Harry Potter Review

I loved the Movie. But as every HP Fan would say, I would rather have a detailed mini-series about each year rather than have one jam-packed movie. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) who directs this instalment does a brilliant job but makes a few modifications which may not please Witches and Wizards watching. He has commented that he sees the novel as a suspense thriller and that the best/only way to adapt the 734-page novel would be to shed everything that doesn’t involve the main story line. Well all that is fine but why do the grindylows attack Harry after he has rescued everyone in the lake. Makes no sense and seems a bit forced doesn’t it? And some other issues with the movie are:

• Not one house elf makes an appearance in this movie.
• Malfoy’s ferret scene is a disappointment.
• Mad eye moddy does not have half his nose missing and does not look frightening
• The lovely ladies of Beauxbatons especially Fluer Delacour are not as mesmerising as they could have been.
• No one can understand what the Weasley twins are doing? The sale Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes are not well shot.
• The Dursley’s do not even make an appearance and we lose a chance to see Ton-tongue toffee.

A major change was the introduction of Barty Crouch Jr in the first scene of the movie. Even though it eases things along for new viewers, it is something that will definitely rankle the chains of Harry Potter purists. The Quidditch World Cup is also skipped over along with the characters of Ludo Bagman and acts a set piece to introduce the character of Victor Krum and as a set-up to the frightening entrance of the Death Eaters.

However the movie has some spectacular special effects and some real good original dialogues. The Quidditch World Cup Stadium and the dragon sequence are stunning, but the maze does not have any obstacles except for some silly vines. But the overall visuals in the movie are amazing. Some of the dialogues, especially the one where Ron tries to tell Harry about the Dragons are a total hoot. The ball scene is also good (for all romantics) and the scene before where Professor McGonagall teaches the Ron Weasley how to dance is Paisa Wasool.

But the one thing that I shall remember about the movie is Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger. I remember a review which said she was too beautiful to be Hermione, but she will be the reason I shall see the movie again.

Weekend

Have tickets for Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire courtesy GRN. So I am off to Hogwarts for the day. Saturday and Sunday shall hopefully be alcohol-free and will involve a lot of cricket viewing. So here wishing all of you a very very VELA weekend.I shall let Calvin have the last say on VELAGIRI.Best of Luck to all CAT aspirants(including my bro, Deepthi, Bala, Trra, Sandeep and others). Crack Madhi!!!

Ganguly

For the past few months, Ganguly baiting has become a fashionable statement. Anyone and everyone who has or has not played/coached/commented/watched cricket has a view and here is mine. Let me say at the very beginning, that I was never a Ganguly Fan.

After seeing him score a century at lords on debut and then following it up with another in the same series, I remember the hula-hoop surrounding him when he came back to Calcutta. I remember vividly, the interview given by his brother to Sportstar, where he said that they were getting about 100 calls a day on their Home Phone from crazed girls and how they were changing their number. He had become One of the few Bongs who was made it B’time in the past decade and was given a Demigod status.

From about ’97 to 2000, he played in numerous tests and one-dayers and if people with a short memory cannot recall, this was the time of the infamous match-fixing controversy but Ganguly was quietly making a name for himself and in those days of individual-glory rather than team work, he was one of the stars of the Indian team. Now I wondered after the Azhar and Sachin Captaincy saga, why Jadeja was not chosen captain especially since he had started to play tests and was well liked by the Indian Media. Soon after Ganguly was given the captaincy, the match-fixing scandal broke through and all of us had the answer to the question.

After this came the Nagma Episode and with the Australians in Town, it lead to a lot of questions about Ganguly’s Character. But India won that series convincingly and even though Ganguly followed it up with other successes, they all came with a silver lining as every commentator believed that with the team India had, we had to perform better and India was not doing that because of Ganguly’s captaincy.

Now that’s where the HOG starts, if India did well in those days (Natwest series-World Cup-Australian Series-Pakistan Series). It was because Ganguly believed in an individual’s talent and went all out supporting him. This leads to self belief within a team and the confidence that if he went all out and if he failed, he would still have a place in the team. This lead to players like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Harbajan, Zaheer, Nehra and Balaji emerging from the shadows and performing outstandingly well for India. The only downside of this was that Ganguly was playing favourites and this lead to ego-clashes with former players and discontent among emerging talent in the country that they were being ignored.

If you ask me, that can and must be done. Case in point Mike Hussey vs. Justin Langer and the Australian selectors got it right when they went for a seasoned performer and look at where they are now. As for the former players, they had always underachieved and could not bear to see a person who did not care a hoot about what they thought but merely looked after his team. Former players like Sunny Gavaskar (remember his 36 in 60 overs), Ravi Shastri (one of the most selfish players ever to represent India), Sidhu (Do I have to say anything?) and Manjerekar (On Ten Sports yesterday, he had the tenacity to say that Pakistanis in a Sharjah Final were like Lions and we could not do anything against them. What were you, Sanjay? A moron? Hmmmm For Once i agree)

Now I am sure that all of you would have read about Ganguly’s bad qualities in tons of articles. Let me see if I can mention a few good ones.
1. Ganguly, as we all know is a fabulous opener but when the situation demanded in the world cup, he made way for Sehwag and Sachin.
2. Never say die Attitude, I can recall many matches won just because of that.
3. Dealing with Superstars, both Sachin and Dravid gave some of their best performances with him as Captain.
4. Dealing with Youngsters, As I said before “He made the careers of Half the Current Indian Team”
5. Getting under the Skin of rival Captains and coaches. Anyone recall Steve Waugh and his infamous “Ganguly is not a friend”
6. Making his views on anything clear…..ahem crystal clear.
7. Removing you shirt at Lords. One of the few everlasting impressions in Indian Cricket. And yet people ridiculed him for doing that, calling him unsporting and Not acting like a Gentleman(Gavaskar). I would tell Gavaskar as a Cricket Lover, that i prefer a bare-chested victory Salute rather than an Insipid defeat.
8. Bouncing back from adversity. Remember Nagma, Injury, Suspension and now Politics.
I am sure he will be back. May not be as successful again but that’s not the point. He’s a fighter who taught India never to wilt under pressure and had a true Lion’s Heart, which he wore on his sleeve.
So here’s Saluting India’s greatest Ever Captain.

Abolutely Fabulous Essay

Amitav Ghosh writes about the aftermath of Indra-Gandhi’s assassination.

IBM to expand in India - Rumor or Reality???

Been hearing a lot about this.
Hope its true.
Have a great Weekend!!!

IITian according to Dilbert

Can anyone believe this crap!!!!

Your standards are falling Mr. Scott Adams

Seven

Seven Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Become a Millionaire
2. Take a World trip to places like Jamaica, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Venice, New Zealand, Burma, Congo, Brazil etc.
3. Adopt a Girl Child esp. if I do not have one biologically
4. Sky dive from a moving plane
5. Dance like Hrithik Roshan or Gene Kelly
6. Buy a Harley or a Ferrari or a Porsche
7. Start an NGO for spastic children

Most of these are dependent on Essential Wish number One. LOL

Seven Things I Want To Do in the Next Year

1. Bungee jump again, gives you a thrill which is unforgettable
2. Cook excellent food
3. Learn how to dance preferably Salsa
4. Get a Tattoo
5. Visit a Casino
6. Learn to play the guitar
7. Become a Hard-Core Romantic

Seven Things I Can Do NOW

1. Be a patient listener
2. Make anyone laugh
3. Love unconditionally
4. Go out of my way to help family/friends
5. Make fun of myself and take jokes about me in stride
6. Organize clutter
7. Write about any rubbish topic and make it sound sensible (ala my blogs)

Seven Things I Can't Do EVER

1. Sing
2. Exercise or Wake up early
3. Understand Women
4. Pretend to work when Absolutely VELA
5. Say 'NO' to someone in need
6. Control my anger
7. Forget people who deliberately try to hurt me or my family

Seven Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex:

1. Simple ,Elegant and Shy
2. Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes – blue-green pleaseeee
3. Neat & intelligent sense of humour
4. Smile
5. Genuinely nice, understanding and caring
6. Slim & Cute
7. Fun loving Attitude

Seven Celebrity Crushes (in no particular order)

1. Laetitia Casta
2. Emmanuelle Chriqui
3. Aishwarya Rai
4. Daniela Hantuchova
5. Lisa Ray
6. Sridevi
7. Bhoomika

Since this is my blog, I take the liberty of adding Sonali Bendre to this list. Any issues!! Please do the unmentionable!!!!

Seven Things I Say Most :

1. Wokay or OK or okie
2. Strong or Interesting or Learning’s
3. IUSS – if you say so
4. Cool or Bindaas
5. Crap or $*&T or WTF or Damn
6. No issues or No problem or No worries
7. Oops or Hmmmmm

Most of which is GAP lingo and to learn more about GAP read DD’s blog.

Murugan Idly and Vengai Chutney

What do you say when a friend calls and says that she wants to have Dinner with you.
Natural reaction: YES
What if she says, she’s been on a fast for the past week and needs to break it with family and since her family is out of town, you are the only one she can think of.
Humane reaction: YES, YEs, Yes. No more Senti plzzz
What if she says I want to have dosa with Onion chutney?
Still Humane reaction: OK whatever.

Now starts the story. I start from office and wait for K to show up. Naturally since D is hungry and I am on time, hes about 10 mins late. Another delay after this is due to attitude of Autowala’s outside HAL office. None of them are ready to come to MG Road. After coaxing an auto guy to take me there for 10 bucks extra and getting there while answering numerous phone calls and sms’s from D (who was early for once, must be the hunger pangs). We are told that the only place to get Onion aka Vengai Chutney is in Kormangala which is really near my Office.

After a few curses and a 15 minute drive, we reach Kormangala just to realise that none of us have a clue about where the restaurant is located? After going round and round in search of Murugan’s Idly Shoppe amid conversations which run as follows;
B: HA Ha HO
D: I am hungry
Me: Ok
D: I am really hungry and you guys are mean!!
Me: ok ok ok
Me: Murugan Idly Yengeyy??
Watchman: #%$ &&^ *&*$$^ *&%$
D: The watchman said “Tamil Thereyada, I am new here”
B: HA Ha HO
Me: ok
D: Hungry!!!!
Me: What to do??
B: HA Ha HO
D: I really want Venagi chutney, I am hungry
Me: All this talk of food has made me hungry as well
B: HA Ha HO

And at last we found our shop, but alas it was closed!!
Maybe Murugan ran out of chutney yesterday but the damn shop was closed, so we went to Ponnuswamy’s and had Dosa. But alas no Vengai Chutney thr.
So next time a friend calls and asks for vengai chutney, you now know where not to take her.

Moral of Story: Be less humane

Books

Was surfing for new blogs today and suddenly came across this very interesting blog about books and how she adores them. Well, I do too and hence decided to Copy Paste her Post and see how I compare!!! So here goes, BTW Please skip if bored or nor interested in books.

Number of Books owned:
About 100, not including my Management/Engineering books. But since I have started working@HAL, the number has been increasing steadily with the main benefactor being Crossword.

Books I recently brought:
Chetan Bhagat’s “One night at the Call Centre” and “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy

Last book I read:
Well...finished ON@TCC about 2 nights back.

Books on my Bed-stand as of now:
Star Wars Trilogy and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton(I know this sounds extreme but stop reading if it bothers you). Another Michael Crichton Classic is Andromeda Strain.

One book that I couldn't finish:
Moby-Dick (The Whale) with due appologies to Herman Melville. I know it’s a classic and all but it starts so slow that I could never keep up and always fall asleep.

Five books I cherish:
This is an impossible one. So just putting down the ones that randomly come to my mind (in no particular order).
Pride and Prejudice: A non-detail text, I read even before classes started. One of the best from Jane Austin with amazingly etched characters. Have seen two versions of movies but cannot say that either does justice and the less I talk about Bride and Prejudice, the better.
Love Story: A must read for all romantics and a bad book to have if you like collecting books as this never gets returned when borrowed. And YES, I have cried the first time I read this book and one of the few books I can recite verbatim. Wanna Bet!!!
A Village by the Sea: One of the best books by an Indian author, this Anita Desai book is an another non-detail text I store till date.
The Thorn Birds: by Colleen McCullough is described as “A Coming of age story of a young Australian girl in a forbidden love affair” but I think it’s much more. It talks about family values, life in Australian farms and about the ultimate sacrifice, Man has ever known. A true classic and a must read.
PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves series: Every one of them is as good as the other. A great book to have on long train journeys (have you seen the look on your co-travellers face when you burst out laughing).
Books missing from this list Motorcycle Dairies, Three Musketeers, Harry Porter series, Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, If tomorrow comes etc etc etc.

Authors I want to read but am too embarrassed to say so:
Georgette Heyer: Well I had read just one short story book by her and was impressed with the language and style coupled with the fact that the tall handsome hero with the soft curls always gets the Virgin Heroine who as you would expect is really beautiful, what if she’s just a kid. The situations were so ripe that they could be scripted into a bolly/tolly/kolly/hollywood movies with the minimum of effort. Wonder why this has not been done!!

Authors I Hate: Shobha De and Arundhati Roy. No reasoning here just a matter of personal choice.

Happy DIWALI !! and Vela-GIRI

Well since i will be offline for the next 4days,
Here's wishing all of you a Very Happy Diwali.
Shall be fielding Visits & calls for the rest of the Holiday Period.
So do feel free to drop in (and taste my mom's cooking) or call (and hear her blessing "GOd Bless you maa!!!" ).
Yup mom's on a visit and hence i shall be very very busy(UnVELA) for the holiday period, but that means a respite from my cooking for both me and my dear bro, who btw is counting hours for my mom's arrival.
So here's giving a total VELA-Call to everyone next week.
Yes, next week is a VELA-Week, check out the number of holidays!!!
So have a great time and do not let the weather affect dampen your SPirits!!!!

Best joke ever!!!!!

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg, looking a bit ticked off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and says ... Well, I guess we finally answered "THAT question!"

Courtesy : Bracket@IIMB

Visa applications!!!

Whoever said VISA application interviews are the hardest thing before going to the States.
Have they tried filling the Application Forms. They are too Hilarious!! One section actually says:

Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action? Ya Like i would Say "Yes"

Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance (drug), or been a prostitute or procurer for prostitutes? Hmmm Interesting!!!!

Have you ever been refused admission to the U.S., or been the subject of a deportation hearing, or sought to obtain or assist others to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S. immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means? Blah Blah & Blah

Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or
have you ever participated in genocide? Dis is too much, Giving Ideas and all!!

Have you ever been afflicted with a communicable disease of public health significance or a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or ever been a drug abuser or addict? Yes, that’s why I am APPLYING for a Visa!!!

Am i a Cook?

I Know! I Know! Everytime I take a break, I give a crappy excuse for not blogging. And believe me, this time its not going to be any different.

So to begin my mom came visiting along with an aunt and a few cousins and they decided that we needed better looking after and bought all sorts of household items for cooking which set me back quite a few thousand.

After that I had to start cooking just to justify my investment and at this point I have a statement to make. Cooking is one of the easiest things in the world. Seriously if I can cook rasam, dal, chicken etc after limited (read extended) instructions on the phone (courtesy Airtel), then I think anyone can. I have reached such a proficiency level that I am inviting friends over this weekend.

So here’s wishing DD, Lamba and my bro all the luck in the world.

Also here are a few mesgs urging me to blog and this is just today and only from my workplace. Never knew my blogs had so much following.

S$$$$$$ $ R$$ - how come you have not blogged

T@@@ S@@@@- also what happnd to ur blog?

B##### N######### - No blogs for along time, what happened?

Phew, too much fan following I say..

PS.. Too boring i say!!!!
PPS.. Pic courtesy Blabberwocky

Resurrection

I have not blogged for almost a month now. After numerous people asked/ mailed/ called/ questioned/ badgered me to know the reason, I decided to come out with this blog.

Firstly

Who says Weekends are for relaxing?? Part TWO

Let me keep this short as it’s been quite a while and frankly you have read the more interesting part.

Sunday

Dropped girls home – Went to P’s promotion party – met aunty – went to airport – reached Delhi – no reservation at Radisson waited for 30 mins - called AMEX– Booked a Costlier room – Slept.

Monday

Woke up and had an awesome breakfast – went to STEW in Gurgoan – cheated by taxi guy (and that too, a sardar, too bad!!!) – was in class all day – yawn, yawn and yawn. Met Soo, Lamba and other Team Blue junta. And then more yawn- yawn and more Yawn. Had a Meeting with boss, which ran very very late. Started from office only at 8:30 for a 10:10 flight, went to the hotel and checked out. Got stuck in traffic – so missed my flight – took an early morning flight and since I had checked out of my club class deluxe suit in Radisson, I went Pubbing in NCR(National Capitol Region). After having lukewarm Beer and awesome Parathas(curtosy Tanku Maharaj, near IIFT) – Saw IIFT – saw lamba being treated like Royalty – Went to his house and slept.

Tuesday

Woke up at 4 and believe me after the exertions of Monday this was hell. After that spent about 45mins trying to explain the whereabouts of lamba’s house to the Hertz guy. Got to the airport and met P, Who was coming for his early morning flight. Reached Bangalore and back to velagiri.

Back to Blogging…. Yawn yawn…

Now, after the crappy narration above, I expect no one to continue reading but if you still are, let me narrate a crazy dialogue between me and HH35. Btw, I have renamed GD as HH35 [HH=Her Highness, What’s 35? Her age maybe] No clue what, So if you wanna know why-what-how, just remember that this is my blog and I have complete intellectual rights so if you do not like it you have two choices ala The rock in ‘Welcome to the Jungle’

Option A: Quit reading and get on with your boring life

Option B: Do the unmentionable and plzz spare me the details!!!

For those still reading, here goes the conversation

Me: Thinking of quitting blogging

HH35:What !!!!! Why?

ME : Cos I decided to write this

HH : what’s HH

ME : Her Highness

HH: clusssshhhssssshhhhhhhhhhh (try saying this and you know what I mean)

HH : slap slap slap slap

HH: that’s too much

Me: ya too much violence

HH : okiee

HH : (a remark I shall never agree to)

HH: Prasanth is the sweetest guy I have known, let me see if you type this down.

HH: aren’t you getting sick and tired of this

HH: you want me to leave

Me: (Grin)

HH: this is crazy!!!

Me: (Grin)

HH: This is sick!!!!

Me: (Grin)

HH: When are you stopping this?

Me: (Grin)

HH: Stop typing or else

Me: (Grin)

HH: Stop grinning and typing everything I say

Me: OK OK

Well I had to stop here, it was becoming too violent and I am human, contrary to what people think.

BTW, Reasons for not Blogging in such a Long time

Well I can say a lot of things and give a lot of crappy reasons.

1. I was very busy with work (Like you guys will believe that)

2. I had to go home(Visag) for personal reasons (Believable and true)

3. Was stuck in floods on the way back (True again but I guess not believable)

4. My house was flooded and I was building a dam (Hmmm!!)

5. Swam all the way here (You tell me if you believe it)

6. Was caught up in work after I came back (Well!!! What say?)

7. Was getting kicked out of my house and could not find a place to stay(Very much true)

8. Am homeless and living on the road and hence could not find time to blog (Ya rite!!)

9. Since I was homeless and had seen too many calamities in the past few days ie. Katrina, Rita, Mumbai Floods, Andhra Floods {No fancy names here, read DD on the topic}. So I decided to take Sanyas and pray for all humanity and world peace in the Himalayas and hence could not blog. (Ahem, enough for the day. Me thinks)

Condolences

My heartfelt condolences to Raju Bava, Sangeeta Akka, Atha and Family. A blog is such a poor format for this kind of message but I just wanted to express my condolences to you on such an unexpected and untimely loss. You are not alone in your feelings of sadness and loss. Bereavement often brings with it self-doubt and anxiety about one's own personal worth. But I sincerely hope that you find solace in his memories and find the strength to overcome your grief.
You are in my thoughts and prayers