WOW!

Three alphabets to describe the visual delight called Guzarish. Just returned after watching the experience & was floored. In every department Sanjay Leela Bhansali has scored this time. Each frame, each actor (few but each one just Perfect) , every song, every dance by Hrithik, the one dance by Aishwarya (God! She is truly a director's actor).....the list can be endless.

What touched me personally was the brilliance of the actor in Hrithik. He does such little work & makes sure that he gives it his all. With his very first film, he has made sure that he left an impact. He is an actor who has honesty written all over his face. Every nuance of facial expression is best used that you can empathize fully with Ethen Mascaranes. Hrithik shows us that just with an expressive set of eyes, smile & a face that can speak a thousand words you can still make yourself understood. Here is an actor who is above box office & goes by his heart.

Credit should also be given to Aishwarya Rai. May be its the sheer brilliance of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is always able to bring out a great actress . She becomes so much the character that she too speaks more with her controlled dialogue delivery and her awesome eyes. Passion all controlled & the only time she let go of herself, she did it with gay abandon..... It was a different Aishwarya I saw here & I liked her.

The final credit to the writer, producer, director & music director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He extracted brilliant performances, gave Goa a different look, a period feel, a surreal experience for the audiences & made sure left a lot to the imagination of the viewer never stating the obvious. He knew his audience would be able to understand what he wanted to say. Thank you for not underestimating us Mr. Bhansali. Love you for this!

Hats off to a very honest presentation of a story touchingly told. We sure understood that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away. Guzarish sure is one such.

Watch it ....am sure you too will come out saying "WOW"!

AWESOME!

See the picture carefully, then go ahead & read the details. This was a forward, It was incredible & so i thought i'd post this.

This picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probablywould never have seen it.The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel AlexanderArmas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive ifremoved from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is anobstetrics nurse in Atlanta . She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center inNashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in thewomb.During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed thesurgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developedhand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was themost emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during theprocedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining thepicture begins, "The tin y hand of 21-week- old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person." Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percentsuccessful.

This picture is awesome...incredible..... The world needs to see this one!

Surely great miracles of life come in small packages!

THE POWER OF......

POWER is a word which is complete in itself. It has always been there around us & we just do not acknowledge it. We see it in everything we do & choose not to see it. Let's start with the obvious ones. I know it can be an exhaustive list but then decided to stick to those that flow with my thoughts here mentioning what triggered me to list it.

The power of the internet: Just imagine you sit in one corner of the globe & type out something on your PC & there it is for the world to see. In an instant. Old friends have met & lives have changed with the internet revolution.

The power of cellphones: You sit in one place & can monitor or speak to many people from many parts of the world just after keying in mere numbers! Bala your call surprised me. I was surprised we spoke for an hour mainly because of the next power.

The power of blogging: You write what you feel like on something ... people you have never met read it & drop a comment or simply read & move on. Of them few of them are regular & then it is a mutual visit to each other blogs & then there is a friendship virtually. Bala & I spoke for an hour & it was all about the blog world. Amazing! Not surprising Kavi, you top the honor list of the most admired bloggers.

The power of voice: This is so perfect for the RJs. Voice is our personality. People like the shows not only for what we say but 'how' we say it. They start imagining how the owner of the voice would be & most of the time it is a disappointment!(I mean it!)

The power of words: Ordinary words get an extraordinary power when put together. The sequence makes all the difference. Some of the most inspiring quotes are very simple thoughts powerfully put across. Even lifelong relationships are formed or broken the way words are used.

The power of silence: Many times understood after it has been broken.

The power of unconditional love: This is accompanied by the other great virtue called Patience. I saw the full power of this in San Diego's Seaworld. Thank you Bindia and Amit for taking me there. This is a must visit for any body who is visiting the US. Killer whales, sea elephants, otters, seals, dolphins in every show there stun you with the way they are all trained. It is a treat to watch.

The power of music & dance: A big thanks to my Didi & Jeeju I saw the famous Broadway musical "Chicago" in New york. I 've always been fascinated to watch theatre but with night not very woman friendly in Bangalore never ventured for any show at Ranga Shankara. I knew I missed something but after having watched Chicago i am truly happy.

The power of friends: Got to see it fully when i visited them in Detroit & Chicago. You feel so blessed when you have genuineness around you. Thank you very much Sujatha, Shreya, Maheshwari, Shiva,Nikhil , Adhil, Sowmya, Shiv & Shreya. You made me feel very special.

The power of family: My mentor & guide my Anna who made sure I had a feel of the US in the short span that i have been here & planning my different trips. My sister in law Ashika & sweety Arjun because of whom I came here. Thank you for making this trip so special.

Finally of power of being you: The most important one being that of being yourself. This is a basic power we all need to enjoy any thing else around us. It is important to be in our own element to make the best of life. That's what makes it worth living, doesn't it?

A SIMPLE FORMULA

"karmanye vadhika raste
ma phaleshu kadachana
ma karma phala hetu bhurba
te sangostav karmani" (Chap 2: 47)

This very popular & famous verse from the Bhagavad Gita sums up the formula for success. It has been quoted over & over again & I found the relevance of it today too when the nation is celebrating the Oscar success.


News channels haven't stopped raving about AR Rahman & his feat. The common refrain in all his interviews & people who talk about him are his simplicity & spirituality. When you look at the kids from the cast of Slumdog millionaire all that strikes you is they got what they had not even imagined in their wildest dreams. Danny Boyle in one of his interviews said that that the project just started & he completed with total passion enjoying every bit of it & then it took its own journey. Each one is euphoric. They truly should be. Every one who enters the film industry dreams of holding the Oscars at some point in their career. Getting recognition is easiest at the Oscars. The world watches it & it is acknowledged everywhere. Instant fame is the outcome.

Looking at those kids on the red carpet what struck me was, they were destined to be there so early. One of the kids' mother even said that it felt so good to see her son go & win an award which even Amitabh & Shah Rukh have not won! It's so surreal. You don't know what you are doing many a time & just get into a project. YOU are the chosen one . You go on do your best & then its appreciated beyond your expectations. Isn't it strange? Sometimes there is someone around you who is as good as you but that person gets more recognition than you do.Many a time that someone may not even be as good as you & then it hurts even more. Who decides this?

Well many times we have no answers. What is ironical is the sometimes the award doesn't necessarily go to the best. It is the situations that fall so beautifully in place that there is no earthly force who can take what you have in store! No lobbying or no bribing. It's the sheer beauty of how "that force" conspires to make sure that you get what you are due to. No power can stop that.

Each time an honor comes a person's way, the higher they go, the humbler they become. Gulzaar saab's reaction was a perfect example. A great lyricist & director he needed a JAI HO to give him an Oscar. He gave "Rahman saab" full credit. AR Rahman even at that point of "being terrified & excited" acknowledged his mother & said the most humbling statement "Ella pughalum Iraivannuke." Success is so transitory so is the glory that comes along. Having tasted it many times over it must have not been different for the Musical genius.

Honestly I am not an idealist. Being rational has helped me face life a lot better. But then everything that happens in our life need not have a logical explanation. Many a time it is this surprise element that makes life so worth living.To be able to totally surrender makes life's attitude so important.These are what i picked up listening to Rahman in different interviews

• Do whatever you do with total passion & commitment.
• Acknowledge an unseen power which each of us gives a different name to
• Remember you are accountable to the talents you have, so stay grounded.

This is exactly what the 47th verse in the second chapter of the Gita says too. Every truly successful person seems to have followed it always. So has the genius AR Rahman.The results are there for us to see!

Isn't this a simple formula?

YOUR CURVE!

The title of this post could be misleading but surely is bringing in what we need the most today, your curve!

Life around us gives us reasons to be happy. We just don't see them. Sometimes a great work of art can make you happy. It could be a painting, a poem, a story... just about anything that gives you a sense of complete satisfaction. A beautiful film is also one where the director as a story teller is successful at keeping our interest alive all through. A creation that makes you smile because it is mind blowing! Sometimes just because it is simple.There are a few films which fall in this genre. Two films I saw recently made me think they rightfully belong here. They made me cry & wonder how ironical life can be and happy at how simple they were!


Brilliant ! is how I would love to describe the first film. This was a movie I had not heard of & when my brother brought the DVD from the video store, I was curious. "It had great reviews & so I picked it up" said my brother. To me, except for Naseeruddin Shah and Koel Purie who were actors I knew, I didn't expect much. I sat to watch & when the final credits rolled tears welled up in my eyes & I wondered where do films like this vanish? Why don't they advertise such films?


"Amal" is a must watch film. Rupinder Nagra plays the role of Amal to the T! Adapted from a short story Amal - The Autorickshaw Wallah, written by Shaun Mehta , the movie is directed by his brother Richie Mehta with screenplay by both brothers. A low budget film, it won the San Francisco International Asian American Film festival Jury Award for best narrative in 2008 & the Whistler Film Festival's Philip Borsos Award for best actor to Rupinder Nagra. It also won the audience award & many others which it deserved. A typical O'Henry feel to the story, your heart goes out to the protagonist who is such a beautiful soul!


Another film, which I thought was a well told story was "Parzania- Heaven & Hell on Earth". An award winning film it kept me glued & at the same time set me thinking. It had an impressive cast of Naseeruddin Shah & Sarika -both perfect foils to each other. It could be described as depressing but then ended with hope. A beautiful sentence in the film was , the narrator saying "It is for the first time I realized that when religion can be the problem, it can also be the solution" When I read that it was based on a true story, it made me wonder what went through the people who were part of it in real life. What an experience it must have been. A bitter truth we cannot escape from. Fundamentalists , who decide who lives & who dies! How dare they!

Many a time, important questions get bogged down when wrong deeds get more highlighted. When we focus on the wrong we are giving the right less attention. Shouldn't it be the other way round? The law of attraction talks about vibrations that we attract. When we are constantly surrounded & fed with the wrong, we are attracting negativity into our lives & thus we are making the wrong choice. Maybe our focus should now be on that which is right. People around us are worried that life is not positive. There is a fear everywhere coupled with uncertainty. Very few talk about Hope because all they see around them is despair. Very few talk about Happiness because all they see around them sorrow.

It is in times like these that a victory is more relished or a story with hope better appreciated.

Gandhi said" Be the change you want to see". So let's spread this positivity.

Maybe we can start on an individual level with our curve. A curve which relaxes the one using it & the one it is used for.

We use it on many occasions, when we are happy, sarcastic, delighted ,to hide we are upset or when ironic.

Something which makes every individual using it beautiful.

Flash it first thing in the morning at yourself & then at the world.

Never leave home without it. Make sure you have one to pass it on.

Ironically it is free but rarely used.

It is that small little curve that straightens many things in your life
" YOUR SMILE!"

DO YOU?

The other day I was watching SRK in an interview & when asked of the characters he's played including the recent Suri ji, which is closest to the real him...he said "None. In fact I'm so uncomfortable with myself that i love playing other characters." He continued saying that maybe that's why he loves acting because he has different people to enact & is less of himself then. Well that set the question in me...."Are we comfortable the way we are? Is it a common problem?"

Many actors, if you notice carefully, are so conscious in their interviews that you wonder if they are comfortable in their own element. They are constantly playing so many different characters that though they seem so confident playing those roles , when it comes to basic self acceptance , they have a problem. Do we also have it? I wanted to find out.

How many of us are happy the way we are? The answers were... Maybe a slightly sharper nose would have made a difference or slightly taller built. No.. no.. may be slightly bigger eyes or a smaller mouth. Just maybe a nicer set of teeth , a few packs in the abs, a small dimple, smoother skin, longer or better hair, a few more years of 'natural' black hair, a better figure, a nice voice, better skin or a rounder face. The list seemed endless. It is that most of us are not happy with the way we are. Given a choice we would love to have a 'slight' change. The degree of this "slightness" is all that makes the difference. Is it all that important?

Shouldn't we be comfortable or satisfied the way we are? Isn't that a prerequisite to keep us happy? Are physical external looks so important? If the inner you is satisfied it reflects on the outside world too. Maybe that's why the best smiles come from babies. After a good feed & having burped, a sleeping baby is the perfect picture of complete satisfaction. We are born with an ability to be satisfied with the basics . It is when our needs increase that the smiles vanish too. It's not very difficult to get those smiles back. It's just that we need to prioritize our lives well. Once we do that & start counting our blessings maybe we will be a happier lot. I strongly think so.
Do you?

PROUD TO BE INDIAN

On Monday, 26th January we were celebrating our 60th Republic day. Our president taking the salute this year was, a woman. Moments for us to be proud. Ironically, what happened in some part of our country made us look at the the very same picture differently.

As long as you confirm to laws drawn out by the constitution & live in a civil society there is no fear. Well this is the general belief.What has happened recently is horrific. News has been pretty disturbing to watch and read for the past few days. Some random people we never even knew existed, decide for us! Isn't it strange that we get newer definitions for democracy each day?Where are we heading?

One of the definitions of a Terrorist is - a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism or a person who terrorizes or frightens others. Do not these people come under the category of terrorists then? Aren't the terrorists deciding for us? These are more dangerous because they are misinterpreting our culture. Respect for every individual is a prime aspect in our culture and so is Ahimsa! These people are for sure not protecting Indian culture.

A group of wrongly brainwashed young men have no right to disrupt freedom of ordinary citizens. Mangalore has always been a city of peace.How can they take law into their own hands?
I know doctors who had come to Mangalore as students, fallen in love with the city that they have made it their homes. The molestation of girls in such a city is so difficult to digest. Always a quiet city it has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late.

When there is an external threat we can seal our borders & make sure everyone coming in & going out is thoroughly checked. The question now is, what do we do when the threat is internal? When we are so volatile internally, we are inviting problems.This is a more frightening situation to be in. What is it that we can do now? The country should come together as a whole. The basic fact we need to understand is, we are Indians. Whichever part of the country we come from should not make a difference. We should make sure this thought, is felt by each one of us. A handful of young minds are being misled & threatening to hold our freedom at stake?

Honestly till I saw a news feature a couple of days back , I did not know that with pubs having to shut down by 11.15 in Bangalore- the city is bleeding, and its soul hurt! I was shocked to see so much focus on, the bans in Night life & pub timings in the city. For God's sake, the country is reeling under a recession. People are losing jobs everyday. How do they make ends meet? There are many frustrated, who are committing suicides. This is a crucial issue .They need hope.

It is because media is giving so much time to these trivial issues that the so called leaders get an inspiration to mislead the youth. The pictures & news features on Sri Rama Sena & MNS hogging the limelight makes me wonder what is happening to India? Where is our focus? We get what we deserve. Do we deserve this? Is this newsworthy?

Media focus should now be on those people who have made a difference in their individual way. Whether it is an initiative to create an awareness on everyday problems like commuting with carpool or starting a social service group. Any activity which does not take a lot of money but needs a lot of individual & group initiative, drive, discipline & dedication should be given attention. This should be our focus. The environment is under threat. Look for people who are doing their bit to change their lives by becoming more environment friendly. All these need initiatives at an individual level & the ripples of this will be felt soon enough for society to react. Any positive change should be stressed & highlighted.Educate the people on these long term benefits. Let's not be hypocritical & claim ownership over something which is not ours & live in that reflected glory. ( Slumdog Millionaire being the latest example.)

It is time we look within & seriously ask ourselves a very simple question.
Am I proud to be Indian? If the answer is a "Yes" or a "No" it does not matter. In either case, we need to know why & help others find their answers! This is the least we can give our children , a reason to say, "I am proud to be Indian."