The best things happen when you least expect them. Yesterday evening, there was this special screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the movie theater very near my house. A local movie club was organizing it. I went there expecting just to see my most favorite film, and unarguably one of the greatest films ever made, one more time on the big screen. But not in my wildest dreams, I had imagined to see among the audience the famed Dr David Bowman of 2001, the Hollywood actor Keir Dullea himself! Mr Dullea was actually invited by the movie club to be a part of this screening.
The summer time in Montreal is very special. Although the spirit of Montrealers is always upbeat- even during the long harsh winters- still the summer is unique, as it comes with lot of colors, brightness and even more optimism. It’s the time when city cleans up nicely and there is one festival after another, most prominent being the Montreal Jazz festival. The summer this year hasn’t been that great till now in terms of weather, what with frequent spells of rain and very occasional clear sky. But that’s not enough to prevent me from celebrating the spirit of Montreal summer through the slide show below. Enjoy!
So, here is the official trailer of this upcoming French short film, PROLOGUE, in which I acted and about which I wrote here. Before you ask me, No, I’m not there in the trailer; thankfully . Have a nice weekend everybody.
Anybody who has followed my blog since early days knows that I have never given any awards for blogging to anybody. And, whenever I have gotten few from some of you generous people out there, I accepted them with thanks, but never felt a need to put them on my blog. Now, some of you might ask, why this arrogance or indifference towards them?
It’s not arrogance. Yes, it’s true that I haven’t been a fan of giving awards on blogosphere. I see blogging as a tool to express yourself, to network with people who have similar interests/goals and finally to connect with people whose views may not be always similar to yours, but who can still enrich your blogging experience with their interesting posts and viewpoints. But, I don’t see blogging as something where you have to prove a point to others regarding your interesting/different views on things or to demonstrate that how good you can express yourself in terms of your writing etc. So when we bring this award business in this, we, directly or indirectly, promote that urge among bloggers to prove a point and be appreciated on blogosphere. I feel such exercise might defeat the whole purpose of blogging and hence I have always shunned away from them till now. I think that the very fact that an A visits a B’s blog regularly and comments etc speak volumes of A’s appreciation of B and therefore A does not need to give an extra award to B to prove his/her appreciation. But, these are all strictly my views in the context of how I see blogging. By saying all this, Iam in no way undermining any award receiver or an award giver.
This post is dedicated to my dear Purnima who wants me to write about my thoughts after my recent trip to India. Thanks Purnima for encouraging me to write this post.
Well, to begin with, I hardly spent much time in India. My visit was short and also hectic (owing to a wedding in the family). So, it’s kind of difficult and also perhaps unfair to give a very definite view on changes seen and witnessed in India. Therefore, I will try to highlight some broader issues as seen by me.
Change is always painfully slow and it takes ages before any concrete changes at the foundation level happen. I was in India after mere 3.5 years, so I was not really expecting to see or experience something radically different. But, it’s also true that, in certain ways, India has been changing very fast in the recent years. And, of course, that change was evident to me.
Finally, finally folks..I have met my dream woman! I know that the wait was long and painful, but in the end, it was worth it..and Iam sure you all will agree.
Who is she? Well.. well..there is a surprise there. No, no.. it’s not Deepika Padukone…it’s not ‘her’…it’s not even ‘you’ !!! Ok, ok, let me tell you about her.
She is 34 years old (bit older than me, but who cares), smart, sensitive, full of life, honest and, most importantly, gorgeous (Yes, Iam into looks..I mean who isnt?). I think she is perfect for me as she complements me in every sense. Iam bright, she is bright. Iam experimental, she is liberal. I like McDonalds, she likes junk food. I rarely go to Gym nowadays and she hates Gyming. I drink wine and she loves drinking. She smokes..hmm..I dont..but common we cant be carbon copies of each other in every sense! I know you all must be very happy for me and that fills my heart with gratitude. Afterall, as my mother says, what’s the purpose of life without a wife!!
You want to see her too?? Hmmm..I was trying to protect her privacy but since you all are so dear to me, I will show you her picture. But, listen..plzzz dont share it with your friends..I know everybody likes to see pretty faces..but common man, there is something called privacy too na. So, to see her, you have to enter a password (shhh..between me and you, that password is: lallopallo)
I grew up in a very small town in India and, except for few later years before I came to west, I mostly lived/studied in small towns only. Actually if you go by the standards of rest of India, in terms of population and size, most of those towns were perhaps not bigger than big villages in many parts of India.
I vividly remember many things from my small town childhood. Most of my present day necessities were laughable audacious dreams then. I remember once (I must be around 10) I was travelling with my family in a bus in the interiors of Himachal Pradesh. Those days, we didnt have television in our home yet, as it was considered luxury by my father and so I had to satiate my love of watching movies by sneaking into those rare neighbors’ homes who not only had TV but were also gracious enough to let in a terribly shy kid. Or, if I was really fortunate, I was permitted to watch a movie in a video hall once in while (yes you heard right..there were no cinema halls there). Anyways, so I was in this bus, staring at the blue colored tin in front of me, the tin which was also the back of the next seat. Suddenly, my imaginative mind thought that what if this blue tin in front of me turns into a screen where some Amitabh Bachhan movie is playing. I was a kid, but even my kiddish mind immediately reasoned that how audacious this dream is and can never come true. Years later, I was on my way to London in a British Airways flight and was watching an AB film on the TV screen just in front of me. And suddenly, I remembered that bus and that dream of mine; I smiled at life.
As extreme cold grips Montreal, with “feels like” temperature dropping to -36 degree Celsius, my friend is really pissed off and his interesting ‘perspectives’ often amuse me. He joined the faculty as Assistant Professor last year only and hence is experiencing the infamous Montreal winter -in it’s ‘full glory’- for the first time. Also, the fact that he originally comes from very warm areas of Hindi hinterland in India, makes his life in this type of weather even more challenging.
Let me welcome year 2009 with dreams of better life for all of us. It’s not unusual that whenever a year ends, we are reminded of some unfulfilled dreams and some unaccomplished promises, promises which we made to ourselves at the beginning of that year. But, I think that’s normal. The important thing is to keep making promises to ourselves every year and not stop dreaming. I wish you all a very happy and a fulfilling 2009.
My latest obsession with saving dough has made sure that my new year celebrations are going to be pretty modest this time. But, for all of you who might be partying really hard: Please dont drink too much; we need you in 2009!
Working in the same University, where you studied before, could be very haunting to your senses. True, not always (it could be fun too), but it certainly is during the end of August and early September when the whole University is bursting with joy and celebration of incoming students. Hordes of different groups of new students and cheerleaders, comprising beautiful young girls, accost you at every corner with their exuberance and painfully remind you of times, not so long ago, when you were among one of those. It also reminds you, painfully again, that how much more you could have enjoyed being in that position then, had you understood the importance of those moments and not wasted those precious moments fretting over inconsequential trivialities of life. And, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you are still a part of that celebration of student life, the sad truth is that you are not. Certain things have right charm at right time only. So, I plead with all of you out there, who are still in that environment, to fully enjoy those moments while you are in school and not give a damn to anything else….because those moments are surely not going to come again!
The picture below was clicked by me and captures the McGill campus around the main ground where orientations and celebrations for the new students are going on this week.
. Have a nice weekend everybody.
