Movies on Mafioso

Well, Mangal Pandey was the disappointment of the year. Took 4 years to make such shit. But its a waste of time to talk about such movies.

What I wanted to talk was about the theme of a different genre of movies. Movies which involved the Mafia. Well, I was watching Godfather the other day @ Pushkar's house and then watched Sarkar. Also, reminisced the first gangster movie - Satya and the followup of Company.

What struck me was the gradual delineation of boundary between bad and good.

If you observe Godfather - in all the 3 parts it firmly believed that what the Don did was bad and Michael and the Don himself were always trying to become 'legitimate'. Even when they mentioned about the days in Italy where they had to fight the government, it was a robinhood kind of thing to do but ultimately it was bad. Although, it was all about business and the family, however the family grudgingly accepted the business. Michael did not want to be part of it and Kay left Michael for what he became.

Satya - Here the family had very little say even though Bhiku Mahtre the protagonist loved his wife. Here, Satya joins initially to take revenge but the ultimately, he is in for the money.

Company is where the shades start becoming gray. Chandu's wife and mother have no qualms about him earning money by killing guys. And the movie does not show a robinhood kind of saga but its money and greed for which Chandu does not follow the path of good. A far cry from 'Mother India' where the mother does not tolerate such behavior.

However, Sarkar is where the protagonist is now good instead of being bad and he punishes the people since the justice system could not do its work. I do wonder how did the justice system degrade if not for such warlords if I may say. So if not a single innocent man is harmed by Sarkar who runs a parallel government than it means the laws are ineffective or the laws are not taken in the spirit in which they are to be enforced.

Now, why does the bad really become good. Is it the law as Ayn Rand mentions in Atlas Shrugged - Making a law which people are forced to break will involve more power to the government. But I do wonder, if the entire constitution is bad ...

This does not look to be the case then, the people involved do discharge their duties properly. Which of the above actually is what has happened ? Which means the sense of fairness and morality of people have nosedived in the society ..

Basically, the movies represent the genre of our own society or is it all fiction ...

Is RobinHood really a good person or are Robinhoods created due to the societies righteousness dives down ..

Any Thoughts !!!

Ash to Ashes??

Ash to Ashes??

Now that the Ashes is nicely balanced and has garnered the attention of the entired cricketing world, I had a few questions to put forth to u guys...

1. Is Shaun Tait ready to wear the baggy green and let a few loose at the ruddy noses of the Poms? Or shud the old dogged warhorse Kasprowicz be given another go?
2. Are the Aussies over the hill? Is this the end of an era?
3. Why are the Pommie bowlers hailed as contemporary greats now that they've learnt the art of reverse swing whilst Waqar and Wasim branded as cheats by the same media?
4. Is Ponting the right man to lead the Aussies? Isnt he wrong in not using part timers like Katich and Clarke a little more when Giles (a left handed bowler likewise)...created havoc?
5. Finally what are ur predictions on the final standings? Whom do you support to take the sacred Urn?

-Balls

Independence Day

Fellow freaks,

Firstly , Happy Independence Day to all of you fellas.

Me and Vishal were talking about this and we thought we will post this question to each one of you.

What does Independence day mean to you ?

Here is what we thought it meant to us -

Every Independence Day, I think of the hundred and thousands who participated in the most unique freedom struggle on the history of earth, and I feel extremely proud of myself for being a part of that great nation. But then I think of how much do I really understand of being a slave. I guess none. Freedom was served to me on a silver plate and I have and probably never will truly realize the value of it.

I am afraid that I think about these things only I-day and then I feel scared that I am becoming what I have always feared to be- Just another soul busy in the mundane routines , one who is more interested in his monthly paycheck than anything else around him. I am scared that my only touch with my country is now limited to a bullshit newspaper (hell, I shouldnt even call it that) called TimesOfIndia which serves me nothing but crappy tabloidism. I am scared that another 3-4 years and I may even cease to feel as much as I do now.

-Marw .

"The true value of independence can only be measured by people who have seen both sides of it ... people who have lived in British-ruled India and free India ... people who have given their sweat, tears, blood and a lot more towards the fight for independence ... Its hard for our generation to really grasp what it means like to be slaves ... to be under a foreign body's rule ... free air can be valued only by someone who has been in a cage long enough.

Independence Day fills me with pride each and every time ... proud that I am an Indian ... it gives me goose bumps just thinking about the freedom struggle and what sacrifices people must have made so that I could see this day. But the problem is I experience these feelings only on I-day and not on each and every day throughout the year. Don't get me wrong, doesn't mean I rebuke India or dont feel proud that I am an Indian on the other days, just that those (very essential) goose bumps are not there.

If only Independence Day meant more than just a holiday to me India would have been a much better place."

-vcd

Notes : How about a limit of one comment per person for this post. (with ur I-day thoughts). so give it a thought before u reply.

House Warming

House Warming

This blog is intended towards people who werent present for bhaiyya n Co's. House warming party. Hence this blog might seem a li'll descriptive to those who were present. I've linked the description to pixx so that it might be easier for u guys (with inferior IQs) to relate to what was going on. Ive tried to maintain similar tempos of the blog with that of the party. You guys are the judge.

The Intro:
So there I was on on a pluvious friday evening, sitting inside Helmand's having second thoughts about an expensive trip to Baltimore. But the sight of Aup put me to ease; reason...well its more to do with the zillion trips he has made to Baltimore for no specific reason. Or to put it better ... it was good to be back 'home'. The food as always was close 'fresh' orgasm as is possible... and the ice-cream even better !! So off we went to bhaiyya's place carrying rotund bellies and feather light wallets.

The Place:
Bhaiyya's place is a 3 bedroom neat little apartment with a fireplace (with a bear rug besides it, wud serve them well enough for many of their sausage parties :-). The place between the living room and the kitchen has a nice little bar area. We setup the furniture, lamps, home theater system (a sexy Onkyo system that bhaiyya purchased) the same night.

The Party:
It certainly wasnt anywhere close to the kinda people that we are used to in our parties. It was a motley bunch of people, 3 sets in all: Mike's friend's from Philly, Pranam's lab mates and some others from UMBC. Meghana had made some of her irresistable puffs for starters. But the atmosphere was still pretty uptight as people gathered around in groups and chatted amongst themselves. Some losers were watching Spiderman (no offence meant Lookateem). I started having having second thoughts abt the party again.

The Liquor:
First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you...the theme of the party thyair. Booze was literally flowing like water. You name a drink/cocktail and you could find it in there. Right from Whiskey to Vodka to all kinds of beer to Tequilla to Martini....but sadly twas bereft of any O'Doulls :-). Bhaiyya and Lookateem teamed up as able bar-tenders and did a commendable job. Mike was completely gonno in the sense that he started kicking his friends from Philly in the butt. He was promptly taken out by one of friends where I hear Mike gave a 45 min lecture on who he was and his purpose in life.The alcohol did loosen up things a bit but the atmosphere was still a bit stiff to my liking. During a customary B.D break, Aup, Meg and me were comparing this party to the best we've ever had...Goli's bday party. Immediately we looked at each and roared....The Game !!!!

The Game:
During Goli's party atleast we guys knew each so we could be confident enough to write stuff out of the way. But after reading some of the stuff that was written by complete strangers to other strangers just had me rolling on the floor. When these guys came to know of the actual secret that you have to perform the thing that you wrote, the were appalled and started quite a scene...I sensed there itself...Aup's strategy of exhorting them into writing scandalizing scenarios had worked!!

The Performances:
First up was this girl (sorry im bad with names) who had written down for bhaiyya to dance on his fav Madhuri Dixit song. She was really flustered by mustered up the courage to add a twist to the proceedings...she wanted bhaiyya to accompany her (bhaiyya i think she fancied you ;-) ! Bhaiyya as we all know was now seriously embarrassed and started gulping down a couple of shots!! And after much persuasion he started his version of the 'Bihari Dixit' jig which had close to all of us in tears. Next up was this un-believable performance from Sumit. He had written down for another stranger (ofcourse) to perform a belly dancing act. He started like this...”Now fellas you all have to concentrate here”....pointing to his belly....and everyone rolled on the floor. There were other notable performers too like this dude Jayant (Pranam's friend) acted out his fantasy first night (well apparently he wants to plead to his partner to remove her clothes...sad). Abhishek (bhaiyya's friend) narrated an incident which was supposed to be his most embarrassing moment of his life...but it was hardly hilarious. So guess what me made him dance and thus he had delivered his most embarrassing moment...by far. Then there was this other guy who acted as Gabbar with Srikant hogging the limelight to volunteer as Thakur....the pic says it all....hilarious piecashit. Miss MU then sang 'Summer of 69'. Now I really noticed that she has some great ventriloquistic talents coz she hardly appeared singing but the voice was that of a drunk Mr.Balakrishnan. While Mike was downstairs explaining the purpose & his importance in Agnik and society per se, Aup did a brilliant impersonation of him ('Bho$@&e mein jaa ree...'). Lookateem did his customary bit of Helen and I teamed up as Jalal Agha, Pranam pissed on Balaji (Pranam = Dog & Balaji = Lampost), and I did the cliched Devsaab (GOD) + Gladstone Small (Satan) impersonation. On heavy public demand I even did a Bappi Da (He who must not be named)...'Yaad aa raha hai' which a lot of idiots couldnt grasp. Some pretty nice food from House of India was served to call it an end.

The End:

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end .

-Balls

Be .. Not Become

"All the Buddhas of all the ages have been telling you a very simple fact: Be - don't try to become. Withing these two words - being and becoming, your whole life is contained. Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance." - Osho

94.1

Can you imagine that there could be such rainfall in one day that would leave trains, buses, people stranded and life in disarray. But it happened. A few days ago I was speaking to my dad and he was of the opinion that there havent been rains in 15 days and the weather was getting really hot for comfort. 15 days later on 26th July 2005, the city of Bombay experiences not rainfall but huge flood causing non-stop rain filling all the low lying areas.
My parents were stranded in their offices. While my dad was enjoying his stay in office ( at Vasai), my mom fought the incessant rains and reached home ( Goregaon- Borivli) in 5 1/2 hours. Her journey included an adventurous walk (read swim) in waist high water and then taking a tonga( horse-ride) from Borivli station to my house. My dad wasnt that lucky though, he kept visiting Vasai station hour after hour but there was no scope of any trains. People from his office started the unavoidable "padyatra" and few of them even travelled the lengths of Vasai Road - Andheri in 10 hours( have to give it to them). My dad was in his office for two days and finally reached home at 5 am this morning.
Was speaking to him on the fone and the popular sentiment was that this is a natural calamity and no drainage system can be good enough to counter 40 inches of rainfall in a day. No planning committee can make arrangements to fight the loss of comunication and paralysis to the backbone of the city's transportation. I think sometime the decision of my parents to buy a house on 3rd floor paid off, otherwise we would be ruing our decisions like one of my friends ( Venkat from office ), whose ground floor flat in Chembur was totally washed out. He told me that it was not the loss of furniture, or his TV set that is disturbing, but all his family albums kept safely in the "divan" (sofa cum bed) and also all small things which mean a lot and money cannot buy them. It is amazing how it is more disappointing to lose something you treasure that is not that expensive, while you bear monetary losses worth 2 lacs.
But the indomitable fighting spirit of Bombay stays on and thats what I love about it.People swimming through 10 feet of water to feed the people who were stuck in trains and buses. Rescue operations totally led by localites in the absence of the fire brigade guys or the police. And the total business mindedness ( read opportunistic mentality) even in the times of disaster ( I say this because the day it rained, a cup of tea cost 15 Rs on VT station. Finally they were out of milk, so tea was made with Energee and that cost 22 bucks .. Wada pav cost anywhere between 15-20 bucks..funny but true).But it is Bombay and it will rise back soon, the ever rising death toll from this incident and the shock it has endured, notwithstanding.

Is exploiting system loopholes for one's own benefit correct?