That's me having my lunch on a market visit. Chanced upon it in a facebook tool. The temperature was close to 5 - 6 deg cel. My companions were a book, my rucksack, shades and my phone during those days. Loved every moment of it :)
Luv,
P.R.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
A quite meal
Moment of truth
It's this amazing show on Star World where a person is asked questions about his life with his family watching and the questions are very very personal. The answer can only be true/false. The trick is that the questions are from a list asked before hand while the participant is attached to a lie detector.
The participant can move up the money pyramid only if the answers are right. He can back out when he wants to before a question, but once it's asked you just don't lose money, you lose face on TV. And here's where psychology comes into place. If you back out at any time, everyone knows that you have something to hide, but if you stay on and can't answer questions which become even more personal and pointed, then everyone knows the truth, irrespective of what you answer.
It takes man's most basic vice greed with another vice of lying and slowly but surely strips him, till he's left with nothing but cash.
It's a deep dark intriguing show. A must see.
- Pranay
The participant can move up the money pyramid only if the answers are right. He can back out when he wants to before a question, but once it's asked you just don't lose money, you lose face on TV. And here's where psychology comes into place. If you back out at any time, everyone knows that you have something to hide, but if you stay on and can't answer questions which become even more personal and pointed, then everyone knows the truth, irrespective of what you answer.
It takes man's most basic vice greed with another vice of lying and slowly but surely strips him, till he's left with nothing but cash.
It's a deep dark intriguing show. A must see.
- Pranay
Osama bin Laden Vs. Obama Biden
20 - 30 years later, kids in history class will learn about the big confrontation between terror led by Osama against the free world led by Obama n to make matters more confusing we're now gonna have Osama Bin Laden battling Obama - Biden.
Just imagine how confusing would that be. Not for Indian students though. We'll still be learning pre-independence history cause that's all the history we need.
Luv,
P.R.
Just imagine how confusing would that be. Not for Indian students though. We'll still be learning pre-independence history cause that's all the history we need.
Luv,
P.R.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Are you living your life as yourself?
In Mona Lisa smile, there is this scene where Van Gogh's art is shown by this feminist teacher Julia Roberts to her students as an example of doing what you feel and then she speaks about how Van Gogh post his death is being immitated. Art is after all what you feel is beautiful.
Too many people spend too much time trying to fit themselves to typecasts just because they are worried about what the world will say. Peer pressure causes enough damage to enough people, parental/superior pressure screws most of the rest.
They say that each fingerprint is distinguished from another than how can each person be the same. God created each one of us as a piece of art distinct and beautiful. Every piece of art is beautiful, what makes it a masterpiece is how distinct it is.
So you make your choice. You could in this lfe time be a acceptable piece of art or you could for eternity be a masterpiece.
He wiped his brush on the grass,
Then dipped it in the Ocean blue.
He took the utmost care in detail,
in creating a piece of art called you.
Then one day you looked up,
and saw another of his creations.
You thought to yourself,
Why can't I be more like that.
First you changed your body,
N then it was your soul.
Till one day you looked at the mirror,
N all you saw was this big black hole.
Your individualism is your soul,
your distinctiveness is your heart.
It is you being yourself,
that really sets you apart.
Go ahead be different,
Think and do as you please.
Your not just another piece of art
You are God's own masterpiece
- Pranay
Too many people spend too much time trying to fit themselves to typecasts just because they are worried about what the world will say. Peer pressure causes enough damage to enough people, parental/superior pressure screws most of the rest.
They say that each fingerprint is distinguished from another than how can each person be the same. God created each one of us as a piece of art distinct and beautiful. Every piece of art is beautiful, what makes it a masterpiece is how distinct it is.
So you make your choice. You could in this lfe time be a acceptable piece of art or you could for eternity be a masterpiece.
He wiped his brush on the grass,
Then dipped it in the Ocean blue.
He took the utmost care in detail,
in creating a piece of art called you.
Then one day you looked up,
and saw another of his creations.
You thought to yourself,
Why can't I be more like that.
First you changed your body,
N then it was your soul.
Till one day you looked at the mirror,
N all you saw was this big black hole.
Your individualism is your soul,
your distinctiveness is your heart.
It is you being yourself,
that really sets you apart.
Go ahead be different,
Think and do as you please.
Your not just another piece of art
You are God's own masterpiece
- Pranay
Bandhits
The one thing that happens efficiently in Kol is Bandhs. But still sincere soldiers that we are. We wake up in the morning and hope that some crazy cabby will take us to office where we would remain till after the bandh is off.
Today even the cabbies decided they wouldn't come near my house so here I am wide awake, watching the Mona Lisa smile on Star Movies. Switched to the News channel which tells me about the zillion flights/trains which have got cancelled courtesy a bandh to oppose the effect of inflation on the common man.
So some common man, could have just retired, who probably booked his tickets months in advance so that he and his wife could travel in style in a Spicejet or Deccan flight will be stranded at some airport or be bumped off a flight. Not fair naa.
Anyway I in my nice little duplex chummery in one of Kolkata's most affluent neighbourhoods really have no say on inflation. Frankly it's been ages since I bought a vegetable or fruit, forget buying foodgrains and bare essentials. However I somehow think that disrupting daily life affects the lower stratas more than actual decision makers. Probably a silent protest would have been better.
- P.R.
Today even the cabbies decided they wouldn't come near my house so here I am wide awake, watching the Mona Lisa smile on Star Movies. Switched to the News channel which tells me about the zillion flights/trains which have got cancelled courtesy a bandh to oppose the effect of inflation on the common man.
So some common man, could have just retired, who probably booked his tickets months in advance so that he and his wife could travel in style in a Spicejet or Deccan flight will be stranded at some airport or be bumped off a flight. Not fair naa.
Anyway I in my nice little duplex chummery in one of Kolkata's most affluent neighbourhoods really have no say on inflation. Frankly it's been ages since I bought a vegetable or fruit, forget buying foodgrains and bare essentials. However I somehow think that disrupting daily life affects the lower stratas more than actual decision makers. Probably a silent protest would have been better.
- P.R.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
A nation's dream comes true - Abhinav Bindra
If you chanced to look through the window at the ITC Chummery at Hastings, Kolkata 5 mins back, you'd see 2 middle aged slightly overweight guys standing to attention to the Indian national anthem. Both these guys are not known to keep quite ever and yet for once they were speechless.
By now you must've guessed that I was one of them. The other one is Shanky. The event that left us speechless was Abhinav Bindra winning the gold medal for the 10 m rifle event at the Olympic games. He shot a 10.8 in the last shot which from the 20 mins we saw the event is pretty high and definitely the highest at the finals. Then this unassuming bespectacled guy stood on the podium and received his Gold medal while the Indian flag was hoisted high with the anthem playing in the background.
Last post I spoke about the dream of hearing the national anthem play while I stood in a stadium. A dream which seems most impossible and then for those few seconds I vicariously lived the dream thanks to a person who's just answered a hundred prayers.
My first reaction when I had heard about our first individual gold medal at the Olympics was ' This country sucks' and I never say that. Probably because I've seen a zillion talented people, played with some getting lost in the quagmire of Indian sports. There are a million more Bindras, Rathores and Paes' waiting for their opportunity. I sure hope this serves as a beginning.
Heck, Chuck the melodrama. Let's celebrate.
After a few hundred years, India is back with a bang.
- P.R.
By now you must've guessed that I was one of them. The other one is Shanky. The event that left us speechless was Abhinav Bindra winning the gold medal for the 10 m rifle event at the Olympic games. He shot a 10.8 in the last shot which from the 20 mins we saw the event is pretty high and definitely the highest at the finals. Then this unassuming bespectacled guy stood on the podium and received his Gold medal while the Indian flag was hoisted high with the anthem playing in the background.
Last post I spoke about the dream of hearing the national anthem play while I stood in a stadium. A dream which seems most impossible and then for those few seconds I vicariously lived the dream thanks to a person who's just answered a hundred prayers.
My first reaction when I had heard about our first individual gold medal at the Olympics was ' This country sucks' and I never say that. Probably because I've seen a zillion talented people, played with some getting lost in the quagmire of Indian sports. There are a million more Bindras, Rathores and Paes' waiting for their opportunity. I sure hope this serves as a beginning.
Heck, Chuck the melodrama. Let's celebrate.
After a few hundred years, India is back with a bang.
- P.R.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Another dream comes true
As a kid I assumed I was to become a football star like my dad. I remember listening eagerly about tales about dad''s exploits from everyone except him. Of course life took a turn which was different but equally interesting which left three unfulfilled dreams. One to hear the national anthem playing while I stood in a stadium, second to play a soccer match under floodlights, third to play soccer in Kolkata.
Dream 2 happened when I played for ITC in the CCFC cup and dream 3 came true when we played CCFC B team under floodlights in Kolkata.
It's been an eternity since I played a competitive 11 a side match. In the games that we played at school level, we never really were tense because we as a team had lost just 3 competitive games in the entire span we played together. It was generally about how many goals we would win by.
Years later, I looked around at my team mates, most of them people who must've been good players at their times. I wore my shin guards, laced up my super expensive adidas boots (something I never could afford in school) and walked out to the ground, a silent prayer in my heart substituting the prayer we said before each school game and then it was magic.
I played in the position I had started playing soccer, the right back. The game started with a run along my side which badly exposed me. I recovered only to see the player scoring because of bad judgement by our stand in goalkeeper. 0-1 and we were just 5 minutes into the game.
The opposition had reason to thrash us because we were a group of individuals who had hardly played together and were all out of practice. The game begun with us suddenly trying to come to terms with the situation. I was one of the 2 people who did not understand bong on the field but still understood what I had to do instinctively.
That's the magic of football. a person from Ghana passes to another from Ukraine and they both know what the other person wants. We slowly began climbing back into the match and before the clock struck half time we were 1-1.
The 2nd half saw us reinforcing our defence with 2 new people, only two of us remained and soon we were dominating the match. Suddenly it was school again. After making hasty clearances all 1st half, I regained the confidence to make passes within our D, even dribbled past a player and made a run forward. The clock seemed to have turned back and I was totally enjoying myself, as cocky as ever.
The final whistle blew at 70 mins and we won 2 - 1. Another dream comes true.
- Pranay Rao
Dream 2 happened when I played for ITC in the CCFC cup and dream 3 came true when we played CCFC B team under floodlights in Kolkata.
It's been an eternity since I played a competitive 11 a side match. In the games that we played at school level, we never really were tense because we as a team had lost just 3 competitive games in the entire span we played together. It was generally about how many goals we would win by.
Years later, I looked around at my team mates, most of them people who must've been good players at their times. I wore my shin guards, laced up my super expensive adidas boots (something I never could afford in school) and walked out to the ground, a silent prayer in my heart substituting the prayer we said before each school game and then it was magic.
I played in the position I had started playing soccer, the right back. The game started with a run along my side which badly exposed me. I recovered only to see the player scoring because of bad judgement by our stand in goalkeeper. 0-1 and we were just 5 minutes into the game.
The opposition had reason to thrash us because we were a group of individuals who had hardly played together and were all out of practice. The game begun with us suddenly trying to come to terms with the situation. I was one of the 2 people who did not understand bong on the field but still understood what I had to do instinctively.
That's the magic of football. a person from Ghana passes to another from Ukraine and they both know what the other person wants. We slowly began climbing back into the match and before the clock struck half time we were 1-1.
The 2nd half saw us reinforcing our defence with 2 new people, only two of us remained and soon we were dominating the match. Suddenly it was school again. After making hasty clearances all 1st half, I regained the confidence to make passes within our D, even dribbled past a player and made a run forward. The clock seemed to have turned back and I was totally enjoying myself, as cocky as ever.
The final whistle blew at 70 mins and we won 2 - 1. Another dream comes true.
- Pranay Rao
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