If God gave you only 5 minutes, what will you do??

This question was recently asked to me by my superior during my yearly appraisal process. Now, how weird a question can get?? Does this question make any sense at all..the valid or the appropriate question would have been "How much hike do you want?", but that only one can dream of.

But this was no dream...thousand images flashed in my head, of family, of friends, of loved ones, of achievements, of failures, of disappointments, of mistakes, of desires, of ecstasy, of distress and of thousand things that I would want to do before saying goodbye. I was confused, is this a real question? Or is there any hidden agenda…oh my god!! am I getting fired?

I cried "why me? Look at my ratings, 90+ every year, I am a performer, so why should I be laid off?" Having said that I realized, that was not the question and I made a fool of myself. My boss calmed me down and explained the idea behind this question; it was not to baffle me, rather asked for my own development and empowerment.
It was then that I collected my thoughts and set on another trail of thoughts. It made me reflect on my inner self, what i have done in my life, and what will be the most important thing in the world which i would want to do in my last 5 minutes of life.

After thinking a great deal, I said “Ofcourse, I would like to spend those precious few minutes with the closed ones but I will also look back and see whether I had given my best shots to everything. It doesn't matter whether i succeeded or failed, whether i won or lost, whether i overachieved or underachieved. The ultimate satisfaction that I gave my best in everything I ever did should be enough”.

This was the answer my boss was looking for and as soon as I said this I realized that it just don’t matter whether I achieve my KRAs and get 90+, the most important thing would be to challenge myself with something new over and again.

FIFA WC - Where is India??

The Football World Cup 2010 is on and all crazy football fans are excited, glued to the TV screen all evening, watching the thrilling one and half hour event and silently praying for their favorite team to win. As an Indian, it is difficult for me to chose a team to support. There are 32 nations playing but where is India??

Back in 1950 when India was invited to play the Football World Cup, India could not participate in the event, the reason being our players were not allowed to play barefoot. Shortly after independence, were we that poor a country that affording 11-12 shoes would have been a herculean task? Probably the answer lies with the then Government or with Mr Nehru. Sadly, India never ever qualified again for FIFA WC despite being the second most populous nation. Is this because we are only interested in Cricket which is worshiped by many in this country or is it because of the lack of infrastructure for football. Kolkata is the only place where people are passionate about this sport, with East Bengal and Mohan Bagan, the two famous teams in this eastern city and the religious fan following by people, rest other states are into oblivion. However, the english champion league or the world cup football is followed across the country by football fans. Then why the sports ministry is not doing anything about this sports. What we need to do now is to develop a culture for football playing in this country otherwise it will always remain a dream for India to ever qualify for this wonderful game. Its a long journey but if seriously taken will not be difficult.

As far as this world cup is concerned, I am supporting Argentina and Messi remains my favorite player :)

Raajneeti - An epic retold

Raajneeti is a compelling film about a Gandhi like political family, though the characters of the movie are largely inspired by the characters of Mahabharata with some resemblance to Mario Puzo's The Godfather.

The story unfolds typically with conflicts between the cousins like Pandavas vs Kauravas. Arjun Rampal on one side while Manoj Bajpai on the other, both seeking reins of the family' political legacy after the head of the family suffers a paralytic stroke. The hunger for power leads to a massive bloodbath.

Ranbir Kapoor is the younger brother of Arjun Rampal, based out of US and not into the family politics until his father is murdered which brings a transformation in his character. He joins his elder brother and turns into a scheming politican. Ajay Devgan who plays Karna from Mahabharata, born out of wedlock and abandoned by his mother at the time of his birth stands against his own step-brothers for his friend (Manoj Bajpai) as depicted in the epic. Katrina Kaif's character has little resemblance to Draupadi, when she is used as a pawn for marriage for alliances to gain the power. Nana Patekar has played a wise counselor to the Pandavas like Krishna.

While the first half of the movie is gripping, the second half falters a bit with some half baked scenes like the confrontation between Kunti and her abandoned son Karna and the shootout scene during the end where Krishna counsels Arjun to kill Karna when he refuses to kill him.

Some incredible performances can be witnessed like Nana Patekar as a witty Brij, Ranbir Kapoor as a calm and yet so conniving youngest member of the family. Arjun Rampal is convincing in his brash role. Ajay Devgan, in the first half has performed brilliantly while the movie slips from him to the other actors in the second half and he has not much role to play. Katrina Kaif as Indu was not very impressive in the first half while later she does her job of looking good as a widowed politician with some resemblance to Sonia Gandhi.

The movie becomes little boring as it is 3 hours long. However, the brilliant performances put by various actors makes it a must see.

Environment Disaster

Most e-mail these days comes with a rider "Think before you print, save trees, save planet earth". And so often, it happens that you are left with no option other than printing. I faced a similar dilemma recently, caught in a very difficult trap, i went for saving my neck from boss's clutch rather than saving mother earth but that thought always remained.

And few days later i came across this heartbreaking news of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico caused by BP's oil well blow-out. Claimed as the greatest environmental disaster in US history by US President Barack Obama. This leakage which happened in April is releasing 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil everyday into the ocean and BP's attempt so far to cap the well and plug the leak haven't worked. After a few failed trial and error attempt, BP is skeptical and predict that in worst case scenario, the leak would be plugged by christmas time which mean by year end, 4 million barrels of oil would be spilled into the Gulf. According to Harry Roberts, a professor of Coastal Studies at Louisiana State University, that would wipe out marine life deep at sea near the leak and elsewhere in the gulf, and along hundreds of miles of coastline.

This piece of news has put me in shock, i was guilty about few print outs but the loss to the environment with this kind of calamity is agonizing.

Weekend flicks

Angel A - This is a French movie about a man who is neck deep in debt, all money borrowed from mafia chief, gambled and lost. To save his life from mafia, he goes to police for rescue but his fate is such that the police wouldn't help. To end all his misery, he thinks of ending his life where he comes across a tall, beautiful, angelic girl who has also come to commit suicide. Her reasons for suicide belittles his own reason and he comes to term with life. Pictured in grayscale, this movie beautifully depict the contrast between the two central characters. The transformation in his character from a dud to a self-confident, fearless guy is wonderfully told.


City of God - A film based on a small poverty stricken town in Brazil where children are grown amidst crime, drugs and violence. Where guns are toys, killing is hobby and the drugdealer is King. The story revolves around two characters Rocket and Lil Ze, Rocket's dream is to become a photographer and escapes from City of God while Lil Ze becomes a powerful drugdealer. Brutally shocking, this film shows the gang life in the City of God and how every kid aspires to be the King of this city. This film is a marvel and utterly compelling.

Cape Fear - Robert de Niro at his best, he plays a psycho in this movie who spends 14 years in jail convicted for raping and brutally beating a girl. His lawyer intentionally concealed a valuable document which could have reduced his sentence but de Niro's eccentricity prevents him from doing so. When he is released after serving his 14 years term, he is back in the town to harass the lawyer and his family. Martin Scorsese's direction and great camera work has beautifully shown the emotion of revenge and how it distorts one's vision of what is wrong or right which is pragmatic yet daunting.

Kites - Soaring High

The long wait of 2 and half years got over, when i watched the paid preview of the movie KITES...

Hrithik is appallingly handsome, like a greek-god, very natural and the director has pictured him fabulously in the close-ups and bare torso shots. He has performed mindblowing dance sequence and you would want more of it. Barbara is gorgeous, her natural charm syncs in with the character effortlessly. Together they put up a fantastic pair which illuminates the screen.

J played by Hrithik teaches dance for his survival and marries immigrant women wanting green card, to make quick buck. To realise him dream of making quick and easy money, he falls for Kangana who is a daughter of the most wealthy casino owner, played by Kabir Bedi. While Linda played by Barbara is fiance of Tony who is Kabir Bedi's son. The story of how they fall for each other despite a common aim of making quick money by marrying into the same family is wonderfully told. They can't speak each other languages, she can't speak english and he can't follow spanish, yet their mute love for each other is spellbound.

The second half of the movie falters a bit with a lot of chasing sequence and a few dumb scenes of fights and escapades. The villain played by a newcomer Nick Brown fails to deliver and is unimpressive. Kangana is as always, playing again the role of a pycho lover.

The story unfolds predictably, but the crackling chemistry between the two central characters keeps Kites soaring in the sky.

Worth a Watch!!

Full house or Housefull

Why the director chose to name this movie "Housefull", difficult to guess. Did it mean housefull of actors or just a gimmick used by Sajid Khan to induce public to watch this movie. What was it?? After the movie, the only conclusion i could come upto was, for producers satisfaction that it was a housefull.

Nothing original, a bad script coupled with comedy copied from various flicks, made a stale concoction. Despite big starcast, like Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Arjun Rampal, Riteish Deshmukh, none of them could save the movie. Akshay Kumar's poker face and Boman Irani who played a Gujju Farsan baron provided few moments of those laugh which the bereft public was waiting for throughout. The heroines did their task of providing glamour to the movie, but serious disappointment in terms of acting. Randhir Kapoor was seen after a long time in the hindi movies.

A serious No for this movie, watch it at your own risk!!!

Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink...

We've heard this quite often that the 3rd World War would be fought on water. Ever wondered why is it said so??

Even the last James Bond flick was on water crisis in Bolivia. Any thoughts why?? Water scarcity around the globe is not a hidden issue, african countries have faced this problem for centuries and other nations are not far from the outcry. Despite planet Earth constituting 1/3rd of land and 2/3rd of water, we hear water scarcity everywhere. Why is that so?

That 2/3rd of water we are talking here is the water bodies comprising of oceans and seas and sea water is not suitable for human consumption. For human consumption, fresh water resource such as groundwater, surface water or rain water is used. And availability of that is not in abundance. Many countries are already facing the challenge of water availability and many are moving towards the crisis. Global warming issues having impact on environment have resulted in drought, lesser rainfall, melting of glaciers at higher speed, excessive heat which is only adding to the impending crisis.

Leaders of different countries meet at various summits to solve this crisis but what has been the outcome. Little or no respite. Why is that so??

Despite a fair awareness about this looming crisis, water still remains to be the most abused resource in this world.

People unconsciously waste a lot of water like leaving the tap running while brushing. 1/3rd of our daily water consumption goes in flushing the toilet and we don't necessarily need fresh water for flushing. If that 1/3rd water can be recycled from our already used water, our dependency on the fresh water will be reduced by 1/3rd which can save so much of ground water. And this does not require any state of the art technology, any household, society can install a tank where used water (used for bathing, washing clothes, etc) can be collected and after filtering it can be send for flushing. These small steps can help plug the impending crisis.

Since, water is a freefall, everyone is abusing it. The day it will become paid like any other utility, people will start using it more effectively. If people are waiting for that, then let the government take such a harsh measure of taxing this utility as well.