Football and Rain

The Euro '04 was the first soccer tournament i followed completely. And to the surprise of the world Greece became the champions. So i reflected that, if an underdog Greek could win a championship maybe it is time i give it a shot. Well, yesterday i played football again after two years. Before that i have played it thrice in my life.
There is this tiny ground in our campus we use for any prupose. Football is no exception. Four bricks (goal posts) and viola!
Three minutes into the game, the ball came to me twice. I tried my best to dribble and pass it to my teammates. I can now confirm that round things are tricky to control. The captain of my team came to me and said "follow me" and started walking. I followed. After sometime he stopped and said "dont follow me". We were in inside our D. A subtle way of saying "you are not good enough to play forward... please defend". I took the hint and never crossed the D after that.
Soccer is a very demanding game. Five minutes later, i was running out of air and my lungs became dry. I politely asked some players that if by any chance i would fall and die they should tell my parents that the Greeks were responsible.
After the game, the captain came to me and thanked me personally for the two assists which got converted. After that my team captain came to me and told me in the very subtle way of his "will u be coming tomorrow?" (The answer he honestly expected was NO. So i gave him the pleasure. He was very happy)
Read "The Inscrutable American" sometime back. There is this time Gopal comments about the way american named the game `Football` when it has nothing to do with foot and a ball whose shape is anything but a ball. How true! Americans!

Today morning i got up and felt immediately this is not my day. Reason being, my roomate was dressing and he was not expecting me to open my eyes. What a spectacle that early in the morning. The lengths(no double meaning intended) these roomates go to improve intimacy.
So got ready and kicked my bike alive for the 20 minutes drive to office. No sooner than i reached the main road the heavens opened. Rain. Did i mention, it is official now: my raincoat was stolen last week. Oh God! Why me?
Do u remember this. It was a day-time repeat of that. I reached office after 45 minutes. If Akshay Kumar had a competition in the song "Thippu thippu barsaa paani.." with Raveena, it was me. That wet. I was shivering the whole day like i was recovering from a nervous breakdown.

At 6:30, a colleague called out "Im going to play TT in the recreation room. Want to join?"
I humbly replied, "Its raining."
He gave me the sternest of looks and moved away.

The trip that was long overdue

Finally, i could squeeze some time to write something. Had to go off work early for home hunting. We need a rental 2BHK near Kothrud area in Pune (if u know any contact: mrmathi@gmail.com). And for the past week i the cynosure of a little passing game in our project. Both Version 2.0(maintainence) and version 3.0(new release) wanted me(u see, im famous here). Reminds me of the tamil phrase "Athula oru kaal, saethula oru kaal". Both the version's GL's were giving me work merrily until i complained to the more compassionate one of the two that im always hectically loaded. It was a hard decision from the v2 guys to let me go. They warned me about the dark side of v3...and u-know-who...but i said "dark side it is, Period."
Now im doing the same work under a different banner. I thought i would be free enough once i moved to v3, but nary i found time to write. So does my fellow bloggers, it seems. Whats with u guys down there? Bals, Ulu...anyone? No post for the longest time since June 16th. Im ravenous for some posts.
Last saturday, we (me+niket+parag+vinayak+some imaginary girl friends) went out on a trip to a place called Bajha caves near Lonawala, an hour drive from Pune. The caves are national monuments. Figures as it belonged to the buddhist monks from 2-3rd century. The caves were totally carved out of the mountain looking over a huge valley. They were carved somewhere in the middle of the mountain so that the access to it is harder from any direction. Without the concrete stairs, which makes it a lazy walk for five minutes, the caves would have been a real tough trek to access. There were some 18 caves in all, with the biggest caves: a sort of shrine in the middle. The other caves were apparently dwelling quarters because they had a cot of stone. All these digs were approximately 6.5 x 6.5 x 6.5 with atleast one cot. The engineering and geological knowldge of those monks were unbelievable. Some caves had sculptures as well which i think were not from the same era. Must have been an addition by the Hindu rulers after the caves have been deserted by the hermits.
Enough history lessons. Now to the exciting part. There are some 3-4 waterfalls in the vicinity of the caves. The number is less because it havent started to rain real hard this monsoon season. Once we saw the falls we went in for the kill. The water was cold and hard. The rocks were slippery and the thrill was great. We drenched and cleansed as if there was no project deadlines, no GLs behind ur ass. All this while a friend was clicking away the camera. (The pics have come out in real graphic details of naive males in their undies. So out of concern for the female crowd, who visits this site, the pics have not been included. The truth is i have to find a scanner.) Three hours later we had to return as there is a project deadline. Reality! It bites! From then on it was all downhill this weekend.

Disappointments of the weekend: Couldnt get tickets for `The Passion of the christ`. Although visited 3 rental homes we couldnt find any digs as yet. I blinked too long and missed Sunday go by. The MEOW class still dont have any good-looking girls.

Soon u might read in the papers, "Dejected software engineer from Pune took Bajha caves as his residence..."

Truth behind Indians.

Indians have always been guilty of exhibiting a shockingly high divergence between private and social utility. Thus, they will bathe thrice a day but not pull the chain in a public toilet; they will keep their homes spick and span but throw the garbage over the fence on to the public road; they will not pay their taxes but demand all kinds of subsidies; they will bribe for everything but complain about corruption; and so on.

cut and paste from here

Travel Travails

People, there are two things i consider that the Gods have always been inconsiderate towards me.
Women and Travel.
The first is easier to explain... plastic surgery is still out of reach for a software engineer in India. Second, lets just say that some of the worst memories of my troubled little life are from the ones that involves commuting. Yep, i have been involved in all kinds of travel-messups one can imagine. Marooned in the motel, monsoon stops train spoils diwali, sleep in the bus-cabin with seven other strangers, ticket torn/lost/wet, drunken cargo loading guy, luggage lost.... U name it, i got it. I can officially publish "Murphy's laws: The Travelers edition".
That said, I went home to Trichy from Pune last week after a really long gap. The only thing that serves as a motivation against that morbid fear of mine is the assurance that i'll meet friends and family. The journey, with me involved was bound to be an eventful one. My Volvo booking from pune to b'lore was cancelled. I came to know this four hours before my departure time and i had to settle for an ordinary Southern-travels-airbus which leaves two hours later (9PM) than the volvo. The promised fifteen hours travel was lenghtned by no less than six hours. I set foot in b'lore on saturday around 5PM minus my spinal cord. Meet friends. The purpose of the journey and the torture was rewarded when Moosa, Bals, Jap, Manix, PK, Ulti said things like "reduce ur tummy", "u look different", "U write lovely", "do MS in US only", "what happened to u?". Everybody had a different prespective. But everyone agreed that i needed a haircut. Saw Van Helsing(sorry, no more reviews... im taking Bal's advice). Much talking and some nostalgia later it was time to leave. Manix dropped me at Madivala amidst pouring rain(a Thanks cum congrats cum visa-treat is in order). I was as wet as Sridevi in Mr.India. Boarded the bus that would take me home, trichy. Slept like the drunkurd guy lying in the alley near `Gandhi wines`. Six and a half hour later i was in Trichy. I disembarked before anyone noticed that my seat was totally ruined because of all the rain water i carried from b'lore. When i reached home i was as loose as sand and gravel mix. I hit the bag and thought what i hated most the travel or the journey.
...to be continued (The return journey involves a flight from Madras to Pune)

Bombay !!!

Tears flow in my eyes when I read this


BTW.. I managed to convert one of my collegue into swadeshi..

An old article but thought its good..

Splendid saturday in Belur and Haleebedu

I urge everyone to see the greatness of Hoysala architecture.. Its just 220 kms from Bangalore, One day trip would suffice...

Ulu needs inspiration to kick ass!!!

I have reason to get inspired and work for next two months supposed to be the most interesting period in my two years of professional career..

The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain: Not a review

Be warned: Im not a natural reviewer/critic. Please excuse my un-professional naïve style below. It just some of my observation and not a review. If u havent seen the movie i wouldnt make much sense. Probably u would think im the official blurb writer for the movie. Dont stop there, watch the movie and come back here again.



`Amelie`. I had no idea about the movie except i knew it was nominated for Oscars in the best foreigh film category. As my previous experience with an oscar nominated foreign film, "No man's land": is still fresh and won my hearts many times over (btw it won the Oscars also. Our `Lagaan`, same year nomination, was a joke compared to it), i had high hopes for Amelie as well.

The first time i saw Amelie i missed more than an hour. Because of that i didnt understand most of the scenes. Amelie's father leaving for airport wasnt funny at all. The next door widow saying "...mountain climbers found proof that my husband loved me" didnt ring any bell. But the next time i saw it -from the start- for the same scenes and dialogues i went down on the grounds with laughter.

Combined with a stupendous performance from the lead actress and an orthodox cameraman the director has performed a miracle. I called the cameraman orthodox because the experience of him shows and it always follow the narration like in the old movies. Im not saying there wasnt variety, mind you, it had every shot from the book.
I have never seen so many close-ups in a single movie. Everytime a surprise is reveiled to the character or the viewer (which is a lot of time in Amelie) the camera does a close-up. The movement and the ken of the camera was a thing any cameraman would aspire for(cat disturbing the bead-blinds when Amelie is dreaming Neno coming into her house, Neno's hesitative motions: dipping his hand in the sugar.. at the cafe, Amelie melting after Neno leaves - the camera moved so well that i didnt even feel the movement). Not to mention the pan and the aperture - they were simply inspirng(Amelie throwing her pebbles collection into the pond in the evening time, the cafe scenes which are quite colorful). There are a few shots with strapped camera. And there were only two or three crane shots but still conventional(like Neno chasing someone and Amelie chasing Neno). All in all the cameraman get the oscar from me.



Coming to the story: the story is all screenplay. No shot is longer than 45 seconds. Almost 50% of the scenes has only Amelie in it. This tells a few things. That the editor had to do quite a job compiling. The dialogues had to be crisp and no monologue can be allowed. And as i said before a scene wouldnt make sense unless u get the connection from the previous scenes(the garden gnome's tour and Amelie's father leaving for the airport is wisely and sparingly kept in the screenplay). Almost all the characters (more than 20 people) in the film are devoted an almost equal time & attention in the screenplay.

The director `Jean-Pierre Jeunet` is a perfectionist. I am all praise for him. Every scene is very felt and then filmed. The artistry of him is overwhelming and it oozes in every shot. The visual representation is undenyable and has an upper hand and rather than the conversation between characters. You can understand whats happening even without the sub-titles since it is shown rather than told. The narrative way of telling a story is a risk since it needs a really resourceful script or a gripping story. Here it is the script itself that eliminted the risk totally. The narration had an extempore touch to it but it also provided mood. The entire movie reminds me of dominoes toppling show since the whole story is a huge collection of bits of trivial incidents (somehow attached to Amelie). It needs careful editing and scripting to make those bits interesting and engrossing. Full marks to the editor and the director for this.

If i had to list the top scenes i would have to write the entire screenplay, so i would refrain. But some aspects i liked, i can list..

1) Parfaite of emotions.
2) Cinemascope. Cinematography. (Every frame can pass for a greeting card)
3) Narrative style.
4) Camera tricks. (especially the black&white scenes, Amelie watching herself in the tv, the close-ups)
5) Leaves u with a sense of hope always. Never dismissive.
6) Joyfully sentimental.
7) Amelie's reactions.
8) Connectivity through scenes.
9) The album, especially the mystery man at the photo counters.

Score: 10/10

Orkut invites

Any one interested in orkut and needs an invite let me know...

Vienna waits for you!!!

Vienna waits for you
By Billy Joel..

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
You are still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know only fools are satisfied?
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Troy:Greece:Euro

Greece!! Greece!! went the world y'day. Yep, a golden page was added to the footballing gaint, Greece's history. Sorry, no more comments. Im suffering from severe digestion problem from y'day night... cant figure the reason out.
Say `TROY` last week. Had to go on a weekday to get the tickets: very crowded these Multiplex gets on weekends. By the skin of the teeth managed to get the tickets and in we(me+2friends) pushed to enjoy the movie. And enjoy we did.
It is a film that provides food for every type of person there is. That is to say it has all the ingredients to it. Action(a lot of it), romance(not as much as many would have expected), comedy(royal humor is always a way in historical movies), heroism(the entire movie is based on it), unexpected twists(u would expect Menelaus to hang around till the end of war...think again), director's touch(handled the protagonist Achilles's relationship with his cousin Patroclus as platonic as possible) and many other things..
The screenplay is not straight out of Illiad. The writers had a go at it. The eight years war was shrunk to a few days and justice was done i would say, sparing the viewer's a bloodbath.
Homer in Illiad would have had more to say about the love of Paris and Helen. But apprently the director's hurry shows when in both Paris and Helen's introduction scene there were caught deep in adultery. Add a bit of humor to the scene and the viewer is engrossed. And hints of humor is placed sparingly in the movie for sake of variety, but not amateurish as to reveal this to the viewer.
Achilles (Brad Pitt) carries a impressive person in every shot. Be it when he says "..it's immortality.. take it.. its yours" or when he is duelling with Hektor in a fight to death.

Hektor, sometimes i felt that Eric Bana should have been cast as Achilles. But at the end of the movie when all is done and said, i changed my opinion. The casting was perfect.
The heroism and protaganism of Achilles side-tracks the love story and other things. I havent read Illiad, but i feel if the movie could have been easily made into two parts.
1) Love: Paris and Helen
2) The war: Achilles and Hektor
But i have to agree that both of them would have failed miserably at the box-office. Thats what Wolfgang Peterson and David Benioff could do to a movie.
Score: 9/10
-Smitha