Bhai Ka Baap!!!

Apologies for the long hiatus, I have been crazy busy trying to get all the tax returns for the last year sorted. You see, being the tax literate one in my family, turns out it is my responsibility to file  the tax returns for all, yeah, yeah, I know it is well past the deadline of 31st July, but I will admit that I normally aim for the 31st March deadline, the reason for not procrastinating beyond this date is the heavy penalty of Rs.5,000 per return. I'm proud to state that again I have managed a photo finish and submitted the returns just in the nick of time.

All that I have mentioned above has nothing to do with the photograph you can see in this post, I'm just clarifying the reason for my long three week absence from my beloved blog, my life continues to remain as happening as ever, just that the chronicling had to be postponed until the returns are sorted. Now that the return are out of the way and I have managed to save Rs.20,000 in penalties, I can focus on other pressing matters, like recording the story behind the picture.

We were on our way to the office, yes, I'm one of the lucky few who get chauffeured to office (benefits of ensuring that your brother works at an office near yours). I do keep offering to drive, but he says he would rather run all the way to office in tight shoes than sit in a car driven by me, he claims that the speed at which I drive or rather the lack of it will be the death of him, but I digress, I was saying, that we were our way to office and this auto rickshaw zig zagged it way in front of us and I happened to notice the sticker at the back.

It was a picture of a village bumpkin and carried the legend "Bhai ka Baap", I read it but it did not register just then (that things don't register in my brain at once is fodder for another post and will be posted in due course), only a careful second look at the picture revealed the true meaning. It was a picture of Sunil Dutt, who was a celebrated movie star of the 50's and 60's era and the father of the Sanjay Dutt, who is well known movie star himself and very popular for his role of a Bhai in the Munna Bhai series. Bhai ka Baap indeed!!!

Movie Review - Rockstar

Got this poster from here...

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there - Rumi

A film which begins with this quote can do no wrong. This film is a tribute to all those who have loved and lost the ones they loved. The film is like poetry on screen and one of the best films I've seen. Ranbir Kapoor is the soul of the film and all those who doubt his acting skills after this performance should get their head tested. Nargis Fakhri is OK, once you get past her pout. Honestly lady, a little less pouting and a little more acting is what the doctor prescribes if you want to be in Bollywood for a long long time.

Janardhan (Ranbir Kapoor) is an aspiring rockstar who is advised that he will never become successful unless he experiences pain. This search for pain brings him in contact with Heer (Nargis Fakhri, pretty face, acting skills sorely MIA), who has been dubbed the heartbreak queen. The story of their relationship over the years, which spans his battle with society, his meteoric rise as a Rockstar, her marriage and her battle with cancer is the story of Rockstar. I loved every minute of the film even though I hate sad endings so much so that I never watch movies which have sad endings. This is the main reason why I'm so late in reviewing this film, but something about the film made me want to see it, so finally invested in a CD. A very sensitive and well made film, not sure why it did not do well at the box office.

De-Technologification....

Yes, this is my new phone which heralds the beginning of my de-technologification, I've finally let go of my Blackberry and with it five different ways of feeling rejected. The  dialogue uttered by Mary in "He's Just Not That Into You", comes to mind "And now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." 

A little background on this new term, today I begin my efforts towards leading a simpler life (hopefully the high thinking will follow) and spending less time on my phone checking emails, twitter updates, facebook updates, messages on my BBM, messages on WhatsApp and feeling frustrated when there is little or no traffic on them. This is really silly of me as I'm the one pushing people away, so it is but obvious that the traffic will dwindle to a trickle and eventually dry up. In keeping with my efforts to de-stress myself in this area I decided to switch to a low end model that only support incoming and outgoing calls and text messages. Something on the lines of "Na rahega baas, na bajegi baasuri", so help me God!!!

The story of how A nearly had a heart attack...

My colleague A shares my passion for shoes and is usually found wearing branded ones...only Aldo, Charles and Keith, Woodland shoes for the posh miss, if you please. So, last week when she arrived in office all smiling, I did the once over which us women will do, to find out what is new. Nope this is not like the once over that guys do to check out girls, it is a trained glance that takes in the clothes, shoes, jewellery and accessories that the person is wearing. It takes years of training to master it, not to mention the hours of practice needed to become adept at it. But I digress, where was I, oh yes, so A walks in all smiling and I notice the new Charles and Keith that she is wearing and do the mandatory "Oh" and "Ah" to show my approval. Then X walks in and notices all the fawning and adulation over the shoes and she goes "Oooh, new shoes, where did you get it from...Dmart???"

It is a saving grace A is made of sterner stuff, else we would have to rush her to the hospital after that comment. For my international audience, I'll have you know Dmart is a chain store where they sell stuff at wholesale rates and things are usually cheapy cheapy and A would not be seen dead in any clothing or accessories from there.

Honestly if A sold her shoes she could buy three months worth of household food rations from Dmart...my sympathies are with her!!!!