Mind u Read

Do you remember this line from the promotion of the iconic movie Rambo from the late 80’s?  This time it is going to be personal! I always wanted to use that line and today it’s my turn. Wondering where Rambo figures with respect to the movie Do Dooni Chaar? That’s because unlike all other movies that i wrote about in the past, this time it is personal. Personal because i am closely associated with the people who made this film and was witness to a part of the making of this little gem of a movie. I am going to share with you a few of my experiences. In case you only want to know what i think about the movie, then jump to the last paragraph.

Guess who I met online a little while ago? You won’t believe it. God sent me a friend request on Facebook. I thought it was a prank, but then accepted the invite out of curiosity and what ensued next was something that blew my mind away. Following is the transcript of my conversation with God. I had no choice but to share it with you folks. Note: KD is Kartik Dayanand and God is God obviously. KD : Hey God, are you for real? Looks like a joke to me. How do i believe you are not some fake account? There are too many fakes floating around these days. God : Ok, i can prove it to you, ask me to do anything and i will make it happen. KD : Sure, let’s see if you can turn off the light in my room, haha! God : Hmmm! Ok

Among the recent crop of movies if there is one movie that is providing bang for the buck then it certainly has to be Dabangg. Purists of cinema as well as general public, all unanimously accept the fact that the movie is a smash hit purely because of the star power of its lead protagonist Salman Khan. Many might also snigger at the fact that in terms of opening week box office collections it has overtaken a movie like 3 idiots, a movie with a message to society whereas all that Dabangg does is glorify the hero and indulge in some mindless action and dance numbers, what one generally calls the Indian Masala movie. It’s the return of the action hero, most proclaim. I only laugh at their ignorance. It might sound like blasphemy to many if I say Dabangg overtakes 3 idiots in not just box office numbers but also in terms of message to society and its relevance. It’s more than coincidence that the movie also features a song that has the following lines mein Zandu Balm hui d...

Teachers Day came and went by. There were customary status updates and messages, though not as many as one sees on Valentine’s Day or Friendship day. On that day I sat wondering about my teachers. I grew up with the notion that teachers are Gods only next to parents. After all who hasn’t heard the saying...    Matru devo bhava , Pitru devo bhava , Acharya devo bhava, Atithi devo bhava But in today’s times the conventional role of a teacher and his position as a god appears to have been usurped by something called as Google. That’s the reason why i had only this to say on teacher’s day. Happy Teachers Day! In recent times my biggest teacher has been Google. Thank you Google :) Incidentally this tweet went on to become a ‘Top Tweet’ of the day on Twitter along with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan’s tweet. Even he speaks of his parents as his best teachers. An obvious notion since they are already placed first in the hierarchy of gods. But what about the poor teacher and h...

As a nation we have grown so independent of everything that we are no longer an independent nation but an indifferent nation. We have slowly and steadily got used to the idea of Independence over the last many years. We now have achieved Independence from all things on which we were dependent earlier, like our families, natural resources, culture, traditions, leaders to a million other things. We have become so independent today that all we are left with is a sense of cynicism and ridicule, more so among the younger educated generation that is being fed a constant dose of sarcastic humor about the idea of India. So what happened to us? Allow me to dig a little deeper.

It is stale news by now, every single media outlet has been ranting about the rot that is the Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG) preparation. Most have done a good job in highlighting the sorry state of affairs. Ironically most of us common people along with the media are experts at dissecting dead bodies, good at creating post mortem reports but rarely do we ever propose any remedies to not let anything like this happen in the first place. Not just these games, in fact this is a game that is played out every day in various parts of our country in various departments and sectors. The noise we make about the mismanagement of these games only highlights our ignorance of the way this country functions.  I am glad that the Commonwealth Games are happening in India.  Also extremely glad with the way things are progressing. It is time we woke up to the reality that is India. My above statement could be pretty confusing as to what I really intend to say. Am I excited about the game...

For the next few weeks there is only one movie everyone is going to hear and talk about, INCEPTION . It’s being called a mind bending exercise, a movie that challenges our very beliefs of existence and creation, a movie that will remain with us in our subconscious even after we leave the cinema hall. Let’s try and look at some of the concepts from this movie and see if they really are that path breaking and mind bending, let me warn you in advance, this isn’t a review of the movie so don’t expect me to talk about technicalities or other creative aspects of the movie. It is just an attempt from me to find out the Myth behind the Myth of this movie.

It certainly must be rocket science, otherwise how can one explain the conflicting and bizarre feedback for the latest Mani Ratnam movie Raavan. Sample this, most Hindi audiences hate this movie, it’s a huge hit in its Tamil version down south, western critics have hailed it as a masterpiece while our popular Indian critics have trashed it. A small minority swear by this movie and a majority simply hate this movie. How is it possible that one movie can evoke such extreme reactions? What Mani Ratnam has made is something far more controversial than the original man with ten heads. It is a debatable point whether Raavan was a bad man or a victim of circumstances, but the debate whether Raavan the movie is good or bad is even more confusing.  Let me make my stand clear at the outset, I loved this movie, probably  I am the only one to have watched it thrice already within the first week of release, twice in Hindi and once in Tamil, also not to forget the s...

Football or soccer as it is called in different parts of the world is undoubtedly the greatest game that man has ever known. In theory it is the simplest of all games. All one needs is a ball and a few people to kick the ball around to one side of the ground into a goal post. The primary function of every player is so basic that it baffles my mind as to how it can be such an engaging sport and a global phenomenon. Wonder if anyone has ever tried to understand the hidden psychology behind the logic of this game. I have thought a bit about it and figured this out finally.   "Football is life in Motion”    Our entire being is captured so beautifully in this simple game, we don’t see the connection immediately but most of us associate with it subconsciously. Let me try and explain further.

Since the time I was a kid, I always wondered how the world would look in the future. When I was 6 years old i participated in a drawing competition where the theme was about the future. I merrily drew pictures of flying cars and buildings with wheels. I was also certain man would fly like superman soon. Fast forward 28 years later. Does the world look anywhere close to what I imagined then? It's nowhere close to that. Never mind. It still doesn't deter me from imagining that man would fly on his own someday. Have you also ever wondered what would really happen to this world if man started flying? Here is what I think....

“Death comes in many ways; it never comes announced and is always an unwelcome friend.” Death, the one word we all shudder to think about, the one word that shakes us up more than any other word. More so when we lose someone close to us or think we are going to come face to face with it. It is an event that is certain to grace us, whether we like it or not, it’s like an uninvited guest that we need to entertain. Generally unless something like the Mangalore Plane crash happens we never bother to talk about death. Even then we talk only about the event, never about death itself. How many people dead? How did they die? What could have happened if so and so happened? Who broke which story first, etc, etc? But today, i wish to talk about death itself, not about how or why it happened. 

If the Pen is mightier than the Sword That makes the Book mightier than a Bomb And Internet mightier than a Cataclysmic Nuclear Holocaust If you thought the world is going to end in 2012, you are right. But it’s not going to be anything like you imagined. Wondering why and how? Then read on.