Shirtless
October 8, 2008 | Filed Under Point of View | Leave a Comment
The morning started on the wrong foot. It spoke about an Indian man in LA shooting himself and his entire family because of the Lehmann meltdown. It was quite sad, the boom had bought the man many riches and the bust had taken it all away. Being a poor poet like me is at times charming. There’s not much to lose.
Heard another news that made me extremely sad but I won’t talk about that here. But it added to the low feeling.
I also read that Ganguly would hang up his boots post this series. I don’t usually read blogs the first thing in the morning. In fact at times I don’t read them for days. But I had a feeling Greatbong would write something about it. I wasn’t disappointed. It was an unusual post - not taking digs at anyone, it didn’t bring out any guffaws, but it resonated with me. It’s a very well written blog post and houses the feelings of a generation who grew up on the cricket of Azhar-Sachin-Ganguly. Do read.
If you have read the foundation series by Asimov - then Dada reminds me of the Mule. An anomaly of sorts in the system, who challenged it and showed us that cricketers could be daredevils and not just gentlemen. He also showed that you can be a cricketer in an Indian team, if you have nothing but a beautiful square drive and a lot of will. Ganguly played cricket like I did. He was left handed, bowled slow medium pacers with his right hand and ran slowly between the wickets. He wasn’t a very good fielder either. Watching him play cricket, I would at times get angry that if he could be there, I could be there too. But since I am an Indian, I will be forgiven for thinking so. Everyone does. (Not forgives but thinks so.)
It was his captaincy that made him. Or rather his will and grit. The Australian series has now become all the more interesting. The tiger would come out with his bat and grit to play for sure. I am not a big fan of Ganguly but he has given a lot to Indian cricket, a lot of which is ingrained in the team even today. And that’s an exemplary contribution.
As a tribute we must all watch the last test - shirtless.
Rock -ed On
October 7, 2008 | Filed Under Theatre & Movies | Leave a Comment
I don’t think I have had a warm feeling towards a movie and at the same time felt extremely disapointed with it. I fear that if I attempt to make a movie, it will turn out something like this. And then I will fret for the rest of my life.
The movie fails for me because it is a piece of fiction. I wish it had touches of an Indian rock band. Say a Parikrama or an Indian Ocean, even if it was loosely based on them. But it wasn’t and then it became more a hindi movie than a movie based on rock music.
The music itself was disappointing. Making a hindi rock song is probably as difficult as writing a ghazal in english. So I feel for the crew. To expect Shankar - Ehsaan - Loy, Farhaan Akhtar and the likes to aspire to be Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, or Led Zepp and to even come remotely close to them is probably harsh. I did that and I was disappointed. I was also disappointed with Javed uncle’s poetry. (Javed uncle has heard me read at Oxford bookstore and I have high regard for him. My usage of the term uncle is a mark of respect and I don’t attempt to make fun of him. He has written great poetry and will continue to do so.) My disappointment ofcourse was the music and the lyrics weren’t going well together. I actually liked everything that other bands were singing than Magic themselves.
Also the name Magic for a band is exceptionally lame. And it’s reasoning is a very hindi movie reasoning. What the director forgot is probably the meaning of a ROCK Musician. Rockstars have auras about them, the only person who manages that faintly in the movie is Arjun Rampal. A hindi movie on a rock band is a disconcerting thought. By Hindi movie, I mean the mainstream movie makers like the Chopras and the Johars. They know it as well as me that they are not making movies, they are doing business.
And yet I liked the movie. I am a weird person. There are reasons for it. The intentions were good. Debbie played by Shahana Goswami stole my heart. She was the true rockstar in the movie. The rest of it didn’t quite come together. We need to take lessons on making movies on music having influences like rock and rock and roll - That thing you do, Almost Famous, Across the Universe are good movies to start with.
This movie was half baked but probably served with love.
Mad About Bombay
October 7, 2008 | Filed Under life's answers | 1 Comment
Id happened on Thursday and I took off for Bombay on Wednesday night.
Pune is a charming city and it has much better weather than Bombay but I will never fall in love with this city. My heart lies in Bombay. I realized it this weekend.
I went for the Strand book sale on Friday to Juhu. It was a weekday and there were hardly any people there. It was a hall filled with books and without the hustle bustle of too many people. Perfect. I spent a couple of hours browsing through the titles. I had to stretch myself at times to prevent my back and body from getting stiff. I bought a lot of books too. I am extremely excited about them. Books are the best company. I may not travel too far away from the place I was born and books are my only source of reaching worlds that I have never seen, will never see, and those that don’t even exist. As usual I have veered.
Towards the end of the book buying session, I met a friend who is recently back from studying in the US. She gifted me the book - The Film Club, which has a very interesting premise. So you see, I was feeling very rich.
We then headed for coffee at Prithvi. Sooner or later am going to take a sabbatical and spend my time sitting at the Prithvi cafe writing. Unlike other cafes it doesn’t have artificial noise and there is a constant colour about the place. At the cafe we spoke about a particular idea that I had for project10tothe100.com. I may never end up putting it on Google but interesting perspectives were shared and questions raised.
Post coffee I dropped my friend home, and after dropping her as I was returning home in the car, I realized how much Bombay is ingrained in me. How familiar the roads are, how in spite of sitting in an airconditioned car, I could feel the air of the city. How the radio made me feel with the vibe of the city. There was nothing foreign about it.
The car I was driving - the black wagon R - the family car, it was beautifully responding to my touch. I have driven it extensively and have fond memories of it. That drive back took me back to the numerous times I have been in the car on the Bombay roads. Driving on the western express highway, or through the sahar airport, or in the lanes of juhu or crossing the dreaded saki naka - it all seemed so much fun. And everything outside seemed so picture perfect, especially after I had muffled the outside sound with the airconditioning. I was in a happy bubble.
The rest of the weekend was as good, catching up with friends, spending time with folks. Saturday lunch was had at a place called Banana Leaf at 4 bungalows, good south indian food. The best part of it was the dessert called Gadbad. Nice restaurant but be warned that the quantity is huge and is tough for one person to finish it.
Am back in Pune now. Like I said it has its charms, but this city has no reason to love me.