Sunday, October 18, 2009

What is wrong with us?


I remember Shahid Kapoor in Jab we met saying: 'What is wrong with me, mein kaise bhool saktha' and then, in his own cute way, he would reach for his guitar, to play one of my favorite musical score. So Cute :)

Oops... Coming back to the writing before my thoughts trail away... :)

All of us seem to be just too busy with our own daily routines. The world is fiercely running a race, and we blindly follow, not knowing where the destination is. We just run. We have goals to achieve and dreams to fulfill. We stop at nothing to get things done.

In all this madness, do remember that its just one life. Live it to make yourself happy. Life is short. Make it sweet.

Sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee. Stand in the porch and enjoy the drizzle. If you dare to, walk upto to your terrace and feel light. Embrace the child in you once in a while. Laugh a lot.
Dont forget to hug your loved ones every day. Be yourself. Dont pretend or hide your emotions. Why waste it in anger when you can forget it and be happy.

What is wrong with us? Why do we all choose to strive hard and make our lives miserable, when there is such an easy way to be happy?

Aur aap sochenge.... Is ko kya hogaya. Yeh sudregi nahin :) hee hee...

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Did you know this about 'The Happy Birthday' Song?


Some facts about ' The Happy Birthday' song:
  1. It is the most sung English Song according to the Guinness Book of World records.
  2. Its melody is after "Good Morning to All", which was written and composed by American sisters Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893 
  3. The Summy Company registered for copyright in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R.R. Forman. In 1990Warner Chappell purchased the company owning the copyright for US$15 million, with the value of "Happy Birthday" estimated at US$5 million.
  4. Based on the 1935 copyright registration, Warner claims that U.S. copyright won't expire until 2030, and that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it.
  5. The documentary film The Corporation claims that Warner/Chappell charges up to US$10,000 for the song to appear in a film.
  6. The Walt Disney Company paid the copyright holder US$5,000 to use the song in the birthday scene of the defunct Epcot attraction Horizons
For more information, click here.

Angels and Demons


















Am always the book fan. I personally liked Angels and Demons better than Da Vinci code, when i read it. But when it came to movies, it was vice versa. I felt Angels and Demons movie was kind of a let down to the book. But one has to agree that it is quite difficult to bring in all the details to the word on a screenplay. For the first timers, you might enjoy the thrilling murders and some unusual facts about the papacy. Not sure if its worth a theatre visit though. 

Two sides to the same coin

I wrote this article for a job application. Wanted to keep a copy of it. Do not get bored reading it :) 

“I am so tired of these movie-makers not having an originality and just copying someone else’s idea.”

“Are you kidding me? No one can ever make a better version of that book!!”

-Reviews from blogs on movies.

This article is a tribute to those book-writers who could see beyond the horizon and to those movie makers who created marvels based on such books. It is in appreciation of all the creative minds that have carved a niche in the field of entertainment.

Whenever there is a new movie to be released based on a famous book, I hear staunch book-lovers cribbing about ‘missing details’ with the movie. With every movie there will invariably be an exponential growth in the number of the fanatic readers who cannot digest with important twists taken in a ‘not-so-satisfactory’ style. The reason for this is the power of imagination. Human minds imagine even minute detail from a book and interpret them differently. I should say that this is the biased and prejudiced crowd that is not open to new creativity.

Some of the very famous movies have been based on famous books. The Godfather, The Harry Potter series, Jurassic Park, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons-  to name a few. One cannot deny the fact that these movies have indeed made a difference to the film industry. It is one thing to originally write a novel, and it is another to try and bring out the story in an unspoiled way and to keep the crowd always at the edge of its seat. To bring out an entire book with all the details in one and half hours is a talent and one which each of us should not fail to appreciate. In fact, the reason why authors let movie makers use their story, is because, it is another way of publicizing their work. This would only increase their fame, fans and revenue. As long as there is controversy, there is publicity.

There will always be critics who need more to anything – for such people, anything they get is never enough. I can only say one thing: ‘Have an open mind. You will probably learn to appreciate them all’.

 

Friday, March 06, 2009

The lonely soul..

The only 3 important 'living' beings that keep you company:

1. Your mobile
2. Laptop
3. and..... A Car!!

The lonely soul will die without them!!

P.S: I intentionally mentioned the word 'living' because, all of the above definitely seem to communicate with you and hence keep you company - in their own modest ways.

The Foreigner!!


Almost everyone i know, including me, have a fancy for going 'abroad'.
It started with shopping for clothing, appropriate to the seasons and went on into buying utensils and supplies for the kitchen.

The next fancy is to set foot onto the 'airplane' and check out the air-hostess serving you 'free' food and watching the so-called 'luxury' mini-tv in front of you. But only when you end up sitting in the same position for 36 to 48 hours, in may be different flights or different airports, running with 2 or 3 baggages to terminals, it sinks into you that your actually 'travelling' and that you might not end up seeing your family for a very long time. Soon, the very thought of an airplane will give you a sickening feeling in the stomach. It could be because of the travel or the dehydration you might get or your biological clock being affected.

I miss the pleasant evenings that you dont normally cherish or appreciate in your homeland. The sun shines BRIGHT till night 10 o clock. By the time you realise it was an 'evening', its already night.

I hardly see a soul walking on the streets. Every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to have a car. If you depend on the local transport, for a 2 mile journey, you might have to change 3 buses. The actual bus travel might be 5 minutes. But the wait time during transit between buses would be even an hour. So Target and Walmart end up being your only visiting spots. Not to mention that a trip to the Indian stores might be a 'picnic'. Your bound to spend at least 7 hours (3 hours in the bus, 1 hour in the shop, 3 hours to return!) to shop for maggi noodles!

You end up paying Rs 175 ($3.25) for a samosa chat or pani puri. I remember fighting to the way-side guy selling pani puris. Some may give only 6 puris for Rs 10. I always fight for my 7th 'rightful' puri invariably. Else the 6 puris wont get to digest peacefully!

You learn the concept of 'right' while driving - to unlearn and learn driving; to follow the rules; not to mention, to learn to 'trust' another soul driving on the next lane!!

I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine sometime back. I had the habit of calling any white guy i see a 'foreigner' back in India. The habit followed. I saw a lady sip a cup of the 'Starbucks' coffee and I started the sentence with 'That foreigner', but i never got to finish that sentence. My friend corrected me immediately: 'Your the foreigner here young lady, its their homeland now'. Only then did it actually sink into me that its not 'MY' homeland anymore! Imagine living entirely in another man's house, whom you dont even know. The nauseating feeling in my stomach followed! GULP!!!

'Am a foreigner!'