Lust for life

A new look, book and few good movies

uselessme — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:08:45 +0000

A new look for my blog site… But the quote which followed the header seems to be lost…. Needs to be investigated…

Watched two Hollywood flicks: Iron Man, The Forbidden Kingdom. The good thing about Iron Man was the humor which thankfully stayed till the end. And the bad about The Forbidden Kingdom was that the two teachers Jackie Chang and Jet Lee could not carry humor when together. They looked too old and Jet Lee was too stiff to be humorous… esp. the scene where he snatches the wine jug from Jackie was too animated…. And the boy-turned man-turned boy again was too boyish to be taken as a man…. he kept failing at all the occasions….. The fight sequences were the usual ones…. fight scene b/w Jet Lee and Chang was too long and boring…..

I have started jogging everyday in the evening and my Squash has taken a backseat at the moment….. The new tee that I’m wearing today is cool…. soothes the eyes….. The life is beautiful….

Started with The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell…. the book is gripping… i like it… a line from the book - “Animals are happy so long as they have health and enough to eat”

A coward !

uselessme — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:31:42 +0000

What could have gone wrong

so wrong that you chose to die -

a death so bloody horrible

and painful too…..

To be hanged till death!

When the entire world mulls

over abolishing capital punishment

here you are - choosing it.

Did you debate before you chose

this manner of dying?

Did it occur to you that it might be painful -

your mother had cried

when you came with a bruise here

or a swelling there

Did you spare a thought for her?

People might shed tears for you

but I call you coward….

Nothing in particular

uselessme — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:25:06 +0000

Yesterday was like any other day except that i was feeling low for no reason whatsoever. And when i feel low, people around me do get infected. I must find out some ways of coming out of my sullen moods. There are many options i have - I can start singing Elvis’ “Can’t help falling in love” at the top of my voice, count all the prime numbers starting from 2, do a brainstorming over what went wrong, call up someone and talk to him/her, eat chocolates, shop something for someone ( or for yours truly)…..

But some things really worry me a lot - like why market has gone from BAD to WORSE just when i decided to start investing in it, why lottery system was introduced for VISA allotment just when my turn came, why can’t I find good track pants for myself…..

Anyways, i’m enjoying my daily game of Squash these days and am planning to buy a costly racket… praobably Head !!

Gone to dogs….

uselessme — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:51:42 +0000

Lost Tutu to AIM, Manila….. was a great company…. Vera and me gave him a copy of ‘The Conquest of Happiness’ by Russell. Hope he reads it. The guy (Some Gadgil) who sold this book to us quoted Pound at 85 INR. Once back to home, i checked it on XE.com and it had not even touched 80. We were cheated !! Vera is right when she says “Our country is going to dogs”. I think it has already gone……

Vets might fly

uselessme — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:48:23 +0000

Reading James Herriot’s Vets Might Fly… another from Vera’s collection….

After my brief stint with (stray) dogs, I have come to believe that as humans we are very cruel…. too cruel and selfish to think of animals and our mother nature….. it gives you pleasure as much as it gives them when you caress a puppy or give her milk to drink and biscuits to eat…. sometimes you feel they have a lot to say and just because they can’t they do things to show, to acknowledge…. they jump at you when they meet you, they run after your bike for as long as they can… I think all these are their way of showing that they love us too…. And believe me, if you really have to know whether you have a human side or not just try and see if you can feel for the things and beings which are not exactly human…..

18-Mar-2008

Completed Vets Might Fly…. nicely written book and it made me laugh at many instances…. Hilarious and very humane…. I liked it when in the course of story, Herriot kept going back to Helen - his wife.

For Rosy AKA Lucy

uselessme — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:18:44 +0000

Rosy is the name of a stray puppy who chose to make Vera’s society compound as her place of residence. We all took a liking to her and despite protests from an agony aunt living in the same society Vera continued to feed her religiously. One day Sharayu and I took the puppy to a vet to get her vaccinated. Our plan was to get her vaccinated and leave her at Ranade where we could visit her every now and then. I wish we had done that. Yesterday evening was the last when we could play with her. She was killed by some motorist this morning…..

The Tunnel of Time

uselessme — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:13:41 +0000

I have picked up R. K. Laxman’s autobiography “The Tunnel of Time”…. Vera got the book from her library long ago…. it was great to learn that Laxman has been with TOI as staff cartoonist for over 50 years. The narrative is simple, flow is goood….

“To be young is very heaven, my boy, very heaven….”

3/5/08

Completed Laxman’s The Tunnel of Time…. didnt take long to complete it considering the time that i spent in finishing Dr Zhivago…. By the way, found this on Wiki about Gattu, the lad with a paintbrush in his hand…. this is what Laxman has to say about him,

“I gave him a shock of black hair eternally dangling over his right eye. I dressed him up in shirtsleeves and half pants with braces. I made him clutch at a rather over-worked bristling paintbrush in one hand and a dripping can of paint in the other. His unruly locks of hair, his posture, the wide grin on his face were all suggestive of a fellow capable of unpredictable mischief and, at the same time, exuding a mood of cheerful, carefree abandon.”

Who can forget that famous line - Any surface that needs painting needs Asian Paints.

Exodus

uselessme — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:24:42 +0000

What a timing…. When exodus from Maharashtra has already begun for many of the migrants, i ended my own. My interest in this small country namely Israel has been growing and this beautiful novel proved to be of great help. And i read in the papers y’day how Tatas are joining hands with some Govt. owned Enterprise in Israel to maufacture defence equipments. And I’m suddenly reminded of Davidka, a Little David, handcrafted by Jewish genius which had Arabs running for covers….

I wish we had that feeling of nationality in us. I wish we joined army not because we were not good for any other thing but because we wanted to guard our borders. I wish i felt more and more for my country as my homeland….

‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’

uselessme — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:59:30 +0000

Last weekend I watched ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’

Sudhir Mishra and Vidhu Vinod Chopra were assissting the Direction and Production work in this movie… both of them went on to become well known names in Hindi cinema….

Anybody who is interested in parallel cinema should watch it…. the movie very well depicts the rampant corruption in those times and how it was so very difficult to earn a livelihood honestly….

I dont think the scene is so bad nowadays but you often encounter pieces of it everyday…

My first stint with Hercule Poirot

uselessme — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:23:05 +0000

Vera finally managed to persuade me to read Agatha Christie’s ”Cards on the table”….. She, it appears, has read all of Agatha Christie and even used to dream of working with this short, Belgian detective….

I liked Poirot… he is not eccentric, not frantic…. he thinks…. he is logical, unorthodox and too methodical….. he has an eye for details….

As a piece of advice, the best time to read this genre of fiction is when you are in transition and are surrounded by fellow travelers who are too stupid to connect to…. and un/fortunately i meet loads of them…….

Post Script: continuing with “Exodus”….