True Master

Dev D

Dev D generates extreme reactions from the audience. The first part delivers the shock value, mostly through its suggestive dialogues and explicit sexual overtones. The second part just lets you languish in the pain of contrasting lights which do not blend with superb background score. There appears to be have been more focus on the form than the substance itself. But its definitely worth a watch. Emosanal Atyachaar, Pardesi and Nayan Tarse are the songs that you should have on your playlist this season!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

If not for the overhyped Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should have been more than just a second best for the Best Picture this Oscars. This movie is one that will pack a punch. You will love it. We have not had one like this since Forrest Gump changed the way we saw our lives!

Frost/Nixon

Narrative revolves the first post Watergate interview given by Richard Nixon to David Frost. Frank Langella's as "under-fire" Richard Nixon is absolutely brilliant. But the movie is slow. I fell asleep for a brief 2-minute period during the movie. Since the story is largely fact based leaving little room for manoeuvring the script, its the lead performances that really need to stand out and they do. My bet is on Frank Langella for an Oscar.

While I was traveling to Bangalore this weekend, a cab rammed into my bus from the rear. However, no major damage happened to either the cab or the driver. But the bus driver needed an FIR to prove to KSRTC that he was not responsible for the damage from the accident and the cab driver also needed it to prove that he was not responsible either. The funny part followed. The police arrived and an FIR was filled in on the spot. Just when the bus driver was ready to sign the sheet, some intelligent soul remarked that he should not sign the document because he did not understand the language in which FIR was filled - Tamil. The bus driver knew only Kannada and Telugu. The  cab driver knew only Tamil and the police knew English in addition to Tamil. The ACP (Traffic Police) who arrived on the scene blankly said that Tamil Nadu police has FIR template only in Tamil and no other language. With great difficulty a passenger procured a blank sheet of paper and wrote the details of the incident in English and explained the same, verbatim, to both the drivers. I really find it silly that police department cannot have an FIR template, at least in English. I am not sure if other state police departments in the country also maintain such records - especially the ones that are regularly required by the normal citizen, only in their state language. At least, in this particular case, the details were simple and factual and hence easily explainable. I wonder how more complicated situations are handled.

The US economy has officially entered into a recession, according to NBER data. Home mortgage originations have badly shrunk over the last one year. Looks like credit cards are the next bicycle in the stand. Banks have already started withholding credit for many users. Given that two-thirds of the US credit card landscape is occupied by 5 banks (JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Capital One and Amex), card users stand to lose a lot of their bargaining power going forward, as banks reduce their lending. Credit card related problems are expected to have full blown impact on the end consumer only by mid 2010. With job losses and further shrinkage in credit card driven liquidity, the end does not seem near for the credit crisis.

I am totally opposed to batting power plays in cricket that are being tried out in the current India - England one day series. For all the talk of making the game less batsmen friendly, this is not a good idea. But ICC can do with some more rules that can add spice to the game and bring back the lost charm:

1. Trial Ball - Batsman will have an option of calling any one ball a 'trial ball'; one such ball per team per innings. Will extend the innings of guys like Chattergoon by one more ball!
2. One bounce catch - Michael Clarke & Ricky Ponting would love this! Practised all over India, one 'tipp' (bounce) one hand catches will save mental bandwidth of guys like Munaf Patel who think twice before attempting a daredevil simple catch.
3. Have only two stumps instead of three. Anything that goes between off stump and leg stump will obviously be hitting middle, whether it physically exists or not. This will help save wood. The next Green Idea!
4. Another green idea - do not use bails. Consign them to ashes. Wicket keepers anyway break the stumps without any regard for the poor, un-threatening life of a bail. Why have it? Many an unlucky bowler has not found his wicket when a stubborn bail decided to stay put on the stump. This will also help the TV umpires on run out decisions - one less decision variable to consider.

Its kinda depressing these days. All this talk of recession and job losses, is not good hearing. Life is at a standstill. Last time the world faced a problem, I was doing my engineering with campus placements still 3 years away. Life seemed much better then. All I had to worry about was attending classes and eating and playing and studying. Thats it. Its during times like these that you feel ignorance is a god-send bliss. Back in 2001-02, no one had heard about the Lehmans, GS, JPM etc. Now I am sure these names strike a chord with villagers in this country. Problem is with selective understanding of issues. Neither fully aware nor fully ignorant. Since there is so much to know and assimilate with so little time, its easier to stay ignorant. World would have more confidence in its own ability to survive.

Its also times like these that you really love to have a heart-to-heart talk with someone who understands you well. Intelligent conversations can really brighten up your day! I am trying hard to have those. I am imposing contrived intellectualism on mundane events to make them look enticing.

Somehow, short term incentives are looking very appealing; which is completely antithetical to the times we are living in. But some entities are really inspiring / happiness - inducing : the Bourne Trilogy, Savage Garden, Pomegranate seeds, mom's besan laddus, afternoon naps!

I am on vacation. Not the time of the year you would expect to be on one. But then, two successive Thursdays as holidays and I decided to execute some consolidation on my leave plans. After exactly an year, I made a trip to my hometown  - Dharwad. Nothing at all seems to have been disturbed from its place over the last one year. The roads are just as cramped, trees just as old, the language just as soothing (at least to my ears). But beneath all this, I am sure, people have changed. I have surely changed. Families also have changed. Mine has. I was just probably forcing myself to look at the "statics" in the environment. Actually, things really are not the same compared to the year-ago period!

After all this mess on Wall Street, I have strongly come to believe that the guys at the top of these banks - the executives and all must be made to pay for this. Especially if the Treasury Sec's thinking is, "There has been reckless borrowing and reckless lending", then both the parties must be punished. Putting together a US$1trillion bail out package has burdened each US tax payer by an average amount of US$3000. This is NOT done. What about the AIG chief who happily walked away with close US$10mn pay cheque last week after failing to prevent his firm's collapse? What about Dick Fuld and the honchos at the troubled banks? Shouldering moral responsibility alone will not do. The US government should probably introduce some control over the compensation committees of these banks. Sadly the Fed seems to be more interested in banning short selling on financial stocks. Which again is a regressive step. Just because John Mack (of Morgan Stanley) cries hoarse over the short selling on his company's stock, when his own traders short sold many stocks as a matter of routine during the 'happy years' is simply ridiculous. Interestingly, there is hardly a CEO on Wall Street who has put his hand up during the last one year and agreed to take home a symbolic US$1 as salary.

Friends keep asking me how this crisis has affected my company and my work. So far its been alright. Fortunately, nothing negatively drastic has happened. Though last week, one of my much awaited and 'kick-ass' presentation at work got postponed due to 'prevailing market turmoil'!

* Beijing Olympics were really phenomenal. The way Indians performed, and if they keep doing it across many disciplines, I wonder how many more sports we would have to watch!

* Snoop Dogg rap version in 'Singh is Kinng' is super cool. After the movie, one of my friends, obviously unaware of Snoop Dogg's human form, asked - "Uss gaane mein kutta kahaan tha?" (where was the dog in that song?)

* Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino is a good book. The book delves deep into Japanese mass mentality, the dirty underbelly of its school system and the peer pressure to excel in all fields, no matter how. Though translation from Japanese could have been better, its not as bad as the translation in Paolo Coelho's books.

I watched The Dark Knight last weekend. It is easily one of the best movies I have watched in a really long time. Though I would not say it is the best movie ever made (imdb poll says so). It is just not another super-hero movie. There is intensity, action, drama and philosophy. However, I was a touch disappointed with the length of the movie. You could feel the audience getting a bit edgy in the last 30min of the 2.5hour long movie. Also, some of the scenes, especially the one in which passengers aboard two separate cruise boats are supposed to blow each other up as a part of The Joker's "social experiment" are quite unnecessary. As far as blood, gore and violence is concerned, I found it very tastefully done. Not mindless at all. It was classy. All in all, I think it is a movie not to be missed. It will make you cringe. It will tantalize your senses. It will awe you. Most importantly, it shall make you think - whether you like it or not!

P.S: Heath Ledger as The Joker is insanely phenomenal!