Guru review.

I got a chance to watch Guru at the theaters – I like watching desi movies at the theaters and when it is a Mani production, its a double treat.

Saturday night, when I realized tickets were online at bollywooddc.com it was too late and I asked Ms. P who was at the theater to get tickets for me. By the time she found an ATM and came back to the counter it was house full. Damn.

Sunday around noon I had my tickets booked online for the 9 pm show. Got there at 8 to pickup tickets and there were about 60 people already on the line to catch the most optimum seats. Mr. S and I had to get dinner and as we strolled back saw 100s of people seated inside and also blocking 400s of seats for their relatives and friends who are jussssst on the way and jussssst in the parking lot. “This row all ours”- said a medium aged lady blocking an entire row in the middle section of the theater. Mr. S was agitated and wanted to fight. Only he didn’t.

Guru. Finally. I was excited.

The tale of a ruthlessly ambitious villager who rises to all from nothing by following his flare and passion. Becoming a bijinessman. All is fair in love and war. He plays business - his love, his war – as if there are no rules. He’s blind about his ambitions - sometimes pretentious, sometimes moving.

The first half is a lightning. Guru gets a chance to chase an average Indians’ dream of going to forin. Moves to Instanbul, works hard and makes his share of money. At his prime when he’s given triple the salary and a promotion, he declines it boldly and decides to go back to India with the dreams of making it big.

Things are not very favorable for a common middle-class man. Even his dad doesn’t support him. Guru kicks open the doors which don’t open up when he knocks at them. Challenges loudly and achieves silently. In a short period, multiplies his business by multitudes and rises fearlessly. Makes his identity, grows like nobody can stop him.

Along the way Guru takes some shortcuts to success and they are discovered and he’s put to trial. His mere existence becomes a threat. The remainder of the story revolves around how he takes on the world.

The movie concludes that

***may contain spoilers** (white text, select text with mouse to view)

Guru had to 'flow with the stream' to get where he was and it was not the best thing to do, but certainly the right thing to do. At one point, he marries Aishwarya for the dowry, so he gets the capital to his business. It may be hard to justify, but all said and done, he had more to give than to evade.

Ash adds color and Rahman spreads glitter. Somehow I think Ash is Asher in Mani's movies. Like in Iruvar, she was classy. Abhishek was terrific. Never before, probably never after. Rajiv Menon shines at cinematorgaphy.

Mani of course has signature moments like the train scene after Guru’s marriage. There’s a tingle of subtle comedy throughout.

It’s a nice story with a sharp screenplay. You can enjoy the movie more if you really try and believe the initial “All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental” message without any reliance, you know, on living and dead.

Rich cinematography, pragmatic storyline, stunning screenplay and gorgeous music make it a Mani classic once again. Guru will beg you to watch it again. Maybe again.

iPhone unveiled.

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been" Steve Jobs quoting Wayne Gretsky, "Thats what we do at apple."

After all the rumors, buzz and creative prototypes released worldwide claiming to be the new Apple product codenamed iPhone, Steve Job released the "Apple Phone" at MacWorld 2007 yesterday.

It offers 3-in-1:
a cell phone, a wide-screen iPod with touch controls, and an internet communications device.

Apple's new invention (this phone has about 200 patents pending) still sticks to the basic two philosophies. Simple and creative.


I'm a bargain shopper. Tech or non-tech, paying the tag price hurts me. The phone costs $499 for a 4gb or $599 for 5gb phone. It costs half my Sony computer. Even I am considering putting my name on the list when the phone will be release in June 2007 in the US. Asia to wait until 2008.

Reasons for me my fantasizing.
1. The phone has one button. Apple always pushes the right button. They leverage on their strong touch sensitivity demonstrated in the iPods.
2. No stylus.
3. 3.5-inch 480x320 touchscreen
3. Real browser, Google Maps with traffic report, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, POP3/IMAP for Yahooo, iTunes of course
4. Pretty cool efficiency stuff like proximity sensor that dims the screen when the phone is in your ears, finger touch activates the touch pad but knows to ignore unintended screen touches.

And to get somethiing, you got to give something - this is what you give:
1. It is not a G3 phone, only old fashioned EDGE
2. Its not a smartphone in that if you are a heavy weight user of smart apps you are restricted to what Apple provides when you buy it.
3. Can't add memory, what you buy is what you get.
4. No battery replacement.
5. Pricy

Engadget has an awesome coverage of the release. Blogged live.

Apple iPhone page

A new phone is long overdue for me anyway, My Nokia 6800 is begging to retire. I might just buy it. Cos I am dieing to buy or my phone dies on me.

The crown and the frown.

Beauty is much over-rated. So was Miss Universe 2006. I wasn't even aware, did not care, until Ms. M introduced me to the event on Saturday. I was advocated on the opportunity of patriotism. Influenced, I decided to watch the grand finale. This decision meant I was willing to halt my LOST-1 marathon that was going on non-stop from Friday night.

It was going to start at 8 pm and I was all ready. Only a Spanish channel aired the preview and I was glued to the TV (despite the stupidest ads ever and audio that I had no clue of) just to catch the glimpse of our star participant. Miss India, Neha Kapoor. But they missed India and didn't show her at the preview!! What a disappointment. Bummer. *Frown* (this is where I stealthily make the title that rhymes count - its almost like this in IT. We invent a fancy acronym and then plug in the expansion). After this unruly act, all of a sudden a collection of pageants looked Indianish! In true spirit, I started extending support to sorta Indian looking babes Ms. Bolivia and Ms. Columbia while Ms. M totally disapproved it and accused me of being a traitor.

9 pm and the real show was on. There were a few learnings from the program:

1. New countries are being formed every day and beauty pageants are the most effective ways to announce it to the rest of the real world.
Quoting Ms. M, "St. Martin sounds more like a school than a country :p"

2. Starting this year, they allow laaaaarge costumes so you can legally block the view of 16 contestants behind you.

3. You can ALWAYS count on Ms. Venezuela.

4. Africa has more countries than you think.

5. The 800 diamond crown is worth $250,000.

6. You can send flowers to the pageant of your choice from $19.99 to $399.99

7. The Official Swimsuit Poster of Miss Universe 2006 is yours for just $5. No, I did not buy it. Not yet.

8. Beauty sells.

Overly under-rated hidden talents of India.

There's something we Indians are really good at. Coding. Ya, but take another guess. Slogging? Ya, but that's not what we are looking for.

Thank God we can copy-paste, at least the other continents can change their mindset that we are all about snake-charming, tiger taming, gorilla tickling, etc. People, there's more to India than what you see in the documentaries. And no, we don't go to work on elephants wearing a turban.

There's something else Indians are really good at but extremely underrated by the IT buzz. Eating! Yup, eating.

If you aren't Indian, do not underestimate your Indian lunch pals. They may just seem normal, regular people at the lunch table. Not by choice.

The equipment displayed here is what we carry food in - called tiffin carrier. Yes, you heard it right, not airline carrier or cellphone carrier, food carrier. We take food carrying very seriously. How the hell is this thing supposed to make it through the office security? Its kind of hard to convince that 9.25 layer tray (there is a small tray for 'achar' or pickles) full of colorful exotic ingredients contains food and food only, not a home beta project of a bomb maker.

Ok, if you find it hard to believe me, invite yourself to an Indian home. You are sure to find 279 varieties of spices, non-spices, more spices, natural flavors, rare botanical specimens, ground powders, leaves, bark, roots, stem, xylem and phloem of several extinct species of plants. You probably never heard of all these, but we grow them all in our backyard. A kitchen is nothing short of a factory. Our concepts of supply chain management and ERP start in the kitchen.

History talks for itself. Theres got to be a reason why the British East India Company, when they targeted India in 1600 (By far the only 'date' that I got right in my History papers. Luckily I was born on the 16th and I drew 00 under my shoes) laid hand on our spices. Not gold, not money. "How to take the Indians? Hit their most valuable asset. Food!"

I digress as usual. Now lets jump to specifics. Eaters in India can be classifies into 2: Southies and Northies.

South Indian Style

The early southies were very cliever. They realized that serving all the food we manage to produce at the food factory would take a platter of about 4 feet long and 2.5 feet wide and need about 30 lbs of metal (we don't like to import chineseware from China, we simply don't like them competing our population explosion initiative). This platter would also be impossible to store, wash and maintain - hence we resorted to leaves that grew bigger than the trees, plantains. The one size fit all solution to the platter problem. A few smart ass Southies did manufacture the platter. Later on they found use as armors in civil and barbaric wars.

What you see here is the first of several "laps" of food consumption exercise. Five "laps" of continuous eating is Southie's own version of work-out-as-you-eat fitness program.

The square meal is unheard of in India. Its either a humungous ellipse (refer the image above) or a mammoth circle (North India is coming right ahead). We only eat 9 to 13 times a day, depending on whether we are dieting or not. Every celebration is accompanied by the bandwagon of foods that need to be cooked to mark the occasion. Or the Gods would be angry, you know?

Our specialties are rice, rice and rice. We have invented some 1227 dishes that are rice based. From sweet to extra hot dishes. Whenever we invent a new recipe, it is immediately tested by mixing it with rice. Since Southie food is so complex, it is beyond the realm of what forks, knives and spoons can handle. So we eat with our hands, which upset the table etiquettes of a few hundred countries, but we don't care.

North Indian ISHtyle
(what, you North Indians can mock at our "Yumm" and "Yenn" and "Ellow"?)

Northies aren't to be underestimated either. Instead of rice, they chomp of tons of wheat. Lucky b@$#$#@% though. They eat a bit healthier than the southies.

They compensate their healthy lifestyle pretty well with their sweets loaded in ghee, cashews, sugar. A typical North Indian lunch food starts with a dozen desserts. Three dozen chappatis (wheat bread) or Naan (flour bread - the kind you get at Kabab places or Indian restaurants) with 20 side dishes and then ends with desserts again. Note that the picture here depicts 1/7 serving for one person only.

If you need to gain weight, you don't need to wait. Just go to a food festival in North India. These places are identified by Jigines weds Sonali. Its a never-ending explosive spread of food that immobilizes you for a few hours after you eat and perform a complete stress check of your digestive system.

So, thats the story. We don't like to display "Nutritional Facts" on our food products. Anything that comes in the way of invading huge quantities of delicious food without guilt is not tolerated. Furthermore, computing the calorie count in our foods would require a project with a lot of funding.

I love us!