What happens to New Year Resolutions by Feb?

Two days after a terrorist attack, we're back to business. So imagine the fate of the poor new year resolution. I vowed to keep the posts going, but sadly, I could manage four in two months. However, like the really old adage goes "try, try again".

Raj...naam tho suna hoga?

Remember the name, you'll be screaming it out in agony 2 hours into 'rab ney bana di jodi'. To call the plot line wafer thin would be highly complimentary. As my four year old summed it up "there's a Shah Rukh with specs and a Shah Rukh without specs". And this is Aditya Chopra's latest opus (should I say flopus?). Three hours of Shah Rukh at his hammy best, terrible music, old, old jokes and repetitive song sequences...the man must think that the average viewer has the IQ of a concussed troll. Puhlease. Grow up. People actually watch slick, well made movies these days, Mr.Chopra. The only bright spark was the heroine who was believable as a small town girl (instead of the usual glam-zilla, who doesnt' look like she can be from anywhere on earth).

While on the topic of bad movies, can anyone tell me what's it about 'dostana'? Did someone say, guys, let's make John Abraham and Abishek kiss and then we'll figure some story around it??? I think the world has seen enough of Kiron Kher as the overacting mama. And what a waste of Boman Irani in such an insignificant, mindless walk on role. As usual, cinematography and style have taken the place of acting and script. Priyanka Chopra looks sensational and raises her eyebrows cutely in an attempt to act. Save it girl, neither the director nor the story demands it.

Let's talk garbage

Please. Talk garbage. Call these numbers and talk garbage, repeatedly. Till they come and take it away. These are the numbers of Neel Metal Fanalca.
28470200 & 45536226.
Under whose inefficient purview, my side of Chennai falls. Heaps of garbage are now a common sight in these once clean lanes. Add the rain and slush and heaven knows what you are stepping on. The reason for me and indeed each one of us to be bloody agitated is the wholesale rise in infections. My father and I both have contracted leptospirosis ( a bacterial infection that spreads through rats), our kids are viral fever regulars (each strain nastier than the other) and doctors' clinics are overflowing with the same sad eyed patients, each clutching a blood test report.
Garbage may not be the only reason, but it is one which we can control. Please call if garbage in your street is lying strewn on the pavements, or if there are an inadequate number of bins. And guys, please throw garbage INSIDE the bin. Or drill the point into your maid's head. Not doing so, is going to cost all of us. Much, much more than the cost of either a phone call or a minute's extra effort.
BTW, 1913 is the Chennai corporation helpline.

An open letter to terrorists

Dear wielders of AK 47s and hurlers of grenades,
a few home truths about India. Please don't waste your years of training and stockpiles on trying to destabilize us. You will not succeed. We have past masters at the job already. Despite 16 blasts in the recent past, we still don't have a security system in place. That should tell you a lot about the people in charge. Where's the challenge in killing a bunch of people about whom nobody cares? Where's the thrill of penetrating a high security circle where none exists? A few 100 dead to us is small change. Remember we are a country of more than a billion.
Unless the toll reaches 10,000 or more, our terminally deaf politicians will not hear the screams of the dying. They are too busy practising the art of power grabbing. Our leaders (unlike yours) are not inspirational, merely perspirational. Our Prime Minister addresses the nation with the body language of a lame duck. The leader of the Congress reads out a prepared text, hardly glancing at the camera, for fear that she would make eye contact with a shocked and aggreived nation. The leaders of the opposition are engaging in the fine art of one upmanship. Chief Minister of the state does not even think he has to resign. After all, these things happen, it is karma. And the media thinks that Pakistan is responsible for everything, including the Latur earthquake and the Tsunami. To the uninitiated, this is just another fine day in the democracy of India.
Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Slouching Tiger, Crying Reader

A sarcastic Rohinton Mistry
Shashi Tharoor with a liberal sprinkling of F words
Wannabe Rushdie
Sorry, but that sums up the "White Tiger" in my opinion.
As for originality, remember the old tamil joke oru G naal T?

My booker of bookers

haven't tamed the "White Tiger" yet. But have ploughed through the entire booker list in a fit of madness. Some gems, lots of duds.
My top picks thus far
Midnight's children - Salman Rushdie
The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguru
Blind Assasin - Margaret Atwood
Possession - AS Byatt
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Line of Beauty - Allan Hollinghurst
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle

The really terrible ones (avoid like the plague)
The Bone People
Famished Road
G
The siege of Krishnapur
For the entire list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_and_shortlisted_authors_of_the_Booker_Prize_for_Fiction
P.S. I read only the winners, heard there are some folks who read nominees et al.

grey's back

hi
grey matters is back in action and promises to be more uptodate this time.