Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas & Greetings of the season. Well, it's that time of the year again which fills one with a warm glow...or misery and despair. For some this year has been tougher than others, for some it's been easier, but we've all pulled through by the mercy of the good Lord. Have we been good this past year or have we been naughty? Indeed this year, I've noted a noticable struggle between the kindered spirits and the Scrooges of this world. So who won this round? It would be pretentious of me to hazard a guess, however, this has been a day full of small coincidences...or miracles. If they are coincidences then this round goes to the Scrooges. If they are miracles, then we've won yet another round. After all, the only difference between a coincidence and a miracle is faith.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,

Let your heart be light

Next year,

All our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away

Once again as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who were near to us

Will be near to us once more

Someday soon we all will be together

If the fates allow.

Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Patriotism, Not Politics, Not Religion

Recently, some Muslim leaders in India refused and protested the Government's decision to make the recital of “Vande Mataram” (Hail Motherland), our National Song in schools for one day in a year. Let’s not make this a political issue, no this is beyond petty politics. This is a question of patriotism and allegiance. I fail to understand how singing the National Song of India in Indian Schools could be deemed objectionable by the Muslims who are protesting this issue. Why not? Where does their allegiance lie? In Pakistan perhaps? We're not asking them to sing Hindu Vedic Chants. A protest against the National Song is in itself objectionable and tantamounts to an insult to the nation. They want to live and work in India, they want to enjoy special privileges and sops in India, privileges which even Muslim countries wouldn't offer them, but when it comes to showing their allegiance by singing the National Song for just one day in a year, they cringe, they protest and they rebel. They fly Pakistani flags on top of their houses and mosques, they refuse government's policies, every religious occasion of theirs has to be a national holiday, they are free to use loudspeakers in their mosques, even though temples and churches are not, they are free to block main roads every Friday, even though Hindu pandals which encroach the roads are banned. They are a pampered lot in India, and unduly so. Some of them even have the nerve to ask Hindus to leave and go to Nepal; a classic example of give them a hand and they'll cut off your arm.

I am not saying this is true of every Muslim living in India. However, people who are protesting this decision do not belong in India; they should move or should be moved to the countries they owe their allegiance to.

Luck

Luck is a concept, which is becoming increasingly alien to us in the 21st century. It is a much cherished, much loved but often much loathed word. If we apply Freudian analysis to this word we may be able to understand why and how it affects us. “A little far-fetched, but that's Psychology." These are the words of John R.Hayes, a Cognitive Theory Professor. We must however, understand that there are two sides to the coin that we are about to toss on a Freudian altar. Luck is said to be ‘bad’ as well as ‘good’ i.e. to say that it may affect us positively as well as negatively.

So what is good luck? I would like to believe that good luck is nothing but the ultimate, nevertheless, unexpected fulfillment of man’s wants. I use the word ‘wants intentionally to indicate a certain characteristic of ‘good luck’. What we want is not always what we get; what we do get in the normal course of life is usually what we ‘need’. ‘Wants’ so as to say are our desires but not our necessities. Wants do not have limitations i.e. to say they often do not have their feet planted upon the ground of practicality. So when such a desire is fulfilled without much ado on the part of person, we usually accredit it to ‘good luck’. I have heard people like Elizabeth Taylor consider themselves ‘lucky’ on hindsight at the twilight of their lives. What we observe here is that good luck is invariably connected with fulfillment. One feels lucky in life if he achieves all he wants to or if he attains the love he or she has pined for or to add a whole new dimension to it, one feels lucky if his religious ambits are satisfied

Luck is like water. It takes up the shape of the vessel it lands up in. What I mean to say is that the definition of luck or ‘good luck’ varies with the point of view of those who experience it. Sir Winston Churchill was so moved by what he considered his ‘good luck’ that he exclaimed, “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at by a failed gun.

Endurance

Bob Dylan once wrote in a song:
" How many roads must a man walk down,
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove fly,
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they are forever banned?"

Let us look at the past few months, we have been afected by wars in the Middle East, devastated by floods, bombarded by terrorists, taken on a see-saw ride by the stock markets, threatened by political indecisions and mis-decisions, enchanted by sea-water turning sweet and Gods drinking milk (again), and we've endured them all. The indomitable spirit of man has endured and triumphed. Yes we've even redressed a bit of it's injustice to the Universe by kicking out poor Pluto (the erstwhile planet, not the cartoon character) from our solar system. Cosmic justice? Maybe.
But how long till the situation eases for us? If you go by Nostradamus, the Holy Bible (Book of Revelations), Kalki Avtaar (Srimad Bhagvata), it won't. Infact it will get a bit worse everyday. That is unless we pull ourselves back together or in Nat King Cole's words "Straighten Up and fly right". Especially the politicians who seem to guide the destinies of nations, should be made to realise what they're there for, not to enrich their lives or net worths, but to serve the nations for a change. not to stay in power for the sake of it, but to do what is right for the country. Not to think about what others would say or do, and defend our country.
Is that really possible, or is it just utopia?

"The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
The answer is blowing in the wind."

A bit of the poet in me

Night, wilt thou be my friend?

Amidst thy ominous veil,

Which hides the face of light-

Wilt thou sit beside me,

And hold the hands of time?

I wish you to hear upon,

The beats that pound my heart.

Tales of gentle laughter,

Of moments that were scarred.

Silence, wilt thou be my friend?

Your overbearing presence,

Breathes upon my shoulders.

I hear, I feel your touch

Steely, cold, sombre.

You have been faithful,

In hours of utter despair,

On balmy fishing noons-

Or moments of blissful prayer.

Time, wilt thou be my friend?

You who befriend none,

You bear mute testimony –

Through ages to tears and smiles.

And you think your job is done?

Time – like scales of justice,

Blindfolded you travel on.

In the endless path you follow,

Don’t you need a companion?

Lord, wilt Thou be my friend?

When the world walks out,

Oh! So ruthlessly –

I find Your hand on my head,

Consoling, embracing me.

I know not Thy great plan,

I know not the ways of Thee.

In distress, in confusion I lie,

Come deliver me!

I know not how to appease You,

Through prayers, Vedic chants.

A bit of peace, love and fire-

My heart pines (for), it wants.

-Ambarish Singh Roy
-07/10/2000
(Copyrights Reserved)

Da Vinci Code Movie - A few more abberations

Here are a few more plots that were 'constructed' for the movie and were nowhere in the book, I think these did the overall plot some harm: 1. Fache tells Collet that he was contacted by Aringarosa (a Bishop of his order - Fache is apparently Opus Dei in the movie) and told that Langdon told Aringarosa in confession that he planned to kill the curator of the Louvre and Fache was trying to catch him without implicating the Bishop who didn't keep the confession a secret. 2. Aringarosa and the Catholic church were in cahoots about the whole thing, they knew what the 'grail' contained and wanted it destroyed so no DNA testing could be done. They convened a secret council to do this and were not disassociating from Opus Dei. Aringarosa was NOT working with Fache to try and stop Silas they knew that Silas had killed people and were OK with it. 3. The Curator was not Sophie's real grandfather, just the grand master of the Priory who was prepping her to be in the order. They weren't speaking because when she was little he screamed at her (the scene shows him rushing in and wiping everything on a desk onto the floor while screaming at her while she cowers) and told her to never ask about her family and then sent her to boarding school - after which she saw the ritual. The poor direction robbed this scene of it's essence. 4. When they get to Rosslyn Chapel, they very easily find a secret sub-chamber that contains all the documents of the Priory and the 'grail' just no body - it has been moved. The members of the Priory show up, she meets her grandma - no brother, and they all hang out. Oh and not to forget, the ridiculous bit about Sophie trying her luck at walking on water, it was ridiculous and made light of the entire enormity of the plot.

The Da Vinci Code Saga

I went to see the movie, yeah even though I had read the book. I must say I regret buying the book. The plot was interesting, the claims scandalous and the symbolism emphatic, but the style of writing was cheesy. I personally preferred 'Angels & Demons' by Dan Brown, it was a very well constructed thriller. Da Vinci code, could hardly match it's page-turning quality, in-fact I felt it was written by someone who has lost the zeal for writing.
The movie however, was a whole new affair. I went to see the movie only and only because of Tom Hanks. The movie, I found, improvised on the book a good deal, in some cases changing certain portions of the plot [Ref: The drawing room scene where Sophie is supposed to hide the cryptex, The scene where the Priory of Sion members come to meet Sophie, The scene about Sophie recalling her grandfather performing the rituals, the rituals were more elaborately depicted in the book, The scene where the Teacher kills the butler etc. etc.]. But I think these alterations, for the most part did not rob the movie of it's charm but could have added more mystique to the plot. Tom Hanks, acted his part, yes I hated his hair-style, and I'd have to say this wasn't one of Hank's greatest acting jobs, though to be fair to him, he could only do what the script allowed, and Dan Brown certainly needs to give Robert Langdon a persona-rehash.
All in all, I'd say watch it before you criticize the movie. Was it worth the money spent on a ticket? I wouldn't know - I got two complimentary ones. Here's an idea - how about an Angels & Demons movie?

P.S. Ron Howard could have done a heck of a better job by getting a better Sophie, what was he thinking?

Holiday

Just got back from a short trip. Glad to be back. The place we went to is a hill-station, so expectations were high (I being a sucker for Hills and any place that is cold). But I must admit I hadn't bargained for the constant rains which stalked us for all the 5 days we were there. Needless to say, the sight-seeing was at a minimum and the photographs though beautiful, a tad depressing due to the absence of the sun.
Shillong is a very beautiful town and I would say one of the cleanest hill-stations in India. The people are renowned for their hospitality and rightly so. The drive from the airport was a three hour long affair, though after the first hour I didn't mind because we started climbing uphill, and it got comfortably cold and scenic. We didn't avail the car on the way back, we opted for a 20 minute helicopter ride, which provided breathtaking views of both Meghalaya and Assam.
Another significant thrill was a boat ride we took on Ward's Lake. I was a tad nervous about the condition of the apparently worn out boat, but it put us back on shore dry.
Well thats all at the moment, Arrivedecci

Bad Mojo

Hey folks! Long time no see. Well I've been kinda tied up with nose to the grind and all that. Well the bad news is Winter has bid adieu here, the good news is Spring is here. Wonder why they would name a season after a metallic hydraulic device. Yeah....i'm on to you...you're applying Frued right there. You're saying Romance + Attraction = SPRING!. Wash your mind out with soap! Well spring here doesnt last too long, it puts in a week-long guest appearance (if we're lucky) and then there's the almost 7 months of summer punctuated by a month or two of soggy Monsoons.
I've been upto no good in the past few months. My old laptop, a Toshiba Tecra went bust. I miscalculated the warranty.....thought it had run out and bought a new Compaq laptop. Then I realised that I should have the Toshiba repaired and use it. So I send it to the service centre where they announce I still have a year worth of warranty left! Whoopsie! While they were going at the Toshiba, I was happy with my Compaq....till after a few weeks the brand new laptop started overheating and shutting down without warning (which it still is). Well, now i'm stuck with the Compaq, and my Toshiba ain't back from the repairs yet. I call it bad mojo, guess Bill Gates would call it Nerd Luck!
I also bought a new car. Nothing fancy, a Suzuki sedan. Since I bought it 5 months back, it's been scratched in 3 places and I've changed 6 chauffers. Why? Bad Mojo. Seems chauffers loved to drive my old cars....Landmaster, Ambassador, Contessa, Ford much better, because they would stick around for years. But give them a state of the art, cutting edge, hi-tech piece of automotive wonder (yeah i know i'm exaggerating), and they turn tail. Nerves I guess.
Well thats dosage enough for the time-being methinks......hoping to read your comments on this. Thank you for your comments on my previous posts....except one guy/gal who posted the contents of a website as a comment....to that person I say ....Get a life dude/dudette!