It's been 19 years since we came back to Mumbai. Majority of this period has been spent in Nabard Nagar, Kandivli. Can't even begin to explain the importance of Nabard Nagar in our whole group's lives. All our schooling, college and graduation has happened in this period. Even the first 4 years of my job and the whole traveling to Navi Mumbai in a Sumo, a long but mostly enjoyable journey was done from here. The bond to the place is as strong as the relationships we made here. So after 17 years, after Dad's retirement, when we moved out of Nabard Nagar, it was a bit difficult to let go of the house and the colony.
Family shifted to Bangalore and I moved to Navi Mumbai. This was my first experience living in the other end of Mumbai. Till that time I was just traveling to that place for office. It was pretty different in the beginning and adjustment took a little while. One of the many advantages living there was that office was just 15 minutes away. Got so much more extra time to.... well....eventually waste in timepass......but still have started to think that our homes should be nearer to offices. It saves so much more time which otherwise is fruitlessly spent in traffic in the bigger cities at least. Another advantage was that I was much nearer to my uncle's place and was able to visit them almost every other weekend. Staying near Vashi made it much more simpler with fast access to malls and theaters....and that's what we used to do every weekend.
But then with 2 job changes, I found myself traveling back to Andheri, right back to the western suburbs. The worst part is that I had to travel to Kurla, which I personally feel is one of the worst stations in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Also my client office is located in such a pathetic place, that getting public transport is a pain. Finally we decided to move to the western suburbs where traveling would be much easier. I really have to thank my roommates wholeheartedly for supporting this decision. If they had decided not to move, then I wouldn't have either as traveling issues are secondary compared to living with these guys.
Neways leaving aside senti dialogues, we moved to Kandivli cos somewhere the heart said, western suburbs = Kandivli. Got a nice little place just near the highway making it convenient to travel to our offices. For me it was kind of a homecoming. It didn't take even a day to settle back in. Back to the familiar area, back to watching all the nonsense movies with more people, knowing where to get whatever we want, the bookstore guy who gives me concessions is here, the only guy still living in Nabard Nagar and one of my closest friends is near again, so are a few family friends.......this list can go on. Even parents were happy that I moved back here. Only one disadvantage is that our almost fourth roommate is not able to come here as frequently as he could make it in Navi Mumbai. That is one thing which we miss quite a bit. We have had 2-3 nightouts learning to gamble with cards.
Somehow I feel "Am Back Home". It's all good. :-)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"Thalaivar" Rocks
Watching a movie in a theater is a great experience. Sit in comfortable seats with the AC on, have popcorn and soft drinks, hopefully enjoy the movie and if not cry over the money spent for a bad movie. It comes as a good break and is always fun when you are with a group of friends. BUT, watching a Rajnikanth movie in a theater with a completely Tamilian crowd is a surreal experience.
Tamil cinema has many stalwarts, old and new. But none has had the popularity which Rajni has. He probably has the biggest fan base all over the world and fans who can be really crazy over him. Prayers are offered in temples for his movie to do well. Gigantic posters of the star throng whole of Southern India and Abhishekams are done on his posters giving Rajni a demigod status. On the day of the release, the reel of the movie before the first show is kept in a temple and poojas are done. Then the reel is taken to the theater in a procession with great pomp and fanfare.
This is hardly one-tenth percent of the activities surrounding a Rajni movie release. But then one can go on and on. A few years ago, when Sivaji (Rajni's previous blockbuster) had released, I had the opportunity to watch a Tamil movie in Mumbai as it was released. A friend of mine had come over from Chennai for a wedding and we watched the movie in Tamil in Kandivli. Had a great experience with an amazing crowd. My friend called someone in Chennai and told him that he's watching Sivaji in theater and the reply he got was the other guy cursing him for this good luck as he was unable to get any tickets. That was my second Rajni movie which I had seen in a theater. This year, when talks about the release date of Rajni's latest movie started I was sure that I am gonna catch it in a theater.
Warning: Further in the post, there might be some spoilers for ones hoping to catch the movie.
Endhiran, the Robot released on 1st October, 2010. Somehow I was really excited to watch this movie and was desperately waiting for the online bookings to start. On the day of bookings, in the morning we saw that the movie was getting released in very select cinema screens and none near to our office. Then somehow one of just checked in the afternoon and got to know that it's released in many screens. We immediately called up all interested in watching the movie and booked for the first show. Tickets selling like hot buns would be an understatement as within a matter of 3-4 minutes we could see chunks of seats getting booked. Somehow the booking went through and finally we were gonna catch Endhiran on the first day itself, albeit the last show of the day.
So there we were, with the door to the screen almost about to open. After Sivaji, I had an inkling of what was gonna happen. But it just happened in an even more fantastic manner. As the door to the screen opened, everyone started shouting "Yehhhhhhhhhhhh", "Thalaivaaaa", "Super Star". Never before have I seen a grander opening, not to a movie but even to the opening of the door to the screen. Then the impatient wait till the National Anthem and then till the movie. Rajni's movies usually start with "SUPER STAR RAJNI" starring in whichever movie. As soon as the "S" of Super came up, absolutely shrill whistles rocked the auditorium which just continued till "I" of Rajni.. The credits showed up and believe me a huge star status is also held by A R Rahman. When his name showed up for Music, a loud cheer went through the hall. But nothing is comparable to the decibel levels in the theater when Rajni appeared on the screen for the first time. An amazing atmosphere never seen before in any other movie. Every scene had whistles, cheering, claps from the audience. Even guys from my group were thoroughly involved. Scenes in a song where in one of the costumes, Rajni walked in his regular style got huge applause. It was not unlike a rock concert minus the headbanging of course.
The movie in itself was good. It had a strong concept which was very well executed in the first half but stretched a bit too much in the second half. Action scenes were amazing and personally I think the special effects used were probably the best used in any Indian movie. The movie had comic moments throughout. The music, songs and background scores were amazing although there were one or two songs which were not required at that point in the movie. Climax scene was too stretched out. Aishwarya looks absolutely breathtaking throughout the movie and Rajni looks much much younger than his age. Another disappointing factor was there was no punchline by Rajni which can go on and be famous like his numerous dialogues in other movies. Seemed a bit less like his solo movie and more like the director's movie. But the most awesome part was Rajni as the villain robot. Few might not know that Rajni had started his career as a villain and was very good at that. Even here, a person known more for style than acting was superb in a villainous role.
Overall it was a great and unforgettable experience. An almost all Tamilian crowd made Vashi in New Mumbai seem like some area in Chennai. I can't imagine the scenes at Aurora theater in Matunga in Mumbai, That place as it is mostly South India and playing a Rajni movie would take the whole area to a completely new level.
"Thalaivaa" you ROCK and we wish you keep on rocking..
Tamil cinema has many stalwarts, old and new. But none has had the popularity which Rajni has. He probably has the biggest fan base all over the world and fans who can be really crazy over him. Prayers are offered in temples for his movie to do well. Gigantic posters of the star throng whole of Southern India and Abhishekams are done on his posters giving Rajni a demigod status. On the day of the release, the reel of the movie before the first show is kept in a temple and poojas are done. Then the reel is taken to the theater in a procession with great pomp and fanfare.
This is hardly one-tenth percent of the activities surrounding a Rajni movie release. But then one can go on and on. A few years ago, when Sivaji (Rajni's previous blockbuster) had released, I had the opportunity to watch a Tamil movie in Mumbai as it was released. A friend of mine had come over from Chennai for a wedding and we watched the movie in Tamil in Kandivli. Had a great experience with an amazing crowd. My friend called someone in Chennai and told him that he's watching Sivaji in theater and the reply he got was the other guy cursing him for this good luck as he was unable to get any tickets. That was my second Rajni movie which I had seen in a theater. This year, when talks about the release date of Rajni's latest movie started I was sure that I am gonna catch it in a theater.
Warning: Further in the post, there might be some spoilers for ones hoping to catch the movie.
Endhiran, the Robot released on 1st October, 2010. Somehow I was really excited to watch this movie and was desperately waiting for the online bookings to start. On the day of bookings, in the morning we saw that the movie was getting released in very select cinema screens and none near to our office. Then somehow one of just checked in the afternoon and got to know that it's released in many screens. We immediately called up all interested in watching the movie and booked for the first show. Tickets selling like hot buns would be an understatement as within a matter of 3-4 minutes we could see chunks of seats getting booked. Somehow the booking went through and finally we were gonna catch Endhiran on the first day itself, albeit the last show of the day.
So there we were, with the door to the screen almost about to open. After Sivaji, I had an inkling of what was gonna happen. But it just happened in an even more fantastic manner. As the door to the screen opened, everyone started shouting "Yehhhhhhhhhhhh", "Thalaivaaaa", "Super Star". Never before have I seen a grander opening, not to a movie but even to the opening of the door to the screen. Then the impatient wait till the National Anthem and then till the movie. Rajni's movies usually start with "SUPER STAR RAJNI" starring in whichever movie. As soon as the "S" of Super came up, absolutely shrill whistles rocked the auditorium which just continued till "I" of Rajni.. The credits showed up and believe me a huge star status is also held by A R Rahman. When his name showed up for Music, a loud cheer went through the hall. But nothing is comparable to the decibel levels in the theater when Rajni appeared on the screen for the first time. An amazing atmosphere never seen before in any other movie. Every scene had whistles, cheering, claps from the audience. Even guys from my group were thoroughly involved. Scenes in a song where in one of the costumes, Rajni walked in his regular style got huge applause. It was not unlike a rock concert minus the headbanging of course.The movie in itself was good. It had a strong concept which was very well executed in the first half but stretched a bit too much in the second half. Action scenes were amazing and personally I think the special effects used were probably the best used in any Indian movie. The movie had comic moments throughout. The music, songs and background scores were amazing although there were one or two songs which were not required at that point in the movie. Climax scene was too stretched out. Aishwarya looks absolutely breathtaking throughout the movie and Rajni looks much much younger than his age. Another disappointing factor was there was no punchline by Rajni which can go on and be famous like his numerous dialogues in other movies. Seemed a bit less like his solo movie and more like the director's movie. But the most awesome part was Rajni as the villain robot. Few might not know that Rajni had started his career as a villain and was very good at that. Even here, a person known more for style than acting was superb in a villainous role.
Overall it was a great and unforgettable experience. An almost all Tamilian crowd made Vashi in New Mumbai seem like some area in Chennai. I can't imagine the scenes at Aurora theater in Matunga in Mumbai, That place as it is mostly South India and playing a Rajni movie would take the whole area to a completely new level.
"Thalaivaa" you ROCK and we wish you keep on rocking..
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
My Dream Project
We have an internal blog setup in our office. It was mainly designed to share technical know-how and also enhance our writing skills. However after a certain period, activity on the blog became quite dormant. So our seniors took the initiative to make it more active by announcing a blog competition. This move suddenly inspired many of us, myself included. Various topics were given, one of those being "My Dream Project". Many wrote on this with blog content ranging right from humorous to very noble notions. One wanted to automate clients so that they dance to our tunes, whereas another wanted to make an information transfer system to save time. These were project oriented. Other type of projects included one wanting to work in enhancing education in our country and other wanting to help orphans. Knowing these persons very well, I am sure they will definitely do their bit in achieving their Dream Projects. I decided to take another route to the idea of Dream Project as follows.
Dream Project - The title signifies something which we like so much, something real close to hear, that we would like to see it being implemented in our day to day life. It is something very close to our heart and we would like to see it happening right in front of our eyes. If we look at a somewhat different perspective of Dream Project, somethings which have always been a part of our lives are Dreams. The concept of Dream Project itself arises from a Dream.
First question arises what are dreams ? A definition found online says: Dreams are a communication of body, mind and spirit in a symbolic communicative environmental state of being. I read that and couldn't help but think WOW What a GEEK. What I understand about dreams is that normally when we sleep or sometimes when we are awake as well, something goes on in our minds which we might or might not remember when we wake up. Dreams are an integral part of life. Dreams can be good or bad, long or short, meaningful or meaning less. Some say what we dream in the early mornings come true. Regrettably I have not done enough research to know whether that's a scientific or a superstitious statement. But one thing which we all can agree upon is that dreams are absolutely volatile. Often we have very less or no memory about our dreams.
My dream project actually tries to look at ways our dreams can be tapped and interpreted. Many times I feel that I've had a dream which was pretty weird, but yet the early morning grogginess displaces it from memory. Not being a medical person, it's hard to imagine how our brain works. With various technologically advanced medical equipments, if we are able to invent a way to record dreams, the difficult part would arise: To Interpret Dreams. Interpretation would mean finding a meaning to the dreams. But that job is made easy by dreams themselves. They are sometimes so random that they can be ignored. So the interpretation part comes down to the person who is dreaming because he or she will be able to identify with his or her dream.
If this project is somehow implemented, it would debunk many myths such as dreams coming true or not, dreams are in black and white, not colour etc. It would also help us remember what we dreamt about and most of the times help us have a good laugh because dreams are pretty humorous with random events happening with no connection whatsoever. Another thought is that when we are in deep and sound sleep, we don't have dreams, which of course might be proved otherwise by my dream project.
To end this ambitious thought process, I would like to say that it is really a difficult thing to interpret dreams and even if it does happen, don't know how useful it would be. It would actually tend to be more confusing. A small example would explain the confusion: I am writing about my Dream Project, so I dream about it, but my Dream Project involves reading my Dreams which is now actually dreaming about my Dream Project. But in spite of this confusion, it would be awesome fun to be able to watch our dreams.
Dream Project - The title signifies something which we like so much, something real close to hear, that we would like to see it being implemented in our day to day life. It is something very close to our heart and we would like to see it happening right in front of our eyes. If we look at a somewhat different perspective of Dream Project, somethings which have always been a part of our lives are Dreams. The concept of Dream Project itself arises from a Dream.
First question arises what are dreams ? A definition found online says: Dreams are a communication of body, mind and spirit in a symbolic communicative environmental state of being. I read that and couldn't help but think WOW What a GEEK. What I understand about dreams is that normally when we sleep or sometimes when we are awake as well, something goes on in our minds which we might or might not remember when we wake up. Dreams are an integral part of life. Dreams can be good or bad, long or short, meaningful or meaning less. Some say what we dream in the early mornings come true. Regrettably I have not done enough research to know whether that's a scientific or a superstitious statement. But one thing which we all can agree upon is that dreams are absolutely volatile. Often we have very less or no memory about our dreams.
My dream project actually tries to look at ways our dreams can be tapped and interpreted. Many times I feel that I've had a dream which was pretty weird, but yet the early morning grogginess displaces it from memory. Not being a medical person, it's hard to imagine how our brain works. With various technologically advanced medical equipments, if we are able to invent a way to record dreams, the difficult part would arise: To Interpret Dreams. Interpretation would mean finding a meaning to the dreams. But that job is made easy by dreams themselves. They are sometimes so random that they can be ignored. So the interpretation part comes down to the person who is dreaming because he or she will be able to identify with his or her dream.
If this project is somehow implemented, it would debunk many myths such as dreams coming true or not, dreams are in black and white, not colour etc. It would also help us remember what we dreamt about and most of the times help us have a good laugh because dreams are pretty humorous with random events happening with no connection whatsoever. Another thought is that when we are in deep and sound sleep, we don't have dreams, which of course might be proved otherwise by my dream project.
To end this ambitious thought process, I would like to say that it is really a difficult thing to interpret dreams and even if it does happen, don't know how useful it would be. It would actually tend to be more confusing. A small example would explain the confusion: I am writing about my Dream Project, so I dream about it, but my Dream Project involves reading my Dreams which is now actually dreaming about my Dream Project. But in spite of this confusion, it would be awesome fun to be able to watch our dreams.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
7 AM In My Life...
Happy New Year !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is said at the beginning of every year. But time flies by so fast that we don't even realize that the next new year is coming up soon. Over all these years, time has been running real fast and we have had so many changes in our lifestyle, our habits. Just thinking about all the past years, a tiny thought came into my mind which said "Let us catch up on a particular time and think about what we would have been doing at that particular time in different stages of life".
Now with that thought I decided on picking 7 AM as the time for recap. Invariably being an early riser, I feel that's the time which would have the most variations. So here goes:
7 AM when I was between 0-3 Years: Maybe God knows or my mother knows. Too small to realize what time was.
7 AM when I was between 3-5 Years: At this time I guess I had joined school for Kindergarten and had reached 1st Std. Primary school was in the evening, so I had no intentions of waking up as early as 7. A luxury which would not last for many days.
7 AM when I was between 6-10 Years: This was the time when my father was transferred and we had moved to Chandigarh. There was no concept of Secondary school in the morning and primary school in the evening there. All were at the same time and guess what, they were all around 8 AM. So started the habit of waking up by 7. A routine which I followed for 4 complete years whilst my father was posted there.
7 AM when I was between 11-15 Years: By this time we were back in Mumbai and I was in secondary school. Here the schools were even earlier and by 7 I used to be in school and most probably singing some prayers, saying out the national pledge (which used to be printed in our yearly calendars which also used to have the facility of parent's signature for teacher remarks - a thing we hated) or standing in attention for the National Anthem in the school assembly. By this time I had completely become accustomed to waking up early.
7 AM between all these years during vacation time: Now this was a fantastic time which I am sure we all enjoyed. During exams it was a struggle for everyone to wake up early and study. Come the first day of vacation, 7 AM sharp my friends and me used to come down to play cricket. That time sacrificing sleep was not a major loss.
7 AM when I was between 16-21 Years: This was the time when we started to grow up a bit i.e. entered college. Suddenly some shackles of being on time to classes, punishments during lectures etc. were non existent. At this point of time 7 AM was the time when I used to either complete journals or decide whether I should go to college today or sometimes for a change study.
7 AM when I was between 22-23 Years: This was a period where I was attending classes trying to learn things which would help me get a job. At 7 AM I either used to go to a gym (Unbelievable but true) or used to find an excuse not to go to the gym.
7 AM when I was between 24-Present Date: At present I like most of my age is up at 7 AM and getting ready for office.
This has been a small and perhaps weak representation of how at a particular time throughout life something or the other has changed, but somehow manages to give truth to the paradox "The only permanent thing is change".
Now with that thought I decided on picking 7 AM as the time for recap. Invariably being an early riser, I feel that's the time which would have the most variations. So here goes:
7 AM when I was between 0-3 Years: Maybe God knows or my mother knows. Too small to realize what time was.
7 AM when I was between 3-5 Years: At this time I guess I had joined school for Kindergarten and had reached 1st Std. Primary school was in the evening, so I had no intentions of waking up as early as 7. A luxury which would not last for many days.
7 AM when I was between 6-10 Years: This was the time when my father was transferred and we had moved to Chandigarh. There was no concept of Secondary school in the morning and primary school in the evening there. All were at the same time and guess what, they were all around 8 AM. So started the habit of waking up by 7. A routine which I followed for 4 complete years whilst my father was posted there.
7 AM when I was between 11-15 Years: By this time we were back in Mumbai and I was in secondary school. Here the schools were even earlier and by 7 I used to be in school and most probably singing some prayers, saying out the national pledge (which used to be printed in our yearly calendars which also used to have the facility of parent's signature for teacher remarks - a thing we hated) or standing in attention for the National Anthem in the school assembly. By this time I had completely become accustomed to waking up early.
7 AM between all these years during vacation time: Now this was a fantastic time which I am sure we all enjoyed. During exams it was a struggle for everyone to wake up early and study. Come the first day of vacation, 7 AM sharp my friends and me used to come down to play cricket. That time sacrificing sleep was not a major loss.
7 AM when I was between 16-21 Years: This was the time when we started to grow up a bit i.e. entered college. Suddenly some shackles of being on time to classes, punishments during lectures etc. were non existent. At this point of time 7 AM was the time when I used to either complete journals or decide whether I should go to college today or sometimes for a change study.
7 AM when I was between 22-23 Years: This was a period where I was attending classes trying to learn things which would help me get a job. At 7 AM I either used to go to a gym (Unbelievable but true) or used to find an excuse not to go to the gym.
7 AM when I was between 24-Present Date: At present I like most of my age is up at 7 AM and getting ready for office.
This has been a small and perhaps weak representation of how at a particular time throughout life something or the other has changed, but somehow manages to give truth to the paradox "The only permanent thing is change".
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