Next Prez: The next big soap opera
From the past few days, newspapers and TV news channels have been hysterically covering the news of who is going to be our next President. This seems to be a sequel to the equally excruciating cricket coach saga. I fail to understand what is all this hue and cry about?
To be honest, do we really care who is going to be our next President? Will that bring any change in our lives? After all President of India is nothing more than a wax figure at Madam Tussauds. How does it matter whether he/she has the right qualifications or not when we know for sure that the Prez's job profile requires nothing more than cutting ribbons, attending high profile parties, visiting different countries as a goodwill ambassador.
In a country like ours where we vote criminals and uneducated village bumpkins to power and make them ministers, handing them the power to carve the future of our nation, I don't think it hardly matters who our President will be.
Mr. Kalam, you might be one of the most brilliant men in this country but as long as I and my fellow countryman keep voting for people like Lalu, you are nothing more than a showpiece. I guess you can contribute much more to our country by probably becoming a scientific advisor or something.
In short, bring on the Patils, the Shekhawats or the Mukherjees. We just don't care, damn it !!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Pursuit of Happiness
A couple of weeks back I watched "The Pursuit of Happiness". I had heard very good reviews about the movie and considering that Will Smith was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Actor category, I was really looking forward to watching it. After having watched it, I must definitely admit that it's one helluva movie. It is definitely one of the most inspiring and touching movies I have seen. The movie teaches tenacity and determination in the face of adversity.
This is a real story of Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith). Chris was a struggling salesman of unwanted and overpriced medical bone density scanners, while his wife wallowed in misery over having to work double shift to support the family including a young son. Chris, seeing that his medical sales career was not going anywhere asked two very pivotal question to a passerby in a Porsche, what do you do and how can he do it. These two questions changed his life and set in motion his pursuit of Happiness.
Desperate to gain financial happiness for his son and himself Chris takes a chance and applies for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. But this chance does come with a price. The opportunity does not come with a salary as he trains for the position. Chris is forced to get serious about his medical bone density business and make it work while he studies for his brokers exams. Because of his pursuit of this dream and the downfall of the medical sales business, Chris’s wife leaves him and he eventually becomes homeless. But he never loses his dream. He fights every step of the way with a single minded resolve to achieve what he believed in.
The movie boasts of some brilliant acting and dialogues. Will Smith is brilliant in his portrayal of Chris Gardner. He definitely deserved an Oscar (but then I am not sure how good Forrest Whitaker was in 'The last king of Scotland'). In my opinion, it is a must-watch.
A couple of weeks back I watched "The Pursuit of Happiness". I had heard very good reviews about the movie and considering that Will Smith was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Actor category, I was really looking forward to watching it. After having watched it, I must definitely admit that it's one helluva movie. It is definitely one of the most inspiring and touching movies I have seen. The movie teaches tenacity and determination in the face of adversity.
This is a real story of Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith). Chris was a struggling salesman of unwanted and overpriced medical bone density scanners, while his wife wallowed in misery over having to work double shift to support the family including a young son. Chris, seeing that his medical sales career was not going anywhere asked two very pivotal question to a passerby in a Porsche, what do you do and how can he do it. These two questions changed his life and set in motion his pursuit of Happiness.
Desperate to gain financial happiness for his son and himself Chris takes a chance and applies for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. But this chance does come with a price. The opportunity does not come with a salary as he trains for the position. Chris is forced to get serious about his medical bone density business and make it work while he studies for his brokers exams. Because of his pursuit of this dream and the downfall of the medical sales business, Chris’s wife leaves him and he eventually becomes homeless. But he never loses his dream. He fights every step of the way with a single minded resolve to achieve what he believed in.
The movie boasts of some brilliant acting and dialogues. Will Smith is brilliant in his portrayal of Chris Gardner. He definitely deserved an Oscar (but then I am not sure how good Forrest Whitaker was in 'The last king of Scotland'). In my opinion, it is a must-watch.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Pehla Nasha
After a really long time, today I listened to "Pehla Nasha" from the movie "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander". What a song!!! I must have heard this song more than a thousand times, but still it has the same effect on me.
It probably is the best Jatin-Lalit composition till-date with some excellent lyrics (Majrooh Sultanpuri). This song along with 'Papa Kehte hain' (QSQT) must rank among my all time favourites.
After a really long time, today I listened to "Pehla Nasha" from the movie "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander". What a song!!! I must have heard this song more than a thousand times, but still it has the same effect on me.
It probably is the best Jatin-Lalit composition till-date with some excellent lyrics (Majrooh Sultanpuri). This song along with 'Papa Kehte hain' (QSQT) must rank among my all time favourites.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Ayn ke Funde
Without a doubt, Ayn Rand ranks as one of my favourite authors. Though I don't completely agree with her theroy of objectivism, it has neverthless been one of the most inspiring pieces of literature. I truly believe in her philosophy that man must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life. Below are some of my favourite Ayn Rand quotes:
- The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
- To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I'.
- A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
- I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
- "Mediocrity" doesn't mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters.
- I don't build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build. (Howard Roark in "The Fountainhead")
- When 'the common good' of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of 'some' men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificial animals.
- I am interested in politics for only one reason -- to reach a day when I would not have to be interested in politics. I want to secure a society in which I would be free to pursue my own concerns and goals, knowing that the government would not interfere to wreck them, knowing that my life, my work, my future were not at the mercy of the state.
Without a doubt, Ayn Rand ranks as one of my favourite authors. Though I don't completely agree with her theroy of objectivism, it has neverthless been one of the most inspiring pieces of literature. I truly believe in her philosophy that man must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life. Below are some of my favourite Ayn Rand quotes:
- The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
- To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I'.
- A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
- I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
- "Mediocrity" doesn't mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters.
- I don't build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build. (Howard Roark in "The Fountainhead")
- When 'the common good' of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of 'some' men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificial animals.
- I am interested in politics for only one reason -- to reach a day when I would not have to be interested in politics. I want to secure a society in which I would be free to pursue my own concerns and goals, knowing that the government would not interfere to wreck them, knowing that my life, my work, my future were not at the mercy of the state.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Main aur meri tanhayi
Well, I never thought that I will one day blog on something like loneliness. I never thought that I will ever feel lonely, considering that I am mostly with my loved ones. But now with all my friends busy in their own lives after their wedding/engagement, I am suddenly struck with the feeling of loneliness. Solitude, though is not as bad as I thought. In a way, it helps you reconnect with yourself. It gives me the space and time to be able to do a lot of self-talking and analysing. Here I am, living by myself, with myself, and for myself for the first time in my life. I'm sure it won't be for a long time, nor do I want it to be. But I am truly enjoying looking at the world through my very own independent eyes, and hearing with my own ears.
Well, I never thought that I will one day blog on something like loneliness. I never thought that I will ever feel lonely, considering that I am mostly with my loved ones. But now with all my friends busy in their own lives after their wedding/engagement, I am suddenly struck with the feeling of loneliness. Solitude, though is not as bad as I thought. In a way, it helps you reconnect with yourself. It gives me the space and time to be able to do a lot of self-talking and analysing. Here I am, living by myself, with myself, and for myself for the first time in my life. I'm sure it won't be for a long time, nor do I want it to be. But I am truly enjoying looking at the world through my very own independent eyes, and hearing with my own ears.
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