I heard it through the grapewine...

I have found out something about me! Well it was me who realised it...that I love to gossip! Really! It is hilarious, devilish and so much fun...especially when it is about people who know you know something but they aren’t sure about it and you know that they probably know that you know...!

It is fun to share with your co-gossipers the details of how you unearthed or came across things that were too subtle to be noticed by the other, linear minded people! And when all these leads, yours and theirs, point towards one ‘truth’ and you are like – ‘No way man, really, how could they be doing this! I never thought he had anything for her!!!’ HA HA...that’s the point of nirvana; it IS what you thought it was!

And research (somewhere) has shown that guys gossip more than girls. We are very keenly interested in others’ lives; we just don’t show it that openly that we are. This is the probable reason why there are secret agents and intelligence operatives who usually are men...one should possess the basic curiosity about everything around. For example, a room which is usually not bolted from within being bolted one fine day, two people finding a sack full of reasons for spending time together alone – and reasons which on their surface seem very natural, everyday explanations, but you have to do away the clouds and take a good look at the stars behind...they shine light on everything then!

Ways of the world

Ways of the world. What does that mean? People say I’m too naïve to gauge real intentions behind people’s actions. I think I know what they mean. If someone is being cunning and bad towards me, I don’t think I’m a Forrest Gump not to understand it; what they mean by my naivety is that I may not react to the cunningness the way one is supposed to. All along I’m quite sure of their intentions and I usually just back off. But there are times when I react. The anger is boundless then, and not a very good thing for me. The anger destroys my peace. But I’ve experienced that keeping it inside is even worse. There are people who don’t deserve to be treated with my respect when they wrong me. They deserve hell then, and I give it out to them.

So, does that make me a very worldly, smart bloke? Does being angry and showing off arrogance and outrage signify a man’s coming off age? How does one handle bad company? I should give an eye for an eye, may be. But what if I don’t really care about it? If I’ve been mistreated, can’t I just forget about it? That would be nice now, wouldn’t it? But I usually don’t forget it...

Forgiveness is a virtue often taken as a man’s weakness, but it is that quality in one which will make matters so easy to resolve. At the same time, a tough and sharp mind will make sure you are not in a position where you have to compromise your position for the benefit of someone else

And as I have pondered over this with my friends, I realized everyone has a problem with it, either one way or the other. They snap too quickly, or they just keep it inside and let it seethe

Confront or avoid? Sustain or shoot it out? Maintain or manipulate?

Creepy, cryptic, haunting, crisp, jangling, stream-of-consciousness, southern, college, alien, mumbled, arpeggio, post punk, jittery, random, deep...shallow...in between...and so on... words aren't enough to describe R.E.M.'s music. I can't pinpoint the reason why I like them; it's just that it appeals so rightly to my ears...this is THE music for me...it has a personality, a free spirited one; it's like a light and warm summer day, which just wraps around you so naturally. It is difficult to open the songs and look at each element separately. Many a mortals have tried that and failed gloriously! Well you don't need to dissect the songs. They are so open already! Take it the way you want to be. Like Peter Buck said, they are the doors to another world- open them, and see if you like what you find. If not, you are not forced to stay...



When I was young and full of grace and spirited
A rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honour not to tell
I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need
There's the key, your adventure for today
What do you do between the horns of the day?

I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honour, on your honour
Trust in your calling, make sure your calling's true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make practice
Practice makes perfect
Perfect is a fault and fault lines change

I believe my humour's wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and full of grace and spirited
A rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honour, on your honour
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key

I believe my humour's wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

"I Believe" from 'Lifes Rich Pageant'

"You can't stop what's coming"

The movie is called ‘No Country for Old Men'. Weird title. For me, it's the most gripping story I have seen unfolding on screen since The Usual Suspects. The acting is brilliant. The script is crisp, tight, one major reason to compare it with Suspects. Coens were never so good. But it’s the cinematography that is the jewel of this crown.

The movie presents the themes of death, fate and the changing times. It presents the incomprehensible nature of mindless violence, especially the inability of the law to even understand it.

I’ve used the word ‘presents’ because there is no comment made in the movie on these issues. It does not dissect the topic by making its characters preach. That is left to us. One might look at it just as an intense thriller, without looking at all these themes I mentioned. But doing so would greatly undermine the source material, the novel by the same name by Cormac McCarthy.

The movie is not the typical good vs. evil drama. Why, by the end if it, one is not so sure if being on either side is enough to survive.

It also examines the randomness of death, represented by the cold blooded assassin (Javier Berdem). He is always dressed in black and not a muscle on his face flinches when he puts someone down. But it is not that he is unbeatable. An equal conviction from the opposite side is what is required. Barring one character, no one seems to possess it.

The movie is about a man (Josh Brolin) who stumbles upon a lot of cash while he is hunting in Texan outback, at a place where a drug deal has gone bad. He runs with the cash, and is chased by people who want the cash back. One of them is our psycho- killer. A Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and his deputy are the third group of people, going through the crime scenes and trying to put the pieces together.

This is a landscape driven film, shot in Texas and New Mexico, Very nice cinematography, I can’t praise it enough.

It’s not to be missed.

Ellis: Whatcha got ain't nothin new. This country's hard on people, you can't stop what's coming, it ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity.

The pathetic state of Indian television

What the hell is going on? The news channels are all the same - their reporting is bad, their language skills are poor, the presentation is cheap - for the love of god, do not show stand up comedy on a news channel! Or a live coverage of some football game which no one wants to see! (this was on NDTV) And why EVERY story that is new is branded as ' breaking news'? That term had some weight a couple of years (or more) back. India wins an ODI and that’s breaking news? Who the fuck cares when they are clearly playing too much cricket? These news channels have a lot to learn from BBC and CNN.

I don't even want to talk about the general entertainment channels. They treat the viewers like a bunch of retards, producing serials that are so slow that snails must be making love faster. The most irritating thing is the slow motion shots which are supposed to emphasize some point in the story but leave me with this furious agony and a burning desire to blow up the TV set. Characters often talk with themselves to provide vital clues to the concerned viewer. What is this, a freak show for kinder-gardeners? These people should move their lazy asses and watch a bit of 24, a bit of The X Files, even some Friends, a little Scrubs and a lot of The Sopranos. Oh yes they should! Might learn a few things.

Oh, and what about the reality TV? It has gotten mixed up with music shows! So here are Bollywood's great (and some so-called great) music directors and singers, judging teenagers and pre-teen singers, and getting pretty edgy in the process! It's so nauseous to watch. What ever happened to the clear cut evaluation? Why the hell do they tend to put unnecessary drama when it is so clear that it's a bloody set up?

I remember the good old days when Star TV was first introduced in India. No longer did I have to watch the boring DD1 serials, which by the way still had some of the best shows on TV. Cable TV gave a choice to the intelligent viewer, it was liberating. But with the takeover of Star Plus by saas - bahus, things have changed. Star World is too cosmo. It failed to have the same edge which was so much there in the original Star Plus.

Zee TV lost it by reacting to the other entrants and not concentrating on its own strengths. Sony had very good shows initially (Mahayagya (1997) for example). But hey, that was about a decade ago!

Why is this happening? Why can't they make shows which have some intellectual offering? It doesn't necessarily has to do with the story...give us some good direction, some fine acting, realistic sets (outdoor shots are almost rare, and those that they show are worse than marriage videos) , hell, even better make up! Show me women who wear about 5 kg of Jewellery and 5 layers of makeup when they are at home, and I'll put an extra 'H' in my name!

The movie channels are falling in their grace as well. Star Movies was once the best channel for Hollywood movies. It still is, but not with its earlier excitement – the content is not improving, new movies are not all that great. HBO never truly was a great channel. This is one channel that believes that Indian viewers will watch anything that has been filmed and made into a movie! Do we really enjoy Vampire Bats, Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, The Flintstones (oh yes, but on Cartoon Network ONLY) and other such boredom balloons that are oft repeated? I'm really happy that Sony Pix and Zee Studio have entered the ring, so in this Diwali vacations I got to enjoy The silence of The Lambs, Brokeback Mountain, Thief, O Brother , Where Art Thou?, Out Of Sight and many other good ones.

I could go on about the blaring negatives of the television offerings. I just hope that at some point, the better exceeds the worse, and the worse finally fades out...but that's just wishful dreaming I guess.