Something about Nothing

This is all the “wildlife” I could see in Hyderabad. So I am off to another wildlife excursion. Hopefully it is as good as - if not better - than the trips to Sunderbans and Kanha

Recently I have rediscovered Kishore Kumar. I had been listening to the usual mix of Hindi and English songs for quite a long time, and was getting bored. In the past 2-3 months none of the new songs had impressed me enough to stake a claim in the favs.m3u Winamp play-list.

I had no idea what all songs I had on the hard disk - there is clutter even in my songs folder, ala the real life - I was scouring through it when I saw the Kishore Kumar song - “Pal Pal Dil ke Paas” (I think it is from Blackmail, although not sure), an instant double-click. Humming along the song, I found lots of hidden gems - “Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara”, “Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhagi Si”, “Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi”, “Chala Jaata Hoon” and many many more songs.

I do not remember the music of “Speed of Sound” or the lyrics of “Lemon Tree” or the guitar of “Hotel California”. All I care right now … Actually I do not care about anything right now. Kishore Kumar has put me in a trance, and my fingers are disconnected from my brain. As I type this, humming “Mere Saamne Vali Khidki Mein”, I feel oddly contented.

Go listen to some Kishore Kumar songs

Technorati: Kishore Kumar, Songs, Music

Jab We Met [Movie]
Brilliant movie - it is a must watch. The characters are realistic and very likeable. This movie directly goes into the list of “Buy DVD asap”. And check out the song “Aao Milo Chalo”, great lyrics and a brilliant rendition by Shaan.
Rating: * * * * *

Johnny Gaddaar [Movie]
This movie reminded me of the James Hadley Chase thrillers, and the director too pays his tribute to the writer. This fast paced thriller is very well crafted and made intelligently.
Rating: * * * *

Fear - Jeff Abbott [Book]
It is an ok-ok psychological thriller. I bought this because the blurb seemed interesting and the first line (I killed my best friend…) was captivating. The book turned out to be one of the longest reads I have had, not in terms of page-count, but in terms of the days the book was lying unfinished on my bookshelf. I took 20+ days to finish this one.
Rating: * *

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid [Book]
Finished this in one sitting; picked it up at around 10 in night, and by 12 I was blown away. It packs a powerful punch, puts your life in perspective. I think people who have stayed in an alien country could empathize with the protagonist, although I would brand him as a rebel. Sreejith, thanks for referring the book.
Rating: * * * 1/2

The Bourne Ultimatum [Movie]
This is a pure popcorn-muncher. Leave the brains at home, do not try to over-rationalize and this movie is great fun. An apt conclusion to the Bourne Trilogy.
Rating: * * * *

Technorati: Review, Jab We Met, Johnny Gaddar, Fear, Jeff Abbott, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid, The Bourne Ultimatum

It is shocking how much junk I collected over a period of two years. I am shifting to a new building of my company, and was packing the stuff I have littered around my desk and in the shelf. It took me the better part of my morning just to go through my stuff, discard the useless, and keep the useful things.

The major perk of my job - the view that I see from my desk - will vanish I just have to stand and I can see the entire expanse of Hi-Tech City (Madhapur, Kukkatpally, Kondapur) till the eyes rest on the horizon. I always thought of capturing an aircraft flying overhead. The cloud formations that materialize over Hyderabad provide brilliant opportunities to have a great shot of an aircraft against the sky and the clouds. I was always some seconds late in getting the camera out of the bag, and framing the plane against the clouds. Although I did shoot many photographs from this place - my personal favourite is this.

But why am I writing about photography, when the major pain right now is packing and shifting. Reminds me of all packing I have done till now to shift rooms/flats. Sometimes it used to be easy, spread some chadars, dump everything in them, make a bundle, and move. Right now I am going through all the papers, re-viewing all my credit card and phone bills (damn! they are high).

This is one post that resulted because of the need to write, not because there was any content. As Rama put it eloquently -

“I feel like writing without the idea of what to write. There is nothing concrete that I want to say, nothing I want to narrate. But I feel I have to write (type rather) and so I do.”