Thoughts on Guru Nanak's Birthday

"If one wants one's good, one should be humble while himself being doing good"  

                     - Guru Nanak...

Such a simple practical advice for a day to day life, yet here we are!! Well, that was the first thought I had in the morning today. Because being truly happy comes from from being truly giving. I have felt that in my lifetime, but a handful of times. And the fact that I am mentioning the fact that I have "truly given", belittles my having done so anyway. Darn!

Any how, while listening to Japji sahib, Aarti, Chaupai and Anand sahib (Gurbanis from Sikh Scriptures) this morning on out way to the office, I was feeling 2 things.

Firstly, how good and elated I felt. What was I doing different this particular morning? I was listening to Gurbani! My nanji (maternal grandpa, who was a devout man) used to say, when listening to Gurbani hits you and you feel happy and elated, that not mean that you are enjoying it as if you are in a mode of leisure. It means that the dust of 5 vices inside you is being given a jolt of dusting by the duster of Gurbani. The more the dust, the more the feeling if elation. Gurbani says, without luck you will not see God's congregations (sangat), and without being in sangat, the dust of 5 vices gathers inside you. Beautiful!!

See there is a similarity to be drawn here, i.e. between the dusting of 5 vices and healing of a wound. If I had a wound somewhere and I applied medicine on it, it heals in time. But when its healing and fibrosis is taking place, you itch. And deeper the wound and longer it takes to heal, hence more it itches. Now consider the wound to be a culmination of the 5 vices, medicine to be Gurbani and itching to be the feeling of elation. Get it!

The second thought I had was that of me missing things back home (2nd home, as USA is my first home now). I miss the utter convenience of going to the end of the block to visit Gurdwara (congregation and place of worship) on such auspicious days, miss the community langar (kitchen) where anyone could eat as much as they wanted. I miss the faint morning prayers and hymns coming from Gurdwara loudspeaker. I miss the fireworks to celebrate these days. Miss going to Gurdwara and lighting up the candles. I miss the getting up in the wee hours, and joining community procession and singing the hymns passionately just behind babaji's palki. What joy. I miss it. That is why I have been feeling homesick. the materialistic lifestyle in this country is at odds with out up bringing and all the tiny things we sucked joy out of. All those things used to keep my head out of the sky and vices in check. 

OK feeling a little emotional now...so singing out!!

Let the Reboot begin....

Aight!!

So it begins...The Reboot

Watched the documentary a while back and now it seems is the time to do it. I have some motivational points:
- Want to fit in my old cloths for which I have no space for
- Want to be a hottie, well sorta kinda
- I want to fit in fitted shirts
- Want to fit in my sherwaani from my reception
- 2 marriages coming in 2 years, best time to get fit
and many more...

Starting the prep week today. First thing to do is to get a nice Juicer

So seriously!, key is to have everything organic, nothing processed, no raw sugar, no milk, only organic eggs, no jaw dropping amounts of caffeine..so 2 cups of tea should be good. Eat less and eat slow.

This is a five day program...starts Oct 31. Will be done with major food-fat laden Diwali parties by then, but will prove to be a good test for my will.

-KD


.

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Well..I have watched all planet of the apes movies...but 70s was a different time and I never liked Charlton Heston.

But of course the 2001 remake of the '68 version was well done. But again it is a sequel. And the latest movie fills in the gaps and fills them well.

However, I do a have point to make. I think the premise of how actually apes rose from a group of escaped albeit smart animals, all the way to top of the food chain and being dominant species, is better netted in this latest movie as compared to the '68 version. Wont give out spoilers...

Coz you see! in that '68 version, in the end when Charlton Heston rides along the beach and finally comes across the statue of liberty's severed head and says those eerie words "damn you...you finally did it", points to the fact that humans destroyed the world in a nuclear war or something and the apes alone evolved while humans devolved. Well, I can never digest that. Its far fetched. But again, the idea of Planet of the Apes was super intriguing for my father in 60s and 70s, and it still remains the same for my generation in 2011. The only difference is the visual narration of the story for it to be appealing.

I enjoyed the movie and recommend a theatrical view over waiting for the BluRay....

.

Butt kicking in Table Tennis...

Whose butt you might ask?

Well, mine!
After a while entered into a tournament to get myself pumped up for some exercise and aerobics via my love of past, Table Tennis! I managed to go into just 1 practice, just the day before the tournament.

Well whaddya know! I wasn't that good, even though I can play with my eyes closed in the office.

By the time day was over, I had a a record of 1-5. Lost 26 points of my rating (which I gained at 2005 Bay State Games) and my feelings were hurt.

Check it out: http://www.ratingscentral.com/Player.php?PlayerID=14761

But I plan to be regular going into the fall and winters. My goal is to increase the rating by 100 points and build a good serve. I will be super happy.

And I love her...

Was trying out Rdio today, when I came across Jose Feliciano's guitar rendition of Beatles "And I love her". Lyrics are as follows (and I need not say more...)

I give her all my love
That's all I do
And if you saw my love
You'd love her too
I love her

She gives me everything
And tenderly
The kiss my lover brings
She brings to me
And I love her

A love like ours
Could never die
As long as I
Have you near me

Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her

Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her

Whereeva I lay my hat, thats my home...

So just on impulse, I mapped out all the places I could think of. ie. places and towns I have visited and lived in.

I can now see that I have not even touched the continents of South America and Australia and main part of Asia viz. Russia, China and Japan.

So guess what!! my bucket just got longer. While its easy to step on to any continent with all the travel options available today, I bet it's that much costlier.

And the more I wait, the more its going to get more costlier.

sighs...


View Places I have been to in a larger map


.

Boston Symphony Orchestra

We went to savor an evening of classical music today.

Again, one of the things on our bucket list - to attend a classical music orchestra performance.

It was a Mozart night..

MOZART, Symphony No. 32 & Clarinet Concerto

and

HAYDN, Symphony No. 97

It was brilliant. Classical music is definitely acquired taste. We got seats in row 25 from the front but was a great view, unless you have a tall bald guys come and sit in front of you.

Felt classy and sophisticated and you could see from the looks of the gentry, that the average age is 45 and it could easily be the middle-class-movie-dinner-evening equivalent of affluent members of the society.

Who is the greatest cricketer of all time. How to decide?

Wrapped up in this cricket world cup fever which affects me every 4 years, I have been reading endless articles about who is the greatest batsman of all times, top 10, top 20 and what not...

Conceding that I am not a cricket maniac like my father or like any other cricket buffs who would talk all night about the game until their mouths run dry, I have to ask how do people even approach preparing such lists.

If one prepares such a list by being subjective, then the possibilities are endless. I love the swashbuckling Sehwag, but should he be on such esteemed lists???

However, if one prepare such a list by being more informative and objective...then you don't have to go anywhere else but HowSTAT's website.

For example, my argument against Donald Bradman, sorry Sir Donald Bradman being the best, is that except the test batting's average, his hardly features anywhere else. But check out where Sachin's name does and you will have found a lot of self-convincing evidence. In our era, yes ERA! (and that's what conversations on sports like Cricket should begin with), there are 2 formats of the game where you have to have dominated to be called "the greatest": ODI and Test. 20/20 has just picked up and so I am discounting it...In both those formats, Sachin's record is unassailable. At present i.e. I can also call him greatest if I compare him against a standard that Mohammad Ali set, who came back more than once to take THE BELT. Sachin too lost his mojo, had injuries due to that stupid heavy bat, has a lost year or two but he did come back. Changed his style and gathered more runs...

From a stat's perspective, another point to make. Funny how the stats say Sachin's tops the list of players being out in the 90s... 17 times!..that 17 "coulda shoulda" centuries...This is an example of a stat that you can subjectively speculate with to make your case but all while being on the basis of being INFORMED and not just hear, see and say.

10 years from now, I will look at the stats again and see who has been consistent in all 3 forms of the game ODI (which might change to 4 inns of 25 overs), Tests and 20/20s, has had comebacks and left or is leaving his mark on the game...Results might be a lot different then.


.

The Cineholic : Dhobi Ghaat

Well, not much to say here except that it was done well. Left all the stories open for the viewer's interpretation.

One thing to notice is that although you can make out where every story stands in the end, overall the movie lacks one coherent message, unlike Life in a Metro. Remember that one?. For instance, the Dhobi Ghaat piece is more closely wired to Munna and not others, so???...but again one may not have been forthcoming from the director/script. It is usual not to have one when making a collage of inter-connected stories.

I thought the guerrilla technique worked well and that's how a normal person views the world..but again, the movie is not made for the Rikhsawalas and Bihari types with the use of all that English throughout the movie. Hence its artsy and targets a niche market, which is OK.

Should have been a DVD movie for me but since Aamir bhai doesn't show up that often, it warrants spending 10$.

My grade: B+

.

Foodie Review: Chinese Mirch

Had been seeing a lot of check-ins in to this place for a while now. We were coming back from IKEA so decided to finally "check-in".

Firstly, feel sorry for the franchisee because if there is such thing as Restaurants 101, one of the top 5 items would be "Have enough parking". Without that the place loses clientele which otherwise would enter...like families with kids and oldies…get my drift? I was pissed to find myself walking on the road from the rear parking lot around the walk-way which should have been cleaned of the snow…of course in ridiculous temperature.

Anywhooo…

The place was not as clean as we’d hoped. Decor is presentable and does carry a more Chinese accent to it.

I ordered a masala thumbs up (something of a nostalgic guilty pleasure for me) and it was indeed good!

For appetizer’s sake…the veg Manchow soups were OK. I am not a soup-crazy person so I will leave it at that.

Now, for the main course we ordered a mix of veg and non-veg items to get a feel of the most common Indian-continental items.

Crispy Szechuan Lamb: well done and crispy indeed.

American Chopsuey: Of course you can never find one standard version of it, but I would say they gave their best shot. The noodles could have been a bit crispier.

Chilli Garlic Noodles: Their version of lo-mein; sure with a twist. Not the greatest preparation I would say since it missed the kick of garlic and softness of the noodles I would expect to be prominent in the dish.

Chilli Chicken: A must for an Indian-continental menu, but by far the biggest disappointment of the evening. I don't know what it was to be honest. It was missing its barbeque-ish color that I KNOW this dish must have. And the gravy/source absolutely brought back no taste memories.

So overall an absolute no-brainer for me: a non-repeatable average eatery. A place which you can pop by while you are in the neighborhood and really don't have patience to look for other better options.

My grade: C


.

The Cineholic : The King's Speech

Went to see the movie on a hunch actually. Our main target was True Grit, but I felt the whole 19th century wild-wild-west vengeance spiel might be too much for Garima to digest.The movie is splendid. I have always admired Colin Firth. The role was much tougher than the one he played in 'A Single Man', i.e. that of a gay man loosing the love of his life. I can image playing a real person has to be much tougher and according to me, it IS the penultimate black-belt of cinematic maturity as an actor. Of course he may have played a real person before, but the performance that gets kudos and shines is what everyone remembers, rest is all what lead up to that big performance.

Of course, as my habit is, I hit the Wikipedia to know more about King George V1. Not much about his personality but rather what he went through. Wonder how Colin got his material to identify with the character. Must have been books and biographies. The message I took away from the movie is that no matter how important you become in life, the most impossible insecurities and weaknesses that manifest in you since the early childhood, when not tackled at the right time will define you and your character. And it becomes almost THE major task in life to get rid of them, by any means necessary. But nothing will help except using up every last shred/drop of your will power. Yes, will power; something that this so called king had a very hard time gathering up in the movie and perhaps in his life, a theme that was beautifully conveyed.

My Grade - A+

Next on the list Dhobi Ghaat and Black Swan.


.

The Cineholic: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

Well, just watched the 3rd cut of the Millennium Saga..The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

Brilliantly done! The first "...with Dragon Tattoo" kind of stayed with me as it set the precedence of the saga. Soon after that I got to watch 2nd part "The Girl who played with fire"...and it was even better as it goes into the past of the girl. But this final version is so well done. Its got suspense, justice served cold and hot, in the courtroom and outside of it, some great characters and a great storyline overall. Editing is brilliant as there are no gaps or abrupt turns in the story. You can predict where this is going to go but the devil is in the details and it plays out well.

Kind of reminds me Bourne trilogy..each part built up to the next one, except the mentality on the viewer's part since you need more concentration to watch Lisbeth Salander as compared to Jason Bourne as the former hardly has 30 minutes of dialogues in all 3 parts combined but a lot of body language. I will have to watch Noomi Rapace's career now and see if she lives up to the performances.


.

The Cineholic : EXAM

Just saw EXAM on Netflix. Its sort of a last step of a long interview process involving 8 people, all taking place in one room but under a mind bending scenario. And all that suspense comes down to a small aptitude ability. How crazy is that!.. Reminds me of what my Math teacher used to say..."hold 2 fingers out and focus out on them..you will see 4. Hence, concentrate at the solution and not the problem"...go figure!...

An "A-" rating from me. Here is the official site...enjoy

.