The day that was...

Yesterday was a different day for reasons more than one (Obviously, what a statement this is? …. Obviously, every day is different, and has something happening different from other days!)

Well, my bro was going back to Delhi, to get en-route his quest for professional excellence – in plain terms, going to join his company. And here I was, his “I-know-all” elder bro, trying to guide him and prepare him for the thicks-and-thins of life – without realizing even for a moment that he has grown up (like everyone does, with time!) ..and again, obviously, so is the case for everyone.

Infact, just the day before, I let him drive and I sat beside him – whoa! The thrills I got out of the drive made me sweat – not that he was driving very fast, nor was it rash driving in any sense, but it’s just that I am his elder bro, and I am bound to question whatever happens! I can feel now why every time I drive, my dad has a few words to contribute every now and then. Guess it’s a part and parcel of everyone.

And just before he was going to board his flight, I started preaching yet again (what should I call myself – A caring bro, or a stupid idiot, trying to interfere in everything?) – foolish idiot! The more and more one says, more and more it becomes irrelevant – that is what I have been saying, but never really thought about it, till yesterday.

Anyhow, that’s one. Secondly, met up with good ol’ Military school mates – seniors mostly – it’s so so so good to get back in touch with those who were there in times, which you can not even recall perfectly now – it’s simply amazing! No words can explain the feelings – Talks with Amar, then Deepak, were awesome. And then, found out Amit too – networking helps! :)

Thirdly, watched this movie called Metro (or is it Life in a …Metro!) – except ‘Apne’ Dharam paaji, I guess the movie would fall in the present times – though a tad bit exaggerated, it still goes well with the times – as one of my friends said, the “sentaap” in the movie is a li’l bit too much, I differ from her thoughts, and I would rather say, that once in a while, this goes. Obviously (yet again obviously? I guess I’ve gained a liking for the word), everyone is game when it comes to comic movies and humorous activities, but if you say that you only are game for comic ventures, you are not defining yourself as being cooolll (I have known this school of thought – which says that I watch only comic and cool movies because it reflects my personality!!! Awwwww.. I am amazed on how everyone in the world is so cool! And comic by essence). Coming back to the talks of the movie, it is a nicely knit story with innumerable people interconnected – Irrfan and Sen do the honors of entertaining – rest all have contributed in their own ways – Kangna is gorgeous as she always is – though I don’t really concur with her role, but that’s what producers’ job is, right? Not mine! Worth one watch.

Coming up – the review of Dharam paaji’s clan, the “Apne” – the movie of the decade (though I’ve already heard that Aap Ka Suroor a.k.a. Himmesh is topping the charts of such honors of movie of the decade or the century, but I think Dharam paaji need to be given due credit for his contribution in Chupke Chupke and Sholay, if nothing else) – Hence, I would still nominate ‘Apne’ to the awards – I am going to get front row tickets (Yeah front row, not the balcony, or the rear comfortable seats of PVR – I wish to feel “closer” to the movie, you see! ) advance booked for the opening show!

Flashback

Here's a quick update on what I've been up to:

1. Went for DSN - first week of May - simply awesome - a must attend for every Tom, Dick & Harry!
2. Followed it up with a week of advanced, in a secluded place on the outskirts of Bangalore - good experience, but will do it again sometime, to better appreciate it
3. Came back home - got to know that our home is still ours, and we don't have to vacate it for now - so, cheers for this
4. S traveled to Chennai for his visa - and I had a Rajma-Chawal party while he was away, with some schoolmates - didn't know these girls that we knew in school have grown up into such gracious cooks!
5. These days, am trying to get back in touch - believe me, it's awesome when you talk again, after a long time - this can be explained in a short story I have in my email. Will share it sometime soon
   
6. And got in touch with few mates from the yesteryears - and I mean real yesteryears (if I can call myself an adult now, I would call those days to be the ones when I could cry out loud) - Can recall those Cricket matches we played while being kid; those days when we had to march down 5 miles everyday; when getting up at 5a next day used to be the sole aim for the present day..

And when I come to think of it, it is really silly when we fight! I mean, yes, it is part and parcel of everything, but I feel lost when I think back on why I would have ever done so - it is always always always better to have it the way it plays out, for good!

DON

"DON" has been one of the movies that has spun the wheel a lot more than most of my favorites - more so because of the hype created around it, and the discussions to follow for days to come by. And I am coming back to this post and review, just because last night I saw the original DON starring Amitabh.

Those who are saying the old don was better are uptight people who saw the old don when they were young and it reminds them of "their time" - what I say is the new one is not far behind when it comes to entertainment. I mean, when Amitabh throws the bag some dust goes in the air, but when Shahrukh throws it, it explodes and there is realistic fire. And the ending is much better as well!! I love how the movie sticks to the line, "Don ko pahkadna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai". People are making it into a AB vs SRK thing - AB is a better actor; SRK isn't meant for this type of movie - maybe Junior AB would have been better for this. However when you compare old Don vs new (notice I said old not "asli") new one is better - simply because of the way Don does things! AB performs better as Vijay while SRK performs better as Don, and I am much more impressed by Don than plain old Vijay. As simple as that.

Some people do say that "Don ka remake banaana mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai", but sometimes old wine in new bottle sometimes makes the day - if not directly through the movie, then through some other lateral discussions. I sure had a gala time on discussions around the movie, even long after the movie had been seen! Good fun that was.

DCE Ist Year

Circa 2003: Context

A batch of young guns walks into the premises of an unknown locality on the outskirts of the capital city of Delhi. Once you start driving from Delhi, the journey never seems to end – you wait and wait and wait, and long after you’ve given up hope of reaching anywhere, this place arises from nowhere, called Delhi College of Engineering.

Most of them from Delhi, a few from the other parts of the country – a perfect amalgamation of confidence and uncertainty – Should I shout and tell everyone around that here I am, making a mark in the most recent chapter of my life? Or should I be quite and observant, looking around for the place and noticing the quest that everyone has, hidden somewhere beneath 8 inches below their left shoulder!

Some take the former as their approach, a few follow the latter. Ultimately, both are unique components of the irresolute batch that has just walked in.

There's excitement for being into an engineering college (of some repute), and there are also thoughts around the testing times ahead. To start with, how will the 'ragging' be? Wasn't it banned a couple of years ago? You try not to look too many people in the eye, because who knows, the other person could be hunting the jungle for a prey, so that their group could get a ransom for having crossed the first year, and a toy to sneak!

Specifics:

I've heard a lot that you never forget your first day in college - but somehow, I don't really remember how exactly it went - I do remember roughly that there were lots of formalities to be done, and obviously, we were trying to avoid the eyes of seniors around, but apart from that not much is there as TOMA. Maybe because our core group came up later on, in the second year of engineering, and thus, the first days never got a recall in any of the pursuing years' discussions.

Anyhow, our first year hostels were very far from senior hostels, and thus, it wasn't very eventful - though there are a couple of incidents that call for a recall - the best among them being the "sandal" incident, which one of my close friends was a part of - what happened was, during one of the interaction sessions with seniors in canteen (read, ragging sessions), this friend of mine was asked to go to this other female senior of ours (read, another hot babe!) and go and ask for her figure. This friend goes over to that female after much reluctance, and poses this question, much to her interest! This babe isn't so easygoing as well, and she hands over her sandal to my friend, and tells him to give it to the guy who actually had sent him! Now this inquizitive friend of mine is in a dilemma - he's in a fix, and what he does is - he runs!!!! He runs with the sandal, and goes and hides behind some bushes, escaping both of the parties of the ragging incident. We could fall laughing out loud everytime we recalled this incident, and hence, one of the incidents with highest TOMA.

My flatmates of first year used to keep their heads very low, and thus, there weren't much interactions we had with our seniors (read, ragging sessions)! Hence, we did miss out on lots of interesting sessions, which I realized later.

Another interesting thing was the cricket tournament that we had during out first year - it was a department-wise competition (a few departmnts were coupled together because the intake in those was very less, as compared to other branches like Civil or Mechanical). Hence, our branch was coupled with Production. (And I remember the days - particularly because no one would have cursed anyone more than S used to curse NK those days, because S invariably ended making ED sheets all the time we used to be in cricket field). Lots of specifics about those cricket matches - K's smashing hits and effortless sixes; A's awesome hand-eye coordination; The partnership between B and S in the final; etc etc - but they'll take a lot of time to elaborate - so this cricket post some other time.

All in all, a decent first year. Other noteworthy things included the first Engifest, various subjects that we studied in first year (subject of Kansal, Jaggu et al) - but these things are immaterial, and I would prefer to cover them in the upcoming years. So we'll halt this year for now. Second year should be better!

It happens only in DCE..

DCE mein ab kya kya hua – kaise bataaya jaaye – there’s nowhere to start from – nowhere to finish either – hence what I’ll do is roughly talk in terms of years of graduation – 1^st year to start with, then combining 2^nd and 3^rd years (quite difficult to distinguish them in memory), and then finally 4^th year. There will be a section post DCE as well, but there’s still some time for that.

S' Call

Yesternite itself, got this call from S - as drunk as always - and as confusingly determined like never before. He seems to be getting along a phase where one gets whatever he needs, but is really looking for what actually he wants - which, at some level, he himself is not sure of. Unknowingly, he touches a string or two, when he talks intelligent (which is dreadfully uncommon). He was with P and R, and they all were having a bash at 2 at night at Shivaji Stadium - relishing the much coveted "Rajma Chawal" - S knows what the significance of this is?!

I've been thinking, and something will need to be done to get these kiddos on the right track - they've been lingering around for long, and should try to validate their thoughts with their aspirations and possibilities.

The call reminded me of the gud ol' times we used to have a couple of months back - when I could relive the hostel days of DCE - the cherished student-hood. Ahhhh! Reminds of those yet again. Guess I'll park this post for now, and start another one.

eCologically eVolve with eColve!

Here's one of the brilliant initiatives taken up by some friends of mine, who believe in doing what needs to be done, actually! Click on the pic below to go to the forum - register - and eColve with the society.

http://pic-talk.blogspot.com/

A picture story.. Click on.

DCE - Take Light!

Another weekend goes by - with some noteworthy things happening on this one as well! And the thing that made most of this weekend included the innumerable thoughts and discussions of the DCE days!

This time around, S also came along to the driving range – so it was S instead of Swap, who was the party, in additional to regulars B and AK – and the incident management (a technical term I recently learned) was uproarious. Couldn’t stop LOL on even the thoughts of whatever we started discussing.

Disclaimer: Continue purely at your discretion – No liabilities to be taken for anything – All fictional, nothing personal!

Time: 11:02am

Teacher Enters

Gaurav Malhotra: Present Sir

Shuchi Verma: Present Sir

Gaurav Saini: I am ALSO present sir

Manisha: Present Sir

Rajeev Dagla: ……. (Ghatak says: “he was present last week sir”; In the meanwhile, Shweta and Deepa sneak in through the door at the back)

Punit Kapoor: Vroom..

Lovish Ahuja: Past & Present & Future Sir

Neeraj: I, uhhh, yeAS sir. (Bhagwat wakes up in the hostel now)

Rajwinder: PRESENT hain sir

Rashmi Jain: Yes sir

Arun Kumar: Hum Upasthit hain

Arnab Ghatak: Ditto! (Bhagwat enters the room, and sits in the last row)

Yash: Yes, sir – I am not a dayschee, but I am present

Aniruddha (catching his breath): Sir, I am in time. Present sir

Abhinav: Always here sir

Deepa Bharti: SIR

Shweta: sir present

Shishir Maithani: Atlast, mera number aa hi gaya. Present sir

…..Attendance Over……

Gaurav Jaidka stands up and says, “Mera number kab aayega?”

And Juhi Khushwaha is seen in the class, trying to avoid teacher’s line of sight.

Meanwhile, Tara enters the classroom at 11:55am, ready for the next class.

A few excerpts ….

“…….And remember that Mojo ka paper – infact uska midsem, jisme mere 6 number aaye they!

Arey nahi yaar, tere usmein bhi minimum nahi they, mere 4 they! Aur pata hai, mojo ne calculate bhi kar rakhe they ki mujhe pass hone ke liye kitne number chahiye – class mein mujhe bolta hai – Tumhe pass hone ke liye 28 number chahiye, including grace (hahahahahaha – raavan waali hansi bhi hansa tha wo tab…) isliye padhai kar lena! Aur end sem mein baith ke wo codes hote they na, ISO 456 or something, usmein se maine saare design seekhe they – paper mein baith ke sab acchi tarah se samajh aa raha tha ki mojo ne kya kya nahi padhaaya!......”

“………..Ye Punit ne MBA shuru kar diya hai na? ye bata usko ye idea kisne diya ki MBA karma chaiye? Pakki baat hai Raj aur Arun ne hi usko iske peeche lagaaya hoga.

Aur ye Neeraj kahaan hai? Abhi bhi IAS mein hi hai kya – pata hai, hamaara final year project same tha – jisme Minocha ne waat laga rakhi thi – title sunega ‘Performance appraisal blah blah blah …of some leachate..blah blah blah..with some crap MATLAB analysis..” – huh, sounds like a PhD thesis to me, but anyhow – humein eight graphs banaane they, aur maine kaha ki humein alag alag banaane chahiye……..(and the technical stuff goes on)”

“………Yaar, wo kya maze aate they na yaar Dehradun mein – aur ye dayschees ki bhi kya mast fight hui thi – wo movie dekhi thin a – Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum – uske baad dayschees ki aisi haalat thi ki kabhi ghar se bahar na nikle ho – apne ghar phone lagaana aur ghar waalo se baatein karma – maine jab apne ghar phone kiya tha tab mere dad bole, “itni jaldi khatam ho gaya kya tumhara trip, abhi kuch aur din wahin ruk jao…”!...jo bhi ho, wo mast tha yaar – kya mast surveying ka trip tha – accha khaasa survey ho gaya tha apni class ka…”

“…..abhi bhi wo Bahadur bhaiya se samose yaad hain yaar – kya kya mast dishes banaakar khilaate they – chai samosa, sambhar samosa, bun-butter-tea….kya yaar, sab mast tha – sahi mein, bahadur bhaiya ne hi paal pos kar bada kiya tha….”

“….aur tujhe wo yaad hai, jo humne carrom tournament khela tha – mixed doubles waala – oye jaldi jaldi se sab kara lo – ghar ki baat ghar mein reh jaaye to accha hai!.....aur antakshari mein kya mast tha na, jab main aur deepa ek team mein they – kya mast tareeke se haare they tu aura seem…antakshari to hum kabhi nahi haare!....”

..….to be continued….

"Bheja Fry"

Bheja Fry (n)

1. Chopped and scrambled goat brain, served piping hot. Goes well with most kinds of breads - Not for the queasy

2. A first-time director's attempt at remaking a great French farce. Again, not for the queasy, or those who can't appreciate cheesy.

You really don't have to be a connoisseur to check out "Bheja Fry"! Though it's much more than a gourmet dish, but it could have been named "Re-dial" or "It's Ringing". Bheja Fry may be a film about an idiot but it's so darn intelligent, it simply makes your day

No matter if it has been copied from "Le Diner de cons", it really gives two hours of non-stop eye-catchy fun, with old timers Milind Soman and Sarika also doing their bit in the movie - though the credit undoubtedly goes to Vinay Pathak a.k.a Bharat Bhushan (or Kulbhushan, or Madan Mohan, or whatever).

Quote of the movie, "Kya idiot insaan nahi hota"!

The cast keeps on irritating you to the max, but that's what "Khosla ka Ghosla" did as well - right? And that's what any enjoyable sitcom would do! This irritating pleasure is the call of the audience, and the audience gets it without fail.

This movie is worth a watch "neemboo maarke"!