott's century on debut, and the biggest of them all, Freddie's retirement. If there was a player whose sheer presence could lift up his team, it was Andrew Flintoff. Statistically he wouldnt qualify as amongst the all time greats but his impact was always huge. He was the only one to come close to being Botham's replacement. Now people are already asking if Broad is the next Freddie (no one is looking for the next Botham anymore), such has been Flintoff's impact.

And lastly, whether one likes him or not but one does feel a bit sad for Ricky Ponting. After all he is the first Australian captain in over 100 years to have lost two Ashes series in England. And he has had to carry physical scars of both defeats. A scar on the cheek causd by Harmison's bouncer on Day 1 at Lords in 2005 and the getting hit on the mouth by a Prior shot at the Oval in 2009.

And the English papers are celebrating in the manner in which only they can. (Check the pic below)