Our Boys

This picture has been in circulation for a while now. Its simply hilarious. I hope these cricketers get a chance to see this and give some arbit explanation for the same.

The name is Rajnikanth

I was quite reluctant to buy this book, the first time I saw it on the stands in Landmark.

Then later I decided, what the hell, let me see what's in there. I picked it from a local music-world and started reading.

The book, as everyone can guess, is totally about what Shivaji Rao's life has been till now. It creates a perfect blend of what the times were during the pre-filmy years and after entering into films.

There is more emphasis on the journey, which is something that most people dont know and are not aware of. A journey of how a mischievous shivaji rao, who was roaming the streets of bangalore with his friends, wasting time and money, not thinking much about his poor family, to becoming a superhero.

The whole story is quite simple - I mean, the way its represented in the book. No bombastic words. Language is quite simple. Sometimes it feels like as if you are reading through a collection of random blog posts by the same person.



The book takes an interesting journey. There is no chronology as such. We get into the past where Shivaji is a child and then in the next one we suddenly leap into, for example, a chapter about how he got married to Lata. So, in way, even if you think that you are going to get bored reading about someone's life, you'll be kept at a reasonable pace because of changing moods.

What I could learn after reading this book is that most of what we see about Rajni in his movies is perhaps a reflection of what his life has been. He put in efforts towards making a movie on Raghavendra or Baba was only because he strongly believed that these two people make a great impact on his religious sentiments.

The most important part of this book is stories about hardships, economic dependance, friendship, struggle, hope, confidence, crisis etc. I think I can just go on. Frankly, thats the truth. There is a lot of unknown stuff about Rajni and his early years in Madras (much before he met KB for Apoorva Ragangal) and this book simply gets all that to light.

The book also tell us stuff about politics in Tamil Nadu and even the Centre, how Rajni got himself involved unnecessarily and burnt his fingers. Incidents such as the elections, Veerappan's escapades, Cauvery issue are highlights.

Coming to stuff that cant be avoided. This book could have been edited with maybe a steady mind. Its so full of mistakes. And mistakes when done on facts really irritates anyone. Especially when movie enthusiasts read this book, they'll probably want to just throw this book into the trash can for such bad editing. Most movie names are quoted wrong - dont know if there was any intention. At some places, even the connections with dates and movies are wrong. After seeing so many mistakes, I strongly felt that the book shouldnt be selling for even half the price.

Verdict: If you are a hardcore Rajni fan, then its worth a buy.. Dont buy if off the stands, its very expensive. Get it on the web. Its a lot cheaper. Or even a pirated version would do.

Marketing

I came across this picture during my random images search in Google. It was a big surprise for me!

Although when you look close, this looks like a very bad job done out of Adobe Photoshop, but still, its something totally different and revolutionary.

DOVE - a very famous brand name among Indian households used to run this campaign in the UK where they employed non-ramp-walk models to promote their skin products. So these women who were part of the posters used to be a little on the plump side, nevertheless pretty.

Coming back to this - I am trying to figure out what was in this Brazilian Beer Maker's mind.

I mean, in one way, you could say that the company is trying to tell the world that they have a beer brand that even pregnant women can enjoy. Considering the fact that pregnant women have to keep themselves away from alcohol, which is sometimes a big sacrifice for a lot of women in the west.

A non alcoholic beer for pregnant women? Not just women, but I guess in some way, men as well (some men don't drink for the sake of their partners). OR, are they trying to pack this as a family drink?

On the other hand, aren't they subconsciously sending a disturbing message to the public?

I can also see a somewhat distorted "S", signifying surrogate advertising.

But I am still a bit confused. Do you readers have any MBA related thoughts on this?

Scarlett

The other day I was watching Barkha Dutt's discussion on NDTV about Scarlett Keeling case. There were people from different walks of life - press, government, writers, and of course the residents of Goa.

After that one hour discussion, what I still can't believe is that idiot power minister or whoever he is talking about Goa still being a safe place and blaming the girl for all what happened. The Secretary of the Goa Ministry - some Singh he is. He was talking bulshit too.

I mean for once can't someone in power tell directly that he will castrate the accused if proven guilty?

They kept telling all long winding stories about how Goa has been a nice place all this while and this was just a one-off incident that they are sorry about and all that nonsense.

India men in this aspect look absolutely sexually deprived. Especially, if you take the ones that are involved in such cases. They just think that they can do anything with tourists and get away with it. And I guess its also got to do with the way the Indian men treat their country women too. Mostly there is a lot of disrespect. I mean its time women's liberation fronts did something here. They keep fighting for stuff like domestic violence. But they also dont realise that its the same men who are tarnishing the face of the country. If you go to any tourist spot in India that is filled with white women, I am quite sure that you can uncover a whole lot of connections - like drugs, mafia, police. Everybody works hand in hand.

Okay, you ruthless pricks can be sex deprived. You wouldn't have seen white breasts for sure. But does that mean that you have to go and kill someone? That too a 15 year old girl? She can be whatever - a drug addict or even a sex machine. Why commit the brutal act of taking someone's life?

The government here blames the mother. What the fuck! Why can't they bloody well nab the people involved and make them incapable of doing anything of that sort again - just cut it off i mean. Sometimes I think we'll do better if we have rules that some Middle Eastern countries have. Pure Force. All this secular and democratic crap is just complicating things.

People say - Better to be safe than be sorry. But are we really looking at the problem here.

For all those tourists who are still out there, am sorry but this country still needs a lot of laws to keep you safe. Until then, if you are a lone traveller don't venture out after mid-night. Its not just Goa but everywhere.

Cornered

So I was at a family wedding. Something funny had to happen. And so it began.

Relatives will be called R1, R2 etc. Otherwise its too difficult. My mom's extended family was almost 100+ strong during the wedding. Rather complicated.

The scene is the evening Engagement and Sangeeth. And everyone is ready to pose in front of my new companion - the D80.

Amidst all that noise...



R1: Hey, did you see that girl? (Immediately cautioning me) Now don't turn around and look behind. She is wearing a white salwar and sitting on the second row from the dais. It seems her dad is totally ready to... (i am pretending that i did not hear this part).. so what do you say?

Me: (Not very convinced with the argument and also not knowing what to say). Is it?

I turned around and looked at the girl.

Me: Oh, this one eh. This topic (girl i meant) came up some time back also and I didn't want to pursue it.

R1: Why?

Me:(In my mind - its so easy to ask questions. You know how difficult it is to give an explanation for a NO) I really don't know but I don't think I want to get married to her.

R1: I think she is really pretty and she will be the best person for our family. She looks just right. What more do you need? I don't think you'll get a better person that her.

(Judgment was made now. I was losing it. But I told myself - this is just another stage. I just need to comfortably get myself out of this nonsense)

Me: No, if this is getting to where I am guessing it will, I will not be here for the wedding tomorrow. I will not come back tomorrow morning.

R1 goes to a group where R2 to Rn are sitting. The topic has been introduced to everyone now. So all eyes are in one direction. I am trying to keep myself away from talking to any other person.

R2: Why, what's wrong?

Me: I don't feel like it.

R2: Then what kind of a girl would you marry?

Me: (Not wanting to sing "Oru Ooril Azhage" from the movie "Kaakha Kaakha") Well, when I get married to that someone, I'll let you know and you can find out.

R3:(who was standing behind R2 and watching in silence) Oh, so you want the bells to ring as an indication? (referring to the Tamil movie "Mozhi" )

Me:(totally embarrassed) Maybe, I really need the bell to ring.

R1 calls R4 who has been running around and meeting everyone at the hall.

R1(explains everything to R4): So what do you say?

R4: She is ok. Can't say anything wrong about her.

Me: Well, I don't want people who you find to be just "ok" nor people with whom you can find any fault, so you judge them as just the right person.

R5: What's happening here?

Then R5 gets a dump of whatever happened till now. R5 takes a quick look and then..

R5: Hmm... she is ok but I wouldn't recommend.

Me: (feeling happy that I was not getting cornered) Now that's what I call a real savior.

Thought Provoking

I found this quote in another blog when I was browsing...

The person who says that rape within a marriage should be acceptable also thinks that long distance travel with a child next to you is enjoyable. Scary