Wednesday, July 23, 2008

IIT ...mindless ramblings....

So finally i'm back in college . Before going any further id like to inform the people who dont know that Kharagpur is the only city, or more accurately, the only inhabitated area which is famous for everything it contains. Other normal places you see are famous usually for one thing say steel or mica or even mangoes, well thats not the case with THIS place. HAHA. Im proud to inform you that every thing, absolutely everything, that Kharagpur contains is world famous ::
  • THE RAILWAY PLATFORM
  • IIT

And thats about it. Thats all. No literally THAT IS ALL.

There is no frickin thing in this godforsaken place other than those mentioned above. But before you get me wrong, let me clarify, Im proud of my institute, just not of its geographical location. Anyway thats neither here nor there.

So I come back after my vacations and Im assigned to a new hostel (YAY!). I go in and am informed that I'll be living in a double-room with some other guy which is absolutely fine by me. But what i'm not informed is that I'll be living with another guy less in a double-bedded room and more in a two-beds-squeezed-into-a-cubicle-such-that-you-dont- even-have-sufficient-place-to-stand room. So here I am, cooped up in this ...umm... room (?) which has only one lan port for the two people resulting in one of us hogging the connection while the other guy has his back turned. Anyways its not IIT whom I blame for this type of crunch but the fatass idiots in our government who already have one foot in their graves but are sadistically bent on making this country a goddamned miserable place for its future citizens before they go.

PS : Did you guys notice how these politicians just never seem to die ? They all seem to linger near their graves and keep haunting us all with their fucked up ideaologies. In my opinion what this country needs is a strong hand which will deliver the decisive shove to these lingering spectres...

Friday, July 18, 2008

An Awkward Attempt


Ok so this time its Palkush whom I need to thank... Well you know all the times that you just sit idle and have nothing to do and all you do is doodle on some piece of paper ? So why not use it to do something constructive like making an ambigram ? So here is my attempt at it.. well its a hand drawn sketch so its not picture perfect but hey, so what? And since its my sister's birthday, I thought why not make an ambigram of her name... Anyways heres to you didishona...
Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!
Love Neil

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Tale of Two Movies

So finally today I saw the pakistani movie "Khuda Ke Liye", after a lot of procrastination and boy am I glad I saw it !! A stirring movie, if a little controversial in its interpretation of Islam but then again anything about Islam does tend to cause a little controversy, it depicts the problems faced by Islam in todays world. Two musicians, brothers, in Pakistan from a progressive well to do family go on different paths as one falls under the influence of a mullah and joins the taliban while the other goes to the US to pursue his music. Meanwhile a British Pakistani man marries off his daughter to the younger brother, her cousin, the one who joined Taliban in a rural part of Pakistan to stop her from marrying a british 'gora' (white guy). The other brother in US marries a girl he meets there but after 9/11 is abducted by the FBI on suspicion of terrorism and is tortured. Will Mary, the British girl married off against her will, be able to escape and return to Britain ? What happens to the guy being tortured in the US, will he get justice ? You have to watch the movie to see for yourself how it pans out. One thing I can assure is that you wont be disappointed. Featuring a special appearance by Naseeruddin Shah, the film is full of memorable moments, and though the cast doesn't do a spectacular job, they are borne out by the script. I mean, the acting is not bad at all, its actually rather good in patches but then the powerful storyline makes up for it. And in my opinion, I dont think any of our Bollywood mainstream heroes could have done justice to the script as much as the present cast did. All in all a beautifully made film and worth watching every minute.
Oh yeah I also saw the much hyped Jaane Tu ..ya Jaane Naa . Well lets just say its not a scratch on the abovementioned film. But then again its not meant to be. It is the cliched boy loves girl but doesnt know it / doesnt have the guts to say it until and unless she decides to go to America, and then chases her to the airport. But this done to death storyline is well handled in this film and it turns out to be thoroughly enjoyable. A good beginning for the actors, and yeah Genelia is cute. You get your moneys worth, I think, though I may be wrong as i saw it in a rundown theater and it didnt cost me much, then again my day was made thanks to Naseeruddin Shah (again) who, in a special appearance as a guy who is dead but for some reason or the other seems to fancy dancing around in his portriat, makes a priceless expression which is a mixture of pride, glee and happiness when his son is arrested by the cops. I almost shit myself laughing at that expression. You know that bears out my theory that its these small things in life that usually gang up to make your day. Then again, an enjoyable watch, but I'd rather watch "Khuda Ke Liye" anyday. Or maybe.. uhh I dont know... well watch both the films. But then Khuda Ke Liye is one of those films, in my opinion, that a person should watch atleast once.

Okay Okay is it just me or does that song "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi" (admittedly a very catching song) sound eerily similar to "Appudo Ippudo" telegu song in Bomarillu.

NOTE : I have NOT seen the movie but I HAVE heard the song as have most other people in my college for mostly the geographical diversity of the students.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Googlewhacking ....

Ok so probably i should thank Arnav for it was his post that made me want to try my hand at it.... then again it was eerie how i got my first "googlewhack" if you can term it that.... i make a typographical error (ie i spell a word wrong) and guess what? only one result !! some idiot had made the same mistake as me ..HAHA!! well thats when i thought : "hey this can be fun... lets try something else" ...
by the way if you spell it correctly... you get multiple results so technically its not a googlewhack but then again that was the FIRST ONE... "brain loboctomy" (YEAH lobotomy doesn't get you a googlewhack, and dont ask me why i was searching that in the first place)....
anyway these are a few more i got ::
metaldude delinquency
metaldude armadillo
necrosadistic greatstone
trinitro armageddon
necropaedophilic vegetables (HAHAHA)

could anyone tell me.. is there a similar term for when you get no results?? because i got lots..and i mean lots of those...

my favourite one being "necropaedophilic psychopath" (how do i think up these things ??) ...you know why i included that in this post ? HAHA.. so now if you search it ..its become a GOOGLEWHACK !! [aside] i AM good.

Monday, July 7, 2008

King on Grass - Wimbledon final review

Amazing ... Simply AMAZING .
I stayed up till 2am yesterday night watching Messrs Federer and Nadal slug it out in a most annoyingly rain interrupted final at Wimbledon. Well 'slug it out' is probably the wrong phrase to use when describing these masters at work. What transpired yesterday was a masterpiece of tennis composed by two of the most supremely gifted artists, yes i call them artists because thats what they are, of the present era.Who would win ? Will Federer, that supreme master of his art and the king of grass, be able to surpass Bjorn Borg and win six straight Wimbledon titles, or will it be Nadal, the young upstart with seemingly neverending reserves of energy, who becomes the first man since Borg (again) to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year ?? It had all the indications of a thrilling ride. Would Nadal again prove to be too good for Federer (remember how outclassed Federer was on the red clay of Paris ?) or will Federer finally overcome this man from Mallorca who has consistently been his only stumbling block ?? When the match started I was pro-Federer while my dad was all for Nadal. Well the greatest tribute I can pay them is probably the fact that by the end, it didn't matter to us who won... because it became clear that on the day there was only one clear winner :: TENNIS. It was a tale of three parts :: 1. Before the rain interval in the third set... 2. After the rain interval.. and 3. The Final Set .If anyone had doubts over Nadal's form going into this match, those were quickly put to rest as the Spaniard came out all guns blazing and immediately broke Federer's serve early in the first set. Federer seemed to have got his rhythm back as he raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set but the young Mallorcan came back strongly to win 5 games in a row as he took the second by a similar margin as the first, 6-4. Federer stepped up the ante but Nadal matched him stroke for stroke and it seemed that there was no way back in the match for Federer when the Heavens opened up and play had to be suspended. The break must have been just what federer needed as he came back revitalised and took the next two sets 7-6 each. To be perfectly fair to both the players, the tennis on display was of a very high calibre and any lesser mortal would have wilted in straight sets to either of them, but it was to these masters credit that they matched each other shot for breathtaking shot. Then came THE FINAL SET... Big serves, bigger groundstrokes, sublime volleys, dropshots and inhuman passing shots, the final set had it all and more. It was the tennis you get to see once in a lifetime. Every other shot had me gasping for breath as the players kept finding those angles and openings which seemed impossible to me and I daresay a million other inferior souls. It was 7-7 in the final set and most of my nails were already chewed off when the turning point came....We join the action at 7-7 final set, Federer serving, break point Nadal....what will happen ??? A breathtaking rally in which Federer seems to have the upper hand when.... Nadal breaks for 8-7 with one of the most unbelievable passing shots you will ever see!! Nadal now serves for the match. Will Federer be able to hold on? Match-point Nadal 40-30. AWESOME return of serve by the reigning champion !!!! Deuce... Federer not ready to throw in the towel yet. Big serve by Nadal, and Federer unalble to return it. Advantage to the Spaniard and yet another match-point. Nadal serves for the match, Federer returns, Nadal backhand and.... Federer hits it into the net !!!! NADAL WINS !!!!!! 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 ....Is this the beginning of the Nadal era ??... Is this the end of Federer's dominance ?? Nadal had proven to the world that there is no one in professional tennis who can touch him on clay, and in his third final at Wimbledon.. he finally conquers the grass. But there is no shame for Federer as he did not at all play badly.. though he would do well to minimize his unforced errors.... and we hope he'll be back next year. Well looking back, it must be greatest Wimbledon final ever, well atleast the best game of tennis I have ever seen or probably ever will see, unfortunately there could be only one winner... and all credit to Nadal as he emulates the legendary Bjorn Borg. All in all it was one of those matches that remain with you long after all is reduced to just statistics...

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Metal...just that.

A lot of people say that you should live life in such a way that when you are done and dusted you should have no regrets about the way you went about it in the first place. Well I say thats impossible, because there is no chance in hell that you'll not have regrets. Face it, you WILL have that nagging sensation at the back of your mind for not doing some thing or the other. But the point is :: Why am I writing all this in the first place ?? ... maybe its a way to give vent to my regrets... or maybe its because I have nothing else to write about. Anyway my biggest regret (yeah wiseguy I DO regret certain things already even if im only 19) is missing the Iron Maiden gig in Mumbai a few months ago. Yeah you could say that I can attend some other concert but then again in India metal gigs aren't exactly dime a dozen especially of the calibre of a Maiden gig. Now I can well imagine what you must be feeling... "whats so great about metal ?" ...you know how I know that... well thats the exact question all my family and a lot of my friends ask me... "why metal..? its just noise !!"

Before going any further Id like to say :: NO ITS NOT "JUST NOISE" !!!!!

If you ask me, metal cannot really be explained... you need to feel it, you need to get to know it, you need to let it flow through your body, through your veins, through your blood,... and THAT is what metal is and that is what it stands for. It is music that needs to be not just heard but to be lived, to be understood. As any metal fan, or metalhead, would tell you, there is no feeling equal to the arenaline rush you get when you are headbanging to a good metal song. Metal is something that stays with you, its always there for you, especially when you are sad, depressed or just generally mad at something, it gives you company and makes you belong. It is music that is about YOU, yes you,its about individuality, its about your fears, your desires, your questions, your feelings, rather it BECOMES you. So the next thing you ask is "what about the guy screaming into the mic ?" . Well I ask you, "why dont you listen to him for a change ?". Most metal songs have intense and thought provoking lyrics. As mentioned in the documentary "Metal : A Headbanger's Journey", metal confronts what we would rather ignore, it probes that which we'd rather forget, it challenges things we fear and shy away from and maybe...well, and maybe thats why metal will always have the tag of outsider in the world of music. You know, if you dont get that particular feeling, if you dont feel those goosebumps, that thrill, that exhilaration, when you listen to metal, then probably you will never understand it but... know what? Thats okay.

One point id like to make, before anyone gets started here, is that there are metal songs that are not worth listening to, then again you cant expect it to be all hunky dory, i mean even Shakespeare wrote some quite average stuff. But then its again all about opinion and as a wise man once said, "Opinions are like ass-holes, every person, however dumb, has one"...But even if you dont like metal as a genre, Id suggest you watch the documentary "Metal : A Headbanger's Journey" at least to get to know a bit about this misunderstood and often maligned genre. One more point Id like to raise is that you see news headlines like "Metal fan kills 5", why this discrimination against metal, what about why the guy really flipped ? Maybe that guys favourite computer game was Age of Empires, and favourite food was say, Chocos...so why not "AoE fan kills 5" or "Chocos eater kills 5" ?? Anyway see the documentary, cuz though its not 100% informative or accurate (cuz again its the documentary makers opinion), atleast you get the general idea.
\m/ metal forever \m/

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

GOD - Do we need Him ?

The world as we see it today is riddled with problems. Rapes, murders and other atrociuos acts against humanity are all but common. The world is torn apart by war. But is there a common thread that links most of these? Forget Africa or Iraq or Afghanistan, jihad has become an all too common word, there seems to be no end to the Israel and Palestinian conflict, Tibet is reeling under oppression... there just seems to be no end. How can this be stopped? Where is God when you need Him? Where is this 'great omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent' dude and why doesn't He do something? Which brings us to the Epicurean argument ::

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

A rather telling argument in my opinion.

The fact that most atheists try to put forward is this - There is no need to believe that a big magician living in the sky exists and will put things straight. Why should a person need God to follow a morally correct life? With the scientific data available today, we can accurately explain all that we see and how it all came to be. Documented evolutionary proof rules out any 'intelligent design' theories. What cannot be overlooked is the overwhelming lack of evidence about the existence of god. Even if we assume that god exists, there should be a physical impact on the universe which there isn't. The argument that god or his work has no impact in our universe just reinforces the uselessness of worshipping him.

The main problem that atheists have with religion is that it stops people from asking questions. In today's world, all religion does is hinder progress. (The Roman Catholic Church claims that usage of condoms is a mortal sin.) When the world, especially Africa, is reeling from AIDS, such a proclamation surely is plain stupid and nonsensical. Some countries in Africa have, believe it or not, a 70% AIDS affliction rate. This is nothing but plain preposterous and a shame on all human knowledge. I mean in an age when we pride ourselves to be "intellectuals", how can anyone be so dumb as to not recognise facts ?? Speaking of the Roman Catholic Church, you sometimes cant help but feel the Pope , no offence meant to anyone, could have carved out a very respectable living as a stand up comedian. A man who can call a worldwide press conference in 1989 ( yes NINETEEN EIGHTY NINE) and can unblinkingly proclaim that the world is NOT flat is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Today the only group of people more discriminated against than atheists are homosexuals. You've got to ask why? Every person has the right to choose his or her way of living be it sexual or religious orientations. We should learn to respect the views and opinions of others. In religion answers are not open to question, rather religion thrives on non inquiry. The fact that people need the concept of hell and punishment to be morally correct is an insult to human dignity.

You can disbelieve in the existence of a supernatural magician and still believe in music, still believe in art, and still believe in the sanctity of life.

If you ask "why is there something rather than nothing?" or "what came before the big bang?" and you answer "God", belief in that God makes no difference to your daily life, or to morality and responsibility, nor does it cause people to band into groups, exclude outsiders, commit atrocities or justify wars. Believers frequently claim that rejecting belief in God would lead people to immorality, murder and mayhem. What little research there is so far suggests quite the reverse. A recent study comparing developed nations showed that the more religious nations also had higher rates of murder, suicide, teenage pregnancy and violent crime - precisely those behaviours that most religions prohibit. In an age when science has answers to most questions, the belief in an extremely perfect being to have created us is absolutely irrational because if you think about it who, by the way, created the creator? Because if someone created the creator, then that someone must be greater then the creator. But then someone must have created the guy who created the creator, who has to be, logically, even greater... and this goes on.

Douglas Adams : "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

I feel every person should be allowed to decide upon his religious orientation. As Richard Dawkins has said, we are (atleast 99% of us are) believers of some religion which we did not choose but were born into. To say that I am a Hindu is probably incorrect, what should be said is that I was born to parents who are hindu. Every school asks a child is religion. Well is it not ridiculous to imagine that a kid would have a definite viewpoint on this subject?

My last post was supposedly a bit random, well this one has a clear theme and is not about being funny. I feel this is an issue that must be faced by everyone. What I've regularly observed is that as soon as religion becomes involved we throw logical thinking out of the window, which is the worst thing we can do, for once we let our analyzing power get clouded there is no saying what might come to pass. The views expressed are solely mine and no harm is meant to any persons sensibilities though all comments and views on this issue are welcome.

What ? no seriously.. WHAT??

THANK YOU GOD (IF YOU EXIST THAT IS) !!!!!
Before anything else, probably an explanation is required for the url of my new (yay!!) blog.
After 20 futile minutes of trying to find a name for my [ahem] blog, i finally get frustrated and hey what do you know... THATS THE ONLY NAME AVAILABLE .. appparently. Well it just adds up to my conclusion that, as Douglas Adams had so aptly said in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, nothing in life really adds up. Just when you feel you have made some head or tail out of it, life just creeps up behind you and gives you a hearty kick in the backside. Sometimes I wonder if Mr. Adams had really got it right when he gave the answer to the ultimate question, the answer to life, the universe and everything else, to be ... hold your breath.... the ULTIMATE ANSWER TO BE NONE OTHER THAN.... 42 !!!
Yes you got that right, FORTY FRICKIN TWO. It just makes sense that it doesn't make any sense, so it must be correct.
If you are still not convinced, just sit back, relax, take a deep breath and look around you. If the world was as logical a place as you think it to be, how, and I repeat, HOW in the hell does a film like Om Shanti Om become a hit ? Or HOW, just HOW in the hell does a song like Dil Dance Maare even get made ? Now you answer that !!
Anyway, yesterday while browsing through the net I came across two old songs, nay two old evergreen classic Hindi songs by A.R. Rahman. Two lovely melodies from the early nineties, two ...well cutting straight to the chase.. the songs were "Muqabla muqabla" and "Urvashi Urvashi". [ahh those were the days] . The reason i bring it up here is the lyrics of the two songs. Seriously look it up and I swear to God you won't regret it. The 1st song contains the following lines and I swear I'm not joking :::
"Jurassic Park mein sundar si jodi
Jazz music gaye mil ke"
"Picasso ki painting mera peecha pakad le
aur Texas mein naache milke"

Well lets just say that I was lost for words, I was flummoxed, bamboozled, dumbstruck by the awe inspiring design and beauty of the lyrics. As P.G Wodehouse once said, if you put a thousand monkeys at typewriters for a considerable period of time one of them will eventually churn out a script to Hamlet, but I assure you no matter how many monkeys you have and no matter how much time you give them, not one will be capable of churning out gems like these.
So here's to those brilliant geniuses at work in Bollywood, may they conjure up such countless pearls for years and years to come.

Signing off for the very 1st time...
ME. :)