Narnia - wow what a movie

Watched "The Chronicles of Narnia - The lion, the witch and the wardrobe". Such an amazing movie. The cinematography & special effects... just fantastic, New Zealand in all its glory. Do I even have to mention about the OST.... just superb! A must watch for Fantasy Movie lovers :)

Which colour is your heart ??

Blue 96% Yellow 61% Pink 61% Green 54% White 54% Purple 46% Red 43% Black 29% Orange 29% ~What colour is your heart?~ created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Blue. Your heart is blue. You are a very calm and relaxed person. You are very caring and like helping others. You're grateful for what you have in life, even if it's not perfect. People love you for who you are, don\'t ever change that- it's what makes you the great person that you are.

what i am reading right now

This is a hilarious write up by Ajit Saldanha.
In every chapter he describes some amusing incident in his life. About his relatives, the way they think, their food fights, his friends.....
Flipped through the first few pages and found it interesting...so borrowed it
Lets see how it goes!

Feb 3rd- still reading it.
Loved this part about being Politically Correct - "PC"

Both the very young and th old are referred to as "Chronologically challenged". Which leads to arguments such as "No Bud, you are not allowed to watch the Playboy channel on cable" "Why not mom?" "Because you are chronologically challenged, young man and that's final"
"Mom but how come grandpa watches it and he's chrono-chrono...."

Bald people are described as "follicularly challenged", fat people are "dimensionally challeged" crackheads are...er, lets see, "narcotically challenged?"And the poor are simply known as the segment unlikely to be challenged by the latest round of tax cuts... so the list goes on....

SHOT - worth what ??

Chapter 1:

“Must be at least 1:30” he thought. This was the fourth time Ray was checking his watch. Still 12.17 “Oh no, another 9 hours to go. Why can’t everything be over right now?”. It had been sleepless nights for Ray ever since Max’s phone call last week.
Max... Ray thought... his mind now was flooded with thoughts of how they had met.

It was about 2 months back. Ray was in need of money. As he walked past the bank one morning, he saw a middle aged man walk past him, clutching on to his bag tightly. This is it, decided Ray.
He walked a few feet away from the bank gate and stood there watching people who walked out. After about 5 minutes, a lady who must have been in her early 30s walked out. “No, not a lady...next one...” he thought. Soon after, an old man walked out, looking around cautiously. He had a bag in his hand.
This was going to be easy. Ray stood still... holding his breath. As the old man approached him, Ray suddenly stretched forward his right leg. Little did expect to see a walking stick whack him. Before Ray could even realize what hit him, the old man was screaming out loud as he held on tightly to Ray’s shirt. People started running towards them.

Out of the crowd, quickly emerged a man dressed in black wearing back shades “Let go of the poor man” he said in a dominating voice. “Look at him, he must be starving”. He quickly took out his wallet, drew a hundred note from it, shoved it into Ray’s hand and pulled him away from the crowd.
As the crowd slowly dispersed, Ray stood still in front of the stranger. He was so ashamed of what he had done, he could not look the man in his face.
“I’m Max” the stranger said stretching out his hand. “Any help you need, just give me a call” he said as he handed Ray his card.

Chapter 2:

The rally was to start at 10:00. “Should be sufficient if I get to the old abandoned building close to the venue by 9” Ray mused.
The abandoned building, once upon a time used to house a restaurant. No one really knew why they closed down but it served as a very convenient meeting place. This was where Ray had been given detailed instructions.
Also, this was where he had to pick up the package.

3AM: Time just didn’t seem to pass at all. Ray walked up to the table and gulped down some water from the bottle. Next to the table were his suitcases all packed and ready.
Suitcase... This reminded him of how he had met Max the second time...

Ray was waiting outside the airport’s international terminal. He was going to pick on a foreigner’s pocket. A sure visit to the forex counter would mean a fully loaded wallet, he figured. 1 hour, still waiting. Then he saw a potential scapegoat. A rather large man, carry a bag and pushing a trolley full of luggage.

“This is my chance” Ray thought. He made his way to his target and walked quietly next to him, moving as close to his body as possible. In a fraction of a second he seized the man’s wallet and was running. Faster, faster he was saying to himself. The parking lot was just round the corner.
As he turned, he tripped over a huge red suitcase and fell on his face, the wallet fell out of his hands. He had no time to grab it, he just got up and ran. He weaved his way through the parked cars and ran for the exit.

Suddenly a car stopped in front of him, the front door jerked opened and the driver beckoned him to get in. Without thinking further, Ray jumped into the car and shut the door.
He turned around to see who his saviour was. Max! he exclaimed.
“Hi Ray. How have you been? In a tough spot eh?” Max asked grinning. Ray didn’t know how to respond. He only looked at Max sheepishly. About 2 minutes passed before either of them uttered a word.
“So! That makes it twice that I’ve saved you. Isn’t it time you did something for me in return?”
“Anything for you Max” said Ray.

That was when Max told Ray about a certain politician who was so bad for society that she needed to be removed.
“Removed?”
“Yeah, like removed from the face of the earth” Max replied.
At this, Ray shuddered. He.. kill? He.. an assailant??
No. Max could not make him do it. No.

Max knew what was running through Ray’s mind. “You owe it to our country. Politicians like these are so selfish. All they think about is themselves. They eat up our money. We get poorer and they get richer. You would be performing a great deed for the nation. You do realise that don’t you?” Max reeled on.

“Ok ok just give me your contact number, I will speak to you some time” Max said as he signaled to the driver to stop the car. Ray gave him his number and got out of the car. As he stood there still hazy from all that he had heard, Max’s car whizzed past him. “I need to get back home before someone else comes looking for me” he told himself as he quickly headed back home.

Chapter 3:

A week later the dreaded call came through. Ray’s could just not forget Max’s icy tone. Max explained that Ray had nothing to worry about. Before anyone realised who the killer was, he would be out of the country, far away from anyone’s reach. Over a period of time the police would lose hope of finding the killer and after that it would all be history. Ray was still not convinced but when Max mentioned the dough he would receive for this act, Ray just could not resist the offer. Thus he agreed.

Ray was then told the day, the time, the place, the name. He would be receiving the photograph the next day.

“All you have to do” Max said “is go unobserved, pull out his gun, shoot Mrs X and get away from there”.
That isn’t as simple as it sounds.. thought Ray.
Everything else would be taken care of Max promised. He would be handed over the flight tickets. He would fly to Dubai by the late evening flight and spend the rest of his life peacefully and… luxuriously.
Fly..Dubai..Money.. all this was heaven for a small time thief like Ray.

“Am I doing the right thing? Is the money going to be worth all this”
“Now is not the time to think... It’s the time to act... Once I get to Dubai I will find myself a job and then all of this will be in my past” Ray assured himself.

Chapter 4:

6:30 AM: Ray could no longer stay in bed. He got up and walked to the window. It was a bright and beautiful morning, but all that Ray could think of was if he would get away with what he was going to do. The morning went by slowly.
8:25 AM: Ray did a final check to see that he was dressed inconspicuously and that his weapon was well hidden.
He made it to the old abandoned building by 8:50. He waited for 10 minutes before he started walking towards the venue of the rally. The roads were all jam packed. People seemed to be coming for the rally from all over the place.
As Ray reached the venue, he tried to make his way through the crowd gathered there. He had to position himself so that he had a clear view of his target.

It was almost 10:15 when the car sirens were heard. Ray’s heart started racing. Any faster, he knew his heart would pop out his chest. It was very difficult to spot his target. She was surrounded by bodyguards on all sides. As she reached the podium, there was a huge applause and then she began her speech.

Slowly, Ray reached below his shirt and pulled out the pistol. The lady was nearing the end of her speech. Little did she know these would be the last few words that she would utter.
“You, the people are my strength. Together we can make a better nation” she said. And the crowd just went wild with hoots and shouts of approval.

It was time... Ray aimed the pistol at her chest. It had to be just one shot, he had to be very careful with his aim. His hands were shivering, his legs were shaking, he tried to stay still as he took his aim. Bang - went the bullet. He had shot her in the stomach. “Oh no, not good enough.. shoot again..” He aimed again and shot her, this time in the chest…

Bang! He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He went numb for a moment. Run, run you fool.. his mind ordered. Ray he ran like the wind, he ran for his life..

Old abandoned building...run run..he was breathless...run..run..
He made it to the spot, but where was Max? where were his men? Where was the money? His tickets? Ray stood there wondering Where????

He heard the police siren in close vicinity.. It was too late..Do something…his mind urged him..
The police now were running towards him..
BANG!
Ray fell down.. He had shot himself.
Everything was a blur to him now.. he could hear voices, people screaming to him, nothing of which he understood..

His mind went back to when he was seven, the day he had robbed from his dad’s purse. He had been beaten for this. It was then that he then started to steal from his own house. He was 14 when his father caught him in the act..and that night he had run away...
Dad...Ma...
He saw his mom’s loving face...his stare froze!
He was dead!

**************************************************************

My thoughts:
- When Ray stole the first time, instead of beating him up, if his father had explained to him why it was wrong, it would have made a great impact.
- @ Max: People like him are the ones that need to be removed from the face of the earth.
- @ Mrs. Politician: Every other person is like this, shooting them all is not a solution, it only reduces population.
- @ people like Ray: Don’t be lured away by money. If your heart tells you something is wrong – stay away from it!
Be a person others can look up. Be yourself!

crazy it might seem...

I've always had these thoughts in my mind:

#1 Required Invention : When we see something nice, we can take a picture of it. At any later point of time, all we have to do is take out the picture, look at it and admire the beauty of the object.
Same way, whenever we listen to something nice, we can record that sound and listen to it again and again, as and when we desire.
But, why isn't there anything we can store our feelings in. Just imagine a very precious moment which you would like to cherish for ever. Why can't we store that and take it out and feel just as wonderful at any other point of time?
Why isn't someone working on inventing such a gadget??

#2 Capital punishment : When a person commits a crime like murder or rape what is the punishment that he deserves?? Capital punishment? Let him die just like that...without any pain at all. Well, I think he should suffer.
Why do we still test cosmetics and pharmaceuticals on animals? Why not use these men for the tests.
Poor animals, let them go free. Why make them suffer for no fault of theirs. Why not test the drugs on these men deserving punishment, let them also be experience the pain, misery and anguish that they put their fellow beings through!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Rating: *** (pretty impressive actually)
What was good: The third task in the Tri Wizard tournament
What could have been better: More action at the Quidditch World Cup
Good Looking : Cedric Diggory
Looked Lovely : Hermione - at the Yule Ball
Nasty Looking : Mad Eye Moody
Good Laugh : Mc Gonagall's lines when she teaches the students how to dance
Scary : when Voldemort says "lose the spare" and Avada Kedavra is used on Cedric

On the whole : a good movie..... though the whole book could not be captured in the movie...the parts which have been shown are great!
Now awaiting the 7th book and the 5th movie :)

Quite an adventure...

You work late and take a rick(shaw) ..... it starts pouring... chill winds blow on incessantly. All of a sudden the rick starts to sway, the driver slows down, one of the back wheel's gone astray.
Traffic piles up right behind the rick, vehicles honking in all directions.... then a traffic cop comes along to divert the traffic away.
You realise that you are just about a kilometer away from home, so you decide to call home and see if someone can pick you up... just when you are trying to explain where you are, your phone battery is dead. Thanks to the rains, there is no one walking along the road from whom you can borrow a phone and make a quick call. You take a chance and ask the auto driver if he has a phone...and what do you know- he does, but no card balance he tells you.
You then borrow his phone, take his sim card out, replace it with your sim card, make a call explaining exactly where you are... take the sim card back, return the phone, thank the driver and be grateful to God that there still are some decent, helpful people around!

Finally got back home drenched....was good fun though ;)

who's that gal?????

A) KATE WINSLET AT 21
B) NICOLE KIDMAN AT 21
C) JULIA ROBERTS AT 21
D) None of the above ??????




Its Sonia Gandhi...was she cute or what????

As the year end draws closer.....

No, I'm not talking about 31st of Dec but 25th of Nov... that's firm year end for us and the work pressure right now is just too much. Working non-stop for 12-13 hours also just doesn't seem to ease out the work load. Have to work the next two weekends also.
But things to look forward to:
1) Harry Potter and the goblet of fire : Yeah just waiting to watch this movie
2) Week long vacation in December : 5 weekdays + 2 weekends = 9 days of bliss (still deciding where to go)
hm.... those sure are comforting thoughts....
Year end- here I come!

The day Titanic sank

Got this from my brother !

new age US passport

So a really hi-fi passport with electronically stored data... what next??

Read about it here

and here

....and it continues to rain in Bangalore

I just can't remember when it rained so continuously in namma bengalooru! Its been going on non-stop... since I don't know when. Weekend was pretty bad with so many reported damages.
Today didn't feel like Tuesday at all. The weather was all gloomy and wet right from the word 'go'. In the afternoon it started pouring and didn't seem to cease at all. Around 6pm we got an internal mail informing us that many areas were flooded, we just had to stop working, take a cab and head back home. All of a sudden there was a rush for booking office cabs. A few unlucky people got their cabs immediately. Unlucky why??? since they are the ones who were stuck on the road the longest. All roads got blocked and traffic came to a stand still. For almost 2.5 hours traffic did not move. So everyone was asked to wait until the situtaion improved.
Now came the sudden rush. People started realising that they were going to be in office for a few more hours so unless they got something to eat right away, there may be nothing left. The thought of even our caterers being stuck in the jam and no dinner being available caused a little panicky situation. The snacks counter in the cafeteria was wiped empty within minutes.
Finally after a long wait, around 9 I left office and got back home close to 10. Its still pouring out here.
On the brighter side - if it continues to rain this way, we've been asked not to come in to work tomorrow :)

Wednesday Update :Sure enough.... today's been nice and bright with not even a drop of rainfall... well, what can I say !

Now for some bizarre news. Were the Gods so pleased with this ritual that they decided that it should rain endlessly???

Heartless or just too terrified to face reality?

Imagine this - A lady in her late 30s, her husband - struggling to earn a living, her 2 children - one in college and the other is school. Her parents, sister’s family are quite well off. Why don’t the parents help the daughter, maybe she got married to a man of a different caste/religion against their wishes.

One not so fine day, the lady is diagnosed with leukemia. Treatment is something this young family cannot afford. They try to get funds from as many people as they can, friends and strangers.
Do her parents care? Maybe…maybe not….. they visit her once in a way.

All of a sudden her mother decides that her other daughter who is in the family way needs her, so she packs off to the US and stays there for months together.
Back at home, this lady’s condition is worsening,
What she needs is love – what she gets is pity from some random person who is in no way concerned, who only wants to comment on how unfortunate our lady is but help in no way.
While in the US the mother is taking care of a kid who is a couple of months old, doesn’t she even for a moment think about what her ailing daughter is going through?

Our lady doesn’t lose hope, she does all that she can for her family, when she is at home and feeling a little upto it, she even goes into the kitchen and cooks for everyone. She always has a smile on her face and doesn’t forget to enquire how everybody is doing.
Her husband shuttles from work to the hospital, trying his best to make ends meet and also take care of his love. Her daughter shuttles from college to the hospital - right now she is her mom’s best friend, taking care of all her needs. Her son is too young to accept what is happening so shuns away from everyone and keeps to himself.

All of sudden her condition becomes really bad, on testing, doctors find that 70% of her cancer is back… now her chances of survival depends solely on bone marrow transplant from her beloved sister. But is her sister even interested in this??? Well we have no answers.
One day morning, our lady is breathless….has absolutely no one to take care of her but a dear friend who has been with her in all these trying times of pain and suffering. The friend rushes to take her to the hospital. The doctors say she won’t last long….
Now atleast, do her parents, sister or anyone show their concern???? Well it doesn’t appear that way, coz no one has even called them up to find out how she is…..

Today morning, She has left us…. May her soul rest in peace!

My only question is - What were her parents thinking?? Don’t they have a heart??

addicted to sending msgs requires rehab ?????

Just saw this news report about a teenager who sent so many msgs from his mobile phone that had to be sent to a rehab centre.... crazy or what!

sighted any UFOs off late ?

Google Maps provides information on reported UFO sightings. Just wondering if there were any reported abductions ;)

mood forecast for the next few days

Yipppeee ! good week coming up... just 3 working days!

Thanks to the Navaratri festival ... Wednesday and Thursday is off :)

funny ... but that's life!

A few ground rules:

• Inside every small problem is a large problem struggling to get out
• Whenever a system becomes completely defined, someone discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition
• You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you Can't Fool Mom
• The only things that start on time are those that you're late for
• Spend sufficient time confirming the need and the need will disappear
• Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment
• A little ignorance can go a long way
• Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence
• The shortest distance between two points has to be still under construction
• If at first you don't succeed, read the manual
• It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious
• The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to its importance
• Assumption is the mother of all screw-ups

Some of my fav music videos

In no particular order...

1) A-Ha : Take on me
2) Dirty Vegas : Days go by
3) Alanis Morisette : So pure
4) Janet Jackson : Runaway
5) MLTR : That's why
6) Fatboy Slim : Weapon of choice (which features Christopher Walken)

Shall update the list as and when I think of more.
Lots of music videos available here for viewing :)

FRIENDS – a Theme

Just finished reading “Five point someone”. Don’t know what happens to me when I read a book like this or watch a movie like DCH, that it triggers in me unexplainable feelings.
What exactly does the word friend mean? Where on earth (or in some cases even outside) do these people come from? With no warning whatsoever, they pop into your life. You have something in common with them and BANG they become an intricate part of your very being.
All of a sudden, you have someone whom you can actually speak to, someone to share your views with, your feelings, your thoughts, joyous moments, funny tidbits, crazy ideas, smart ass comments….
Yeah, they’re also there for you when you want to vent out your concerns, inhibitions, miseries and pain.
Want to share intimate secrets?? Yeah… they’re right there with all eager ears and comforting arms to embrace you.
A mail, a message, a phone call … that’s all it takes to put a big smile on your face and a bigger one in your heart!
Before this, you didn’t even have a clue that such a person existed; now you cannot imagine a life without them being a part of it.
One tiny word of affection is enough to assure you that are there…. and that they truly care.

Blessed are those who have friends like the one’s I do :)

Space Explosion ???

How many kilometers make a light year? (isn't 12.6 billion light years too far off ?)
How did they manage to calculate when the Big Bang occurred ?? (isn't 13.7 billion years a teeny weeny bit in the past)
News reports say that the farthest explosion to date occurred on Sep 04 and the scientists were able to detect it only after a couple of days.
Why?? ... because the light from the explosion took so long to reach the Earth.
How amazingly weird...read on!